Hi, this is Daniel Garber at the Movies for culturalmining.com and CIUT 89.5 FM.

March break is coming to a close, so I have two genre movies — an action comedy and a spy thriller — you might want to watch this weekend. There’s a London spy who suspects everyone, and a San Diego bank manager who feels nothing.

But before that I’m going to tell you about some other movies you might not know about. 

Unusual movies to catch in Toronto

If you’re into the indie music scene, there’s a special screening tonight at the TIFF Lightbox. We Forgot to Break Up is a movie about the rise and fall of a small-town gender queer band that goes from performing in a barn in rural Ontario to attempting to make it big in downtown Toronto. Its headed by rising young actor/musician Lane Webber, the songs are by Torquil Campbell, and the soundtrack includes Peaches, Gentleman Reg, and The Hidden Cameras. I saw this one at Inside Out last year, and I quite liked it.

Also playing at the Lightbox is the new Goethe Institute’s series Extra.Ordinary showing three great new German flics. I haven’t seen any of these yet (two will be Toronto premieres) but GoetheFilms programming is always top-notch. Similarly, the Japan Foundation is screening Still Walking, a classic by fave director Kore-eda Hirokazu, next week.

And finally, I bet you’ve never heard of Terrible Fest, have you? Well it’s a Super 8, B-Movie short film festival at Eyesore Cinema on March 25 and 30th, including titles like these: Wallet Monster, Dirty Show with Video Hoser, Air Fryer Slaughter, and of course that future cult-classic Girls Just Want to Have Kill. You can get a pass to all the films for just 12 bucks.

So, if you feel like going to a movie, but don’t want something too conventional, there are still alternatives to see.

Black Bag

Dir: Steven Soderbergh

George (Michael Fassbender) is a high ranked bureaucrat at Mi6, London’s international spy agency. He’s trying to find the identity of a suspected double agent. But instead of one name, the asset gives him a list with five names on it, and only one is the traitor. So he invites them all to a dinner party. Interestingly, four of the 5 are couples: Freddie and Clarissa (Tom Burke, Marisa Abela) and James and Zoe (Regé-Jean Page, Naomie Harris). And the fifth? It’s his own wife Kathryn (Cate Blanchett) whom he loves dearly, but if she’s the double agent, it’s his duty to catch her in the act. 

Apparently, one of them possesses information about a top secret weapon and is peddling it to the Russians. This weapon is so terrible it could kill tens of thousands and plunge us into WWIII. And to George’s dismay, Kate is on a secret mission on the Continent, exchanging information for cash. Can George uncover the truth? Is Katherine the villain? And if so, will he turn her in?

Black Bag is a classic British spy-thriller, with everything going for it. It’s done in the style of a Le Carre novel. Michael Fassbender, Cate Blanchett and Naomie Harris provide star appeal. And the director/writer team of Steven Soderbergh with David Koepp are a winning combination (they released another movie Presence, just a few weeks ago, which I liked).  So why does Black Bag suck so bad? The script is terrible, with an array of dull, unsympathetic characters, and a cookie-cutter plot. The witty repartee you expect from a British spy movie is totally missing. But I manly blame this one on Soderbergh himself, its director, editor and cinematographer. He’s like a film student with his first video camera, fooling around just for fun as he figures out how it works. The opening scene follows George around from behind until it finally reveals his face. Why? No reason, it doesn’t surprise you or advance the story, it’s just there. In other scenes we get to watch all the characters looking up from below their chins. Overly-bright candles at a dinner table obscure the characters’ faces. (What do audiences want to see? Candles or faces?) The music seems off-kilter with the mood. It’s all just so sloppy, distracting and off-putting, making the whole movie feel like a rush-job.  

Admittedly, the story does get interesting in the last 15-20 minute, but it’s way too late to redeem this dud.

What a shame, Black Bag could have been so good.

Novocaine

Dir: Dan Berk, Robert Olsen

Nathan Caine (Jack Quaid) is a mild-mannered assistant manager at a San Diego savings bank who lives a highly- sheltered life. He doesn’t drink, he doesn’t go on dates, he doesn’t even go out at night. All sharp corners in his office are blunted by tennis balls. He won’t even chew sharp foods — anything that hasn’t been through a blender will never get past his lips. Why? He’s afraid he’ll hurt himself and not know it. You see, he suffers from a rare medical condition called CIPA; he can’t feel pain. When he was a school kid, bullies beat him up just for the novelty of it; they called him Novocaine.

When Nate’s not at work, he spends most of his time playing video games with online friends, including his best buddy Roscoe (Jacob Batalon) a guy he’s never actually met. But everything changes one day when Sherry (Amber Midthunder), a woman he has a major crush on at work, shows genuine interest in him. They actually go on a date, and it’s like a door to a whole new world opens up for him. He tries solid food (Is this what pie is? I love pie!) and has sex for the first time. He decides Sherry is is his life partner, the love of his life, the reason for his existence… and he will never let her go. That’s why he’s so upset when a gang of murderous thieves (dressed in Santa suits) storm into the bank, kill the manager, clear out the safe and drive off with Sherry as their hostage. The cops seem uninterested in catching the criminals — they even suspect Nate. He decides to throw caution to the wind, and hunt down those criminals himself, using his medical condition as sort of a super power. They can’t stop him because he feels no pain. Can he defeat the bad guys through willpower alone? And will he get to Sherry in time? 

Novocaine is a brand-new take on gory action/ comedy, with a twisted plot, funny characters and surprisingly good acting. Jack Quaid is the ultimate Hollywood nepo-baby, the offspring of Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan. Awful, right? No —  in Novocaine, he’s amazing, both endearing and self-effacing. Amber Midthunder (who is currently starring in two different movies) is very appealing, and together they have obvious chemistry.

Novocaine has all the requisite action sequences — fight scenes, shoot outs and chases — but it manages to combine them in new ways. I can’t stand “gorno” or torture porn; it’s upsetting to watch people suffering from excessive, constant pain. And there’s tons of it in this movie: Nate gets shot by arrows, scalded with boiling oil, tortured with knives and scissors, muscles bruised and bones broken. But because he is totally oblivious to pain, he turns squirms into laughter. Obviously the violence is explicit and plentiful, so if you can’t stand it, stay away. But there are so many clever, disarming twists that the violence never overpowers the laughs.

I found Novocaine totally entertaining.

Black Bag and Novocaine both open this weekend in Toronto; check your local listings.

This is Daniel Garber at the Movies, each Saturday morning, on CIUT 89.5 FM and on my website culturalmining.com.