Breakaway – Machine Gun Preacher and More

Plenty of movies to keep you busy in theatres this weekend so let’s get right to it.

Machine Gun Preacher (Toronto Only, Wide Next Week)

Story – The story of Sam Childers (played by Gerard Butler), a former drug-dealing biker tough guy who found God and became a crusader for hundreds of Sudanese children who’ve been forced to become soldiers.

The Mo (Basic Story)

The Hit (What Worked) – A steady group of positives make this other wise dark film watchable. Gerard Butler in his best performance of his life does a few things very well with this character including finding the delicate balance between ‘Nobel Prize Worthy’, selfless preacher and a man who is willing to sacrifice his own life to the point of a strong downward spiral. THe supporting cast is not as supporting as I’d like to have seen but hey they movie is about the preacher. The Sudanese back drop is captured with a wonderful amount of sensitivity and I enjoyed the fact that the film gave us context through many scenes where we were simply observers.

The Miss (What did NOT work) –

The Verdict – Machine Gun Preacher is the type of film I would only watch once, not because it was not a good a film but because it stayed with me for so long after I screened it. It’s a deliacate portrait of the what drives us to make the decisions we make and the lengths some people are willing to go to insure we are leaving a mark on society. At a glance I think we can count on Gerard Butler receiving a Golden Globe Nomination for this role and the film to build an audience based on word of mouth. I caution you that there a lot of scenes will cause you to want to shut your eyes, however based on the injustice that the film is describing I think the movie has done a good job of opening our eyes to a much bigger issue.

Breakaway (AKA Speedy Singhs)

The Mo (the story) Set in suburban Toronto, the film tracks a young man struggling between traditional Indo-Canadian family expectations and his dreams of hockey stardom.

The Hit – Breakaway is a refreshing Canadian film that seems like the result of many years of struggle and adversity. It’s tough enough to get a film made in Canada, so to get one with a great cast and based on what some people call a ‘cross cultural’ theme well that’s a big deal. I like a lot about the film. I like the fact the comedy within the hockey team was cleaver and familiar. I enjoyed the chemistry between the leads in the movie and the progressive use of racism, stereotypes and cultural issues that are a little more refective of today’s common problems in various communities. My 2 faves of the films were Anupum Kher, who is a legend in Bollywood and plays the father to Raj Singh *the lead and Rob Lowe, who gives the movie strong potential outside of the intended market.
Finally I also loved the sound track, so download it on itunes.

The Miss – The film is extremely predicatable and perhaps it was meant to be that way. THere was no real time during the screening the film where I felt like I may not know where something was headed. I almost felt I could have recited some of the dialouges before they were even said on screen. There is also a useless attempt at incorporating the Bollywood Ice Dance and it killed me. It was one of those ‘please do it’ moments that I felt uncomfortable watching. I also think there might be a sequel in the works which I don’t think I would recommend doing.

The Verdict – Whether you see it as Speedy Singhs or Breakaway I say take a chance on it. I think you will find enough to keep you entertained and happy all at the same time. It’s not a movie that will change your life, it’s a movie designed to show you how some other people live their own and sometimes that’s enough.

DVD PICK OF THE WEEK
Star Wars (Blu Ray) - Yah I said it. I don’t care about the haters. Any upgrade to the original VHS copies that I have in my collection helps me re-introduce this franchise to a generation that needs to appreciate it. It is a must have for anyone who calls themselves a Jedi Fan.

