The Artist

Director: Michel Hazanavicius
Writer: Michel Hazanavicius
Starring: Jean Dujardin, Berenice Bejo
Release Date: December 9, 2011
Length: 1 hour 40 minutes

    French filmmaker Michel Hazanavicius does the unthinkable and goes back to the bare seeds of filmmaking, where cinema first began with the sincerely courageous, The Artist. This is the first time a silent film has been mass-released in quite a while and my, does this make up for the time without a film as ingenious and clever as The Artist to remind us of how lovable subtlety in movies can be.

    Set in the prestige age of 1920s Hollywood, the film tells the story of an actor at the top of his game, George Valentin, who could be a fictional version of Douglas Fairbanks or a 1927 equivalent of George Clooney. Valentin has a chance encounter with an up and coming beauty named Peppy Miller, who starts to make her way up the Hollywood ladder after having a small role in one of his films, A German Affair. Two years later, while Peppy is reaching her prime, studio head Al Zimmer (John Goodman) announces the end of silent film productions at Kinograph Studios, due to the rising popularity with the “talkies”. Nevertheless, Valentin believes films with sound is only a fad, so he decides to make his own silent film, assuming people will see the movie, still loving him as Hollywood’s leading man. However, as Peppy becomes Hollywood’s “It Girl” with a starring role in the film everyone’s talking about, Beauty Spot, Valentin’s worst nightmare comes true. The world stops caring about the silent film era and therefore Valentin as well, but Peppy wont leave her greatest idol in the dust.

    You will simply never have a more unique enjoyable experience watching a movie than when watching The Artist. Hazanivicius carries two important qualities in the making of this film, boldness and imagination. It is such an original and commendable idea to bring back the golden age of movies through an actual silent film but being the actual one to do it makes Hazanavicius praiseworthy enough for stepping up to the plate. There are obvious challenges and restrictions when it comes to making a silent film however, to Hazanivicius they are only ways to express his ingenuity, which make this film all the more lovable. With every frame, you see his love and enthusiasm for films of the now timeless era, and consequently find yourself falling in love with the style of filmmaking, whether you initially liked the style or not.

    His comedic and moving story makes you deeply connected to the stubborn and then pitiable Valentin, beautifully brought to life by the talented French actor Jean Dujardin. With his ever-entrancing moustache and handsome face, Dujardin carries the incredibly fragile film on his shoulders. Many people will have apprehension about seeing this film, but with Dujardin’s undying charisma and simultaneous weight in his character, you will be easily transported back to the era that once seemed so unfamiliar. Hazanvicius’ wife Berenice Bejo is impressively charming as rising star Peppy Miller as well, while John Goodman and James Cromwell also show off their acting skills in the different light of silent film.

    All the ardor and hard work given by the actors, producers and Hazanavicius is evident in each scene and gives off the same rewarding feeling last year’s Best Picture winner, The King’s Speech gave off. Realizing you have just fallen in love with the film, you just want to hug it when it’s over. The Artist is extremely clever, but it is also a poignant love story that warms your heart like nothing else.  As an original masterwork, The Artist is a winner that cannot be missed. 

A Dangerous Method

Director: David Cronenberg
Writer: Christopher Hampton
Starring: Kiera Knightley, Michael Fassbender, Viggo Mortensen
Release Date: November 23, 2011
Length: 1 hour 34 minutes

    Canadian director David Cronenberg of acclaimed films like A History of Violence and Eastern Promises tackles a whole new risky subject with A Dangerous Method. Academy Award winner Christopher Hampton adapts his successful play about the exciting time of psych history with Carl Jung, Sigmeund Freud and the distraught smart woman between the two of them.

    In 1904, Jung (Michael Fassbender) is happily married to his expectant wife Emma (Sarah Gadon), living at his large institution in Switzerland. He receives a young Russian patient suffering from hysteria named Sabina Spielrien (Kiera Knightley). Jung knows that Spielrien was continuously abused by her father, but through treatment he learns that she was and is still sexually excited by abuse inflicted upon her. As she heals, Spielrien becomes closer to Jung through her intrigue in psychoanalysis and interest in becoming a psychiatrist. Jung begins meeting with renowned psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen) in Vienna, where the two butt ideas. Freud eventually sends the sexually eccentric psychoanalyst Otto Gross (Vincent Cassell) to live with Jung, where Gross expresses his theory to not suppress any of your natural instincts and encourages Jung to sleep with patients he is attracted to. With Gross’ advice, Jung finally gives into his impulses and begins an affair with the now mentally stable Spielrien. As the years progress, Spielrien and Jung’s affair goes through battles of power, breakthroughs and questionings of consciences, similar to psychology’s development.

    A Dangerous Method is no exception to Cronenberg’s history of incorporating sex, brutality and most importantly bold and bizarre subject matters into his films. He bravely takes on a world-renowned historical subject that has remained untouchable to the film industry up until now. A Dangerous Method is simply the most compelling film of the year and succeeds in mesmerizing you through the skillful combination of history and drama. Something I always find to be a difficult challenge with historical films is maintaining historical accuracy while entertaining you with interesting dialogue. This is an aspect Christopher Hampton achieves best in. His script allows you to see the amount of research done on the topic while simultaneously having the most clever and intriguing conversations, especially between the opposing pyschologists. He perfectly adjusts the language to let people like me, who do not know much about psych theory, understand Freud and Jung, while not patronizing us either.

    From this multifaceted script, Cronenberg delves deep into the multiple character studies while bringing out the time period stunningly. Cronenberg and his cast members combined, make the film itself, a psychotherapy study of each character and relationship as we come to fully understand and identify with each of them. You see the distraught and continuous role changing between Jung and Spielrien, something you aren’t made to abhor or support, just fully comprehend and be absorbed into. The attractiveness of a film can sometimes be all you need to be won over, and regardless of what you think of the acting or story, there is no doubt everyone can appreciate the gorgeous cinematography, costumes and sets carefully chosen by Cronenberg and his crew.

    The most entrancing element of the film is the performance of it’s leading lady, Kiera Knightley, in her best role yet. Though Knightley’s career has had many highs, she has come a long way from playing a sixteen-year-old football player, as her skills as an actor continue to improve. Fassbender carries the film wonderfully as the distraught Jung, Mortensen does his most profoundly character enveloped performance yet as the iconic Freud and French actor Vincent Cassell makes a memorably amusing cameo as Otto Gross. But it is Knightley who steals the film with her remarkable portrayal of a hysteric-turned-loving young woman. The history that intrigues you, the romance that grips you, the shots that entrance you, and the cast that astonishes you all make Cronenberg’s A Dangerous Method, by far, one of the best films of the year.

A Separation

Director: Asghar Farhadi
Writer: Asghar farhadi
Starring: Leila Hatami, Peyman Moaddi
Release Date: January 20, 2012
Length: 2 hours 3 minutes

    Set in contemporary Iran, A Separation opens with a couple, Simin and Nader arguing in front of an unobserved court judge about their divorce. Simin wants to leave the country for her and their eleven-year-old daughter to grow up in better conditions while Nader cannot leave because of his sick father. While in the process of their messy divorce, Nader gets into an even more hectic battle with his father’s caregiver he hired, the deeply religious and poor Razieh. When his money goes missing from his room and Razieh ties the ill father up while she is out, Nader fires Razieh and demands she leaves. When Razieh persistently refuses to leave, Nader ends up pushing her out of the apartment, something she later claims caused her miscarriage.  As the case starts to involve more people like Razieh’s husband, Nader’s wife, daughter and father, the film raises and explores many questions and not just who did what, why did they do it and who was it done to?

    Writer/director/producer Asghar Farhadi opens up our Western eyes to the great existing issues in Iran, while relating to universal ones as well. There is a battle between secularity versus religion, father and child, wife and husband, wealthy and poor. As the film proceeds, the deeper questions are reached, but are far from being answered. The story stands as a deep, emotional mystery that never takes a breath of fresh air. On the thriller aspect, you are always panicked about the state of the investigation, whether Nader will be wronged, or if he even is innocent in the first place. The case continues to progress with more witnesses, and different arguments being brought up to benefit one case over another. However, as the vastly different couples continue to quarrel, we are brought back to the political and cultural differences that separate them already. With Nader in questioning, and the addition of the divorce that has yet to take place, you are poignantly drawn in to love this family. Your connection to each of them and the relationships between them, pulls at your heartstrings at the thought of them being separated.

