The Trotzky

Director: Jacob Tierney

Writer: Jacob Tierney

Starring: Jay Baruchel

Release Date: May 14, 2010

Length: 2 hours

17 year-old, Jewish, private school student, Leon Bronstein believes he is the reincarnation of Russian revolutionary, Leon Trotzky. If you are a teenager, you’re thinking, who on earth is that, and, if you are an adult, you might be thinking, this is going to be interesting. Writer/director Jacob Tierney gives us one of the most clever, hysterical, down to earth, teen movies that I’ve ever seen. Believing himself to be the reincarnation of Trotzky, Leon has already set out his life to be exactly as his, which requires marrying an older woman named Alexandra, getting exiled, and eventually being assassinated. So, Leon stages hunger strikes all over his city of Montreal, for about everything he can think of. When his acts of defiance tend to be more attention seeking than efficient, his father decides to put him in a place that will wake him up…public school. When he get’s there and realizes the place is run by adults who don’t give a crap about teenagers, Leon decides to fight for a union for students and starts a tiny revolution within his high school. As a teenager, (I’m not completely ashamed to say that) I’m no expert in historical Russian politics, which made me hesitate to see this film. I couldn’t decide if this film was going to be a smart teen comedy or an adult comedy that had a setting in high school. It ended up being a mix of the two because the humor is so original, anyone of any age could enjoy it. Not only is this whole film filled with laughs created by Tierney, but the whole premise of the film, that we are reminded of throughout, is enough to guarantee consecutive laughter. Tierney creates one of the most original, hilarious, deep characters that carries the movie so beautifully and Baruchel performs that character as if he created it himself. Although, Baruchel has never played such a complex character before, Tierney couldn’t have chosen anyone more perfect for the role of Leon. The Trotzky is definitely a character driven movie. What I love about The Trotzky is that it is a Canadian movie that’s not trying to mask anything. It doesn’t take place in some small town or unknown city to avoid the fact that this is a Canadian film. It takes place in West Montreal, where Leon’s brought up in a rich, Jewish home. The Trotzky is one of those rare movies that you can’t get off your mind for days. Whether you are an adult or teenager, you will appreciate everything about this film. I enjoyed The Trotzky so much, I almost forgot it was Canadian.

The Invention Of Lying

Directors: Ricky Gervais, Matthew Robinson
Writers: Ricky Gervais, Matthew Robinson
Starring: Ricky Gervais, Jennifer Garner
Release Date: October 2, 2009
Length: 1 hour, 39 minutes

Can you imagine a world where everyone tells the truth? Where no one can tell a white lie or make up anything at all? Does this world sound different and fascinating? Of course, it does. But unfortunately, this fascinating and interesting world does a bad job at translating to the screen. Mark Bellison is just another average citizen in this world that is overweight, has no girlfriend, and has just been fired from his job. Boo freaking Hoo, nobody cares. When Mark has no money left to pay for his rent (just another problem for us to sympathize over), he does something no one has ever thought of before. He alters the truth. Since nobody in this world knows what lying is, everyone believes everything Mark says. Therefore, as you can imagine, Mark gains power and wealth and popularity, when he makes up things about the after life. Jennifer Garner is cute as always, as Mark’s out of league love interest. The Invention of Lying has a great premise and an intriguing storyline, but it was wasted with a film that unfortunately seemed to be lacking effort when it came to the writing. After the first half hour of the film, I could tell I wasn’t going to like the rest of it. But, I really knew I couldn’t stand this film when there were random, unexpected cameos from celebrities like Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Edward Norton and Jason Bateman. Tina Fey, Jonah Hill and Rob Lowe also had small parts in the film, and most of the laughs from the audience were generated from those three and the cameos. It’s sad when using eye-grabbing celebrities is what a director depends on for the film, because the script isn’t funny enough. You may be wondering why I went to see this movie in the first place. I went into this movie knowing that other reviewers did not enjoy it, but I thought it would be at least a bad movie that I could enjoy because truth be told, everyone in their movie-going life has laughed through some horrible films. Oddly enough though, I found myself extremely bored throughout this useless movie. I love just about every member of the cast, including Ricky Gervais and Jennifer Garner, but you could just say that they all got bad luck with the script. I enjoyed Ricky Gervais’s film that came out a year ago, Ghost Town, and this film may seem like the same kind of thing, but unfortunately The Invention Of Lying is about 5 steps down from where Ghost Town stands in entertainment value. Don’t go waste your 12 bucks. Go see something better.