ANd finally – I was inspired by a meeting with Sir Tim Rice this week to think about the musicals that I loved the most. One of them is playing on the big screen this weekend – Phantom of the Opera at Cineplex Theatres, Oct 3rd. More info here http://www.cineplex.com/Movies/MovieDetails/Phantom-of-the-Opera-at-the-Albert-Hall.aspx?date=2011-10-03 Hopefully I’ll have passes to give away for the next screening on Oct 23

Mohit’s Holiday Gift Guide

Social Network Tall Dark Stranger and FILMI 11

Intro – Opening up the Fall Movie Vault this weekend you will find a legend back at work, a social media phenomenon on the big screen and a Canadian pioneer leaving his mark.
The name Woody Allan carries with it a aura of legendary status when it comes to film making. He’s never been a unanimous critical favourite, what world do we dive into with You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger?
Woody takes us back to familiar territory with his comment on the complexity of relationships and the problems we are all in for even if we are knee deep into our marriage as is the case with with this movie which is Set in London amongst the well-to-do, the story centres on two married couples – Alfie (Anthony Hopkins) and Helena (Gemma Jones), who have been wed for 40 years, and their daughter Sally (Naomi Watts), who is supporting her husband Roy (Josh Brolin).
It has elements of both – Labelled as a Dramedy, Anthony Hopkins tries to restore his youth and leaves behind his old-fashioned wife Helena, played by Gemma Jones. Helena enters a tailspin that only becomes manageable when she takes comfort from the positive advice of a well meaning, but faulty psychic. Meanwhile, Alfie takes up with the call girl Charmaine, played by Lucy Punch straight off of her comedic role in Dinner for Schmucks. They soon decide to marry. What works about the movie is the trademark almost independent nature of Woody Allen films filled with visual art appreciation and wonderful jazz music. I also think that Woody Allen has a wonderful knack for casting. Using a supporting cast that includes Frieda Pinto, Josh Brolin and the scene stealing Lucy Punch are at pivotal points in their career Woody Allen proves that he will continue to make movies that spark conversation even if the market for them is limited.
Moving onto another legend in another field the David Sazuki documentary
FORCE OF NATURE: THE DAVID SUZUKI MOVIE is One of my favorite documentaries I’ve seen in a while. In this captivating documentary portrait, the passionate environmentalist’s legacy lecture is entwined with candid interviews in which he reflects on his life and shares deeply personal stories, revealing a side previously unseen. It’s interesting, concise and a great celebration of a pioneering Canadian.
You will gain a whole new appreciation for the work that David has committed to in his career. Not only that but the visuals directed by Sturla Gunnerson look amazing on the big screen so I urge people to watch this movie in theatres. It also WON Cadillac’s People Choice Documentary Award at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival
The Social Network
Most people are calling ‘The Social Network’ the Facebook Movie, tell me are we considering watching a movie about status updates and pictures from Cancun vacations?
Not exactly, Instead The Social Network is a dramatization of the relationship an circumstances that lead to the creation of a social media method that has over 500 million users to date. Eisenberg plays Mark Zuckerberg, the brilliant, ruthless Harvard student who starts with the simple ambition of having women rated on ‘hotness’ on campus.
The irony is that the movie starts with our lead characters simply developing an idea for Harvard, the school that they attend. It jumps back and forth between the idea ’s incarnations to round table legal disputes that the creator has with both close friends and other;s who are claiming the idea as their own. From the opening moments, the actor Jesse Eisenberg grips you with the force of his verbal attack and uncanny geeky confidence. What follows is a wonderfully entertaining roller coaster ride that is highlighted by performance by Andrew Garfield (who is rumored to be the next Spiderman) as well as Justin Timberlake who plays the founder of Napster.
It’s interesting because Kevin is actually the executive producer of this film. His company Trigger Street is one of the first film companies who back this film being made. For those who don’t know Kevin a few years back started Trigger Street as an online search for the next big thing in filmmaking and asked ‘wanna be’ filmmakers to submit their projects via the web to be considered for feature film development. The Trigger Street project though awesome from a conceptual point of view, never got much mainstream Hollywood attention. Mr. Spacey started pulling together the Facebook movie, even as Mr. Mezrich was still writing his book on Facebook, “The Accidental Billionaires”. As they say in this business ‘Timing is Everything’ and it would seem as if Kevin has a hit on his hands as a producer this time.
The surprising thing about this film is that it’s as little about the Facebook cult status as Million Dollar Baby is about boxing or The Wrestler was about wrestling. Instead what you have is a story about passion and an idea. An idea that started out as bunch of people bantering about something the world may need and how the success of the idea spawned million dollar law suits and questions of idea ownership.
I found it to be very insightful to the point where I was worried that I was believing all of the dramatization as being fact. I have not read the book nor am I very familiar with how this Social Network was really started, but what I do know after seeing this movie is that the back story is compelling and I will so as far as to say that the supporting cast including Justin Timberlake deserve nominations for their performances.

