film review: Wicked Little Letters

 

Directed by Thea Sharrock

Written by Jonny Sweet

ChinoKino review: C

Reviewed by Allan Tong

In 1919, in the English seaside town of Littlehampton, two neighbours, Edith Swann and Rose Gooding, ceased being friends when Edith reported Rose to the authorities after Edith and other members of Littlehampton received poison pen letters full of threats and obscenities, including the C-Word. In Thea Sharrock's film treatement, co-scripted by Jonnny Sweet, Edith is prim and proper, upholding the values of early-20th-century England, while Rose is the free-spirited and feisty Irish immigrant. If the two were men, then no scandal or police investigation would have erupted. After all, it was fine for men to curse, at least in letters, but, oh dear, not women.

Though performances by leads Olivia Colman (as Edith), one of the Britain's top actors, and Jessie Buckley (Rose) are strong, their characters are thin and one-dimensional. I never got to understand them nor did I care to. Another problem with this film is the approach to race. Rose's lover is a Black man and Police Officer Gladys Moss (Anjana Vasan) is of South Asian decent. I don't know if these two are based on real-life characters, but racism was rife in 1919 England and yet race is never mentioned in the film. Instead, sexism is placed front and centre.

 

Look, I'm all for racial diversity in films, including the ones I have made and the many I have programmed for festivals, but this casting doesn't work in this context. Sharrock has applied 2023 mores onto a 1919 setting, and the juxtaposition just confuses the viewer. The non-white characters are elephants in the proverbial room and amounts to awkward storytelling.

A final flaw with Wicked Little Letters is tone. This is supposed to be a black comedy, but it's played for broad laughs and few of the jokes land. Instead, all the white guys, including the cops (except Moss) are sexist buffoons, Rose is party animal and Edith is uptight. Their dialogue lacks wit, lacks bite. The two leads never feel like close friends to start the story, so there's no sense of loss when they fall out. Moreover, the scandal over the foul language doesn't translate to audiences. So what? What's the big deal? Some bad language in letters. Shrug. Sharrock doesn't establish the milieu where these letters are shocking to the public.

In the end, Wicked Little Letters is a big misfire, led by good intentions, but misapplied in an historic story that fails to condemn sexism.

Wicked Little Letters opens April 5 in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, and expands to other cities on April 12.

film review: Save Yourselves!

 

Directed & written by Alex H. Fischer & Eleanor Wilson

ChinoKino score: B-

Review by Allan Tong

A tongue-in-cheek comedy about social media, Save Yourselves! is a fun, likable film centering on a  Brooklyn couple named Jack (John Reynolds) and Su (Sunita Mani). Like countless millennials, they are addicted to their devices. Phones, laptops, you name it. However, they fear that all this connectedness disconnects them from the real world. So, they jump on a friend's offer to stay at his isolated cabin in the woods so they can unplug and go e-cold turkey for a few days. What could go wrong?

An alien invasion, for one. Because Jack and Su have disconnected, they have no idea that a swarm of aliens, which look like oversized puffballs, have seized planet Earth. All hell is breaking loose around the globe while our couple live the unwired life. Eventually, they encounter one of these puffballs and notice weird things happening around the cabin, like empty whisky bottles (apparently aliens like to party). Jack and Su break down and finally check their massive backlog of voice-mails and texts to learn that Earth is doomed.

VOD film review: Irresistible

Directed & written by Jon Stewart

ChinoKino score: C-

Review by Allan Tong

One of America's finest political satirists unleashes his take on the U.S. election machine months before the presidential vote. However, in Irresistible, Jon Stewart stays behind the camera. Instead, he's crafted a tale about a cynical Democrat political consultant (Steve Carell) who convinces a retired Marine colonel (Chris Cooper) to run for mayor in a small Wisconsin town. The Dems are up against a well-entrenched Republican mayor in this sleepy, agricultural villa, the kind of place where everybody knows your name. Naturally, the Republicans fly in their own city slicker consultant (Rose Byrne) to do battle in what becomes a symbolic battle between Red and Blue, and the soul of America.

film review: Military Wives

Directed by Peter Cattaneo

Written by Rosanne Flynn & Rachel Tunnard

ChinoKino score: C

Review by Allan Tong

Military Wives has all the ingredients to add up to a rousing feel-good comedy. A group of disparate British women are united by a cause (their partners are soldiers fighting in Afghanistan); they band together to perform (a choir) so they're on a musical journey; the film's director made the smash hit, The Full Monty; the great Kristin Scott-Thomas is the lead; and there's lots of singing. Audiences should be cheering these ladies as they endure bad news from the war front and find solace in each other. We should be swept away by their voices and stories as they struggle to literally find their voices.

Sadly, we don't. The film is a by-the-numbers affair that  rarely raises a laugh or smile and doesn't emotionally draw us into the lives of these women. Rather, the film feels cold and distant. I never felt like the wives become pals. They lack camaraderi.e True, they share their sorrows over bad news and there are moments of genuine friendship, but it's not enough to ignite this film.

Stars Cortellesi and Gullotta shine at the opening weekend of ICFF

Story by Allan Tong

Photos by Sally Warburton

The Italian Contemporary Film Festival opened at Toronto's TIFF Bell Lightbox Thursday night with star Paola Cortellesi (above) presenting the crowd-pleasing comedy, Qualcosa di nuovo (Something New) (see here for review). Ms. Cortellesi also stars in Mamma o Papa? (Mom or Dad?) playing at the ICFF.

Film review: Cafe Society

Writer/Director: Woody Allen
Producers: Letty Aronson, Ron Chez, Helen Robin,  Adam B. Stern, Allan Teh, Stephen Tenenbaum, Edward Walson
Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Steve Carell, Parker Posey, Corey Stoll
Comedy/drama
1 hour, 36 minutes

By now, audiences expect certain elements in a Woody Allen movie: a period piece from the 1930s, a love triangle, a nebbish Woody-Allen-like protagonist, perhaps a gangster, a discussion about morality and, of course, some sharp, funny lines sprinkled throughout.

Cafe Society, the auteur's latest, contains all these ingredients which adds up to an entertaining though flawed film that's parts comedy, romance and drama.

[Spoiler alert] Jesse Eisenberg plays Bobby, a naive Jewish kid from Brooklyn who hits up his bigshot uncle Phil (Steve Carell), a Hollywood agent, for a job. Unwittingly, Bobby falls for Phil's younger secretary, Vonnie (Kristen Stewart) who is secretly Phil's mistress. When Phil leaves his wife for Vonnie, Bobby's world crashes down and he returns to Brooklyn to work for his gangster brother, Ben (Carey Stoll) and runs his high-society nightclub. Years pass, Bobby marries another woman and becomes a father. He grows tougher, harder, wiser. One day, Vonnie and Uncle Phil visit Bobby's New York nightclub and that nearly rekindles his L.A. romance with Vonnie. By the end of the film, we're left with a big What if? What if Vonnie had chosen Bobby instead of Phil?

ICFF review: All Roads Lead to Rome

 Italian screen legend, Claudia Cardinale, delivers a sharp, sardonic performance in All Roads Lead To Rome (Tutte le strade portano a Roma), but even she can't save this romantic comedy which screens tonight in Toronto at the ICFF (Italian Contemporary Film Festival).

Cardinale plays 80-year-old Carmen who secretly plans to wed her one true love in Rome against the wishes of her son, Luca (Raul Bova). However, the focus lies on Maggie (Sarah Jessica Parker), a cheery, but daffy divorced mum who tries to re-connect with her rebellious (obnoxious, really) teenage daughter, Summer (Rosie Day) with a trip to a gorgeous Tuscan village that she frequented as a youth. Maggie runs into her old flame, Luca, and Summer wants to return to her sleazy boyfriend in New York who's battling drug charges.

Italian Contemporary Film Festival roundup - the sequel

by Allan Tong

The second half of the Italian Contemporary Film Festival offers some gems, with screenings in Toronto, Montreal, Quebec City and Vaughan through Friday.

Directed by Sydney Sibilia, I Can Quit Whenever I Want is a lively comedy bout a university science researcher (Italian star Edoardo Leo, center above) who loses his job and turns to making a potent synthetic drug to get by. He hires his academic buddies, all of them underemployed now washing dishes or pumping gas but were once chemists and economists, to form his gang to sell his "non-illegal" drug to clubbers.

The comedy obviously tips its cap to Breaking Bad and Weeds, but fortunately steers clear of corniness and cuteness that plagues so many Italian comedies. Instead, the movie is a deadpan and surprisingly tongue-and-cheek critique of modern Italian society where even the most educated can't land a job. I Can Quit Whenever I Want, however, ends abruptly and the story could've used one last turn, but it's still a fun, entertaining romp.

Italian Contemporary Film Festival roundup

by Allan Tong

The Italian Contemporary Film Festival (ICFF) is enjoying one of its stronger years. From drama to documentary, the films in 2015 are consistently rewarding. Though I haven't seen a terrible movie yet,  I also haven't found a superb one either. To speak in baseball terms, the ICFF films are hitting singles and doubles, but no homers yet. Here are a few to consider this weekend at screenings in Toronto, Vaughan, Montreal and Quebec City. (Check here for screening times in your city.)

