Film Reviews

Review by Jen

Director: Jonathan Levine

Actors: Ben Kingsley, Josh Peck, Olivia Thirbly, Mary-Kate Olsen

In A Nutshell: NYC in the 1990’s was all about the shrink couch, hip hop, crime crack down and pure dopeness. Luke Shapiro (played by newcomer Josh Peck) is finishing his final year of high school but is more successful at pushing his weed cart through Washington Square and making mad cash while listening to Notorious B.I.G. Feeling sexually frustrated, apathetic, and socially awkward he finds solace and a peculiar friendship in his Psychiatrist (played by Ben Kingsley) who offers up free Freudian bull shit and quasi hippie spiritual advice in return for some hits on the bong and a quarter ounce of weed. Shapiro becomes enamoured with Dr. Squires sultry step daughter Stephanie (played by JUNO babe, Olivia Thirbly) and a hot summer quest to lose his virginity and go steady sparks.

Three Words to Describe: Dysfunctional-highs, hot-sex, family-fuck-ups (okay not three really, but I tried)

Indicative Quotes: “I’ve never cheated on my wife, but now it is my mission.”

“Hold on brother, what are you in here for?”
“Stabbing my wife in the pussy.”

“With all due respect to my stepdaughter, fuck her, fuck them all!”

Reason I liked It: A completely accurate account of a mid-nineties teenage hard on, and all the other awkward bullshit that comes with it. A gritty and wet trip back in time to the NYC hip hop culture of weed induced resistance to Giuliani’s clean up crusade.

Film made me feel: Like I was eighteen again, dry humping with my quasi step brother while eating hash brownies and listening to Tribe Called Quest.

You’ll Like This Film if You Liked: KIDS, Squid and the Whale, Welcome to the Dollhouse, Reality Bites

The Verdict: Tetris, pagers, pant creaming, blunt rolling; this film is dope right down to da font. The dialogue and timing is smack on the money and the story, however demented, is entirely believable and relatable to anyone that has questioned their sanity, fallen for the unattainable, enjoys the sensation of zip locking a dime bag, and reflecting on life’s absurdities.

Go See This Film With: Your pot head buddy, new fling or dry-humoured girlfriend

Directed by Patricia Rozema

Review by Lizzie

Actors: Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine), Chris O’Donnel, Joan Cusack

In A Nutshell: Kit Kittredge’s world revolves around a cozy treehouse (with windows seemingly designed by Frank Lloyd Wright) and her middle-class Cincinatti home. That is, until the depression hits hard. Suddenly, hobos stray around, her dad goes to Chicago, boarders move in, and she has to wear chicken feed sack dresses. These frocks, I must add, are most becoming! Intrepid kidlet that Kit is, she ceaslessly pursues a career in journalism and tries to solve the hobo burgler spree mystery in hopes of bettering the lots of her friends and family.

Three Words to Describe: Wholesome girl power

Indicative Quotes: “You know what you need . . . a novelette.” Mobile librarian Miss Bond to anal Mrs. Howard

Reason I liked It: It feels good to see a film that’s so honest to goodness. Like an apple pie, it’s sincerely sweet. Abigail Breslin is darling and Joan Cusack’s facial expressions make the movie. I demand that this woman be in more films, she’s a comedic gem.

Film made me feel: Like I wanted to be nine years old again, making secret passwords with the neighbourhood gang.

You’ll Like This Film if You Liked: Swiss Family Robinson, Annie, Dennis the Menace, Thanksgiving Specials on Television

The Verdict: Having gone to the epicentre of nutty consumerism that is the American Girl flagship store in Chicago (why yes, you can get a mani/pedi for your doll), I was expecting this film to be over the top tacky with a not so subtle motive of selling Kit doll accessories. How pleasantly surprised I was, to instead discover a film of rare quality for children, with good morals and a history lesson (if airbrushed) to boot. Sunday school or girl guide group worthy, it’s the antidote to Bratz culture.

Go See This Film With: Your seven-year-old niece. Or, do what I did, and bring your dear friend from university who, oddly, had two American Girl dolls sitting in her room (Molly and Felicity). I used to think Molly and Felicity were creepy; I’m reconsidering.

Based on the novel by Monica Ali, opening July 4th in Toronto
Directed by Sarah Gavron

Review by Haley Cullingham

So far, this summer has been saturated with Sex (that's the royal Sex, as in Sex and the City). With a movie like SATC dominating the theatres, the media, and the majority of marketing towards women these past few months, it can be easy to forget that feminism, the female identity, and issues faced by women come in many different forms. Brick Lane, opening next week, is a beautiful example of the universal struggles attached to being a woman; in this case, a Bangladeshi immigrant living in East London.