FILMI 11

Filmi is designed to promote young filmmakers from a South Asian background who have stories to tell that go beyond the Bollywood theme. When I was growing up though I loved Bollywood films I realized that second generation citizens like me had stories to tell that were more about real life experiences rather then the escapism associated with Bollywood.
Now in it’s 11th year we have showcased some fine Canadian and International work. It runs from Thursday to Sunday this week and boasts talent from right here at home including new work from Richie Mehta to the famous Indian from Office Space, Mr Ajay Naidu. It’s sort of like a Sundance for Bollywood, IT’s a passion project that has lived on and for screenings and show times you can log onto www.filmi.org

That Girl in Yellow Boots – Review – Toronto Film Fest 2010

Public Screenings – Friday September 17 9:00:00 PM VISA SCREENING ROOM (ELGIN) Saturday September 18 8:30:00 PM SCOTIABANK THEATRE 4
Sunday September 19 12:30:00 PMTiff Bell LightBox 2

The Toronto International Film Festival has traditionally showcased a
wide variety of films from the entire Indian Film Diaspora. In fact,
in wasn’t until recent years that commercial Bollywood film took over
the spotlight of Indian Films that are showcased at the festival. One
artist who’s work has yet to be showcased at the festival is that of
Anurag Kasyap. Anurag is the poster boy for ‘New Indian Cinema’. The
type of writer that directors beg to re-write dialogues, the type of
director who ‘new faces’ clamor to work with and the personality who
have the industry curious from Amitabh Bachchan right to Danny
Boyle.
In his latest work, That Girl in Yellow Boots, Anurag tells the story
of Ruth, played by Kalki Koechlin, a half Indian/half British girl
who finds her way back to India on a hopeless pursuit find her
estranged father who walked out of her life many years ago. To make
ends meet she works in a massage parlour, dodging everything from
serious commitments to slimy Mumbai locals who attempt to take
advantage of her. The story takes a few predictable twists and turns
before reaching a rather disturbing conclusion which closes the door
on the search but leaves a lot of her journey up in the air.
Anurag has the excellent ability to let his actors breath on screen.
He let’s the story unfold without trying to add to much flash and
effects (which have become typical of most directors shooting Mumbai
scenes) and lets and unconventional story keep the audience interested
in the film. Kalki Koechilin who plays Ruth is a force in the lead
role and could represent a stronger new crop of actors who have a
functional duality that some interesting roles could be made for. She
represents a new look, raw talent and and over all clean slate that
plays to the many ranges of her emotions well.
A smaller yet significant role played by Nasrudeen Shah offers a
familiar ‘indy’ element to the film and his scene stealing dialogues
leaves the audience wanting his character to play a bigger part in the
story. Finally the junkie, part-time boyfriend Prashant Prakash plays
a coke addict going to extremes to fight off his inner demons and a
group of South Indian thugs and does so almost too synthetically.
There has yet to be such a gritty, dirty character portrayed in this
type of cinema and though you may hate the character, the actor needs
to be recognized for some great work as well.
The question of whether there is a market for this ‘type’ of film will
haunt the surface level conversation about the movie, it is in your
face and the type of bold cinema India needs to showcase more of.
What you won’t be able to escape is talk about Anurag’s contribution
to forwarding Indian Cinema with a film like this. It’s the type of
ground work that will be studied in film schools later because it
offers a break from formula without trying to drive home a social
message. Instead That Girl in Yellow Boots showcases a pulse of India
rarely seen on screen without sacrificing the merits of cleaver film
making.