    In essence, this film knocks you over in every single direction. You are emotionally drained, debating the pressing problems, while longing for the disruptive case to come to a close and to know who wins. Farhadi’s profound and timely script is extraordinarily brought to life by the Iranian actors you see on screen. Peyman Moaddi as Nader provides the deepest connection to his clearly distraught character. Nader clearly loves his wife and daughter very much and does not want to be separated from either of them whether it is through divorce or imprisonment, but he also loves his mentally ill father as well. Moaddi drives that emotional relationship between the audience and the film as his vulnerable distressed character carries the film.

    Leila Hatami as Simin is fantastic, showing us how much more important it is to her to have the divorce so she can have a better life and give a better life to her daughter. The level of magnitude of the women’s issue is effectively brought out through Hatami’s character and Hatami’s performance. Filmmaker Asghar Farhadi’s daughter, Sarina Farhadi is heart wrenching as Termeh and serves as the unofficial narrator to the film, as we see the story from her peacekeeping and perplexed point of view. Farhadi’s gripping and simply breathtaking A Separation is not only the best foreign film of the year, but one of the best films of the year, period. 

Shame

Director: Steve McQueen
Writer: Steve McQueen
Starring: Michael Fassbender, Carey Mulligan
Release Date: December 2, 2011
Length: 1 hour 41 minutes

    The writer and director of the critically acclaimed independent film Hunger, which revolved around the Irish hunger strike of 1981, Steve McQueen strikes astonishing and controversial filmmaking once again with the highly anticipated Shame. The film stars the 2011 male equivalent to Jessica Chastain, breakout star Michael Fassbender (Jane Eyre, X-Men First Class) as Brandon Sullivan, a highly successful and sex addicted thirty something living in New York City. 

    The film opens with a long shot of Brandon’s grief ridden and painful expression assumedly after masturbating in bed. When he makes the harsh sound of opening the blinds, a severe light comes across the shot of the bed, he has just gotten out of, setting the tone of McQueen’s excruciatingly long and real shooting. Watching Brandon’s “routine” so to speak, hiring a pricey call girl while ignoring a series of pleading voicemails from his sister, we see the very prosperous Brandon has no emotional connection to anything or anyone. 

    One day, Brandon returns to his posh apartment, to find his immature but troubled sister Sissy (Carey Mulligan) in his shower, with all her things sprawled out over the rest of his apartment. After she persistently begs, Brandon agrees to let her stay with him for a few days, giving into her charmingly childish manner. As the film continues, with a magnifying glass we analyze McQueen’s heavily layered protagonist through his different relationships with few people in his life. Whenever Brandon is not experiencing the ecstasy of having sex or nearing it, he is a pit of wordless Shame and failure, which we see in his dysfunctional relationship with his sensitively needy opposite sister. To Brandon, sex is free of any emotion, a way to escape from his life, while to her, sex is a way to get emotionally closer to another person, and expresses her depression through an addiction to self harm rather than sex. Sissy’s emotional need to be close to Brandon and his more than cruel anger toward her make for a beyond distraught and almost creepy relationship. You are brought to a level of sadness because of the purely unfair aggression Brandon has against Sissy, and because of the realized familial love and care he has for her that comes to light later on.  

    When Brandon goes out on a traditional dinner date with a pretty co-worker, we are surprised at how awkward and cute he is in contrast to his suaveness and sexiness when he is strictly trying to lure women into bed. This part of Brandon helps make him a real character for the audience to somehow connect to, as opposed to an exaggerated manic sex addict, with no sanity whatsoever. Through all of his well thought out and commendably layered written work, McQueen wins us over with originality and intense realism. However, it is through his deep creation of the fascinating Brandon we are so utterly captivated. You just can’t guess that you’re going to walk out of the theatre sympathizing and almost empathizing for a violent and sex crazed character. 

    From the most incredible work of Irish actor Michael Fassbender, you get that bowled over connection. As the second biggest Oscar snub of the year, right behind Michael Shannon of Take Shelter, Fassbender, without almost any dialogue, instantly pulls you into the distressed mind of Brandon, something you might have been weary about before the film began. Carey Mulligan gives a performance that rises far above her beyond splendid work in her breakout film, An Education, showing how far the twenty six year old actress has grown in only two years. Her incomparable portrayal of the unbearably sensitive Sissy simply drains us of emotion, with a brilliant hauntingly slow and different spin on the usually upbeat “New York, New York” by Frank Sinatra. 

    This film brings Mr.Fassbender and Ms. Mulligan to the height of some of the most extraordinary acting today, but not without the innovative mind of arguably the most challenging filmmaker today. McQueen’s exceedingly unique style of filmmaking turns Shame itself into a unique movie experience. Through his incredibly long, harsh and head on frames, he makes us understand that life does speed from getting onto a train, leaving it, walking to work, being inside the building. When there is any tension or important emotion that is trying to be conveyed on screen by the characters, McQueen makes you experience every anguished, awkward or painful second the characters have to go through. When Brandon is in an elevator anxious (as the audience is as well) to get upstairs, all I could think was “why can’t McQueen just cut to him walking into his apartment already?”.  

    It’s that painful realism though, that makes Shame the most authentic film of the year, and with its achievements in filmmaking and acting, Shame is by far one of the best films of the year. Though of course there are often almost unwatchable explicit scenes of sex, I can assure you it is not there for shock value or for pure vulgarity. With work from a visionary, performed by two masters of their craft, Shame will pull you through an emotional roller coaster, leaving you exhausted but extremely affected by this independent tour de force. 

Take Shelter

Director: Jeff Nichols
Writer: Jeff Nichols
Starring: Michael Shannon, Jessica Chastain
Release Date: September 30, 2011
Length: 2 hours 1 minute

    Independent filmmaker Jeff Nichols delivers his second project, Take Shelter, a film that thrives brilliantly and almost solely on the astonishing talent of it’s lead actor, Michael Shannon. Screened at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival, Take Shelter tells the story of a young couple, Curtis (Shannon) and Samantha (Jessica Chastain), living in a small town of Ohio with their young deaf daughter Hanna (Tova Stewart). They have a happy family and loving marriage but when Curtis begins to have apocalyptic dreams, he worriedly questions if he is inheriting his mother (Kathy Baker)’s schizophrenia. Keeping his worries and visions from his wife, Curtis thoughtlessly begins expanding their storm shelter in the backyard in preparation for a storm he knows is coming. As Samantha becomes worriedly hysterical and Curtis’ visions show no sign of stopping, the strength of the family and Curtis’ sanity are put to the ultimate test for the storm to come. 

    This is one of the rare independent beauties that finds its way to film festivals and then to limited releases in theatres because it has a strength that most films in theatres do not carry. The film shines through the story’s maybe purposefully dull setting and normal circumstances with the incredible character depth written by Nichols and performed by the breathtaking cast. 

    Nichols creates a very slow almost monotonous style of filmmaking from the start that becomes the base to the chaotic plot and the tumultuous protagonist Curtis. His long beautiful shots capture the sandy taupe terrain of the small town as well as the talent of his cast. His slow camerawork perfectly shows the day-to-day regularity of the family while also serving the required pace for the panic and worry of the family toward the end. 

    Nicholls’ pristine script is what remains untouchable in the film though. His realistic and relatable writing of the characters make us connect to the completely original and intelligent story almost instantly. Instead of making Curtis turn into a psychopathic maniac hiding everything from his wife, he becomes troubled by his hallucinations, going to doctors, aware of his mother’s mentally disturbed nature. This makes the worry, the slip into mania, and the consequences he inflicts upon his family that much more real and powerful to the anxious audience. 

    Of course, without doubt, that worry and that connection to Curtis would cease to exist without the single handedly best performance in a film in 2011 by the underrated and brilliant actor Michael Shannon. If you are familiar with Shannon’s previous work, with his breakout Oscar nominated performance in Sam Mendes’ Revolutionary Road, playing a mentally challenged son, playing the crazy producer in The Runaways, or most recently in HBO’s Boardwalk Empire as the fanatical quiet FBI agent Van Alden, you know he’s one of the best actors in Hollywood today. His low-key, but profound performance as the distraught Curtis pulls the entire film to its utter greatness that makes it one of the best films of the year. 

