By Mathew Kumar

Today’s Listings:
12:45 p.m. – Wendy and Lucy (Scotiabank 2)
1:30 p.m. – Treeless Mountain (AMC 3) Review
3:00 p.m. – All Around Us (AMC 4)
4:00 p.m. – Waltz With Bashir (AMC 3)
6:00 p.m. – The Silence of Lorna (Scotiabank 1)
7:00 p.m. – A Film With Me In It (AMC 5)
8:15 p.m. – Cooper’s Camera (Varsity 7)
9:15 p.m. – Of Time and the City (pictured above; AMC 6)
9:30 p.m. – Wavelengths: Trips (Jackman Hall)
9:45 p.m. – Short Cuts Canada Programme 2 (AMC 3)
11:59 p.m. – Not Quite Hollywood (Ryerson)
After the jump, reviews for tonight’s screenings of All Around Us, Waltz with Bashir, Wavelengths: Trips, and Short Cuts Canada Programme 2.

All Around Us (Ryosuke Hashiguchi)
Though we’ve never really thought about it before, All Around Us shows us it’s possible to make an epic film about family without resorting to the blustery tales of intrigue or betrayal within dynasties that American epics tend toward—this quiet film merely follows a young couple across nearly a decade from the early 90s as their relationship ebbs and flows while time marches forward. The film feels a little long, but there’s a deeply considered pacing, and Hashiguchi cleverly situates the husband (played by Japanese design icon Lily Franky) in the relationship as a courtroom sketcher, allowing him to comment on Japanese society of the time with a warm (if at times dark) wit—this warmth and wittiness pervades the film and is very much its charm. 4/5
All Around Us plays at 3 p.m. at the AMC 4 and September 13th at the Varsity 4 at 9:30 p.m..

Waltz with Bashir (Ari Folman)
Easily one of the most critically acclaimed films from Cannes, Waltz With Bashir takes the viewer on an uneasy ride with director Ari Forlman as he tries to remember his time in the Israeli Defence Force during the 1982 Lebanon War, specifically concentrating on the mysterious blank he has surrounding the Sabra and Shatila massacre, which (at the very least) the IDF failed to stop. It’s a heavy subject, but the strength of the film is that it is a personal rediscovery, not a definitive explanation of the events surrounding the massacre—the use of animation to explore the dreams and otherwise hazy memories of the past supports that, though when certain subjects make sweeping statements about the situation it can be hard to keep it in mind. The animation is at times a little stilted, but a haunting score from Max Richter and some very cleverly used rock songs complete this very accomplished work. 4/5
Waltz with Bashir plays at 4 p.m. at the AMC 3.

Wavelengths: Trips
Rodakis (pictured above; Olaf Nicolai) – What seems to be a documentary of a Greek architect’s life has a clever little sting in its tail to go with the gorgeous scenery. 3.5/5
Block B (Chris Chong Chan Fui) – A single shot of a Kuala Lumpur apartment block fades into view, and we see all the happenings across the whole block as the day progresses; our eyes are drawn around the screen to take it all in without ever losing either the small details, or the big picture. Superb. 4.5/5
Mosaik Mecanique (Norbert Pfaffenbichler) – All 98 shots of Charlie Chaplin’s A Film Johnnie on screen at the same time in order; sounds interesting, but once you’ve looked at it for a couple of minutes you’ve probably got all you’re going to get from it. It goes on for ten. 2/5
Also playing as part of Wavelengths: Trips: Black and White Trypps Number Three (Ben Russell), Flash in the Metropolitan (Rosalind Nasashibi, Lucy Skaer), Parícutin (Erika Loic) and Trypps #5 (Dubai) (Ben Russell). Wavelengths: Trips plays Jackman Hall tonight at 9:30 p.m..

Short Cuts Canada Programme 2
Spoiled (Sherry White) – A sad little film about a girl looking for a mother to join her curmudgeonly father, Spoiled is far from uplifting but a sensitive portrait of loneliness within a family. 3.5/5
Hers at Last (Helen Lee) – A pair of women wander Seoul in a melancholy fashion; completely failed to hold our attention. 2/5
Night Vision (Phillip Barker) – A short film about a person undergoing a psychological exam who reveals an imagination of surprising depth. It meanders a little, but this short keeps an ethereal feel without ever being forced. 3.5/5
Rosa Rosa (pictured above; Félix Dufour-Laperrière) – A gorgeously animated short about a couple, new parents, who deal with life during wartime. The form is so interesting to as to distract from the narrative, but even then it’s remarkable. 3.5/5
Gilles (Constant Mentzas) – An elderly woman tries to convince her mentally disabled son that he has to go to a foster home. The pleasant cinematography and fine performances are completely undone by the note it ends on, unfortunately. 2/5
Also playing as part of Short Cuts Canada Programme 2: Synthétiseur (Sarah Fortin).Short Cuts Canada Programme 2 plays AMC 3 tonight at 9:45 p.m. and September 8th at 3:15 p.m..