Category: Movies

Everything to do with films!

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VIFF Review: The Face of an Angel

A few years ago, a young British woman was murdered in Sienna, Italy. The case gained worldwide attention as the girls’ American roommate and friend were accused, tried, and convicted of the crime and then later acquitted on appeal.

The Face of an Angel is a fictionalization of this case. Sort of. Rather than going for the true crime angle, director Michael Winterbottom and writer Paul Viragh instead tell the story of a washed-up film director in Sienna trying to find a story among the city, the massive media presence, and local characters during the appeal trial.

Yes, we’re talking about a director making a film about a director trying to make a film about a real-life story. And also using _Dante’s Inferno_ as a frame for the story. Yeah. It’s a bit weird. It’s not what I’d call bad, but it’s definitely weird.

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VIFF Review: Mr. Turner

I’ve said before that one of the things I love about movies is those few occasions when I get to witness one of the great performances of our time, when an actor disappears into a role completely, and I can forget even the most familiar of faces as belonging to an actor I’ve seen before and instead see the character that they are playing.

This doesn’t happen quite as often as you might think, but it happened today when I saw Mr. Turner, in which Timothy Spall played famed British painter J.M.W. Turner.

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VIFF Review: Pulp: a Film About Life, Death & Supermarkets

Pulp: a Film About Life, Death & Supermarkets is an easy film to recommend. If you’re a fan of the band, then you should definitely want to check out the story of the band’s final concert –played in their hometown of Sheffield– and if you’re not a fan of the band, then you should check out the story of a band winding down, getting ready to stop playing, and wanting on last great night of rock and roll before they go.

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VIFF Review: Miss and the Doctors

Miss and the Doctors

You know what’s refreshing? A movie about a romance between adults, made by adults and for adults. Miss and the Doctors, or Tirez la Langue, Mademoiselle (Stick Out Your Tongue, Miss, roughly translated) if you prefer the original French title, is just that. It’s a romantic drama about two brothers, opposites dependent on one another, who fall for the same woman, and how their relationship changes as a result.

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The Films Of The Marvel Cinematic Universe, Ranked, Guardians of the Galaxy Edition

Marvel

_Guardians of the Galaxy_ finally hit theaters this week and absolutely no one should be surprised that [it’s really good](https://awesomefriday.ca/2014/08/review-guardians-of-the-galaxy/). The first question I was asked this morning was “how does it stack up compared to the other Marvel Cinematic Universe films?” So here’s my shiny new updated list which not only adds _Guardians_ but also mixes things up bit from [last time](https://awesomefriday.ca/2014/04/the-films-of-the-marvel-cinematic-universe-ranked/) after a recent re-watch of all the movies.

Fair warning: minor spoilers for all the Marvel movies, including _Guardians of the Galaxy_, to follow.

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Review: Guardians of the Galaxy

Guardians of the Galaxy

The marketing for _Guardians of the Galaxy_ has basically been omnipresent for the last few months. Hardly a day went by without a new poster or image or teaser or whatever. The reason for this is simple: this is the first real test of Marvel’s brand. Guardians, like it or not, is a lesser known property and while this film connects with the over reaching continuity of the established Marvel Cinematic Universe it doesn’t actually feature any characters that we’ve already met meaning that they can’t trade on the popularity of Iron Man or Captain America they have to rely on the corporate brand. In this world of “new things are risky let’s remake something from the 1980s” that’s kind of a big deal.

So it’s a good job they knocked it out the fucking park with this movie otherwise they’d be in trouble. Yes, it’s great and you should see it. No need to even finish reading this review. Just go. Or finish reading this review and I’ll give you a few reasons why.

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