Whip It

Director: Drew Barrymore
Writer: Shauna Cross
Starring: Ellen Page, Marcia Gay Harden, Kristen Wiig
Release Date: October 2, 2009
Length: 1 hour 41 minutes

Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut, Whip It is essentially perfect. It stars the ass-kicking Ellen Page as Bliss, a girl who is letting her controlling mother (Marcia Gay Harden) run her teenage life with superficial beauty pageants, that do not interest her. She lives in the lifeless, boring town of Bodeen, Texas, outside of Austin. When Bliss discovers a tough Roller Derby League in Austin, she decides to put on her old skates and ditch the tiaras. Whip It is another one of those movies about finding out who you are and chasing your dreams, blah, blah, blah. Although the story was a bit clichéd, the cast couldn’t have been better picked. Ellen Page’s performance as Bliss was absolutely adorable and was played with an indescribable innocence that wasn’t used in Juno. I found it more interesting to watch Page in the role of Juno, because the character was much more original and interesting. The character of Bliss  - the awkward teenage girl that doesn’t know what she wants to do with her life and is being controlled by her mother - has been done a couple of times before, but it doesn’t hurt to watch it again. In many of the films Drew Barrymore produces (and directs in this case), she puts herself in a very small role. For Whip It, this is no exception, but it almost seemed as if her character, Smashlee Simpson, was unimportant and pointless. It felt as though her character either should have had more of a storyline or shouldn’t have been there at all. It was very inventive and original to use the base of roller derby as what Bliss wanted to achieve and wanted to dream for. I enjoyed every minute of watching this incredible place of tough hilarious women playing derby and what it’s like for them. My favourite scenes were when Ellen Page was with her hilarious coach (Darren Shan) and fellow teammates (Kristen Wiig, Eve, Drew Barrymore). The plot was a bit messy and at some points there was too much going on at once, so you felt confused. I don’t want to sound to harsh, but there were a lot of scenes and a lot of plot changes that were quite pointless (like Barrymore’s character).  Certain events would occur that would have no effect at all throughout the film, but these scenes would take up a good chunk of the movie. I enjoyed most of the film, but after three quarters of the movie, every unique feature in the storyline became clichéd and over-the-top. You wonder how a story so creative and different relies on clichés and things that have been done before, for the last 25 minutes. If it were up to me, I would have changed the ending to this film. But the disappointing finale to this film wasn’t enough to make me dislike Whip It, because overall, I enjoyed Whip It very much. The use of different characters and the interesting setting of this roller derby world really shine through to the audience. It’s easy to say Ms. Barrymore has something to be very proud of.

The Informant

Director: Steven Soderbergh
Writers: Scott Z. Burns, Kurt Eichenwald
Starring: Matt Damon, Scott Bakula
Release Date: September 18, 2009
Length: 1 hour 17 minutes

