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Toronto Film Fest, Day Six, Part One
Well, no Sean Bean at the North Country screening, not that I'm surprised, but at least director Niki Caro did appear to introduce the film. And I got to do the fangirl thing with Nick Cave, and watch the hubby be even more of a fanboy as Nick walked by us three times on the way to the front before and after the screening where we saw him. (My pal Colin got the gig of leading the Q&A with Nick and director John Hillcoat after the screening. Very jealous.)
Title: North Country
Director: Niki Caro
Country: U.S.
P's Rating: Recommended
Caro's follow-up to the fantastic Whale Rider is set in the mining country of Minnesota in the late '80s. Charlize Theron plays a single mom who gets a job in the mines, only to face constant, vicious sexual harassment on the job. The filmmakers somewhat stack the deck against Theron's character, but to her credit the actress doesn't play her as a victim. And the film is loaded with great actors, including Sissy Spacek, as Theron's mom, Frances McDormand, as her best friend, and the lovely Sean Bean as McDormand's boyfriend. Bean's role is quite tiny, but he has one very nice scene near the end with Theron's son. His performance is quite sweet and his attempt at an American accent isn't too horrible. He overpronounces his Rs, like most Brits doing North American do, but he manages not to let his speech drift off to Sheffield. And can I just say how wonderful it is to see him playing a decent guy for a change?
Title: Ghosts...of the Civil Dead
Director: John Hillcoat
Country: Australia
P's Rating: Recommended
One of the fest's Dialogue screenings, where they getting attending filmmakers to pick a film that's important to them and introduce it. This particular film was the one Dialogue screeing I knew I had to see, since it was being introduced by Nick Cave, one of my favourite musicians. Cave is attending the fest as the screenwriter of The Proposition, his latest collaboration with director Hillcoat, and they chose to introduce the very first film they collaborated on, nearly twenty years ago. An indictment of the prison system and the way it encourages brutal behaviour in both prisoners and guards, the film is powerful and raw and frighteningly prescient.
Title: Leonard Cohen I'm Your Man
Director: Lian Lunson
Country: U.S.
P's Rating: Recommended
Part concert film, part expressive biography, Leonard Cohen I'm Your Man started out as a record of a Leonard Cohen tribute concert performed at the Sydney Opera House. But director Lunson decided to make the experience that much richer by interspersing the songs not only with interviews with the performers, but with Cohen himself. What emerges is a fascinating portrait of a poet and songwriter, illuminated by performances from the likes of Rufus Wainwright, Jarvis Cocker, the McGarrigle sisters and Nick Cave.
Title: North Country
Director: Niki Caro
Country: U.S.
P's Rating: Recommended
Caro's follow-up to the fantastic Whale Rider is set in the mining country of Minnesota in the late '80s. Charlize Theron plays a single mom who gets a job in the mines, only to face constant, vicious sexual harassment on the job. The filmmakers somewhat stack the deck against Theron's character, but to her credit the actress doesn't play her as a victim. And the film is loaded with great actors, including Sissy Spacek, as Theron's mom, Frances McDormand, as her best friend, and the lovely Sean Bean as McDormand's boyfriend. Bean's role is quite tiny, but he has one very nice scene near the end with Theron's son. His performance is quite sweet and his attempt at an American accent isn't too horrible. He overpronounces his Rs, like most Brits doing North American do, but he manages not to let his speech drift off to Sheffield. And can I just say how wonderful it is to see him playing a decent guy for a change?
Title: Ghosts...of the Civil Dead
Director: John Hillcoat
Country: Australia
P's Rating: Recommended
One of the fest's Dialogue screenings, where they getting attending filmmakers to pick a film that's important to them and introduce it. This particular film was the one Dialogue screeing I knew I had to see, since it was being introduced by Nick Cave, one of my favourite musicians. Cave is attending the fest as the screenwriter of The Proposition, his latest collaboration with director Hillcoat, and they chose to introduce the very first film they collaborated on, nearly twenty years ago. An indictment of the prison system and the way it encourages brutal behaviour in both prisoners and guards, the film is powerful and raw and frighteningly prescient.
Title: Leonard Cohen I'm Your Man
Director: Lian Lunson
Country: U.S.
P's Rating: Recommended
Part concert film, part expressive biography, Leonard Cohen I'm Your Man started out as a record of a Leonard Cohen tribute concert performed at the Sydney Opera House. But director Lunson decided to make the experience that much richer by interspersing the songs not only with interviews with the performers, but with Cohen himself. What emerges is a fascinating portrait of a poet and songwriter, illuminated by performances from the likes of Rufus Wainwright, Jarvis Cocker, the McGarrigle sisters and Nick Cave.
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and am I hallucinating or did I see him in the commercial for that new Jodie Foster flick?
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And yeah, he's the pilot in Flightplan. His second nice guy role in a row. Though I'm not laying odds on his surviving that one.
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