With just days to go before the Oscar nominations, the week’s movie selection is the usual mixed bag of late-January studio dumping and indie titles jockeying for screen space. And since I’ve got a long day ahead of me, let’s get right to it!
“Body“: Rossana Foglia and Rubens Rewald’s complex Brazilian tale of death, obsession and identity that somehow refuses to resolve into a thriller. Instead, it does whatever the hell it wants to do, and lets us draw our own conclusions. Kinda invigorating, actually.
“La Donation“: Bernard Emond completes his trilogy of misery with this airless tale of a Montreal doctor (Elise Guilbault) who finds new purpose working in a remote village. It’s like “Doc Hollywood” or “Cars” — only, you know, dour and suffocating.
“Edge of Darkness“: In which we all get to watch as Martin Campbell turns his own terrific BBC miniseries into a crappy Mel Gibson revenge picture. My review should be up later today (UPDATE: there it is!), but the bottom line? Stay home with the DVD this weekend instead.
“Grown Up Movie Star”: Like most Canadians, I was utterly unaware of this movie until it got into Sundance. (Strange how no drums were beating for Vincenzo Natali’s “Splice”, the Canadian Sundance entry I actually want to see.) I’m still in the dark, having had a conflict for the press screening; Susan liked it, though Jason was less enthused.
“When in Rome”: I know Kristen Bell will probably never get another role as good as “Veronica Mars”, but that doesn’t mean she should throw herself into every romantic comedy that comes her way. “Forgetting Sarah Marshall”, good. “Couples Retreat”, not good. See how that works?
“The Yes Men Fix the World“: Andy and Mike are at it again, tilting against corporate wind machines with little more than fake websites, a strong sense of moral outrage and some truly monstrous pranks. Bless their pointy little heads.
Seriously, though, I hope you’re all planning to stay indoors this weekend. It’s harsh out there.