You can believe it’s Matt Damon, but you can’t believe its only 1 hour and 45 minutes, when it feels like 2 and a half. Matt Damon is Mark Witacre, an executive at the company, Archer Daniels Midland in Decatur, Illinois in the early 1990’s. Mark is married to Ginger played by Melanie Lynskey and has 3 kids. With his wife’s persuasion, Mark decides to confess to FBI agent, Brian Sheppard about secret price-fixing going on at the company, with one of their products. The FBI advises Mark to do some investigating within the company and soon enough Mark has recorded thousands of video and audiotapes to give to the FBI. He travels to different cities around the world to look into the company’s activity in these meetings. Eventually, he has enough to establish an invasion within the company. As much as it’s hard to believe, Matt Damon with the extra 30 pounds can’t be the reason this film got such hype. It also can’t be the reason people liked it because you forget that it’s Matt Damon within the first 5 minutes, or even less if you have seen the trailers and are already used to this character. For the first 40 minutes (or what seemed to be at least), while the film was establishing the storyline and characters, I was very bored and the introduction was much too long. Once the plot started to pick up the pace, my attention was drawn back to the film. I was happily surprised in some scenes when Matt Damon’s voice would cut in to the scene, giving random fun facts about whatever’s on his mind. I found them oddly funny at first, but they started to get repetitive after a while and the humor from them faded. I have to admit there were some funny scenes, but there were also some scenes that dragged. The informant has its odd quirks but it’s not a comedy. As much as this film was hyped up because of Matt Damon not looking like…well, Matt Damon, I do not believe it is worth your 12 bucks. If you really want to see this film (like I did), it’s still a solid movie, but you will be slightly disappointed. The Informant wasn’t as great as I thought it would be, but still a likable film.

Jennifer's Body

Director: Karyn Kusama
Writer: Diablo Cody
Starring: Megan Fox, Amanda Seyfried
Release Date: September 18, 2009
Length: 1 hour 42 minutes     

Take a young, gorgeous, Hollywood starlet, an academy award winning anticipated screenwriter, a musical actress, and a relatively unknown director, and you are left with indefinable crap. When you see the trailer for this movie, you probably say this looks like a humorous horror movie (and if you’re a guy, you can include the part that Megan Fox is in it), then you see the movie and you are only left with the words…What. The. Hell.  Megan Fox is a cheerleading, possessed cannibal, Jennifer, and Amanda Seyfried is her dorky best friend Needy trying to stop her from eating boys. Now let’ get things straight. This isn’t – thank the heavens – a vampire movie. If it was, I think I would have reached my limit. Jennifer is a demon who had a brutal “ritual” performed on her by creepy indie band, Left Shoulder, including the funny lead singer played by Adam Brody. So Jennifer was once normal, but now unfortunately needs to feed off human flesh – preferably boys - in order to survive. A lot of scenes and plot changes in this movie would be completely – for lack of a better word – random. I think I repeated to my friend about a dozen times “What The Hell?” because I sat there stumped of how the scenes were written. This film does star the gorgeous Megan Fox, so obviously the teenage boys will be racing to the theatres but sometimes I felt there was too much put into the movie for that specific audience. For example, there was a scene where Ms. Fox was in the nude, by herself, wet, coming out of the water in slow motion. Yeah, it was that obvious. We get it. She’s sexy. Although my jealousy pissed me off, the largest pet peeve I developed with watching Jennifer’s Body was that there would be crazy scenes where Needy (Jennifer’s best friend) would witness Jennifer do something that’s probably one should call the police or ambulance for. But Needy would just think it’s weird. And as soon as she received a stupid explanation or excuse from Jennifer, the excessive cannibal activity would be forgotten by the next scene. I found Jennifer’s Body extremely hard to take seriously at first, but then I realized I don’t think I was ever supposed to take it seriously. Eventually I came to the conclusion about halfway into the movie that this whole thing was a joke. To me it didn’t seem like one because I felt I was cringing more often than laughing. It was funny in parts, and there were many humorous one-liners from Megan Fox herself, but I didn’t find it to be a comedy. But again, I also couldn’t take it seriously, so it wasn’t a real thriller or horror film. It is hard to express how I actually came to liking this film, but I can tell you with this movie as my one exception, my enjoyment of the film didn’t matter because I don’t think anybody is going to like it except for 14-year-old boys. Be prepared for no laughs and no screams. This comedic horror flick is truly not what it’s made out to be.