    However, this prodigy of an actor is accompanied by equally talented supporting actors, including Jessica Chastain, who is simply making a sweep of 2011 with roles in The Help, The Tree of Life, The Debt, etc…and gives a heart wrenching performance as the loving but distraught wife of Curtis, worried about his impositions on the family as a whole. Shea Wigman, Shannon’s co-star on Boardwalk Empire is also fantastic as Curtis’ co-worker and best friend who suffers the burdens of Curtis’ psychological spiral while Tova Stewart is also wonderful as the affected daughter of Curtis and Samantha. 

    Like most cinematic masterpieces, this film has a genius blend of a strong poignant story, beautiful camerawork, and an unbelievably skillful cast, that comes together for a moving two hours of subtle captivation. The only thing that might alter your experience of the film is an unforeseen ending that may annoy or satisfy the viewer. However, Take Shelter is a gem of storytelling and acting that will go unfortunately unnoticed by most people, including the Academy, but must be seen by anyone who cares for the brilliance film provides only a few times a year. Take Shelter is an extraordinary work of independent filmmaking that you simply must catch. 

The Descendants

Director: Alexander Payne
Writers: Alexander Payne, Jim Rash, Nat Faxon
Starring: George Clooney, Shaileene Woodley
Release Date: November 18, 2011
Length: 1 hour 55 minutes

    Acclaimed director Alexander Payne returns to his chair after seven years from directing since his last hit Sideways, with an equally curious film, The Descendants, starring George Clooney, and young actress Shailene Woodley (The Secret Life of An American Teenager).

    Based on the novel by Kuai Hurt Hemmings, the film tells the story of Matt King (Clooney), a Honolulu lawyer, who has just found out his wife, who was recently in a boating accident, will never wake from her coma, and will be disconnected from life support shortly. Matt must break the news to everyone who knew her, including his two daughters, ten-year-old Scottie (Amara Miller) and seventeen-year-old Alex (Woodley). In addition, Matt is the sole trustee of 25,000 acres of untouched land on the island of Kaua’i. Matt and his cousins have already decided they will sell the land for development because the trust will expire in seven years, but after his wife’s accident, Matt reconsiders what he will do with the land, especially because his daughters want him to keep it. To top off all the stress he is under, Matt finds out from his older daughter that his wife was seeing someone else before she got into the accident. Through visiting people to let them know of Elizabeth’s circumstances and tracking down the guy who was sleeping with her, Matt, Scottie and Alex endure an unconventional grieving process that brings them closer in an unexpected way.

    Payne, who co-wrote the script with Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, creates the most emotionally moving film of the year that unexpectedly pulls you in so closely to the complexity of the characters and of their relationships with each other. The script radiates with an authentic real-life family that deals with grief and parenting in such a sincerely disoriented way. This is an exceptionally character-driven movie that relies highly on the layered writing, Payne’s unique direction, and most importantly, the ability of the unbelievably skilled cast.

    This film shows Clooney simply at his very best in a role you have never seen him in before. Even his tacky Hawaiian short sleeve button-ups, his uncut graying hair, and his khaki shorts makes Clooney admirable on taking a step in a different direction. Aside from the wardrobe though, Clooney is incredible at playing an unattractive, uncool, pretty normal middle-aged guy. His performance as Matt shows perfectly how bewildered he is toward raising his girls, and trying to keep it together after each blow of pressure upon him. His co-star for most of the film is twenty-year-old Shailene Woodley, someone who, I stupidly regret, kept me from seeing this movie immediately because of her lead role on a TV show that I do not enjoy. Her performance as the troubled, honest, and incredibly smart Alex is simply extraordinary and shows off her natural talent on screen that needs to be seen by more than a teen audience. Her younger sister in the film is played by the enjoyable Amara Miller, who captivates the audience just as much when on screen. Judy Greer, unfortunately best known for playing the best friend in romantic comedies like 13 Going On 30 and 27 Dresses, also breaks through her stereotype and gives an excellent performance. Beau Bridges, a great actor we have not seen in a while is wonderful as one of Matt’s annoying cousins that wants to sell the land.

    The last co-star of the film was the beautiful setting of Hawaii, which Payne continuously reinforces with Hawaiian music, and even unintentional geography and history insights into the land itself. Like Sideways, Payne again creates a unique off-the-wall movie that gradually and unexpectedly bowls you over emotionally. His original story combined with a phenomenal cast makes for a simply perfect movie and by far, makes The Descendants one of the best of this year. 

The Ides of March

Director: George Clooney
Writers: George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon (playwright)
Starring: Ryan Gosling, George Clooney, Evan Rachel Wood
Length: 1 hour 41 minutes
Release Date: October 7, 2011

    Academy Award Winner, two-time sexiest man-alive, mega superstar George Clooney has been on a continuous roll of some good, some bad, some fantastic films for the last ten years. However, after only every three years, the constantly working actor stops to sit behind the director’s chair as well. He made his directorial debut with Confessions of A Dangerous Mind in 2002, received six Oscar nominations for his McCarthy era film Good Night, And Good Luck in 2005, gave us the screwball football comedy Leatherheads in 2008 and now takes on the highly anticipated political drama, The Ides of March.

    Based on the play Farragut North by Beau Willimon, the film stars golden boy Ryan Gosling as the idealistic Stephen Meyers, the deputy campaign manager for governor Mike Morris (Clooney), who is running as a Democratic presidential candidate. Campaign Manager Paul Zara (Phillip Seymour Hoffman), the Morris campaign’s twenty-year-old intern Molly Stearns (Evan Rachel Wood), Meyers and the rest of the campaign team are working to beat out Ted Pullman (Michael Mantell) in the Democratic primaries.

    While both are currently campaigning in Ohio, a state that would secure the nomination for Morris and would give Pullman critical momentum, Pullman’s campaign manager Tom Duffy (Paul Giamatti) asks Meyers for a secret meeting. Though unwilling, Meyers goes and meets Duffy, where he is asked to join the campaign for Pullman and leave Morris. Meyers refuses and leaves the meeting. However, he does not realize how much he has compromised himself by seeing Duffy in the first place. Quickly, this naïve subordinate gets a harsh dose of dirty politics that puts him in jeopardy. Nonetheless, something Meyers has found out about Morris through Molly might be able to malevolently help him out.

    Right off the bat, without even knowing everything about the plot, this film has literally everything going for it. With Clooney directing, the film already has a massive amount of interest surrounding it, as well as the fact that the film is filled with one of the best casts of movie history. Name after name, you are shocked by the amount of brilliant talent that can fit into this movie including Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, Marisa Tomei, and the list continues. Going into the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival, I assumed The Ides of March would come out on top, winning the people’s choice awards and being the sure pick for this year’s Oscars. Unfortunately, it was impossible for those unbelievably high expectations to be met and what we are left with is a very good film, but also a disappointment.

    Everything that you expect to be fantastic in The Ides of March still is. The factor that stops you from being completely blown away by the film does not lie in the casts’ performances or in Clooney’s direction, but in the very delicate script. Writing a political movie is always a tricky task, and while managing to create great character depth and an enjoyable plot, the screenplay by Clooney, Grant Heslov and the playwright Beau Willimon does not surpass every obstacle. Keeping in mind the film was based off a theatrical production, there are very dramatic plot turns and clichés that irritate you for existing in this smart political drama. The story clearly does not take place in today’s world of U.S. politics, which is completely fine. However, this creates a constant slight detachment from the solely democrat competition these characters are in.

    This only reminds you that the story is the backbone of a film. If it isn’t completely sturdy, there is no way to be entirely enveloped with what’s in front of you, no matter how talented the cast or director is. Nonetheless, they are clearly very talented and bring out an immense enjoyment of the film that no other team could. Clooney, to start with, shines brilliantly as the director of this film. He brings out a very important kind of elegance that the scenes between most characters seem to naturally have. Simultaneously, he brings out the darkness from underneath the cruel world of politics that uncovers itself slowly as Gosling’s character finds himself in more and more trouble. That darkness is so pinnacle for the film because it alters not only your understanding of the film but also your understanding of the unfair world of politics, similar to another film this fall, Moneyball, with the corrupt world of Baseball. Clooney simply nails that aspect of the film.