Sent to the UK to be married at 17, and living with her husband and her two daughters, the film centres around Nasneem, played by the stunning Tannishtha Chatterjee, and explores her journey through the many almost chameleon changes demanded of women today, and immigrant women especially. She enters the film as a care-free child, becomes a shy, obedient wife, discovers her own sexuality and independent identity, and then fights, for both herself and her daughters, to hang on to it. Though the issues explored are universal, the film is far from typical or cliche. Beautifully executed, the images on-screen are vibrant, and lyrical. From the villages of Bangladesh to the flats of London, the images are so textured you can almost feel the fabric, snow, streets, and skin on-screen. The characters are just as beautifully rendered, each one as vivid as they are complex, from Nasneem's teenage daughter, railing against her family's confusion, to her husband, struggling to face obstacles of racism even his intelligence and education can't overcome, to Nasneem's young lover, a militant London-born muslim trying to make a difference in the city he calls home.

Taking place at the same time as the 9/11 attacks, the film explores issues of race as much as issues of personal identity and human relationships. Rarely is a book depicted this seamlessly on screen-the movie feels like a whole, it's literary roots merely adding levels of depth to the plot and characters. The performances and filmmaking are magnificent, the issues thought-provoking, the story at once heart-wrenching and hopeful. The film truly captures the concept that though you may be unable to change your world, you can change yourself within it, and find happiness.

by Carys Mills
Get amped for shoulder pads, neon colours and teased hair as an attempt to embrace the era you might want to forget. 

Top Ten Teen films from the Eighties 

Ferris Bueller's Day Off

"Bueller?... Bueller?... Bueller?"

In High Schools everywhere, "hip" teachers have quoted the attendance scene from Ferris' economics class.  

The Breakfast Club

A brain, a beauty, a jock, a rebel and a recluse. Need I say more? 

Sixteen Candles

Wouldn't you lose it if everyone forgot your sixteenth birthday? And a sex quiz that makes its way to your crush, yikes.  

Footloose

Nothing like some Footloose to put you in the mood for dancing before you go out. 

Pretty in Pink

Watch it just to see Andie transform her wardrobe. Do you wish Andie and Duckie ended up together? They did in the original script.  

St. Elmo's Fire

Watch the movie that resulted in the term "Brat Pack." It refers to the young actors whose starred in St. Elmo's Fire, Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles and more '80s classics. 

Back to the Future

Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox), yes that was really his name, goes back in time and sets his parents up. 

Dirty Dancing

Girl meets boy. Boy teaches girl to dance. Boy and girl have the time of their lives. 

Risky Business

Ah, the classic scene that is Joel Goodson (Tom Cruise) dancing around his living room in his underwear. More exciting than jumping on Oprah's couch.  

Girls Just Want to Have Fun

Watch Sarah Jessica Parker before her Sex and the City days compete to be a DTV dancer.

by Jen
PRIDE is demanding: drinking, making out, networking, standing in hot parades getting dehydrated and swatted by enormous breasts – yikes. Choosing an outfit alone can be an exhausting process! Spending night after night at Straight on Church or Queen West’s hub of Queer night revelry, The Beaver, can leave you feeling burnt out. Take a night off and rent one of our top ten Queer Cinema DVD picks:

Fresa Y Chocolate
Director: Tomas Gutierrez Alea & Juan Carlos Tabio
Country: Cuba
Year: 1994
Politically charged, emotionally draining and exploding with Cuban culture; this film will make you feel angry, frustrated, sad and excited. Not just about homosexual love and friendship but a stifling communist country and the creativity that breeds below the surface

My Summer of Love
Director: Pawel Pawlikowski
Country: United Kingdom
Year: 2004
Wet. That’s how I’m going to describe this delicious countryside romp with two young women who aren’t sure about any of their actions but feel the desire to touch, learn and develop a burning passion for something out of the ordinary. This is a coming of age story that will resonate with all who have felt for the first time what it’s like to fall for a girl. Beautiful.

Priscilla Queen of the Desert
Director: Stephan Elliot
Country: Australian
Year: 1994
Outrageous drag queens take a loud and vivacious road trip across the desert and likely wake up every snake and wombat in-between. This award winning lol film will make you want to smear makeup all over your face, indulge in frosted cupcakes, throw sparkles in the air and bust your tits out for the world to see. DRAGMANIA!