Up In The Air

Director: Jason Reitman
Writers: Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner, Walter Kim(author)
Starring: George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick
Release Date: November 13, 2009
Length: 1 hour 40 minutes

What goes up must come down. Those were my expectations for Up In The Air. It is a horrible thing to be fired. And in this economy, everywhere you turn your head, there is someone unemployed. But you know who is actually making the money? The guys actually firing these poor people. Welcome to the art of the sacking business. George Clooney is Ryan Bingham, someone who has done fairly well for himself in this business. Ryan is almost always flying from place to place, firing people. He practically lives in the air. Upon one of his many trips, he meets a very attractive, smart woman named Alex, played by the talented Vera Farmiga (The Departed). Ryan is very intrigued by this woman and learns she is a frequent flyer as well. After one night together, the two decide to meet up again when they can.  So, movie starts. George Clooney comes on screen. Everyone is laughing. This is to me one of the funniest movies of the year. 20 minutes later, people are still laughing. I can tell I’m really going to like this movie. Half an hour later, people are still laughing. The writing for this film can’t get any better. 20 minutes later…. the laughter stops, and these clever inventive characters are no longer making jokes. I don’t know why filmmakers, especially hilarious ones like Jason Reitman feel a need to give their comedies a sense of seriousness to make it seem more real. Is it too much to ask to let the comedy be funny throughout? I have no problem with a mix of comedy and drama, but at least work in the drama a bit in the beginning, so the film isn’t one hour funny, one hour sad. It is annoying that the main characters in Up in The Air like Ryan and Alex are hilarious and then all of a sudden serious. The plot doesn’t just change, but the characters change as well. There is no real point or motive to this movie. Things happen, things don’t happen. Things are funny. Things aren’t funny. This is something that happens in films more frequently these days. Clooney and Vera Farmiga are great, but the real scene-stealer for me was Anna Kendrick as Ryan’s new young co-worker Natalie, who he has to take with him to his many destinations. Ms. Kendrick had a supporting role in Twilight, and she was the best part of that film for me. Her role might be a little clichéd, in the young, overachieving, annoying, type-a girl, but she makes it so worth it with her hilarious performance. But like the other characters, her character went to the dark side also. The quick turn from humor, to actual importance made me feel like this movie was going to end a lot sooner than it did. I shouldn’t have been thinking, “When is this movie going to end” only an hour in. Toward the end, the plot started to drag a bit, and it sucks to be bored just after you couldn’t stop laughing. I am not saying this film was a disaster, because it was highly entertaining and the second half, although serious, was still pretty interesting. It was just disappointing to not be laughing the whole time. I recommend this movie. Just be sure you know however, even though the film is hilarious, you will eventually stop laughing at some point, and you won’t laugh once after that.

The Private Lives Of Pippa Lee

Director: Rebecca Miller
Writer: Rebecca Miller
Starring: Robin Wright Penn, Alan Arkin, Blake Lively
Release Date: November 27, 2009
Length: 1 hour 38 minutes

What kind of story can you get about a 40-year-old, possibly insane housewife? Pippa Lee’s life is the answer. A young, naïve, beautiful girl (Blake Lively), that ran away from home when she was a teenager changed her life dramatically when she got involved with a man (Alan Arkin) too old for her, and married him. Now,the older Pippa (Robin Wright) takes care of everyone in her life. She now has two fully grown children in there twenties. She treats her 80 year old husband as, well…an 80-year old, who might die soon. It seems as if Pippa’s life is almost perfect. The only interference is…she is slowly losing her mind. Written and directed by Rebecca Miller (Arthur Miller’s daughter), The Private Lives Of Pippa Lee was unlike anything I had ever seen before, which is not necessarily a good thing. This film was completely unpredictable. When I thought the movie was original, there would be a cliché. But when I thought this movie had too many clichés, I would be pleasantly surprised by something inventive. You never knew what to expect. This movie was a mix of many different things. When it was done, I felt the film had everything good and bad. It had clichés, however the concept of the film had never been done before. It had its quirks, but it wasn’t an off the wall film. It had its romantic parts, but there was never really much of a love story. And most of all, the film had a stellar cast, but you never felt that it was pretentious or a Hollywood movie. Blake Lively was surprisingly okay as the younger Pippa Lee. Her performance was better than expected. It’s a nice change for her to do a dramatic role, but I think she fits a bit better on Gossip Girl, unfortunately. When I had first heard about this film, I had thought Blake Lively and Robin Wright Penn shared an equal amount of screen time. It was discovered though, that Wright was truly the star of this film. At the beginning it frustrated me how Lively and Penn’s takes on Pippa were so different, and I couldn’t relate at all how they could be playing the same character. Toward the middle I realized perhaps the point was to show how much Pippa changed as her relationship grew with Herb.  It showed two completely different sides of Pippa. Two completely different lives. Even though this film featured some of the most well known names in Hollywood, I was most drawn to Maria Bello as Pippa’s mother. She was a complete scene-stealer, and I felt that for the first half of the film, my attention was focused completely on her. Another pleasant surprise was Winona Ryder in a fairly crazy role, as older Pippa’s friend. I found her performance actually quite hilarious. So many times throughout the film, I thought to myself, how could all this much happen in one person’s life. Sometimes I thought it was ridiculous and unbelievable. But then the screen would switch back to Robin Wright Penn as older, quiet, reserved Pippa, who had all this happen to her and yet she goes about her day like a character from Pleasantville. Although the script was more entertaining with Lively’s scenes, I was much more intrigued with the older Pippa. Robin Wright’s performance was so fascinating. She amazingly portrayed a woman having a “quiet” nervous breakdown. After all the things that go on in the film, I was happy for a nice, simple ending. I think I would have been able to say that I liked this film, if it wasn’t for the over the top scenes of Pippa’s teenage years, but…If it wasn’t for Robin Wright’s performance, I might just have actually left the theatre.