Midnight Sun is an entertaining family film about a boy who befriends a lost cub in frigid northern Canada. Think boy-and-his-dog adventure, except the dog is a polar bear and the terrain is covered in snow and ice flows. It stars Toronto's own Dakota Goyo.

Sin, redemption, family. These are well-worn themes that drive the thriller Perez. It's about an incorruptible lawyer from Naples who defends underdogs until his daughter hooks up with a mobster. Not a smart move. Without spoiling the film, let's say that daddy lawyer Perez has to compromise his ethics by striking a deal with the mobster's boss to help him recover some precious diamonds. Perez is slick and stylish, and lead Luca Zingaretti is a strong, stoic presence as Perez. However, as mentioned above the movie doesn't tread new ground.

2015 Canadian Screen Awards – Winners in Drama, Children's or Youth, Comedy and Variety

The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television is pleased to announce that 48 Canadian Screen Awards were presented tonight in Drama, Children's or Youth, Comedy and Variety categories. This Canadian Screen Awards Gala was hosted tonight by comedian Darrin Rose at the Sheraton Centre Toronto.

"The Academy is honoured tonight to be able to recognize the creators and artists of Canada's favorite drama, comedy, and kids' television programming, that entertain and inspire us," says Academy Chair, Martin Katz.

"You - the producers, artists and craftspeople of the Canadian screen industry are critical to this country," says Helga Stephenson, Academy CEO. "The arts - and more specifically, our moving image arts- define us and connect us," she adds.

Film Review: What We Do In The Shadows

Writer/Director: Taika Waititi & Jemaine Clement
Producer: Taika Waititi, Chelsea Winstanley, Emanuel Michael
Cast: Taika Waititi, Jemaine Clement, Rhys Darby, Jonathan Brugh, Cori Gonzalez-Macuer, Stu Rutherford
Mockumentary Comedy Horror film
1 hour, 25 minutes

What's it really like to be a vampire? This insanely funny mockumentary from New Zealand answers that question by hanging out with Viago, Vladislav, Deacon, and Petyr, four bloodsuckers who share a house in Wellington.

After sunset, they rise and three of them prowl the clubs for fresh blood. (The fourth one, Petyr, looks his age which is 8,000 years old so he stays locked inside his closet. The arrogant one, Deacon, has a human servant named Jackie to run errands for him, like wash his blood-soaked garments and invite unwitting old school classmates to the vampires' home for "dinner." The vampires accept another mortal as a friend, a quiet I.T. guy named Stu, who teaches them how to use modern technology. The vampires live in a sort of frat house and, apart from sucking blood out of people, are good lads.

ComedyPRO announces winners of the 2014 Just For Laughs Awards

Emmy® and Golden Globe Award-winning actor, comedian and writer, Andy Samberg, is this year’s Just For Laughs Comedy Person of the Year. He joins a prestigious list of former recipients that includes Amy Poehler (2013), Chelsea Handler (2012) and Louis CK (2011). Mr. Samberg and six fellow recipients will receive their awards at a live show on Friday, July 25, 2014 at 5 pm, Grand Salon Opera, Hyatt Regency Montreal. A limited number of tickets to the Just For Laughs Awards Show are now on sale at www.hahaha.com.

Star of the break-out comedy TV series Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Andy Samberg was a cast member on Saturday Night Live (2005 - 2012), where he co-created the popular SNL Digital Shorts as a member of The Lonely Island alongside Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer. Film appearances have included Hot Rod, I Love You, Man, That’s My Boy, Celeste and Jesse Forever and Hotel Transylvania.

Film Review: Alan Partridge

Director: Declan Lowney    
Writers: Peter Baynham, Steve Coogan, Neil Gibbons, Rob Gibbons & Armando Iannucci
Featuring: Steve Coogan, Colm Meaney

Review by Allan Tong

Alan Partridge is British comedian Steve Coogan's alter ego: a wise-ass, self-absorbed radio and TV personality who has built a large following across the pond over the past 20 years.  On these shores, however, Partridge is essentially the late, great music impresario, Tony Wilson, whom Coogan portrayed in the brilliantly anarchic 24 Hour Party People (2002).

Here, in his self-titled (of course) big screen debut, Alan Partridge is basically the same egotistical fellow.  This time he's backstabbing a fellow DJ in Norwich, England when the greedy corporate owners decide to oust one of the veteran jocks.

Canadian Music Week 2013, Music, Comedy & Film Festival, Mar 19-24

Canadian Music Week kicks off Canadian Music Fest 2013 today in Toronto. Now taking over the city for six days, the festival will welcome more than 1000 artists from Canada and around the globe.

