Daniel Garber talks with Chris Alexander about The Dark Side at ICFF Lavazza IncluCity
Hi, this is Daniel Garber at the Movies for culturalmining.com and CIUT 89.5 FM.
The Italian Contemporary Film Festival (ICFF), has for years brought Italian movies for Torontonians to enjoy each summer. But over the past few years it has expanded with screenings across the country, and new programs spanning all of multicultural Canada, a wonderful, feel-good celebration of love and cooperation. But one of the newest programs takes another path, one filled with shock, mystery and horror, with bold and edgy stories, something 
known as… The Dark Side!
This year’s selections for The Dark Side consists of three films: Borderline, The Weekend, and Dario Argento’s iconic Deep Red. It is programmed by Canadian horror-meister Chris Alexander, known for such films as Necropolis: Legion, Queen of Blood, and Female Werewolf. Chris is a producer, director, writer and composer. He’s also a 
former film critic and was the Editor-in-Chief of Fangoria — the behind-the-scenes bible of the horror industry and those who love it. These films are part of the ICFF Lavazza IncluCity Festival playing outdoors, after dark, all summer long in Toronto’s Distillery District.
I talked with Chris Alexander in Oakville, Ontario via ZOOM. He spoke about his love of horror, the origins of giallo, Dario Argento, Cocaine Bear, Nollywood… and more!
The Dark Side series is playing at the ICFF Lavazza IncluCity Festival on March 4, 5 and 12.
Beautiful. Films reviewed:Beautiful Evening, Beautiful Day, Two Women, Bring Her Back
Hi, this is Daniel Garber at the Movies for culturalmining.com and CIUT 89.5 FM.
This week I’m looking at three new movies: a historical drama, a sex comedy and a thriller/horror. There are four filmmakers facing censorship in Yugoslavia, two sexually frustrated moms in Montreal, and a pair of siblings in Australia who find themselves in a very strange foster home.
Beautiful Evening, Beautiful Day
Wri/Dir: Ivona Juka
It’s 1957 in Zagreb, Yugoslavia, where a group of filmmakers are shooting a drama. Lovro (Dado Ćosić) its director and Nenad (Đorđe Galić) its writer are both national heroes. While still university students, they led a revolt against the Nazis and Ustashe, the Croation Fascist Party and later joined the resistance. As did Stevan (Slaven Došlo), their cinematographer. But the government doesn’t like their movie; it’s not patriotic enough. So they send in an apparatchik named Emir (Emir Hadžihafizbegović) who specializes in propaganda. Emir is there to “fix” the movie, with a new storyline, dialogue and actors. But also to catch and punish filmmakers who aren’t towing the party line. Tito’s Yugoslavia, though a “non-aligned” country, is warming up toward the post-Stalinist Soviet government. And is also conducting a crackdown on dissidents and undesirables in the arts. In particular, homosexuals. And this includes long time lovers Lovro and Nenad, Stevan and other gay men working on the film, all of whom had risked their lives as anti-fascist partisans in the past.
The filmmakers are interrogated, bribed, threatened, and even tortured when asked to name names… but production continues. Emir treats it all like just another job… until, four of the men he’s spying on save his life. Now Emir faces a dilemma: follow the rules or his own conscience. Can the lovers stay together? Will they finish their film? Or will the 
administration gather enough evidence to convict them of the serious crime of being gay and sentence them to a penal colony?
Beautiful Evening, Beautiful Day is a powerful drama about a group of gay men in 1950s Yugoslavia, and the harsh persecution they faced for their sexuality. It’s both tender and brutal, with touching scenes and horrific violence. Although the story is fiction, it’s based on director Ivona Juka’s own research she did for her PhD dissertation. Gay men did play an important role in the resistance, and hundreds were later imprisoned and tortured by the government.
The film boasts excellent acting and stunning B&W cinematography by Dragan Ruljančić. It sheds light on a topic which until now has been virtually non-existent in Yugoslavian cinema. This is an excellent indie movie that deserves to be seen.