    His second greatest achievement with The Ides Of March is picking the ultimate cast. Ryan Gosling, in the lead role is topping off his best most versatile year yet. First, with the hugely successful romantic comedy Crazy, Stupid,Love. in the summer, the acclaimed and triumphant action thriller Drive in September and now, the sharp political drama, The Ides of March, you think we would be getting sick of the gifted heartthrob. However, with Gosling’s versatility in picking his roles comes outstanding versatility in his performances, so that every time you see that familiar face on screen, you aren’t seeing the same person at all. He carries the film beautifully and is totally convincing in his character’s drastic transformation, making the audience sad for his lost innocence.

    Phillip Seymour Hoffman who plays Meyers’ boss, Morris’ head campaign manager, is simply fantastic as the zealous Paul Zara, while Marisa Tomei is marvelously devious as the New York Times reporter Ida Horowitz, who puts Meyers in an awkward position. Paul Giamatti is also commanding on screen as the likable enemy of Meyers, while Evan Rachel Wood captivates the screen with her very strong chemistry with Gosling and her unbelievable skill playing a charming but distressed girl that is stuck in the middle of Meyers’ dilemma. The rest of the cast including Jeffrey Wright, Max Minghella, Jennifer Ehle and Clooney himself are somehow all extraordinary as well.

    If your expectations of this film were similar to mine, it is impossible to walk away without feeling slight disappointment. However, with Clooney directing, a fairly intriguing plot, and once again one of the best dramatic casts you will ever see on screen, The Ides of March makes for a thoroughly enjoyable movie experience that is well worth your time.  

Martha Marcy May Marlene

Director: Sean Durkin
Writer: Sean Durkin
Starring: Elizabeth Olsen, John Hawkes, Sarah Paulson
Release Date: October 28, 2011
Length: 1 hour 41 minutes

    In addition to Rooney Mara of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and Felicity Jones of Like Crazy, one of the most talked about new talented faces of 2011 and the coming Oscar season is the star of Sean Durkin’s Martha Marcy May Marlene, Elizabeth Olsen. The younger sister of the famed Olsen twins has broken through on her own in a quite shocking debut role, as an influenced girl taken in by a welcoming cult.

    The film opens with Olsen running away from the cult through the Catskill Mountains, finding a diner on an open road. She is followed by Watts, a young fellow cult member, who refers to our lead character as Marcy May, the name given to her at the cult. He eventually leaves, allowing her to escape and call her sister to pick her up, using a nearby payphone. The girl – we learn is named Martha – is picked up by her sister Lucy (Sarah Paulson) and is taken back to her spacious and modern summer home in upstate New York. She will stay with Lucy and her husband Ted (Hugh Dancy), who are completely unaware of where Martha has been for the last two years.

    The film goes back and forth between flashbacks of Martha’s time at the cult, including her relationship with the much older enigmatic Patrick (John Hawkes) and the present where Martha has trouble interacting with the real world. As the film continues, we finely discover how much the cult has damaged Martha and her mental health and are pulled back and forth from believing the threat of the cult coming after her and thinking she has been induced into paranoia.

    After receiving incredible praise at Sundance Film Festival in January and at the Toronto International Film Festival in September, curiosity has been rising about the independent film surrounding such a disturbing topic. This powerfully unique film is not only a surprising breakthrough for the twenty two year old actress, but for writer/director Sean Durkin as well.

    Durkin, who took home the best director award at Sundance film festival, makes a bold choice for his feature film debut as well as a commendable choice in casting the unknown Olsen. Both talents soar brilliantly within their own fields, combining for a surprising and haunting success of genius. Durkin’s slow careful camerawork makes every shot appreciatively beautiful and eerie. His dark lighting and cinematography of the Catskills creates an ominous atmosphere to the time Martha spends there while the almost too bright lighting and open window décor of Lucy and Ted’s house makes us feel as uncomfortable and displaced as Martha.

   Durkin’s powerful script succeeds with subtlety about anything but a simple situation. Instead of dramatizing Martha’s experiences and memories with dialogue of her reliving it, he chooses to ever so subtly show how Martha does not fit into her sister’s world. The obvious changes in her mind grow more worrying as the film continues, with you truly seeing how two years of the cult has changed her forever. First, she goes swimming naked in her sister’s lake, and then later cringingly goes into her sister’s bed while she and her husband are having sex. In most scenes, with the simple look at the lives of people in the cult, the film never forces us into feeling only one emotion for a character, and instead lets us interpret our feeling toward the characters and situations as we choose. Although usually appreciating the delicacy, sometimes you wish it would go away more often so you could really be compelled to feel something strong toward the horrors you are seeing in front of you.

   Minding that annoyance, Durkin shines as a commanding filmmaker, including choosing some of the best working actors to live out his incomparable writing. Olsen simply takes our breath away in each scene, and not just because of her natural beauty, but also with her astonishing poignant performance as a psychologically tormented young girl who cannot leave her past behind. Olsen is one of the most talented faces to appear in 2011 and is more than worthy of an Oscar nomination this February.

   She is accompanied by the equally talented John Hawkes, who was nominated for an Academy Award last year for his performance in the highly acclaimed independent film Winter’s Bone starring Jennifer Lawrence. In Martha Marcy May Marlene, Hawkes is uncannily exceptional as the middle-aged leader of the cult, Patrick. His astounding performance makes the horrific character bizarrely attractive, just like Olsen’s character sees him. Sarah Paulson is also fantastic as Martha’s worried and confused sister, who has no idea how to deal with her clearly messed up sister as well as Hugh Dancy as Ted, who sympathizes less with the erratic and ungrateful Martha.

    Though it might not be the most enjoyable film of 2011, Martha Marcy May Marlene is by far, one of the most praiseworthy. Starring the irreplaceable Olsen and lead by virtuoso filmmaker Sean Durkin, it is a must see for any film appreciator. 

Moneyball

Director: Bennett Miller
Writers: Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin
Starring: Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, Phillip Seymour Hoffman
Release Date: September 23, 2011
Length: 2 hours 13 minutes

    One of the most anticipated films to go to this year’s Toronto International Film Festival was the inspirational adaptation of Michael Lewis’ book, Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game. Starring the ultimate money-promiser Mr. Brad Pitt, Moneyball tells the incredible true story of how the failing Oakland Athletics baseball team revolutionized the game of baseball.

    With the departure of the team’s most (and only) successful three players, General Manager Billy Beane (Pitt) is at a loss for how he will rebuild the team that has been left in the dust. He refuses to “replace” the lost players, which is the only strategy his old scouts are ready to play out, but he still cannot figure out a way to recruit good players with Oakland’s limited player payroll.

    While visiting the Cleveland Indians, Beane meets Yale economics graduate Peter Brand (Jonah Hill), who has radical ideas about evaluating a player’s value. Beane hires him on the spot as the assistant general manager to the Oakland Athletics. Although he faces scrutiny from the team’s experienced scouts, Brand selects a group of underrated players almost solely on their “on base” percentage. Beane supports Brand’s picks and hires the players. Once the team’s choices becomes public, Beane and the Oakland A’s receive intense criticism from everyone involved with the sport, with everyone agreeing that it’s a nice idea, but you just can’t change over a hundred year old sport.

    The first many games do not prove Brand’s theory true, due to the opposition from manager Art Howe (Phillip Seymour Hoffman), but when he agrees to go on with Beane’s ridiculous plan, the Oakland A’s slowly begin to improve and rise up. Everyone cannot seem to believe they are seeing Brand’s idea resonate, but just because the theory worked out does not mean the team is safe.

    There is a very dark shadow cast over what Michael Lewis calls an unfair game, both visibly, in director Bennett Miller’s camerawork and hidden within the story, both vital for Moneyball. This is not a typical sports movie, in that it has a much more realistic bare look at what many people did not know to be an unjust game, from Aaron Sorkin and Steven Zaillian’s script. Though this is an underdog story, through Beane’s struggle to get the team off the ground, the rewarding feeling does not last very long when it hits.