Heavenly Creatures
Director: Peter Jackson
Country: United Kingdom
Year: 1994
Based on the devastating true story of a crime committed out of confusion, desperation and self loathing of two young school girls who become romantically involved. Heavy, f*cked up and full of self hatred and built up anger that comes with having to hide a relationship and be made to feel ‘dirty’. A haunting and remarkable film.

Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Director: John Cameron Mitchell
Country: USA
Hedwig: Don't you know me Kansas City? I'm the new Berlin Wall. Try and tear me down!
The story of a little boy who identified his gender as female and lives quite a vibrant imaginary life. As a young adult, Hedwig takes the stage with his punk rock music and breaks through all the barriers of his communist East Berlin history…or should I say herstory? Outlandish, imaginative and at times troubling – this film will entertain you and make you want to drink wine and sing songs about your f*cked up relationships.

My Beautiful Laundrette
Director: Stephen Frears
Country: United Kingdom
Year: 1985
Oooh Daniel Day Lewis – you do it for me when you are an acid dropping political protester in “IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER”, I want you to spank me even though you are a thieving oil bully in “THERE WILL BE BLOOD.” I want you to eat me like a piece of steak tar tar in “GANGS OF NEW YORK”, and don’t even get me started on how hot you are running around the mountains with your long hair and dagger in “THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS”…holy shit. Smokin’. Anyway – my point being is that even as a gay laundry mat owner I want you to get on your knees and smell my freshly cleaned knickers…but I digress. This 1985 groundbreaking film tackled everything from racial mixed relationships, racism, homosexuality and the cut throat reign of Margaret Thatcher. Heavy and beautiful.

La Cage aux Folles
Director: Edouard Molinaro
Country: France
Year: 1979
When the straight son of a gay couple announces he is getting married, the family turns upside down as they prepare to meet the brides’ parents, and go through all the traditional marriage practices. Hilarious and endearing – this is the original ‘Birdcage’, there’s a reason it was remade by Hollywood in 1996 – because it’s a classic!

Ma Vie en Rose
Director: Alain Berliner
Country: France
Year: 1997
Little Ludovic enjoys playing with his dolly’s and dressing in his mommy’s clothes. He’s quite happy to act out who he is but the conservative French family is not nearly as accepting, and in their forceful ways to condition him like a boy, Ludovic turns to his vibrant imaginary world for escape and attempted acceptance. Adorable, poignant and extremely accurate in the portrayal of family dispute.

High Art
Director: Lisa Cholodenko
Country: Canada / USA
Year: 1998
Danger and Mess - that’s what inevitably happens when you fall in love with a strong personality at the office. This is the story of two women, the tough photographer and her muse; the intern. (Of course) Taking a ‘work’ trip, things get a little hot and heavy with the camera and in the bed. Have you ever gotten involved in something out of curiousity and lust and then quickly realized it was the worst decision ever? Yes. We all have – but it’s these escapades and high living that equal high art and excitement.

Kenneth Anger - Scorpio Rising
Director: Kenneth Anger
Country: USA
Year: 1972
Experimental, underground sado-massichist film genius. Queer and uncomfortable, this stylish dark motorcycle movie is about a gay/nazi bike gang riding around in leather. For those who like cult cinema, are in cinema studies or want to dig a bit deeper into this zone of Queer culture.

Lost and Delirious
Director: Lea Pool
Country: Canada
Year: 2001
YAY – this film is based on Susan Swan’s book, “THE WIVES OF BATH”, which happens to be a story about her lesbian escapades from Toronto boarding school (Havergal College), which happens to be the high school I also attended. Let me tell you the book and film is a fairly accurate portrayal of the lesbian affairs that spawn behind the ivy. Kissing, fucking, rich parents, lonely youth and horny boys; it’s not the best film, but certainly adequate jerk off material…especially with the likes of gorgeous lipped Jessica Pare and tough nuts Piper Perabo. Oh – and a young and mousey Mischa Barton is also a character who slinks around the boarding school shocked with her roommates under the cover secrets.

Celebrate the warm weather with an outdoor viewing of a favourite flick downtown.  

By Jen Houston 

When I was a kid, I loved going to the drive-in. I don’t remember ever sitting in the car - just running around in front of the screen with other random children - but I definitely had a great time. Today, the only two living drive-ins in the GTA are our own The Docks Drive-In (176 Cherry St), and Oakville’s 5 Drive-In (2332 Ninth Line). And with downtown living, a lot of us don’t have vehicles anyways. Luckily we do have Dundas Square, which will be the perfect setting for a weekly “walk-in” free theater throughout the summer. I’m excited about this for several reasons. Most of my happiness is about the film selections, which include several of my faves (Gone With The Wind, The Princess Bride), as well as some I’ve always wanted to see (Annie Hall, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind). The local drive-in closed before I became a teen, so I missed the iconic drive-in experience of sneaking kisses in the shadows on a school night. While that Grease-esque fantasy alone is enough to get me there, I also have visions of preliminary Hard Rock cosmos dancing in my head. No matter how many martinis I have though, I do promise to restrain myself from running in front of the screen again.  