Two Women (Deux Femmes en Or)
Dir: Chloé Robichaud
It’s wintertime in Montreal. Florence and Violette (Karine Gonthier-Hyndman, Laurence Leboeuf) are next door neighbours in a housing coop. They can be seen gazing longingly out their windows. Florence, a translator, has a 10 year old son with her common law husband David (Mani Soleymanlou). Vivi is on maternity leave taking care of their new baby daughter, while her husband Benoit (French actor Félix Moati) is on the road. He makes a good salary in pharma sales (and is having a secret affair with a younger woman he works with). But Vivi is losing sleep over a sound she keeps hearing: a Caaaw, Caaaw, Caaaw coming through her walls. Is it a crow? A crying baby? Or, the most likely reason, it’s her neighbour Florence loudly performing her orgasms through the thin apartment walls. She casually brings it up to her, but there the penny drops: Florence admits she hasn’t had sex for many years. It can’t be her; she’s on anti-depressants which totally destroyed her sex drive. But why should both their lives be so miserable?
They decide it’s time to have fun. Florence goes off her meds, 
and the two of them start hanging out in bars. They’re also viewing men differently than they used to. The exterminator, the cable guy, the housecleaner, the window washer, the linesman… why should these neglected moms pass on all these potential sexual adventures? But how would their husbands react to sudden changes in their wives’ behaviour? And what will happen to their marriages?
Two Women is a delightful, bittersweet comedy about a pair of sexually frustrated mothers in Montréal and how they deal with their non-functional marriages. It’s sexy, silly, satirical and savvy. The main characters are as likely to be seen seducing a plumber, as quoting Simone de Beauvoir or discussing the ramifications of the #Metoo movement on Facebook.
Count on Québec to thumb its nose at sexual prudishness in mainstream North America, meaning lots of casual full frontal nudity (as well as from every other conceivable angle). Now apparently this is a remake of Claude Fournier’s hit film from 1970 starring Monique Mercure. I’ve never seen the original but let me tell you, Two Women is a great one all on it’s own. Loved it.
Bring Her Back
Co-Wri/Dir: Danny and Michael Philippou (Talk to me)
It’s a normal day in Australia. Andy (Billy Barratt) is Piper’s (Sora Wong) step-brother; a few years older, but they share the same Dad. Piper is visually impaired but doesn’t use a white cane — she doesn’t like people staring at her. She’s funny and self-confident, but Andy still keeps an eye out on her at school; some kids can be cruel. But their lives are torn apart that day when they discover their father dead in the shower.
They’re immediately sent to child services, who attempt to send them to separate places — Andy has a juvenile record — but they insist on remaining together; he’s basically Piper’s caregiver. In the end the social worker sends them off to stay with a kindly foster mom until she can find them a permanent home. The house is cluttered and shabby, with a drained swimming pool in the back and a padlocked toolshed. Laura (Sally Hawkins) is funny, wacky, and more than a bit eccentric. She’s overjoyed to have them there since her husband’s gone, and her daughter — who was blind like Piper — is dead. She’s quick to introduce them to her favourite dog — but he’s stuffed! Taxidermy. And then there’s her son 
Oliver, a little boy with a shaved head and a vacant look on his face. He seems innocent… until he catches their cat and starts to eat it, alive!
He’s been a bit off since their accident, Laura says. Piper really likes her, so Andy tries not to interfere. But bad things start to happen. Andy is wetting his bed at night — he hasn’t done that since he was a little kid, and Laura is whispering stuff to Piper all the time, turning her against him. He knows there’s something really wrong here, but he can’t figure out what it is. Why is there a chalk circle around the house? Why is Oliver acting so strange? And what’s in that shed? But when he discovers the truth… is it too late?