By : Mohit Rajhans Film Critic, Metro Morning, CBC Radio/Omni TV.
Follow his inside scoop on TIFF on twitter @thegooseinsider

Eat Pray Love – Scott Pilgram – Peepli Live

Eat Pray Love
Julia Roberts, love her or hater her is a one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, her latest venture is Eat, Pray, Love.
Eat, Pray, Love is the real life story of Elizabeth Gilbert who after a failed marriage and other social failures decided to see the world outside of her New York confines and documented her experiences along the way. Rather then be a wondering backpacking soul she had specific places that she wanted to visit which in the movie include Italy for the Eat, India for the Pray and at this risk of ruining most of the movie the love is in Bali.
You would think that the danger with adapting any best selling book to the big screen would be that the main topic of discussion will always be does it measure up
I did the right thing with this movie and I watched it with a fan of the book. I on the other hand had limited knowledge of the story which may have helped along the way. The reason I say that is simple. You have to commit to going on this journey with Julia’s character early in the film in order for the film to remain entertaining. There are not a lot of twists in the plot nor are there paralel characters you are routing for, instead what you have with Eat Pray Love is a Julia Roberts film that has almost no scene without her in it and a few like able characters who support her along the way.
In fact, it’s so much about Julia in this film that at times I wondered if the book may have made a good dramatic weekly series instead of a movie.
Look out for wonderful performances by the always dynamic Richard Jenkins playing a former drunk Texan now an Ashram dweller and her best friend played by the charismatic Viola Davis. I should also point out that the film was directed Ryan Murphy who is credited as the creator of ‘Glee’ and although there is very little song and dance there is a Glee like energy he captures with interesting choices in framing and shooting style.
Turning to homegrown Hollywood tale, there seems to be a lot of buzz on the film Scott Pilgram vs the World.
And rightfully so. The homegrown part of what you are referring to of course is 2 fold. 1)Scott Pilgram the character was created by Toronto’s own , by way of London Ontario Brian Lee O’Mailey who craeted the character within a graphic novel and 2) the movie is set in this wonderful city. The story on the surface is fairly simple; Michael Cera plays a Toronto bass player who must battle his new girlfriend’s seven evil exes before he can finally win her heart. Along the way you’ll see some well known faces such as Anne Kendrick from Up in the Air to Jason Swartzman in an attempt to solidify the cred of this rock opera.

It’s interesting to see Brampton boy, Micheal Cera grow up over the last few years after the success of Juno and Super Bad, has he found his stride with this film
I think Micheal Cera has carved a niche for himself in the love able geek genre of movies and this film gives him a little more flexibility especially with his action chops. I think the crowd that the film is aimed for loves him and will enjoy how much Scott Pilgram as a character is developed into this unique pseudo action star with all the thrills of a video game and all the heart of a basic romantic comedy.

Finally, one of the guests expected at this year’s Toronto Film Festival is one of Bollywood’s most prolific stars, Aamir Khan who has another film releasing this weekend which he has produced. The movie is called Peepli Live and for those who don’t know Aamir Khan he was the star and producer of the Oscar nominated Lagaan 3 years ago and also starred in Deepa Mehta’s Earth. Aamir’s contribution to Bollywood can be paralled to the likes of Johnny Depp or George Clooney as he attaches himself to passion projects both behind and infront of the camera. The story centers around 2 brothers who in an effort to pay an unpaid government loan consider suicide so that their families can receive government compensation to pay the debt. After a reporter over hears the plot the village of ‘Peepli’ becomes a media circus where the country is gripped by ‘will they or won’t they’. Not your typical Bollywood movie however an entertaining one with memroable characters and an excellent comment on the state of media in India today.
the movie opens in select theatres across the city.