February 29, 2008
Film Friday: The Other Film Critic
Hello! Although you probably didn’t notice, this Torontoist writer was away for a week, and as a result we failed to do something very important. Specifically, to congratulate Norm Wilner on becoming NOW’s senior film critic. We're not doing this just because we know Wilner keeps an eye on Torontoist to see if he gets a mention, but because we like his work so much that we can’t think of anyone better to step into John Harkness’s (non-literal) shoes.
Wilner is most positive this week about The Counterfeiters, but we're happily obligated to mention our own review (so sorry Norm), by Christopher Bird. Bird said before its premiere at TIFF 2007 that it’s a "completely gripping movie that never flinches, never compromises" in a five star review. It also won an Oscar last week! But considering how they gave an Oscar to Diablo Cody, that is absolutely no guarantee of quality at all. So let’s stick to believing Bird.
Let’s quote Wilner’s review of The Other Boleyn Girl, then! The only film this week to star two actresses that basically no one can remember being good in anything* but still coo over because they’re, like, totally hot, Wilner says, "The Other Boleyn Girl wants to be both a royal power fantasy and a bodice-ripping yarn, and succeeds as neither." Come on! We’d all have accepted just a bodice ripper, eh lads? Eh? Wink, wink, nudge, nudge, etc.
Actually, our favourite quotation in that review has to be: "Seriously, imagine a movie about Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn that doesn’t even mention Thomas More." That quotation is made of pure win.
Oh, well—for everyone who doesn’t know who Thomas More is, there’s always the new Will Ferrell movie Semi-Pro! Eye’s Jason Anderson calls it “lazy and erratic.”
Also on release this week: City of Men, the sequel to the amazing City of God; Penelope; Autism: The Musical and The Royal shows the gorgeously authentic '70s “sexploitation” tribute Viva, and Canada’s Top Ten film Continental, A Film Without Guns. In festivals, the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival continues.
*Okay, Okay, there's Leon. But that's all we can think of.
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"*Okay, Okay, there's Leon. But that's all we can think of."
Ghost World??
City of God has a sequel?!?
Oh man, must-see.
Upon further review, City of Men isn't so much a "sequel" as it is a "companion piece"....
yes I agree with ckk, Scarlett was very good in Ghost World and Lost in Translation, even if the film is problematic in loadsa ways.)
Also - can we count SNL shorts?
I didn't think she was good in Ghost World or Lost in Translation. She just pouted and looked bored, which is all she does!
HOWEVER!
You got me with the SNL shorts. Portman's was amazing, and Johansson proved that she can act, when she can be bothered, in that "chandelieahs" sketch.
Am I the only one who liked The Island??
um. if natalie portman isn't good, who in young hollywood is? sure, she's been in (maybe more than) her fair share of duds, but her intuitive grasp of a character is undeniable. she's talented as hell.
Hey! I don't see any examples in that comment.
Also, Spacejack:
Yes. You are.
It was a rhetorical question.
In addition to the above-mentioned movies, Scarlett Johansson was pretty good in The Man Who Wasn't There. And Match Point. And apparently The Girl with a Pearl Earring, though I never saw it.
And Natalie Portman kicks ass in Amos Gitai's Free Zone, which opens with a stunning nine-minute closeup of her crying, while an epic pop version of "Chad Gadya" plays in its entirety.
Bring on the outcry:
V for Vendetta. I love this movie and I love NatPort in it.
Jonathan: ScarJo does a good job in Girl with a Pearl Earring...but that earring is really a phenomenal actor. It has since appeared in such Hollywood blockbusters as...now I'm just getting silly.