In addition to music performances, Canadian Music Week presents the second annual Canadian International Comedy Festival and the sixth annual CMW Film Fest. The comedy festival begins tomorrow night at various venues, while the film portion of the festival will take place from March 21 to 23 at TIFF Bell Lightbox. They will also host a conference and trade show.

Darryl’s Hard Liquor and Porn Film Festival 2012, Nov 16-17

This weekend brings us the latest edition of Darryl’s Hard Liquor and Porn Film Festival, now in its 11th year. It begins tonight with a screening of The Salon of Awesome Cinema, a new program created to highlight undiscovered short films from around the world that are sexy, fantastic, beautiful, twisted or just weird – films that will turn you on and make you think.

This will be followed by a screening of the films made during the 69 Hour Film Challenge last weekend, where film makers were given 69 hours to create a funny short film about sex. Participants are given a secret list of ten items, and were required to have at least three of the items in the film.

The list of items was the following:

Call for submissions: The 69 Hour Film Challenge

The 69 Hour Film Challenge is a film making competition where film makers have 69 hours to create a funny short film about sex. Participants are given a secret list of ten items. At least three of the items must be in the film to qualify. It’s like a 24 hour film challenge but there’s more time to drink. Part of Darryl’s Hard Liquor and Porn Film Festival

Make a Film in 69 Hours
The Challenge starts at 9:00 pm – Thursday November 8, 2012
Films must be completed by 6:00 pm – Sunday November 11, 2012

Call for submissions: The REEL Challenge Contest

TAKE 4: THE REEL CHALLENGE RETURNS
CELEBRATING THE MOVIE AND TELEVISION INDUSTRY AT WORK

Toronto, October 16, 2012 - The Canadian Film Centre (CFC) proudly announces the fourth round of The REEL Challenge Contest: Celebrating the Movie and Television Industry at Work.

The REEL Challenge Contest is an opportunity for aspiring filmmakers to speak out on the importance of promoting and protecting a vibrant production industry in Canada, and those who work within it. This year's contest, however, comes with a new twist. It offers participants the opportunity to showcase their work through comedic shorts or animation. The new categories will encourage filmmakers to be creative with their entries.

2012 She's Canadian, Eh? Women's Comedy Festival, Oct 4-6

Tonight, the She's Canadian, Eh? 2nd Annual Women's Comedy Festival kicks off with an all-Montreal show hosted by Chantal Desjardins, and featuring Heidi Foss, DeAnne Smith and festival founder Eman El-Husseini.

The festival continues Friday and Saturday with shows hosted by Christina Walkinshaw, and with Torontonian Steph Tolev in place of Heidi Foss.

The She’s Canadian, Eh!: Second Annual Women’s Comedy Festival runs Thursday to Saturday at Club Privateer, 1222 Mackay Street. Shows are Thursday 8pm; Friday and Saturday at 8pm and 10pm.

Comedy review: Aziz Ansari

Parks and Recreation star Aziz Ansari made an impressive return last night to Montreal's Just for Laughs festival with his new show Buried Alive. It's his fourth year in a row appearing at the festival.

The show began with him (or what sounded like him) announcing over the loudspeakers the usual no recording, etc. policies in his usual hilarious manner, before introducing the opening act Chelsea Peretti. She proved to be an apt choice to open. Not only has she written for Parks and Recreation, but she shared a similar comedic sensibility – raunchy, but not too much so. She ventured into tricky territory when she addressed the issue of rape jokes, but showed that rape jokes can indeed be funny.

When Ansari came out, he began by getting a some business out of the way, including noting that the venue didn't seem to be stopping anyone from taking photos as they should, so he asked people to take them then and there to get it out of the way. He helpfully struck some poses before riffing on people showing off the photos afterwards but not knowing what was being said since they were too busy taking pictures.

CFC and Just for Laughs announce the Telefilm Canada Comedy Exchange

ANNOUNCING THE TELEFILM CANADA FEATURE COMEDY EXCHANGE
A CFC North South Marketplace Initiative in collaboration with Just For Laughs

Montreal, July 26, 2012 – The CFC (Canadian Film Centre) today announced the launch of the Comedy Exchange, which replaces the acclaimed 3-year-old Telefilm Canada Features Comedy Lab. This new initiative will raise the profile of Canadian filmmakers and their film projects internationally while continuing to build interest and business relationships within the Hollywood and North American independent film and comedy communities.

“The Comedy Exchange builds upon the strengths and traction of the previous program, while even more closely aligning itself with Telefilm's mandate to increase the packaging and promotion of exciting Canadian talent and features to the international marketplace,” says Sheila De La Varende, Director Industry Promotion, Telefilm Canada.