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...