Bring Her Back is a relentlessly terrifying horror movie about a frightened teenaged boy and his innocent step-sister. It’s every kid’s nightmare — trapped in a potentially dangerous place, ignored by authorities, and gaslit by a foster mom who is supposed to be on their side. The movie starts with a cold open, a horrific, found-footage VHS snuff film, that remains unexplained for much off the film. Frustrating and terrifying, this movie keeps you on tenterhooks till the end. The Phillipou 
brothers (identical twins) weave a contemporary fairytale as scary as the Brothers Grimm. Great acting, beautifully made, but quite difficult to watch.
Bring her Back is brilliant horror like you seldom see.
Two Women (which premiered at Inside Out), Beautiful Evening, Beautiful Day, and Bring Her Back all open in Toronto this weekend; 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.
When to stop. Films reviewed: Friendship, Hurry up Tomorrow, The Old Woman with the Knife
Hi, this is Daniel Garber at the Movies for culturalmining.com and CIUT 89.5 FM.
This week, I’m looking at three new movies — an action thriller, a dark comedy, and a fictional music biopic — all about people who don’t know when to stop. There’s a middle-aged dad looking for a friend, a super-fan looking for the object of her obsession; and an elderly hitman in her declining years who refuses to retire.
Friendship
Wri/Dir: Andrew DeYoung
Craig (Tim Robinson) is an ordinary guy in the suburbs who works at a tech communications firm. He’s geeky and boorish with marginal social skills. He spends time with his wife Katie (Kate Mara) who is in remission and their teenaged son Steven (Jack Dylan Grazer). He likes watching TV or for a real treat ordering the dinner specials at his favourite chain restaurant. But everything changes one day when a package is delivered to his house by mistake. He carries it over, rings the bell, and meets his neighbour for the first time. Austin (Paul Rudd) is everything Craig is not. He’s suave, handsome and self-confident. He’s even a minor celebrity as the weatherman on the local TV station.
And he smiles at Craig. Wow… Craig is ensorcelled. And when Austin takes him under his wing for an adventure in the woods, he is absolutely thrilled. A real friend! But the bromance is short-lived, when he makes a number of unforgivable faux pas at a get together with Austin’s entourage. He’s cancelled and so is their friendship. But Craig refuses to accept it, and vows to do anything to get Austin back. And as his obsession grows so does his hazardous behaviour. Is Craig a stalker or just an unrequited friend. And how far is too far?
Friendship is a very dark and very funny comedy about adult male friendships. Tim Robinson — best known for his show I
Think You Should Leave — is famous for his uncomfortable style of humour. This is comedy that makes you squirm, cringe or look away. You can see the results of his terrible mistakes coming a mile away but there’s you can do to stop it and it’s still painfully funny. Paul Rudd is good as his “straight man” but this is all about Tim Robinson.
I haven’t laughed this hard or this often at a comedy movie in at least six months.
Hurry up Tomorrow
Co-Wri/Dir: Trey Edward Shults
It’s the green room of a huge concert hall. The Weeknd (Toronto musician Abel Tesfaye) is a superstar in the midst of an exhausting world tour. He depends on his mellifluous voice to perform the songs his fans come to see. But he’s tense tonight and his throat is contracting. He’s upset with a voicemail from a woman he knows who recents his selfish and cold behaviour. Now plagued with self-doubt, he doesn’t feel up to performing. But his ever-present manager (Barry Keoghan) convinces him — through a combination of confidence-building words plus copious drugs and alcohol — that he owes it to his fans. But once on stage his voice fails him in the middle of a song and he runs off in disgrace.
There he collides with a super-fan who somehow got past bouncers and security. Anima (Jenna Ortega) offers words of love and comfort. They spend an enchanted day together far from his source of stress. But the next morning brings unanticipated and perilous consequences. Can The Weeknd return to his tour as of that day never happened?
