VIFF Review: ‘The Lighthouse’ is on a journey into madness and it’s taking you with it

The Lighthouse / VIFF 2019

Robert Eggers has made two movies now. Both with predominantly natural light, confident eye and camera, and period set using actual dialogue from sources contemporary to said setting.

The man has a style, is what I’m saying. But whereas The Witch was a good old fashioned horror movie about a family terrorized by their own inadequacies and a witch, The Lighthouse is something different altogether. It’s a chronicle of two men descending into madness, tortured by their utter solitude but also each other’s persistent company.

It’s tense, absurd, it features two powerhouse performances, it’s overwhelming, and it’s an absolute must-see.

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VIFF Review: ‘Who You Think I Am’, in which Juliette Binoche dazzles

Who You Think I Am

Loneliness is a painful emotion. Whether you’re surrounded by people or not, the feeling that you are truly alone can cause even the most rational people to do all kinds of things. We are, after all, all human and subject to the whims of our emotions.

Enter Juliette Binoche as Claire, a 50ish publisher and professor and divorcée who is making her way unhappily through life. After she is spurned by Ludo –the younger man she has been seeing– when she suggests they spend some real-time together, she decides she would like to enact some revenge upon him. To that end, she creates Clara, a gorgeous 24-year-old avatar to bait Ludo with. After several glasses of wine and friend requests, she receives a message, but it’s not Ludo she has hooked; it’s his roommate Alex.

This is where things start to go a little sideways, and also where I am going to do my best to stop speaking about the plot as this one has many twists and turns, and I don’t want to spoil any of them.

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Awesome News: Spider-Man is back in the MCU, Kevin Feige Takes to the Stars War, VIFF 2019 is in full effect, the return of the trifecta, and more!

Spider-Man

There really is a whole lot of news each week, isn’t there? This week has seem some pretty big bombs drop such as Kevin Feige working on a Star Wars, VIFF starting up, Jurassic World 3 casting news, Jason Bateman directing news, Phoebe Waller-Bridge gets a truck load of cash from Amazon news, Batman news, Wes Anderson news, and Spider-man is back in the MCU news. Let’s dive right in!

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VIFF Review: ‘Amare Amaro’, bitter love indeed

Amare Amano / VIFF 2019

Tragedy is defined as a form of drama based on human suffering that invokes an accompanying catharsis for the audience. A story in which the characters suffer, and no one ends up happy, and maybe we learn something along the way.

Amare Amaro is, very loosely, an adaptation of the Greek tragedy Antigone, in which the heroine attempts to secure a proper burial for one of her brothers in defiance of the king. Her brother was killed in battle, fighting for the wrong side, and fought to the mutual death against his own brother. This is not a happy story, in case the genre didn’t tip you off.

The updated story, in which Antigone is removed, and one of the dead brothers is now the protagonist, has been transposed to modern times and results in a beautifully shot but melancholy picture about the lengths we’ll go to for the honour of the people we love.

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VIFF Review: ‘Babysplitters’ has some great moments but overstays its welcome

Babysplitters / VIFF

Having a baby is an overwhelming life change. Of course, I’m stating the obvious here, but it is the inciting idea behind the plot of Babysplitters, in which two couples who are divided on their intentions to have a child get together and decide that if the four of them have one baby together, then the burden might not be quite so life-changing.

That right there is a pretty great setup for a comedy. There’s plenty of room for hi-jinx as the four people make the decisions that two normally would, as double the normal number of values and undisclosed religious backgrounds and other exiting biases and expectations clash together.

Add a great cast, and you have a hell of a movie. Luckily, this movie has that too, with Danny Pudi (Community) and Emily Chang in the lead roles. Together they enjoy easy and sincere chemistry as a married couple at odds over whether to have a child (she wants one, he’s not so sure). Once they learn that their best friends (Maiara Walsh and Eddie Alfano) are in the same boat (but with the roles switched), the plot and hi-jinx ensue. But also it’s where the film’s problems begin.

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VIFF Review: ‘Assholes: A Theory’ is a disappointment

Assholes: A Theory / VIFF 2019

Everyone knows one. A friend or acquaintance you tolerate because of a shared history or friend circle. He’s an asshole, but he’s your asshole. But why is he such an asshole?

Assholes: A Theory wants to explore this segment of society. Why are people Assholes? How are they assholes? Can we distinguish different kinds of assholes? What kind of behaviour is asshole behaviour? What can we do about it?

A documentary with such a strong setup could be equal parts fascinating and hilarious. Unfortunately, this is not that documentary, as while there are a few laughs and a few interesting examinations, the film peters out before it starts to hit the meat of the problem.

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VIFF Review: “Ursula von Rydingsvard: Into Her Own” highlights a lifetime of art

Ursula von Rydingsvard: Into Her Own / VIFF 2019

Documentaries are a difficult thing. The amount of time spent with the subject and the amount of footage shot compared to what’s used in the finished product are both monumental. One needs a compelling subject with a compelling story to tell, and those are not as easy to come by as many would probably assume.

Luckily, Ursula von Rydingsvard is a compelling subject. A woman at the forefront of the contemporary art scene creating massive cedarwood, bronze, and copper sculptures, she has been a creative force since the 1970s. She felt a lifelong determination to be an artist, a drive recalled by everyone in the film from her brother to her patrons, but with a runtime of only 57 minutes, this film a little light on the details of the story of this drive.

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VIFF Review: ‘White Lie’ is a tense psychological drama

White Lie / VIFF 2019

The problem with telling a lie –even a white lie– is that to maintain it, you have to tell more of them. Each new lie you tell builds on the ones you’ve already told until one day, instead of maintaining some small mistruth, you’re maintaining an entire narrative that you can barely keep straight.

This is the world of Katie Arneson (Kacey Rohl), the university student and dancer at the heart of Yonah Lewis and Calvin Thomas’s White Lie. With one minor difference: she hasn’t told a little white lie; she’s told the world she has cancer.

What lengths would someone have to go to maintain that lie? How long could you keep your head above water with the lies swirling around you? These are the questions at the heart of this movie.

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Heads up Vancouver: VIFF is coming!

VIFF

Greetings local film lovers. The 2019 Vancouver International Film Festival is back for it’s 38th year and I will be attending again. I’m excited to immerse myself in the cinema of the world again and I’ll be reviewing films as I see them.

I’m also bringing you a sneak peak at some of the films, you can look for reviews of White Lie, Ursula Rydingsvard: Into Her Own, Assholes: A Theory coming up this week before the festival.

If you want to keep an eye on all the my coverage this year you can check out the VIFF 2019 tag here on Awesome Friday!. In the mean time consider joining the festival, there are a ton of great films playing and you can get tickets at the VIFF webpage.

Also, as always, if you like what you’re reading please consider becoming a patron and helping me keep doing it. Or at least click an ad or two. Every bit helps.

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See you at the movies!

Awesome Friday: Iko Uwais in G.I. Joe, Sony & Marvel’s Spider-Powered Divorce, That New Batsuit Smell, & More

Iko Uwais / The Raid

Dear readers,

Yes, both of you. Here’s a new experiment to get me writing a bit again. Sans the time to write up each bit of movie news there is (guys there is so much news every week, it’s nuts) I’m going to try to keep a digest on a weekly basis. Hopefully this works and hopefully you like it. Let’s hop right to it, shall we?

Continue reading “Awesome Friday: Iko Uwais in G.I. Joe, Sony & Marvel’s Spider-Powered Divorce, That New Batsuit Smell, & More”