Mike Goes To Movies

Crash (1996) + Viggo Mortensen and David Cronenberg Chat (2019) Last night I had the absolute pleasure of attending a TIFF special viewing of Cronenberg's highly controversial Crash, hosted by Viggo Mortensen, and followed by a discussion by him with Cronenberg himself, who surprised the audience with an unannounced appearance at the theatre. The night was started with some interesting words by Viggo that helped to set the audience for the viewing (especially for those that, like myself, had not seen Crash before). In talking about Crash and Cronenberg, Viggo said one of his favourite things about the director is that, in his films, Cronenberg never tells the viewer what to think. Unlike many films today, Cronenberg's films usually do not have the moralistic objective or cathartic ending, delivering to the audience a specific and intended message by the filmmakers. I found this a particularly interesting statement coming from Viggo as his recent, highly-acclaimed Green Boo...

Drive (2011) Recently rewatching Danish director, Nicolas Winding Refn's, Drive was an interesting experience for me. I had not seen it in quite a while (possibly since its release), however, I recalled quite clearly, that I absolutely loved the film when I saw it in theatres. Now, I still very much enjoyed the film upon this rewatch and, in fact, since beginning film school there are aspects of the film that I likely appreciated more now than I did the first time. However, there were a few notable issues I had with the film. Drive centres around the well-used 'Man With No Name' trope a la Clint Eastwood in Leone's 'Dollars Trilogy" or even Stephen King's Gunslinger in the Dark Tower series. As such, the audience is given very little information about Ryan Gosling's character other than he is an exceptionally cool and capable individual, foremost when it comes to driving. We know nothing about Gosling's background or his motivations other than...

Adaptation (2002) ADMIT ONE to the mind-bending, meta world of Charlie Kaufman's psyche. This film is the epitome of what I will refer to as the intellectual's mindfuck . It is like what Dazed and Confused or Pineapple Express are to stoners, but for the thinkers out there. Adaptation is equally trippy as these films, but in a very different and more cerebral way. I will try to briefly explain what the film is about, however, for those that are unfamiliar with it, I imagine you will quickly think to yourself, "what in the fuck..." Adaptation is stated to be based on the real novel The Orchid Thief by Susan Orleans but the film is really about Charlie Kaufman's struggle to adapt the novel into a complete screenplay. So, yes, the film is about the writing of... the actual film. This film, as such, is one of the most meta stories you will find out there, and that is much of the fun and complexity of it. The audience has to contend with constantly trying t...

Free Solo (2018) So, I'm not going to lie here... at no point last night was I comfortable watching this year's Best Documentary winner, Free Solo . Yes, it is an incredible documentary, but I personally do not do great with heights and so this documentary was a bit of an endeavour for me to get through. Throughout the entirety of my watching experience my hands were doused in a perpetual layer of sweat and my stomach wrenched tightly in my chest. Unlike Alex, my amygdala was very much being stimulated, perhaps to a dangerous degree, as I watched him free climb a number of mammoth and unrelenting sheer rock faces including the plat du jour, El Capitan. Free Solo really is an utterly remarkable documentary though. It is an adrenaline-pumping, majestic and fascinating look at one man, Alex Honnold, an interesting character himself, and the limits he must push himself to in order to conquer El Capitan, a mountain that has never before been free soloed. The training, both m...

Del Toro Double Feature: Cronos and The Devil's Backbone For those knowledgeable of Guillermo Del Toro, two of his early films, Cronos and The Devil's Backbone , will feel quite familiar. They are built upon many of the director's most recognizable styles and themes. Cerebral and gothic horrors about life and death, mortality and immortality. Innocent, victimized children trapped within the violent conflicts of adults. Mythology, fantasy, and folklore. Imagery of insects, clocks, and mechanical contraptions. Like other of Del Toro's, all of these elements permeate Cronos and TDB . Both films are well-made and well worth the time for those who are a fan of horror and the supernatural. They are also an insightful looking glass into the beginnings of one of my all-time favourite directors working today. Cronos (1993) Cronos tells the story of a mythological contraption that imbues its possessor/user with immortality. The insect-like golden item falls unwittingly into...

A visual showcase of some of the finest performances from the 1980's:

Love, Death & Robots (2019) Love, Death & Robots is the highly-anticipated Netflix anthology series headed by directors, David Fincher and Tim Miller. It is a re-imagining of sorts of the Heavy Metal reboot that the two had, for long, planned on making. The series is eighteen standalone science fiction stories, each brimming with violence, nudity and profanity; though the series is animated in gorgeous fashion, it is definitely not for children. As with most anthologies, LD+R can be somewhat of a mixed-bag; for every successful segment, there is likely an equally weaker one. The genres range from strictly action, to philosophical and existential, tense thrillers or straight absurd comedies, all within a unique sci-fi setting. As mentioned, one area where the series succeeds across the board is in its highly diverse and exceptional animation. You can see from this images that the segments range from fully-rendered and realistic computer animation, classic hand-drawn ani...

