Category Archives: Movies

A Man for All Seethings

The chest may be fake, but the rage is realYou know how sometimes the stars line up just right? Here’s a great example: Weeks ago, the Fox Beaches theater booked an early ’80s double-bill for tomorrow night, presumably as counter-programming for the coverage of Barack Obama’s inauguration.

And now, it’s suddenly relevant: The first feature is “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan”, offering us a chance to appreciate one of the recently departed Ricardo Montalban’s finest performances on a big screen.

I’m not kidding. It’s great work, and the movie around it is pretty solid, too.

Okay, the chest is a big much. And maybe the wig. But even so.

Feeling No Pain

Hey, people like what people likeWell, it’s January; it’s not like the best movies are slugging it out for the top slot.

The weekend’s numbers are in, and Kevin James’ “Paul Blart, Mall Cop” has placed first with an estimated $33.8 million gross, knocking Clint Eastwood’s still-chugging “Gran Torino” down to second and, like, totally facing “My Bloody Valentine 3D”, “Notorious” and “Hotel for Dogs”.

You wanna know something weird? This is the first weekend I can remember where I’ve seen none of the big new releases — and I can’t say I regret it. January movies tend to blow goats, as a rule, and it’s actually quite marvelous that, for the first time in a decade, I don’t have to kill myself racing from one screening to the next to catch absolutely everything that’s opening in a packed week.

I mean, I’m not being derelict in my duties here. I caught four of the nine films that opened this week; it just so happened that none of them placed at the box-office. I’ll inevitably catch up to the rest on disc, and I might even break down and see “My Bloody Valentine” theatrically, just to check on the ongoing evolution of digital 3D.

But I don’t have to. That’s the beauty of it.

Sing It Like You Mean It

Don't you be forgetting about TinaWith “Notorious” opening this weekend, it seemed sensible to devote this week’s Sympatico/MSN movie gallery to other musical biopics …

… right up until I realized how many there were. Had to boil it down to eight. Lost “Bound for Glory” at the very last second.

I just hope Billy Bragg can find it in his heart to forgive me. I’ll buy him a cup of tea the next time he’s in town, honest!

Wrapping Up in Style

Funny, he doesn't look BondishLet’s see — celebrity deaths in Los Angeles, a plane making a water landing in the Hudson River, and now a power outage paralyzing half of Toronto.

Intellectually, I know I can’t blame George W. Bush for any of those things, and yet, after his farewell address last night … well, I really want to.

Aaaanyway. Bush may be on his way out, but it’s Friday, so plenty of movies are on their way in! (I love segues, don’t you?) And here they are:

“Chandni Chowk to China”: The first Bollywood film co-produced by Warner is, as far as I can tell, an Indian spin on Stephen Chow’s “Kung Fu Hustle”. But hey, Chow’s film made boatloads of money, so maybe that’s exactly what they were going for.

The Class“: Laurent Cantet’s terrific fly-on-the-wall drama about a dedicated high-school teacher (Francois Begaudeau, whose performance gets even better when you learn more about him) and his pupils won the Palme d’Or at Cannes; now, finally, Toronto audiences get to see what all the fuss is about.

“Defiance”: Ed Zwick finds a way to put a happy face on the Holocaust with the true(ish) story of the Bielski partisans, brothers who saved more than a thousand Jews from Nazi collaborators by taking them to safe refuge in the forests of Belarus. It’s well-intentioned, and Daniel Craig and Liev Schreiber are as solid as always, but this is an Ed Zwick film, which means it can’t stop reminding you of its own importance. Jason and Susan have my back on this.

“Hotel for Dogs”: Starring Oscar nominee Don Cheadle! Oh, and some dogs.

“Last Chance Harvey”: Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson, who found such lovely chemistry in “Stranger Than Fiction”, find it again in Joel Hopkins’ pleasant little trifle about a pair of sad sacks striking sparks over a weekend in London. It’s not great cinema or anything, but on its own modest terms, it works just fine. Barrett was slightly less enthralled, though.

“My Bloody Valentine 3D”: Hey, it’s another remake of a vaguely remembered ’80s horror property! And this one’s in 3D! So, it’ll be like totally scary and awesome and like a ride and everything and if you see the movie your date might jump into your lap! And they, um, didn’t screen it for the press.

“Notorious”: Christopher Wallace, aka Biggie Smalls, aka the Notorious B.I.G., gets his biopic moment thanks to “Soul Food” director George Tillman, Jr. and newcomer Jamal Woolard. Rad is unimpressed.