On the way to TIFF...

This fall, some of the hottest films are hitting this year’s Toronto International Film Festival. But here’s what I’m most excited to see.

WHIP IT

 Ellen Page stars as Bliss, a bored teenage girl living in Bodeen, Texas, who discovers a roller derby in nearby Austin. This is the directorial debut for Drew Barrymore, who also has a supporting role as one of Bliss’s fellow skaters. Marcia Gay Harden plays Bliss’s mother and comedians like Kristen Wiig and Jimmy Fallon have funny performances as well.

                                  

THE PRIVATE LIVES OF PIPPA LEE
I was very intrigued when I first heard about this film. It has Blake Lively (known for her bubbly roles) and Robin Wright Penn, both as Pippa Lee, young and old. This independent drama is written and directed by the author Rebecca Miller of the book, upon which the film was based. This film tells the story of a girl who runs away when she was a teenager and marries a man much older than her. Alan Arkin is her husband and Julianne Moore, Winona Ryder and Keanu Reeves are in this movie as well.

JENNIFER’S BODY

Diablo Cody's second script has been long waited for. Now the anticipated Jennifer's Body is coming to Toronto.  When Needy (Amanda Seyfried)'s popular best friend Jennifer (Megan Fox) starts murdering every boy that seems interested in her, Needy has to stop Jennifer, before she kills the whole town.What I like about this movie is that Cody didn't try and do another Juno.This isn't an indie romantic comedy. This is a comedic horror film, with a well-known cast.

THE DAMNED UNITED

From Peter Morgan, the screenwriter of “The Queen” and “Frost/Nixon” is another true story about Brian Clough, the coach of the Leeds United, a top professional soccer team. The film stars Michael Sheen (Morgan obviously likes to use him) who was also in “The Queen” and “Frost/Nixon”.  This comedy has Timothy Spall and Jim Broadbent in funny supporting roles. If you are a fan of Peter Morgan’s work, make sure to catch it as this year’s festival.

UP IN THE AIR

George Clooney stars in Jason Reitman's next film, as Ryan Bingham, someone who fires people for a living. Reitman’s previous films like Thank you for Smoking and Juno were very different from each other. Up In The Air is quite unlike the rest, as well. This dark comedy has Jason Bateman (Juno) and Vera Farmiga (The Departed) in supporting roles. It looks like Reitman likes to do different stuff. It always seems to work, so I’m looking forward to what he has next.

Get excited like I am. By clicking the link to some of these films trailers:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQGPdXnb2Gg - Whip It

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JU_FTUQ1iLI - The Private Lives Of Pippa Lee

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYQ19JM_M1g - Jennifer's Body

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_QiKT-6hlo - The Damned United