Dundas Square is located on the southeast corner of Yonge/Dundas.

As they are on school nights, all shows will end by 11pm. 

Tues, Jun 24 - 9pm: Gone With The Wind (part 1)

Mon, Jun 30 - 9pm: Gone With The Wind (part 2)

Tues, Jul 8 - 8:45pm: Brokeback Mountain

Tues, Jul 15 - 9pm: Romeo + Juliet

Tues, Jul 22 - 9pm: Annie Hall

Tues, Jul 29 - 9pm: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Tues, Aug 5 - 9pm: The Princess Bride

Tues, Aug 12 - 8pm: Titanic

Tues, Aug 19 - 9pm: The Notebook

Tues, Aug 26 - 9pm: Casablanca

by Sam Banack

In a city with over 60 film fests a year, I find myself touting the Worldwide Short Film Festival as one of my absolute favourites. There are many reasons for my favouritism. The WSFF and I – we got history; I’ve been volunteering for them for years.  As well, the fest is devoted primarily to up-and-coming filmmakers who have little resources and low-to-no financial backing. But I’ll save you the sappy starving artist bit, and instead let you in on a little secret.  The reason behind my love for the festival is…SCENE NOT HERD and SLAP’N’TICKLE. These two programmes, which recur every year, are the highlight of my WSFF experience, and are devoted to two of my favourite things - music and SEX. 

SCENE NOT HERD showcases the newest, hottest and weirdest in music videos, and is programmed by local music/video geek Sandy Hunter.  He’s also responsible for bringing Toronto ResFest and some of the most innovative programming on showcase.ca (if you haven’t seen Hot Snack Radio…you’re missing out!). 

This year’s SCENE NOT HERD programme features a mind-blowingly fun array of animation, smut, bees and colour, as well as a kick ass soundtrack including the New Pornoraphers, Bjork, Hot Chip, Emily Haines, and more.  

A must-see screening, SCENE NOT HERD is going down Friday June 13 (hell yeah) at 9:30 pm at the Royal.  And, as always, your ticket gets you into the film AND after party at the Gibson Showroom (1205 King Street West) featuring live performances by Cancel Winter, Super Fantastic Soundsystem, and Kids and Explosions. 

My second favourite programme, SLAP’N’TICKLE is the yearly WSFF nod to all things naughty, weird, and wild; and it never fails to entice.  This year, the sexiness hails from a variety of nations from Canada to the US, Ireland, Australia, Romania, and France. Ooh la la. 

Amongst my favourite films is I’VE NEVER HAD SEX, a short that wears even shorter shorts and clocks in at 2 minutes.  Its based on an Arcade Game, which asks TO locals what they’ve ‘never done’ in a clever twist of the famed college drinking game. The replies are priceless! 

But don't just take my word for it. The true beauty of a short film festival is that there's something for everyone, so go see for yourself.  

The WorldWide Short Film Festival runs until June 15, and you can get all the details at worldwideshortfilmfest.com. 

Check it out!

HOLD ME, THRILL ME, KISS ME, KILL ME & CELEBRITY SHORTS 

by Haley Cullingham

The film industry has become such a source of income these days, it's easy to forget that filmmaking is, inherently, an art. That's the beauty of the Short Film Fest. Range and complexity are what make short films fascinating. Directors making shorts have room to explore experimental and challenging ideas, try new aesthetics, and create worlds that are entirely original.

Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me is the third Official Selection playing as part of the fest, and the films here range from claymation mental breakdowns (The Coat) to erotic black-and-white symphonies of human movement (Closer). One standout of this collection is Teenage Girl, directed by Greg Atkins. On the longer side of short, this 17 minute film explores a middle-age man in crisis over his identity. This crisis takes the physical form of a teenage girl whom he can't escape. Subtle, haunting, and not without humor, Teenage Girl emphasizes what is so fantastic about shorts-a simple, universally human idea explored in an aesthetically beautiful way.  

Celebrity Shorts are another fantastic part of the program this year. Watch Bob Geldof (the real Bob Geldof) get told off by a cab driver dressed like the Pope in I am Bob, and get a lesson in carpe diem from Arrested Development's Tony Hale (claw-free) in Ctrl Z. From the hilarious to the heartbreaking, all of the films in the festival are engaging, eye-opening, and very much worth watching. And, like all small, good things, they leave you wanting more.  

Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me:
7 pm Wed June 11th @ Cumberland 4
2 pm Sat June 14th @ Cumberland 4 

Celebrity Shorts:
7:30 pm Thurs June 12th @ Cumberland 3
8:30 pm Sat June 14th @ Cumberland 1

Directors: Dominique Cardona and Laurie Colbert

Actors: Brooke Johnson, Gail Maurice, Maya Ritter, and Nathalie Toriel.

In A Nutshell: Dr Finn Jeffiries is a motorcycle-loving butch whose life is turned upside down following the death of her gay life partner.  Unable to juggle work and parenthood, Finn allows her angry pot smoking tween daughter Zelly to get out of control, as she throws herself head first into work at the abortion clinic and a new relationship. 

Annoying Qualities: Wall-to-wall dialogue between film’s characters spouting out every loaded keyword in the book – LESBIAN! BABY KILLER! STEM CELLS! NARCOTICS!

Memorable Quote:

“You shouldn’t be smoking dope until your brain cells develop. Otherwise, there’s nothing to destroy.”

– Dr Finn to daughter.

Made Me Feel: Like its possible to make a great film in Canada…on a Canadian budget.  Wowza!

You will like this film, if you liked: The L Word, Queer as Folk, Buffy.

Verdict: A well-made film with fresh perspective, FINN’S GIRL is likeable, entertaining, and thought provoking…as long as you give it a chance.

Go See This Film With: Your most liberal and most conservative two friends.  Then go out for drinks and debate racy topics to your heart’s content.

Review by Haley Cullingham

In the basement of an old church in the Junction, Bruce McDonald, the rogue captain of Canadian cinema, is staging a small-scale film revolution. Leading by example, McDonald is making films his way, in his city-despite many of his colleagues defecting to cheaper pastures. McDonald is passionate about keeping film alive in Toronto. "If you don't have a home-grown industry, you don't have an industry, you know? I think it's very important that we're telling our own stories about our own places." Shooting in one location over 30 days on the new Sony Red-Cam, McDonald's latest project, Pontypool, is testing the boundaries of the Canadian film industry, of filmmaking in general, and his own boundaries as a director. Not only is he filming chronologically, (Crazy!), but "we're hoping, if all goes well, to have it done for September, for possible entry into the Toronto Film Festival. Fingers are crossed," McDonald grins from beneath his cowboy hat. A lofty goal, even for such an accomplished industry veteran.  

McDonald has already directed eight feature films, including Highway 61, Hard Core Logo and his most recent effort, The Tracey Fragments. With it's experimental cinematography and deep subject matter, the film has achieved massive critical success. Fragments stars Ellen Page, Canadian cinema's femme du jour, and McDonald has selected another independent, charming brunette to play in Pontypool, British import Georgina Reilly. Reilly plays ex-army chick and radio technician Laurel Ann Drummond. "She's kind of quirky and laid-back," Reilly says,  and describes working with McDonald (for her second time) in the wake of such a huge success as "very surreal," a feeling that echoes the plot of the movie itself. "I've never been trapped in a radio station while there was a crazy virus going on, so that's definitely something you kind of have to work yourself into."  

The virus in question spurs random fits of violence among the townspeople of Pontypool, Ontario, and is spread by the English language. Trapped in the radio station, Laurel Ann, recently fired Shock Jock-turned small town radio host Grant Mazzy (played by Stephen McHattie), and producer Sydney Briar (Lisa Houle) have to decide whether calling for help will save the town-or risk spreading the virus over the airwaves and around the world. It's a unique situation, and the small cast and single location provide interesting challenges for the three actors. The chronological filming, though,  helps the actors develop the tension. "It's so much better for an actor," Reilly says. McDonald continues, "It's organic, you're building on things, little accidents that happen on a set, you can actually weave those little things into the fabric of the narrative."  

Based on the novel by Tony Burgess, who also wrote the screenplay, Bruce has been thinking about the story for years. Putting together a condensed version for a CBC radio play finally convinced him that Pontypool could make "a really great little movie", and it was optioned just three months ago over beers at the Horseshoe Tavern. In addition to the ground-breaking production style, it's also McDonald's first foray into the horror genre. And just in case filming an entire movie in three weeks in a church basement wasn't ambitious enough, anyone confused and terrified by the flash snowstorm outside the Victoria-Royce Presbyterian Church in the Junction last friday was just walking past another Bruce McDonald moment-a blizzard scene in Toronto at the beginning of summer. Even the atmosphere won't stand in Bruce McDonald's way.