“Paul Blart, Mall Cop”: Kevin James is in your mall, guarding your food court. Don’t. Just … just don’t.

Rumba“: The latest exercise in chipper, rubber-limbed pantomime from the Belgium-based trio of Dominique Abel, Fiona Gordon and Bruno Romy — who made the little-seen, very clever “L’Iceberg” a couple of years back — finds room for elaborate dance numbers, amputee pratfalls, an incompetent suicide and a house on fire. It’s a comedy.

Right, that’s plenty. Oh, and “Synecdoche, New York” is playing at the Bloor all weekend, so if you missed it in first run you should really catch up to it. Assuming they get their power back, of course.

Icons, in Their Way

The smile that launched a thousand fahntasiesStrange, utterly random news: Patrick McGoohan and Ricardo Montalban both died in Los Angeles yesterday. McGoohan was 80; Montalban, 88.
Glenn Kenny celebrates McGoohan’s legacy at his blog, with an appropriately grim quote from David Cronenberg, who directed the actor in “Scanners”; over at the House, Keith Uhlich links to a proper obit for Montalban in the L.A. Times.

I have nothing of weight to add, other than to acknowledge that McGoohan was, as the kids say, the shit — yes, even in “Ice Station Zebra” and “Braveheart” — and Montalban always managed to surprise me with his warmth and his willingness to send himself up at any opportunity. He’s pretty terrific in the “Spy Kids” sequels — stepping perfectly into the series’ kitschy-cool universe as Antonio Banderas’ even-more-suave dad — and freakin’ hysterical as the voice of a slaughterhouse cow in a recent episode of “Family Guy“.

If the cold has trapped you inside today, there are worse ways to pass the time than watching any of those. Actually, you can skip “Spy Kids 3D”; just watch the second one.

Danny Boyle Owns This Day

Head shown actual sizeWell, that was lovely:– “Slumdog Millionaire” owned the Golden Globes last night, paving the way for some possible love from the Oscars.

Now, I fear the Academy will wuss out and go with something tonier — “The Reader” or “Revolutionary Road”, maybe — but hey, they had this one night, like Kate and Leo in “Titanic”, and even better, nobody drowned or froze to death.

Also, how awesome was it to watch “30 Rock” set ’em up and knock ’em down for the first half of the night, culminating in Tracy Jordan Morgan’s extemporaneous awesomeness? Suck it, Cate Blanchett. Suck it, indeed.

Here’s my Sympatico/MSN Golden Globes gallery, in case you had trouble finding it last night. I’d also post a link to my review of “The Unborn”, but it’s still not up at the NOW site. Kinda annoying, really.

Oh, and in truly freaky news: “Gran Torino” went wide over the weekend and pulled in $29 million. Holy flying crap. It’s Eastwood’s biggest opening since “Space Cowboys”, and there’s something clever to be said about audiences responding most enthusiastically to his worst ideas, except that “Space Cowboys” was actually pretty decent and “Gran Torino” is inept to the point of incompetence. Does anyone remember how much “Blood Work” made in its first weekend? Because that one was awful.

It’s Showtime

Really? People care about these?Sorry for the radio silence yesterday — I’d planned to link to my review of “The Unborn”, but it never went up on the NOW site, and then I got distracted by some other stuff. Someday, you’ll all know how bad it is. Probably tomorrow.

Today, however, is the day of the Golden Globe awards, which I’ll be liveblogging tonight at Sympatico/MSN’s Movies page for your entertainment and edification. And what do I get out of it? Pizza, apparently.

Coverage starts around 8 pm EST. Bring a cushion.

Now What?

You're funny lookingThis is one of those weird weekends for movies — the studios are expanding the releases of Oscar-bait films like “Gran Torino” and hoping for a boost from the Golden Globes ceremony on Sunday night, but they’re also dumping two utterly generic efforts into the mix in order to court the people who just want to see something shiny.

“Bride Wars”: Anne Hathaway and Kate Hudson square off in a comedy about BFFs who turn on each other when their Perfect Weddings are accidentally double-booked at the same venue. I had something else to do that morning, but neither Susan nor Jason found much to love.

“The Unborn”: In which Odette Yustman walks around in her underwear a lot while having scary visions of eeeeevil children and gooshy bugs, while David S. Goyer throws a great deal of crazy at the screen and hopes some of it sticks. My review will be up on the NOW site later this afternoon; check back for the link.

Gotta run down to CTV Newsnet to talk about the Golden Globes at 9:15 AM; catch me if you can!