TIFF 2011, Days Three and Four
Sep. 12th, 2011 09:48 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
przedIt was a busy weekend looking after Le Ros and then seeing films that went far too late, but I've had a few minutes to catch up on my reviews. So far, it's been a very good fest, made more fun by a glimpse of Helen Mirren dashing through the crowds in front of the Princess of Wales theatre last night.
Title: Comic-Con: Episode IV - A Fan's Hope
Director: Morgan Spurlock
Country: U.S.A
Zed's Rating: Recommended
This documentary about the San Diego Comic-Con is basically a big, sloppy, wet kiss to fandom. While it starts out (slightly) playing to the fannish stereotypes that pervade the mass media, it quickly gets to the heart of fandom by following a number of entirely different people as they prepare for their annual pilgrimage to San Diego. There are moments that everyone on my flist should recognize, when interviewees from regular fans to Joss Whedon talk about attending their first convention and realizing they've found their tribe. And there are other bits that are genuinely touching and actually made me well up, like when one of the fans manages to propose to his equally fannish girlfriend at a panel. If I have one complaint, and this is partly a feature of the demographic that attends Comic-Con, it's that it tends to be light on focussing on female fans, except in the wife and girlfriend role. And a note to Kevin Smith (who I otherwise really loved in the doc): geek girls do not attend conventions just so geek boys can get laid.
Title: Headhunters
Director: Morten Tyldum
Country: Norway
Zed's Rating: Recommended
Aksell Hennie plays Roger Brown, a corporate headhunter who moonlights as an art thief so he can support his stunningly beautiful wife in the manner he thinks she expects. But then he takes on the wrong target and his comfortable life begins to rapidly unravel. Part of the fun is watching the not entirely likable Roger go through and survive more and more horrific and ridiculous situations as he's stalked by his nemesis. Hennie is quite wonderful as Roger, a short man overcompensating for what he feels are his faulty genes. And Nicholaj Coster-Waldau is coldly perfect as the ex-special forces soldier who aims to take him out.
Title: Shame
Director: Steve McQueen
Country: U.K.
Zed's Rating: Recommended
Michael Fassbender once again joins forces with director Steve McQueen, who directed his breakout performance in the Bobby Sands drama, Hunger. This time Fassbender plays Brandon, a New Yorker addicted to porn and connection-free sexual encounters. Carey Mulligan plays Cissy, the emotionally fragile sister who turns up at his door one night and moves in. Fassbender's performance is fearless and raw, and McQueen's direction is exquisite, using both long takes and frenzied editing to capture Brandon's state of mind and his world.
Title: Monsieur Lazhar
Director: Philippe Falardeau
Country: Canada
Zed's Rating: Recommended
A charming drama from Quebecois director Falardeau. When a grade five teacher in Montreal hangs herself in her classroom, an Algerian refugee, Bachir Lazhar, approaches the school's principal about taking over the class. Since no one else wants the job, the principal hires Monsieur Lazhar. This is a lovely and delicate film that slowly teases out why Lazhar fled Algeria, the way he tries to heal the trauma his students are still feeling from the suicide of their former teacher, and the attempts of one of the other teachers to seduce the wounded Lazhar.
Title: Comic-Con: Episode IV - A Fan's Hope
Director: Morgan Spurlock
Country: U.S.A
Zed's Rating: Recommended
This documentary about the San Diego Comic-Con is basically a big, sloppy, wet kiss to fandom. While it starts out (slightly) playing to the fannish stereotypes that pervade the mass media, it quickly gets to the heart of fandom by following a number of entirely different people as they prepare for their annual pilgrimage to San Diego. There are moments that everyone on my flist should recognize, when interviewees from regular fans to Joss Whedon talk about attending their first convention and realizing they've found their tribe. And there are other bits that are genuinely touching and actually made me well up, like when one of the fans manages to propose to his equally fannish girlfriend at a panel. If I have one complaint, and this is partly a feature of the demographic that attends Comic-Con, it's that it tends to be light on focussing on female fans, except in the wife and girlfriend role. And a note to Kevin Smith (who I otherwise really loved in the doc): geek girls do not attend conventions just so geek boys can get laid.
Title: Headhunters
Director: Morten Tyldum
Country: Norway
Zed's Rating: Recommended
Aksell Hennie plays Roger Brown, a corporate headhunter who moonlights as an art thief so he can support his stunningly beautiful wife in the manner he thinks she expects. But then he takes on the wrong target and his comfortable life begins to rapidly unravel. Part of the fun is watching the not entirely likable Roger go through and survive more and more horrific and ridiculous situations as he's stalked by his nemesis. Hennie is quite wonderful as Roger, a short man overcompensating for what he feels are his faulty genes. And Nicholaj Coster-Waldau is coldly perfect as the ex-special forces soldier who aims to take him out.
Title: Shame
Director: Steve McQueen
Country: U.K.
Zed's Rating: Recommended
Michael Fassbender once again joins forces with director Steve McQueen, who directed his breakout performance in the Bobby Sands drama, Hunger. This time Fassbender plays Brandon, a New Yorker addicted to porn and connection-free sexual encounters. Carey Mulligan plays Cissy, the emotionally fragile sister who turns up at his door one night and moves in. Fassbender's performance is fearless and raw, and McQueen's direction is exquisite, using both long takes and frenzied editing to capture Brandon's state of mind and his world.
Title: Monsieur Lazhar
Director: Philippe Falardeau
Country: Canada
Zed's Rating: Recommended
A charming drama from Quebecois director Falardeau. When a grade five teacher in Montreal hangs herself in her classroom, an Algerian refugee, Bachir Lazhar, approaches the school's principal about taking over the class. Since no one else wants the job, the principal hires Monsieur Lazhar. This is a lovely and delicate film that slowly teases out why Lazhar fled Algeria, the way he tries to heal the trauma his students are still feeling from the suicide of their former teacher, and the attempts of one of the other teachers to seduce the wounded Lazhar.
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no subject
Date: 2011-09-12 05:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-13 04:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-12 08:53 pm (UTC)And your reviews are so lovely and fun to read! Awwwww!
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Date: 2011-09-13 04:43 am (UTC)Glad you're enjoying the reviews. I'm just hoping I can keep somewhat on top of them.