Families, Tied

This-is-Where-I-Leave-YouThe first weekend after TIFF is busy, but not insane. Next week, though, that’ll be insane. Trust me on this.

Altman: Ron Mann’s documentary overview of Robert Altman’s life and legacy gives you a good sense of the man’s talent, even if it inadvertently spoils half a dozen of his movies.

Coherence: James Ward Byrkit’s look at a dinner party remixed by a passing comet is one of two excellent little genre pictures coming out this weekend. Don’t wait for the DVD.

Dr. Cabbie: “Actually, Dr. Cabbie was my father. Call me Jeremy. Jeremy Cabbie.” I know nothing about this movie.

Honeymoon: Newlyweds Rose Leslie and Harry Treadaway encounter something upsetting in a cabin in the woods in this Cronenbergian creeper from first-time director Leigh Janiak.

Love is Strange: Alfred Molina and John Lithgow are an aging couple separated by circumstance in Ira Sach’s 21st century riff on Make Way for Tomorrow. Susan likes it a lot.

The Maze Runner: Simultaneously fast-paced and boring, Wes Ball’s adaptation of James Dashner’s bestseller plays like the YA version of Lost, if Lost was more interested in chase sequences than character development.

Metro Manila: English director Sean Ellis (best known for the slick Nicholson Baker ripoff Cashback) moves to the Philippines for a heist thriller, and Rad is not buying it at all.

This Is Where I Leave You: Susan really liked Shawn Levy’s all-star dramedy about an estranged family reunited by their patriarch’s passing. Me, I’ll see it for Tina Fey, Adam Driver and Corey Stall on the same screen.

A Walk Among the Tombstones: Liam Neeson is a good fit for Lawrence Block’s gumshoe hero Matthew Scudder, but Scott Frank’s plodding thriller does neither the character nor the actor any favors.

And that’s everything. Oh, except for Code Black, a documentary opening in a limited run at the Bloor which I’m covering in today’s web column. (I’ll link to that as soon as it goes up.)

Also, I’ll be helping man the NOW booth at Word on the Street this Sunday; you can find me there from about 1 pm to 2 pm, just hanging out and doing whatever. Booth 191, on the southeast ring of Queens Park Circle just north of Grosvenor. See you there, maybe!

One thought on “Families, Tied”

  1. Thanks for tweeting about George Sluizer’s death. I didn’t hear about it anywhere else and his original Dutch version of The Vanishing is the movie which most gave me the creeps. Really got under my skin. I’ve recommended it to so many people over the years.

Leave a Reply