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Film Friday: Ratnervision
Last week, because we were completely distracted by Dock in a Box, we didn’t mention our sadness at the loss of both Ingmar Bergman and Michelangelo Antonioni. We also couldn’t think of a Director bad enough to lament the continued existence of in the same breath.
Thanks to a viewing of Brett Ratner’s Rush Hour 3, we have that man! We really think that Lars von Trier missed a trick in his recent satire The Boss Of It All by creating an automatic director that created random shots—he should have created one which made the most mundane shots possible and called it “Ratnervision.”
To be honest, though, we didn’t hate the last couple of Rush Hour films, but we doubt we’ve ever seen a film as brain-dead as Rush Hour 3. The only highlight is Roman Polanski appearing as a French policeman that literally molests the heroes. Does the man have absolutely no sense of irony?
Like Rush Hour 3, 2 Days in Paris is similarly set in the French capital, and too attempts to juxtapose American and European attitudes for comic effect. Directed by Julie Delpy, we imagine it doesn’t fall into the many pitfalls Rush Hour 3 does, but it’s received mixed reviews. The best we’ve heard is Norman Wilner’s Metro review, where he says it’s “a charming little trifle about two different people walking and talking their way around gorgeous European locations.”
Stardust is a film we don’t fancy at all (despite being written by Neil Gaiman) as Ricky Gervais is in it. A mere glimpse of the man makes us want to rip our eyes out and plug our ears with them. The Star’s Geoff Pevere isn’t much impressed with the final product, either. “Stardust is pitched somewhere between the screwball whimsy of Rob Reiner’s The Princess Bride and the heavy-metal camp of a Terry Gilliam movie … Though nobly intentioned, it misses the mark of both, landing with something of a glittering thud somewhere in between.”
Also on release this week: Klimt, starring John Malkovich, whose jaws must be getting tired from all that scenery he chews (and when it comes to Klimt himself, we’ve always preferred Schiele’s body of work) Moliere, A Stone’s Throw and Skinwalkers (which looks astonishingly terrible).
Tonight, MediaReform.ca will be presenting present a dual screening of Outfoxed and Torontopia at 9:00 p.m. at the Brunswick Theatre (296 Brunswick Avenue) the Hot and Spicy Food Festival is showing Favela Rising tomorrow at the Harbourfront Centre at 5:30 p.m. and on Thursday, at 7 p.m. Trinity Square Video and the Toronto Animated Image Society will be presenting the 2007 Spotlight on a Member, featuring Khanhthuan Tran’s short films at the TSV Gallery (401 Richmond Street West).