Clean, Shaven (1993) Clean, Shaven is not an easy film and it is likely not for everyone. It is a deeply unsettling story that tells of the life of a man suffering from schizophrenia. The film is also remarkable in that it strays far from the mold of a normal movie-going experience by presenting its story through the subjective lens of its troubled subject. Whereas a usual film follows a generally nonpartisan viewpoint - the audience possessing information not in full receipt of all of the characters - here, the audience sees the world through the mind - eyes and ears - of a man suffering from a serious mental illness. The implementation of this is in a sensory overlord such as the man, Peter Winter, played by Peter Greene, must contend with in his everyday life. Audio is spiked, distorted and overlapped, with sources both real and imagined constantly being thrown at Peter and at the audience. The visuals similarly cannot not be fully trusted as Peter suffers ongoing hallucinati...

1. The Godfather (1972) At long last, my number one favourite film of all-time - Francis Ford Coppola's 1972 true masterpiece, The Godfather . Some of you might think that this is not a very inspired choice and that much of what I am going to say here can be read on countless other lists about the majesty of this film, but hot-damn! I don't care - THIS FILM IS PERFECT. Based on Mario Puzo's novel of the same name, The Godfather is the sprawling tale of the Corleone Italian crime family operating in post-WWII New York. It is an intimate family drama about the transition of power and leadership within the family as the adult children must come to terms with the family's patriarch and don, Vito Corleone, being forced to step down from his role as head of the family and business. The film is equally a thrilling time-piece about the violent and tense operations and power struggles among and within the Italian mafia families in mid-20th century New York. You know a ...

Interstellar (2014) To me, Christopher Nolan's ambitious space-epic, Interstellar , is a bit like The Goog - a signature dish from a great ice cream place in my hometown. What the hell is The Goog? Well, it is  a deluge of dessert delicacy - it is a gargantuan upside down blueberry shake, with a hot fudge sundae, and bananas, all topped with whipped cream. Yes... that obviously sounds incredible. And it does taste good for the most part... But in reality, every time I've ordered The Goog I've ended up receiving a horrible stomach ache about halfway through and ultimately unable to finish it. Sadly, the Goog just tries too hard; it's just too much 'good' for one thing. Like The Goog, Interstellar tries its hand at being a little of bit something for everyone. It is a lengthy three hours and yet it still feels like its overflowing with plot points, tones and themes. The film should be commended for its high ambitions, and, most of the time, Nolan has been ab...

Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989) At this point, director, Steven Soderbergh, is a well-worn name in the industry and he has had a long career making successful and highly acclaimed films through a variety of genres. However, in 1989, Soderbergh was just another aspiring unknown, and one who was about to surprise the world with his directorial debut, Sex, Lies, and Videotape . The film would go on to jump-start the independent film movement prominent through the 1990's. It would also cement Soderbergh as a true, young talent; the film itself won Cannes' coveted Palme d'Or in '89, as well, it netted Soderbergh multiple award nominations for the film's script. Sex, Lies, and Videotape is an intricate and mature film about the inter-relations of four individuals and their sexual lives - desires, repressions and liasons. The film centres upon one married couple, the wife's younger sister and a friend of the husband who has recently returned to town. The catalys...

Hoop Dreams (1994) I finally had the pleasure of being able to watch the acclaimed  Hoop Dreams  and I can tell you that it is one of the finest documentaries I have ever seen.  Hoop Dreams  is an engrossing story that follows two young boys, living with their families in an impoverished and predominantly black neighbourhood of Chicago, Illinois, who aspire to take their proficient basketball skills to the next level. The documentary was originally only intended to be a 30-minute short film made by PBS, however, based on the mutually (and coincidentally) extraordinarily interesting developments that ensued in both of the boys' lives, the documentary crew ended up following both of them for close to eight years, compiling more than 250 hours of raw footage. The end result is a three hour, fascinating look into the worlds of teenage aspiration, youth basketball, the American private and public school system, and, foremost, the hard lives of African Americans in So...

Captain Marvel (2019) - Looking at the Film's So-Called 'Feminist Agenda' With this past weekend's release of the highly anticipated Captain Marvel, the latest entry in the uber-successful MCU, the world has received its latest cue that, perhaps, presently, we are not yet deserving of a hero such as Captain Marvel. By now, we all know that fandom can be a tyrannical beast. From Beatlemania to the Beliebers, from Twilight to Harry Potter, there are plentiful stories of fans taking things more than a little too far. This weekend was a new showcase of fans (and perhaps more-than fans) crossing the line. Early on in the weekend, Rotten Tomatoes had to change the way their website was run due to 50,000+  negative audience reviews plummeting in within hours of the film's release. (The actual number of these reviews was more than Avengers: Infinity War received in its entire theatrical run.) The reasoning was that, through the use of bots, disgruntled online trolls ...

Captain Marvel (2019) Like all MCU films, Captain Marvel is, at the very least, a highly entertaining film. The film marks the highly anticipated introduction of Carol Danvers, one of the more powerful figures in Marvel lore. The film also marks the MCU's first female hero-starring film - a fact that has additionally (and deservedly) led to much excitement and, unfortunately, some backlash. I will be writing a separate article about this latter point as I personally have an opinion on this trend I have been seeing in reviews. Overall, I thought that the film was enjoyable but that it did not meet the now-very high bar set by other Marvel films. Throughout its two-plus hour run-time, the film often has trouble finding its identity. Captain Marvel is an origin story but one that delves into the genres of buddy-cop film, intergalactic and terrestrial war film, a thriller mystery and a film about personal discovery and empowerment. Individually, none of these are a problem, howeve...

A visual showcase of some of the finest pieces of cinematography from the 1970's: