Three movie day Sunday with mixed results.
First up was Made in Dagenham, which has officially became the first movie of the fest that I completely fell in love with. Probably partially because I think it was designed to push every feminist button I've got, but also for the great performances, fantastic soundtrack and overall wonderful story.
The movie is based on true events, though fictionalized with characters standing in as amalgams of their real life counterparts. It concerns a strike in the late 60's by the women who worked as machinists in the Ford plant, first over being classified as 'unskilled workers' and then further developing into a broader fight for equal pay to their male counterparts. It is directed by Nigel Cole who previously brought us Calendar Girls and filled with a cast of fantastic british actors including Sally Hawkins, Bob Hoskins, Miranda Richardson, Geraldine James and Rosamund Pike, with Richard Schiff (Toby Ziegler!!) standing in as the American Ford representative.
Cole and his two producers attended the early morning screening to introduce the film and then returned for a Q&A afterwards. I saw Richard Schiff sneak in just before the start to watch with an audience as well. They discussed the inspiration for the film (a radio interview reunion with some of the women involved) and making movies about women in general. Cole said it was because he really wasn't interested in making movies about men blowing things up, one of the producers mentioned the bechdel test which happily this movie passes in the first 30 seconds. All in all, a fantastic start to the day.
Next up was Jack Goes Boating, the directorial debut of Philip Seymour Hoffman who also stars as the titular Jack alongside Amy Ryan, Daphne Rubin-Vega and John Ortiz as two rather disfunctional couples.
Rubin-Vega and Ortiz are the married couple with major cracks in the foundation of their relationship. Hoffman is their misfit friend who's into reggae music, sports dreadlocks and doesn't seem to have much going on in his life and who they set up on a date with one of her colleages from work (Ryan). Much of the movie seems to be about Jack's elaborate preparations for date number two (learning to swim and cook a meal) where you just know that things are not going to go well. The movie is based on the play of the same name by Bob Glaudini (who also wrote the screenplay) and all of the actors (save Ryan) were part of the off-broadway cast of the play which gives the movie a feeling of history in the relationships.
I don't know...I turned to my friend at the end of the movie and said that I'm sure there was a great deal of deep symbolism in the movie but that I didn't really get it. She completely agreed. It's not unwatchable by any means and all the actors give good performances but it seemed a bit pretentious to me. Hoffman and his cast did a Q&A after the movie and most of his answers seemed to validate that point to me. I think one of them was of the 'the answer to that is that there is no answer' variety.
Finally, I ended the day with the one and only screening of Clint Eastwood's Hereafter at the festival. It was clearly a hot ticket and Yonge street had a couple of lanes blocked off at the theatre entrance to ward off the gawkers.
The movie deals with death and the afterlife with three seemingly unconnected stories that you know are going to end up connecting at some point. The movie kicks off and kick starts your heart with scenes of the 2004 tsunami and the unlikely survival of Marie Delay (Cecile De France), a french reporter who begins to struggle with her near death experience and is unable to slip back into her life. In England, twin brothers Marcus and Jason are trying to cope with an alcoholic mother and child services when tragedy strikes. In San Fransicso, George (Matt Damon) is trying to live a simple life as a factory worker and escape his past as semi-famous psychic who is able to speak to the dead. He meets a lovely woman in a cooking class (Howard) and is struggling to keep that relationship separate from his abilities (or curse as he believes it to be).
I really liked the movie, though I can't say I walked out loving it. I will say though, that parts of it are sticking with me and I'm still thinking about it 3 days later so that has to say something. I've realized that while I wasn't a huge fan of Eastwood as an actor I've become a pretty big fan of his work as a director and I think this movie will end up settling in there. I'm an even bigger fan of what he does in scoring his films and all of the music works beautifully. An interesting story, good performances, an international cast and some lovely quiet moments. Eastwood, Damon and Howard took to the stage to introduce the film but in the manner in which you'd expect Eastwood didn't have a lot to say and said the film should speak for itself. No Q&A afterwards (Boo!).
First up was Made in Dagenham, which has officially became the first movie of the fest that I completely fell in love with. Probably partially because I think it was designed to push every feminist button I've got, but also for the great performances, fantastic soundtrack and overall wonderful story.
The movie is based on true events, though fictionalized with characters standing in as amalgams of their real life counterparts. It concerns a strike in the late 60's by the women who worked as machinists in the Ford plant, first over being classified as 'unskilled workers' and then further developing into a broader fight for equal pay to their male counterparts. It is directed by Nigel Cole who previously brought us Calendar Girls and filled with a cast of fantastic british actors including Sally Hawkins, Bob Hoskins, Miranda Richardson, Geraldine James and Rosamund Pike, with Richard Schiff (Toby Ziegler!!) standing in as the American Ford representative.
Cole and his two producers attended the early morning screening to introduce the film and then returned for a Q&A afterwards. I saw Richard Schiff sneak in just before the start to watch with an audience as well. They discussed the inspiration for the film (a radio interview reunion with some of the women involved) and making movies about women in general. Cole said it was because he really wasn't interested in making movies about men blowing things up, one of the producers mentioned the bechdel test which happily this movie passes in the first 30 seconds. All in all, a fantastic start to the day.
Next up was Jack Goes Boating, the directorial debut of Philip Seymour Hoffman who also stars as the titular Jack alongside Amy Ryan, Daphne Rubin-Vega and John Ortiz as two rather disfunctional couples.
Rubin-Vega and Ortiz are the married couple with major cracks in the foundation of their relationship. Hoffman is their misfit friend who's into reggae music, sports dreadlocks and doesn't seem to have much going on in his life and who they set up on a date with one of her colleages from work (Ryan). Much of the movie seems to be about Jack's elaborate preparations for date number two (learning to swim and cook a meal) where you just know that things are not going to go well. The movie is based on the play of the same name by Bob Glaudini (who also wrote the screenplay) and all of the actors (save Ryan) were part of the off-broadway cast of the play which gives the movie a feeling of history in the relationships.
I don't know...I turned to my friend at the end of the movie and said that I'm sure there was a great deal of deep symbolism in the movie but that I didn't really get it. She completely agreed. It's not unwatchable by any means and all the actors give good performances but it seemed a bit pretentious to me. Hoffman and his cast did a Q&A after the movie and most of his answers seemed to validate that point to me. I think one of them was of the 'the answer to that is that there is no answer' variety.
Finally, I ended the day with the one and only screening of Clint Eastwood's Hereafter at the festival. It was clearly a hot ticket and Yonge street had a couple of lanes blocked off at the theatre entrance to ward off the gawkers.
The movie deals with death and the afterlife with three seemingly unconnected stories that you know are going to end up connecting at some point. The movie kicks off and kick starts your heart with scenes of the 2004 tsunami and the unlikely survival of Marie Delay (Cecile De France), a french reporter who begins to struggle with her near death experience and is unable to slip back into her life. In England, twin brothers Marcus and Jason are trying to cope with an alcoholic mother and child services when tragedy strikes. In San Fransicso, George (Matt Damon) is trying to live a simple life as a factory worker and escape his past as semi-famous psychic who is able to speak to the dead. He meets a lovely woman in a cooking class (Howard) and is struggling to keep that relationship separate from his abilities (or curse as he believes it to be).
I really liked the movie, though I can't say I walked out loving it. I will say though, that parts of it are sticking with me and I'm still thinking about it 3 days later so that has to say something. I've realized that while I wasn't a huge fan of Eastwood as an actor I've become a pretty big fan of his work as a director and I think this movie will end up settling in there. I'm an even bigger fan of what he does in scoring his films and all of the music works beautifully. An interesting story, good performances, an international cast and some lovely quiet moments. Eastwood, Damon and Howard took to the stage to introduce the film but in the manner in which you'd expect Eastwood didn't have a lot to say and said the film should speak for itself. No Q&A afterwards (Boo!).
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1 comment:
I got the same feeling about Jack Goes Boating from the trailer - another film with a disheveled, social misfit played by PSH. He's getting into the Michael Cera one-note category with me.
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