    When you add Miller’s very dark lighting and intense shooting, you are left with a very unconventional but very honest and intriguing sports movie. The overall dark atmosphere makes the moments of joy between Beane and his daughter, and moments of clever humor from Sorkin and Zaillian, usually between Beane and Brand, that much more important. In a sense, it is up to the cast to bring the light out of the story.

    Brad Pitt gives a brilliant performance as Beane, the complete opposite of his last role, in The Tree of Life as Mr. O’Brien. Where one performance was fantastic as an unstable 1950s Father, the other was fantastic as a normal likable father. In Moneyball, Pitt carries the movie perfectly as the confident, but unsure General Manager and loving parent as well.

    Jonah Hill, in one of his first non-comedic role, simply shines as a serious actor in his performance of the timid, awkward Peter Brand. Sticking to his roots though, Hill still makes us laugh in various scenes with Pitt, who shares a strong bro-chemistry with Hill. Chris Pratt, best known for his hilarious role on NBC’s Parks and Recreation also shows off his skills as a dramatic actor, playing the injured young father Scott Hatteburg thrilled to be unexpectedly hired onto the team. Phillip Seymour Hoffman, who worked with Miller on Capote, is also great in his small role as the irritated manager of the team, while Kerris Dorsey gives a very enjoyable performance as Beane’s loving daughter Casey.

   Though Moneyball may not be the most uplifting movie of the year, it gives you one of the most brutally candid looks at Baseball, which makes for an exceptionally original and free of clichés movie. With Pitt’s performance leading the way, he heightens your appreciation and enjoyment of one of the most refreshing films of the year.

Like Crazy

Director: Drake Doremus
Writers: Drake Doremus
Starring: Anton Yelchin, Felicity Jones
Release Date: October 28, 2011
Length: 1 hour 30 minutes

    Being the winner of 2011’s prestigious grand jury prize at the Sundance film festival, there was much anticipation for unknown director Drake Doremus’ indie romance, as it was going into the Toronto International Film Festival in September and into theatres just a few weeks later. People were more than intrigued by Like Crazy, a film that did so well at Sundance, had such an interesting premise and had a fresh beautiful actress to boot.

   Like Crazy is this year’s Blue Valentine, the new bittersweet melancholy romance about two whimsical kids who face circumstances that threaten their blissful romance. Jacob and Anna are two university students in Los Angeles who before you can catch it, quickly fall in love with each other during their senior year. With Anna being from England, they know they will eventually have to deal with her going back and the two of them being separated when they graduate. However when June approaches, the smitten couple spontaneously decides that Anna will stay living with Jacob in California until she has to return for a relative’s wedding in the UK.

    After a lovely relaxing summer, Anna goes back to England for the wedding, planning on returning straight to Jacob, when it is finished. When she lands in L.A. after her trip though, she is held at customs for abusing her student visa and is eventually told she is being sent back to the UK and will not be allowed to return back to the U.S.

   The film takes us through the next four or five years of both their lives as they continue to try to make the relationship work because they seriously cannot think of being with anyone else but each other. Inspired by Doremus’ experiences with his ex-wife and her U.S. immigration issues, he adds a very realistic element to the script, especially with the relationship between Anna and Jacob. He also shoots Like Crazy with exceptionally beautiful camerawork and cinematography, highlighting his very independent style of filmmaking.

   However, his authenticity does not shine through every scene due to some moments of indie directing that just comes off as contrived. For instance, after Anna and Jacob’s first date, they place their hands at the same place on opposite sides of a window for what seems like an hour and when they are not getting along they sit across from each other on the bus with their arms crossed.

   Those are only little annoyances that add to the general irritation of little character development before the two characters get together. Like another longing romance this summer One Day, you are forced to just go with these characters right from the start without any depth or insight into who your protagonists are. Aside from their first date, all of their happy romance is captured in a three minute montage and Anna is deported only twenty or twenty five minutes into the film. If it was any other couple, you would understand their breakup, but Anna and Jacob fight so hard to keep their relationship going, because of their undeniable affection for each other. Yet, we do not understand their love quite as clear as they do and are, therefore, always a little detached from the motivation of their strenuous mission to bring Anna back to Los Angeles.

    After the rocky beginning of the film though, the plot picks up and you are soon entangled into the saddening love story. The latter half of Like Crazy is what makes it so strongly affective, showing you how realistically tired the characters become after years of trying everything to make it work and when it finally does, they realize their exhaustion has debauched their love.

   Two incredibly talented young actors carry the film, Anton Yelchin, who we have seen in films like Star Trek and Charlie Bartlett and newcomer British actress Felicity Jones, who won best actress at Sundance for her performance in this movie. Their powerful performances overcome the lack of character development and make us unquestioningly believe their undeniable love for each other and drive to just stick together. Jennifer Lawrence is also fantastic in her small role as Jacob’s girlfriend in Los Angeles, who knows he is still in love with Anna and that their relationship is headed nowhere. There has never been so much more young dramatic talent in a movie than in Like Crazy and it is because of them, you are swept away with the story for the last hour.

   Similar to Blue Valentine, when Like Crazy is over, you leave the theatre feeling as emotionally drained as the characters, but emotionally moved at least. You cannot help but act like a therapist, talking about why the relationship did not work, and how they had grown up and wasted so much of their lives on their blinding love.

    If you can get over the slightly bumpy beginning, and allow yourself to buy into this young love by the cast and Doremus’ skillfull filming, you will easily dive into the intensity of Like Crazy, though keep in mind, the result is far from rewarding. 

Death of a Superhero

Director: Ian Fitzgibbon
Writer: Anthony McCarten
Starring: Thomas Sangster, Aisling Loftus
Release Date: TBA
Length: 1 hour 38 minutes

    British actor Thomas Sangster is the guy (or boy) we know best for playing the lovestruck eleven-year-old kid of Liam Neeson in 2004’s romantic comedy Love Actually. We recognized him a year later in Emma Thompson’s Nanny McPhee and most recently as a young Paul McCartney in last year’s Lennon bio-pic Nowhere Boy. Now, he takes quite a different turn in completely carrying his new film, Death of A Superhero. He plays Donald Clarke, a fifteen-year-old terminal cancer patient, who draws stories of an unstoppable superhero to distract him from his inevitable mortality. Light stuff, I know.

    Donald lives in Dublin, Ireland, with his loving parents James and Renata, who are trying everything they can to find a way out of this unavoidable situation. He has a group of friends at school, but that does not change the fact that Donald keeps to himself and is still an outcast to everyone else.

    His situation becomes less depressing when two new people arrive in his life. His parents hire an expensive talked about therapist named Dr. Adrian King (Andy Serkis) who is intrigued by Donald. While attending odd and at first pointless meetings with Adrian, Donald takes an interest in the outspoken new girl at school Shelly (Aisling Loftus). Without necessarily making him happier, these unexpected new relationships put a different light on Donald’s tragic circumstances that has up until now been a pure boat of depression. He leans toward figuring out a way to be more welcoming to the end he knows is coming.

   Once you decide whether you can get through the frank fact that Donald is dying, it is up to you whether this is still a good film. For me, I still had to put aside the fact that I have seen the cancer love story in at least a dozen other films and especially where the patient is a teen, in films like A Walk To Remember, My Sister’s Keeper, etc…However, putting that all aside, you are left with a film that will mostly satisfy you with the fantastic performances from the diverse cast.

   Anthony McCarten’s script (adapted from his award winning novel) sincerely delves into the stressful teenage state of growing up that creates commendable authenticity in the film. However, it is in fact Donald’s plot of battling cancer that takes away from the overall enjoyment in the film. There is nothing with slow-moving scenes or even a slow-moving film, but if you are not completely hooked by what is in front of you, you are simply exhausted. That is the case for many of Donald’s scenes dealing with his quite overpowering disease, especially when he deals with his attitude toward it near the end.

