New In The USA: RUSSIAN ARK
Aleksandr Sokurov's experiment with digital cameras, two centuries of rich history, and the novelty of 'one take cinema' yielded this curious tour through the Russian State Hermitage Museum featuring a cast of hundreds all hitting their mark.
It's a balance of history and pageantry that made be more than a bit dozy at times (I lack a lot of the context that the film seems not interested in providing, given the time constraints) when I caught it at the 2002 edition of the Toronto International Film Festival, but there is not doubt that the film is one of a kind, and it certainly has its supporters.
New In Canada: WOMB
A very unconventional science fiction film that is certainly not for everyone, has Eva Green taking the DNA of her dead lover (former Doctor Who, Matt Smith), and giving birth to a perfect clone version to raise him to be her lover once again.
The film is arty, gorgeous, strangely acted, and oddly paced, and one spends more time dealing with personal morality issues than being engrossed in the characters. But there is power and beauty and something certainly daring at play. If you were a lover of both Mark Romanek's Never Let Me Go, and Jonathan Glazer's Birth, you certainly won't want to miss this. Womb was one of my personal favourites of 2010, and I'm happy to see it show up on Netflix Canada.
New In The UK/Ireland: BEST WORST MOVIE
Everything you ever wanted to know about Troll 2, the film fiasco that, like Ed Wood's Plan Nine From Outer Space and Tommy Wiseau's The Room, became celebrated and earnestly enjoyed for simply the astounding level of inept filmmaking on display. Troll 2's wildcard is a 'big personality' dentist from Alabama who was cast in the lead, and much of this documentary focuses on his dealing with the 15 seconds of very specific fame offered by a 20 year old film becoming an 'overnight' cult success.
The original films child-star, Michael Stephenson, wrote, directed Best Worst Movie and revisited the original cast and crew, charts the films path through the internet and repertory cinema circles that made Troll 2 a cult sensation. One of the
New In Mexico/Brazil: BEFORE MIDNIGHT
The third part in Richard Linkelater's look on romance and logistics throughout the lifetime of semi-affluent westerners finds Jesse and Celine with children of their own, vacationing in Greece and facing new challenges in their relationship.
This one shows the couple with bigger adult responsibilities, and the strains and pressures that accompany these things. Watching two actors very comfortable in these roles start to pick and fight with one another, with serious stakes to their marital issues, there is paradoxically a lot of comfort and pleasure to be had. The third part in the so-called "Before" films proves, much like Michael Apted's "Up" series of films that each new entry enriches the chapters that came previously.
New in Norway: PRIMER
If you have not seen Shane Carruth's 2004 debut film about a couple of engineers who invent a time machine in their garage, then stop reading this article and start watching.
While the film never proved to be a game-changer in the genre, it stands as one of the great 'hard-sci-fi' films about time travel, and one of the pinnacles in the genre.
New in Sweden/Denmark: THE ALZHEIMER CASE
Director Erik Van Looy is Belgium's answer to Michael Mann. This glossy, slick thriller seems to be cut from similar cloth as Manhunter, Heat and Collateral on the police procedural side. But what makes The Alzheimer Case (aka Memory of A Killer) so special is the central performance from the iconic Jan Decleir as a hit man trying to complete a job in spite of serious memory issues.
With a slick sense of photography and style that is reminiscent of Hollywood filmmaking, a great collection of characters, The Alzheimer Case does not exactly revolutionize or reinvent the genre, but it gets the job done well and belongs on the top shelf of slick, testosterone police thrillers.
New in The Netherlands: HARRY BROWN
Here the eponymous pensioner, played in a rare late career starring role by Michael Caine, has had enough of all the hoodie-hoodlums in his run-down neighbourhood that he goes to buy some fire-arms and fight back himself, against a crazy drug lord played by Sean Harris in full Drexl-mode.
Steven Soderbergh imbued a stunning style and quite experimental structure with his own stab at the genre, The Limey (another old timer at the forefront, Terrence Stamp) and Belgian Erik Van Looy got all Michael Mann-, Tony Scott-ish with his geezer revenge picture, The Alzheimer Case, featuring Jan Decleir, but with Harry Brown, the grit and the photography is so subtly geared to the main characters state of being, it is worth seeing for that aspect alone.
As a consideration of the career of Michael Caine, this is far from the ugly non-sympathetic (even slightly enigmatic) turn in Mike Hodges wonderful Get Carter, the handsome cad in either Alfie or Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, or the warm voice of reason in Christopher Nolan’s movies. No the iconic actor is coming at things from, dare I say, a completely new angle. You sympathize, rage, and all around understand his eventual actions from his hang-dog face and steely resolve. Here is hoping that you’ve got 20 years or more left in you Mr. Caine, keep doing what you do!