   Nevertheless, you are easily swept up by the gradual sweet and clever romance between Donald and Shelly and Donald’s relentless love and support from his parents. Like I said before, it is the terrific cast that reigns over the film, lead by child turned adult actor Thomas Sangster. He is simply outstanding as the obviously conflicted and incredibly dark Donald. When we see Donald begin to like Shelly, Sangster shows us a different side to him, and it is not necessarily one that is “opening up”. Sangster merely portrays Donald as a teenager during his scenes with Shelly, in comparison to a terminal patient. This is vitally important because his performance does not create a distinction of happiness versus depression, but of oddity versus regularity.

   Aisling Loftus is oddly enchanting as Donald’s love interest Shelly, whose own background keeps her independent and hard for Donald to catch. Michael McElhatton and Sharon Horgan are surprisingly very funny and simultaneously heartbreaking as Donald’s parents, and Andy Serkis, who we know better for playing our favourite creatures, Gollum and King Kong, gives a great intriguing performance as Donald’s therapist, as well.

   The cast is simply what makes or breaks your experience of the film. If they are enough for you, you can easily enjoy yourself, however if not, the sheer depressing premise of the film, or the fact that you have seen it a million times before, may leave you in annoyed unhappiness. Personally, I simply did not need the unnecessary dose of a depressing cancer movie, especially after having seen 50/50, a film that perfectly pulls you in while still leaving you happy. Death of A Superhero, although filled with great performances, was definitely a disappointment out of this year’s Toronto International Film Festival. If it even comes to North American theatres, you might want to think twice before spending your money on it. 

Monsieur Lahzar

Director: Phillipe Faladreau
Writer: Phillipe Faladreau
Starring: Mohammed Fellag, Émilien Néron, Sophie Nélisse
Release Date: TBA
Length: 1 hour 34 minutes

    The producers of last year’s overwhelmingly powerful film that should have won best foreign picture at the Academy Awards, Incendies, return to the Toronto International Film Festival with an equally moving French Canadian film, Monsieur Lahzar.

    The film, based off a one-man play, tells the story of an Algerian immigrant teacher who takes a job at an elementary school in Montreal for a class of distressed students. Their former beloved teacher hung herself in their classroom, for the particular student Simon to unfortunately witness when he was picking up milk. As the young kids get over the trauma in different ways, their new teacher Bachir Lazhar works on fitting in with his new students and his new North American lifestyle. The traumatized Simon faces resentment from his best friend Alice, as she has her own ideas of why the death took place. Meanwhile, the kind hearted Bachir faces problems with his immigration, as we learn he has a troublesome tale of why he came to Canada. His different teaching methods may be just what these kids need, as they cope with the sudden event that has forever altered the school.

    There is beautiful delicacy to this film that writer/director Phillipe Faladreau establishes right from the start. The normality and dullness of the suburban Montreal winter setting only make the powerful story and characters of the film more vivid. Faladreau continues to shine with his layered screenwriting that moves you in an oddly haunting way. He makes you so incredibly attached to these complex characters with ever so subtle depictions of them. These people appear simple to you at first while subliminally instilling themselves in your heart, so that by the end of the film, your compassion for them will have you in tears.

    This poignant script is performed by the most exceptional actors of all ages. The two main children the story focuses on are played by the powerful young actors Émilien Néron and Sophie Nélisse. Nélisse is simply captivating as Alice, a very quiet but complicated little girl who separates herself from her best friend. Néron evokes so much empathy from the audience with his heartbreaking performance of a boy who is conflicted on whether he caused his teacher’s suicide. There is a particular scene in the classroom that will create the most tears in the film because of his exceptional acting. The two together create a lovely emotional relationship for the audience to watch that drives much of your affection in the film.

    Algerian actor Mohammed Fellag, better known as Fellag is the perfect representation of subtle gravity that this film carries. His shy kind demeanour makes him easily lovable and pulls at your heart-strings during his immigration scenes. His quiet love for the children he teaches prepares your heart for breaking and his very timid attitude, when on a date, just makes you giggle with excitement. There are also wonderful performances from Danielle Proulx and Brigitte Poupart as other staff members at the school.

   Rightfully the official submission from Canada to the Best Foreign Film Award at the Oscars, Monsieur Lazhar is one of the most touching films of the year and deserves to be nominated this coming January. With the outstanding cast and the talented skills of Phillipe Faladreau, it is simply a must see for anyone with a heart.

Undefeated

Directors: T.J. Martin, Daniel Lindsay
Release Date: February 10, 2012
Length: 1 hour 53 minutes

    Directors T.J. Martin and Daniel Lindsay who have surprisingly only worked on a documentary short about Beer Pong, give us the most powerful documentary of the year. Their debut feature documentary, Undefeated details the struggles of an underdog high school football team in North Memphis, Tennessee.

    The film which is almost like a real life version of Friday Night Lights, premiered at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival to a unanimously positive reaction. Undefeated follows the unlikely rising team and their relentless fight to win, guided by their goodhearted coach Bill Courtney. Courtney is a wealthy businessman that volunteers most of his time to training and consequently teaching these inner city kids, who without football, would not have any other optimistic futures. The Manassas Tigers used to be the team that was given money by other teams to get easily beaten by them, but in 2006, Courtney enlisted a talented group of freshmen to turn the team around. At first, every team demolished them. With intense encouragement and determination fueling from Courtney, the Tigers did not quit and kept on going. Now, those freshmen are seniors and they have one last chance to prove their worth and possibly get a hold of scholarships. Courtney has made a daunting goal for the team and that is to win the first playoff game in the Manassas’ 110-year history.

    Lindsay and Martin follow these intriguing exceptional kids, in their last year of hope at Manassas High. In an area of Memphis where kids are more likely to go to jail than college, your hope feels just as strong. Lindsay and Martin were smart enough to spring on the opportunity to follow the this moving story at the beginning of the 2009 season, so we see Courtney’s process from beginning to end.

    Courtney, who claimed at TIFF’s screening that he was no therapist and just said what he thought was right, ends up changing the lives of the players on the Manassas team in a way he nor the audience could ever prepare for. He does not do this through the physical sport of football, but through his evocative speeches to his players that even affect members of the audience. After the opening scene of Courtney giving a passionate locker room speech, we are immediately gripped by the film. After each game with the stakes higher and higher for both Courtney and the players, we back Courtney’s goal for the team that becomes about so much more than winning and losing football games. As we deepen our attachment to these unstoppable people, the climax of the film will evoke a frightening amount of anticipation you didn’t know you had in you and will have the theatre flooded with tears.

    The genius camerawork from Lindsay and Martin gives you that proximity to the characters that completely carries you away with the film. They follow Courtney and the players in such an up close candid way that you develop an incredible connection to a team you had never heard of before. Without knowing anything about them two hours prior, you are left emotionally cheering for the Manassas Tigers when the film is finished. Undefeated is by far the most touching film of this year and the two hours you spend watching it will be the most affecting movie experience you have had in a while. Trust me, when it arrives in theatres, Undefeated must be at the top of your list. 

The Oranges

Director: Julian Farino
Writers: Jay Reiss, Ian Helfer
Starring: Leighton Meester, Hugh Laurie, Alia Shawkat
Release Date: TBA
Length: 1 hour 32 minutes

    Since the explosive success of the CW’s Gossip Girl, Leighton Meester has had big screen hits playing small roles in films like Date Night, Country Strong, and Monte Carlo. Her first official lead role was in the universally panned horror movie The Roommate, which garnered success from her teenage girl fan base. Meester takes on her official first adult lead role in first time director Julian Farino’s The Oranges. Having only finished editing the film a few days before, Farino premiered the film at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, and I was among the few in the theatre.

    The film tells the incredibly bizarre story of two families who have lived across the street from each other for years, the Ostroffs and the Wallings. David Walling (Hugh Laurie) and Terry Ostroff (Oliver Platt) are the best of friends, who go on jogs every morning and obsess over the latest piece of technology Terry introduces them to. Their wives Carol Ostroff (Alison Janey) and Paige Walling (Catherine Kenner) are also friends and Paige and David’s twenty something daughter Vanessa (Alia Shwakat) still lives with them. In contrast to Vanessa, Terry and Carol’s daughter, Nina (Meester) has been away from home for five years and decides to return to her parent’s house for Thanksgiving, after she catches her fiancé cheating on her. Her arrival brings a smile to the face of the Walling’s son Toby (Adam Brody), who has always liked her, while it annoys her once best friend Vanessa who dreams of leaving the small town like Nina. The well traveled, offbeat and self-centered Nina turns this idealic New Jersey neighbourhood upside down when she begins a romantic relationship with David, giving everybody in both families a slap in the face.

    With one of the most diversely hilarious casts of all time, and an exceptionally unusual premise, there are high expectations riding on the film directorial debut of TV director Julian Farino. The story written by Ian Helfer and Jay Reiss allows for much originality and humor in the script, mostly with the priceless reactions from everyone in the families. You honestly do not know what to expect in the plot, not really knowing how anyone would react to this situation. Although it may seem completely unrealistic, the affair between David and Nina comes off very natural and easily in the film. With the rocky marriage between David and his wife Paige, and the grown up sex appeal of Nina, who does not care for anyone but herself, the attraction is believable.

   However, as the romance grows, ruining David’s marriage and family, we begin to question wether the affair-turned-relationship is that realistic. It makes sense why the inconsiderate Nina would continue seeing David as she pleases, but we wonder how the seemingly sensible David, whose daughter was and is still bullied by Nina, is still captivated enough by Nina to continue this destructive relationship.

    Aside from the story, we are mostly won over by the overwhelmingly hilarious and talented cast. Starting off, Alison Janney and Oliver Platt make the perfect couple, who are more than a bit shocked by their daughter dating a very old friend of theirs. Platt’s humorous bewilderment to the relationship beautifully contrasts with Janney’s quite unsure reassurance to her husband.

    Catherine Keener is fantastic in her less funny role as a woman who faces a mid-life crisis once her husband starts seeing a twenty-three-year-old. Arrested Development’s Alia Shawkat is very sardonically funny as our narrator Vanessa, an unhappy furniture salesperson that actually dreams of being a furniture designer. Adam Brody – most well known for his role on The O.C. - is also very amusing as a guy that comes home to see his childhood crush with his Dad.

    Unlike his cynical narcissitic role on House, Hugh Laurie plays a very timid and easily influenced man in The Oranges. He is awestruck by the young and attractive Nina who has an interest in him and has driven his attention away from his stressful marriage. Laurie is excellent as the film’s confused lead male role and shares a very strong chemistry with Leighton Meester. Meester is wonderful as the bored and immature young woman who enjoys being a detrimental femme fatale to the exhaustedly wooden families she is forced to visit. Being extremely funny and convincing as the film’s antagonist Nina Ostroff, Meester has officially departed from her once only teen audience.

    For the audience, The Oranges has a refreshing story but the originality wears off when we can no longer buy into the odd relationship. The cast makes up for that uncertainty you have with the film, making it a more often than not enjoyable movie experience. No promises, but if you let the cast take you there, you could very well end up enjoying The Oranges.

Friends With Kids

Director: Jennifer Westfeldt
Writer: Jennifer Westfeldt
Starring: Jennifer Westfeldt, Adam Scott, Megan Fox
Release Date: TBA
Length: 1 hour 40 minutes

    In 2001, a quirky romantic comedy called Kissing Jessica Stein debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival to a unanimously positive response. In 2002, it was released to rave reviews from critics. Everyone seemed to love the movie about the Jewish girl, tired of her unlucky bad blind dates with men, who decides to try dating a free-spirited woman. The film brought great attention to its talented unknown star and co-writer Jennifer Westfeldt. Although she continued to make independent films, Westfeldt came into the public eye again when her long-term boyfriend Jon Hamm landed the celebrated role of Don Draper on the Emmy-winning Mad Men. Ten years after her first screening of Kissing Jessica Stein, Westfeldt returned to the Toronto festival with her star-packed directorial debut, Friends With Kids.

    The film tells the story of two late-30s best friends Julie (Westfeldt) and Jason (Parks and Recreation’s Adam Scott), who have witnessed their best friends’ social and romantic lives deteriorate with the addition of kids. Leslie (Maya Rudolph) and Alex (Chris O’Dowd)’s only communication is in the form of screaming while the once spontaneous Missy (Kristen Wiig) and Ben (Jon Hamm) have developed a bitter resentment toward each other. Julie and Jason discuss how they both want kids so badly, but would hate to experience what their friends have gone through. They also don’t want to keep waiting for the right person until it is too late, so Jason jokingly suggests they should have a kid together without actually being together because they are friends. However, both of them realize this may be the best way to raise a kid, and still have a romantic life, since they are not romantically interested in each other. The pair decides they will have the kid they both separately wanted and continue to see other people. As time goes by though, Julie and Jason’s picture-perfect idea can’t hold their expectations, as they realize that having a kid can change the relationship between two life-long friends.

    Produced by Jennifer Westfeldt and Jon Hamm, this is still an independent film with a budget of less than $10 million.  However, the film is filled with people we all know, including the sought after Megan Fox, as Jason’s dancer girlfriend, Mary Jane. Westfeldt, who only finished the script last December, simply nails every aspect of filmmaking with Friends With Kids.

    Unless the film is coming out the next weekend, you often don’t really know what you are going to see at the film festival. That was the case when I went to see Friends With Kids. All I knew going into it was that I liked Kissing Jessica Stein and I expected the film would be hilarious because of the talented comedians in it, like Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph. This is one of the funniest films I have seen all year, but I was not expecting to be in for a lot more than a funny movie.

   I want to say this is one of the best comedies I have seen this year because the volume of laughter from everyone in TIFF’s audience prevented me from hearing what the characters were saying next, but the film was so much more than a good comedy. It’s the cleverness in the characters and humorous relatability in their lives that brings out the laughter. The truthfulness instead of the usual absurdity is what sets this film a part from other comedies and makes Friends With Kids a memorable film. There are a few particular scenes that are of a more serious nature, but they are not “dramatic”. They’re just showing the characters facing the reality of their situation. There is a rare realism that all characters, including the friends with supporting roles display, showing they are not just there for laughs.

    Friends With Kids has an uncommon trait where every single cast member is a joy to watch on screen. SNL marvel Maya Rudolph and her Irish Bridesmaids co-star Chris O’Dowd are hysterically adorable as the loud and loving couple Leslie and Alex.  The contrast between the two parents is comically relatable as Rudolph is constantly yelling at Alex while he takes his time reading a magazine in the washroom avoiding her demands. Jon Hamm again steps into the role of the douchebag, but unlike his hilarious role in Bridesmaids, his role as Ben in Friends With Kids is realistically uncaring. The enormously skillful Hamm is very funny but also quite upsetting as the blackberry addicted, apathetic husband and father. Kristen Wiig is fantastic in one of her few dramatic roles as Ben’s fed up wife Missy, who receives the most sympathy from the audience.

    Megan Fox has played the “hot girl” in almost all of her films, but in Friends With Kids, the same character is for once, written for her in a realistic way, with Scott’s character literally saying “Oh My God,” when he first sees her. Yes, finally another character on screen genuinely recognizes that someone this gorgeous is interacting with them. Many have criticized Fox’s acting skills or lack there of. After seeing this film though, one could argue she has not gotten the roles to prove her worth because for the first time, Fox gives a very commendable performance. Taking the layered character written by Westfeldt, Fox is wonderfully funny and very convincing as Mary Jane, Adam Scott’s character’s girlfriend.
 
    Scott, who we now know best for his hilarious weekly performance on Parks and Recreaton, is a good friend of Westfeldt and Hamm and was actually the inspiration for the film’s premise. Scott is the best at playing the charming likable guy in much of his work because of his very natural acting we can relate to. Scott shares a perfect humorous and romantic chemistry with Westfeldt, as they portray an incredibly authentic relationship. Westfeldt is the most exceptional as the very talkative adorable Julie and carries the film amazingly from beginning to end. As you see the film from Julie’s perspective, you feel extraordinarily connected to Westfeldt’s lovable character.

    Appearing very modest and a little anxious while introducing the film at the festival, you couldn’t help but look at her in a completely different light when Westfeldt came out for the Q&A when the film was over. She gives a laudable performance, writes a brilliant script, and delivers a film that combines a bazaar premise with extraordinary sincerity. Just over a week after the premiere at TIFF, Lionsgate announced that they picked up the film for distribution, so everyone has something to look forward to. For now though, as Friends With Kids is one of the best films of the year, let us all give credit to Wonder Woman herself, Jennifer Westfeldt. 

Goon

Director: Michael Dowse
Writers: Jay Baruchel, Evan Goldberg
Starring: Sean William Scott, Jay Baruchel, Alison Pill
Release Date: TBA
Length: 1 hour 30 minutes

One of the most talked about films at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival was the Canadian comedy Goon, co-written by and co-starring the internationally hilarious Jay Baruchel. The film tells the story of an idiotic but lovable bouncer named Doug Glatt (Sean William Scott), who is the black sheep of his American Jewish family. Doug is forced to beat guys up every night outside of the bar he works at, always saying “I’m sorry, man” before each punch. However, he really dreams of one day entering the sport of hockey, though he has had no experience or training. The couch of the local semi-pro hockey team doesn’t think Doug has any talent in the sport and can barely skate, but notices that he can easily beat the hell out of anything put in front of him. Soon, Doug becomes successful enough in his own town to be recruited by the Halifax Highlanders and leaves his family and best friend Ryan (Baruchel) behind in the U.S. for Nova Scotia. When he gets there, he falls in love with a local girl (Alison Pill), and his status as an undefeatable hockey enforcer rises until it reaches the ears of near-retiring Goon legend Ross Rhea (Liev Schreiber). As the team continues to win each game, the torment Doug goes through becomes worse and worse. His powerful tolerance may or may not be able to go through the continuous pain he faces long enough to lead his team of misfits to semi-pro victory. Canadian director Michael Dowse who has created a small cult following with films Fubar and Fubar II, lends his gory radical directory skills perfectly to the film called Goon. His talents for the bloody, almost entertainingly sickening effects in the film oddly create a beautiful contrast with the inspiring underdog story and the sweetheart of the lead character, Doug. If you aren’t exactly a Tarantino fan, don’t turn away so quickly. Yes, there are purposely slow motion shots of teeth being knocked out, but Goon is not just a heartless two-hour reel of guts and blood. The film carries a surprisingly huge amount of heart that comes from the connection you make with the ostracized main character and how far he will go for his sport and teammates that he loves. Michael Dowse also has fantastic camerawork that makes you feel closer to the game than most hockey films. The extremely close and fast cinematography makes you feel like you are in the centre of the rink as close as you can get. This wholly affects your movie experience because the actual hockey playing is ten times more exciting while the gore is ten times more disgusting. This is all in addition to just being a purely hilarious movie, from the amazing script written by Baruchel and producer Evan Goldberg, whose known for writing and producing films like Superbad, Pineapple Express, etc….Every scene will have at least a few lines to bowl you over, mostly coming from the idiotic Doug or the crude Ryan. This is a movie made for laughs and groans and the festival audience was almost a second soundtrack for the film because of that. The cast that brings out all those laughs is top-notch. Sean William Scott is hilariously adorable as Doug and makes this character as sweet as he needs to be for the audience to let a guy whose job it is to beat people up, carry their film for them. His charming stupidity is the only way we can really like the character that’s leading a comedy. Jay Baruchel for the first time is not playing the geeky shy nice guy but instead the vulgar, foul-mouthed best friend, a character let’s remember, he wrote for himself. If he is playing himself, he is absolutely amazing to listen to for as long as he can keep talking on screen. Live Schreiber is amusingly tough and frightening as Goon Legend Ross Rhea. Alison Pill is also very funny and charismatic as Doug’s girlfriend while Kim Coates is simply hysterical as the Highlanders blunt constantly unimpressed coach who calls it as it is. Without being a die-hard hockey fan, I can tell that Goon was a hockey movie done right, especially with hockey fanatic Jay Baruchel rearing it.  There is a perfect blend of thrilling hockey and comedy gold to make the movie experience a hell of a lot of fun. A few guts and brains are worth it for this enormously heartfelt and entertaining film. 

50/50

Director: Jonathan Levine
Writer: Will Reiser
Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Anna Kendrick
Release Date: September 30, 2011
Length: 1 hour 40 minutes

First time screenwriter Will Reiser was inspired by his own personal battle with cancer, to write the truly authentic film 50/50, starring Joseph Gordon Levitt and Reiser’s good friend Seth Rogen. Levitt plays Adam, a twenty seven year old radio program writer, who has a beautiful girlfriend named Rachel (Bryce Dallas Howard), and works with his immature best friend, Kyle (Rogen). When Adam goes to his doctor to figure out what is causing his annoying back pains, he is bluntly told he has a rare form of cancer of the back and he will have to go through chemotherapy to attempt to get rid of the tumor. While in a state of shock, Adam is assigned to a twenty four year old training psychologist named Katherine (Anna Kendrick), to help him get through the straining experience. Adam goes through an emotional transformation not just from the cancer, but also from his overbearing mother (Angelica Huston), his distant girlfriend, his determined best friend and his friendly inexperienced therapist. He humorously continues all these normal relationships in his life, while he simultaneously attempts to beat the intense cancer that has hit him from nowhere. Premiering at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival this fall, 50/50 left everyone with an indescribable feeling of bitter sweetness that has yet to be created before. Basing Adam’s story on his encounters with cancer, Will Resier creates one of the most authentic scripts of all time. Not many people think that cancer and comedy can possibly go together, but Reiser shows that a film about real people does not need to be either or. His film is neither a serious and depressing cancer drama or a satirical goofball comedy. 50/50 is the perfect example of a film that does not need to fall into a specific genre and wins you over by hitting you in all the right places. At least for me, it’s the films that are funny, and sad and romantic that I enjoy the most because they are the most effective. When you enjoy the comedic or romantic parts of this film, you can’t help but feel like you are watching something extremely genuine to life experiences and not inappropriate for a film about cancer. The rare realism this film holds is only that much more amplified by the incredible cast. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is fantastic as Adam, a complex character who we see goes through multiple changes with every hit and blow he experiences. Starting off as a simple nice guy, Gordon-Levitt shows Adam become a much more layered character, letting fear and confusion change much of his personality in good ways and bad. Gordon-Levitt carries the movie beautifully nailing both the comedy and drama of the story, while his co-star Seth Rogen wonderfully does the same. Almost all the laughs of the film came from scenes between Rogen and Gordon-Levitt, as they share an immensely hilarious friendship with the contrast of Kyle’s crude nature and Adam’s more polite behaviour. There was no doubt that Rogen could perform well in a little bit more of a dramatic genre than he is used to, simply because he’s naturally a great actor and proves so in 50/50. Under all the offensively funny comments Kyle constantly gives, he has a deep loyalty and worry for his best friend that Rogen perfectly portrays to the audience. He is not the only one though to share an enjoyable chemistry with Gordon-Levitt, though. The relationship between Adam and Kendrick’s character Katherine is just adorable and not in a cheesy way, but in a truly sweet way. This is partly just because Kendrick’s character is adorable and we are happily engulfed by her charmingly awkward eagerness. There is another lovable contrast in the film where Katherine’s positivity butts with Adam’s unwillingness to participate in therapy, believing he is fine. Kendrick’s performance is fantastic and highly enjoyable, making Katherine a character we look forward to seeing on screen. Bryce Dallas Howard keeps on getting the role of the bitch with this summer’s The Help and now as the careless girlfriend Rachel in 50/50. Howard however, gives a great and often very funny performance in the film, making the festival’s audience literally cheer when her character leaves. The oddball in the cast of actors is well-known actress Anjelica Huston who is absolutely wonderful as Adam’s loving neurotic mother, Diane. Director Jonathan Levine effectively uses improv with the cast to make the relationships even more entertainingly realistic, including the funniest scene in the film, when Adam and Kyle shave Adam’s head. This is one of those films that has a great cast, a great director and great screenwriter, but when you put them all together, you end up with something extraordinary. The completely original film amazingly makes you laugh just as hard as you cry, leaving you at your most vulnerable to all emotions. The film doesn’t take an unnatural dramatic turn. Rather, the reality of Adam’s cancer presents itself more and more toward the end. The charming 50/50 is a rare, one of a kind film that cannot be skipped.