Hurry Up Tomorrow is a complex but deeply flawed look at one day in the life of a singer on his world tour. The story is told at least four times through elliptical points of view. Anima sees herself as The Weeknd’s soulmate who only she can understand. But she is portrayed by the neutral camera as a deranged sadistic arsonist determined to erase her past problems by burning them down — literally. Ortega is allowed to run wild here. Keoghan as his manager sees himself as his best bud, almost his brother, the only one who can save The Weeknd from self-destruction (there are countless shots of him gazing longingly into his eyes.) Neutral camera? A sleazy, mercenary drug dealer. Then there’s the star himself. His mind drifts into hallucinatory depictions from deep in his psyche conveying, paranoia, claustrophobia and childlike helplessness. Neutral camera? A self-obsessed narcissist. So watching it with all these different points of view floating around, it’s hard to tell what’s real and what is a fantasy. Are the frequent tear-filled eyes actual or in one of their 
imaginations? I’ve seen director Trey Edward Shults’s features It Comes at Night and Waves, both excellent movies — he’s highly skilled, but this one seems more muddy with less of an identifiable narrative. And it starts with a shockingly inappropriate music video… why? Why? On the other hand, the references to Stephen King movies like The Shining and Misery are much more interesting.
I’m glad I watched Hurry Up Tomorrow, but I wish it were a bit better.
The Old Woman with the Knife
Co-Wri/Dir: Min Kyu-dong
It’s winter in Seoul in the 1970s. A starving young woman, barefoot and dressed in rags is desperately searching for food in the drifting snow like The Little Match Girl. A kindly couple save her life by inviting her into their tiny diner for a meal, and later take her on as a dishwasher in exchange for room and board. But her relatively stable new life is shattered one night when she is cornered by an American GI in the cafe’s kitchen. She manages to fight off his sexual advances until he turns violent and starts to choke her to death with his barehands. In desperation, she grabs a nearby knife and stabs him. He dies. This is witnessed by a man named Ryu (Kim Mu-yeol) who invites her to join a secret organization that specializes in pest control. That’s their euphemism for the murderers, rapists and torturers, the scum of the earth, whom they are hired to kill.
Fifty years later and she’s still at it. Now known as Hornclaw (Lee Hye-yeong), she’s the hitman with the best reputation in the business. No one suspects an unassuming old woman — she can get away from any murder scene without anyone noticing. But she’s showing compassion — a complete taboo in the business — for a stray dog she finds. Her doctor is telling her to slow down, and her boss wants her to retire. Hornclaw, retire? Nevah!
But things really start to change when a brash newcomer 
walks in. Bullfight (Kim Sung-cheol) doesn’t know the codes or rules, he just plays it by ear. He’s violent fearless and will stop at nothing to get her out of his way. Can he usurp her seat on the throne? And what grudge does he hold against his rival?
The Old Woman with the Knife is an action thriller with an elderly woman as the protagonist. And if you think this is a Murder She Wrote with little handguns and stilettos you couldn’t be more wrong.
She’s tough as Helen Mirren, and can take down and slice up a room full of thugs singlehandedly. And since it’s a Korean action movie, you can bet there’s a melodramatic subplot and at least one character whose motivation is revenge. (No spoilers.)
I liked this movie a lot.
Friendship, Lady with the Knife and Hurry up Tomorrow all open in Toronto this weekend; 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.
Daniel Garber talks with Neha Hallim, Roni Harel Haber and Taf Mangwiro about TIFF Next Wave 2025!
Hi, this is Daniel Garber at the Movies for culturalmining.com and CIUT 89.5 FM.
If you believe the trades, the lucrative 14-24 year old movie 
market only really want to see action movies preferably based on either a plastic toy or video game, or else set somewhere in the superhero Universe. The bog studios bet big bucks on this prediction. But is it true? Aren’t there any movies without middle- aged men in tights that interest today’s youth?
Apparently there are. The Next Wave film festival, presented at the TIFF 
Lightbox, offers exactly that: a selection of innovative international features and shorts, aimed at 14-24 year olds, programmed by youth, for youth and about youth. The films and events are curated by a diverse posse of teenagers who apparently really know their stuff. Curators include cinephiles, movie geeks and future filmmakers, aged 14-18.
I spoke with programmers Neha Hallim, Roni Harel Haber, and Taf Mangwiro, in person at TIFF.
Instagram: @Nehahallim, @roni.haber @tafmangwiro
Letterboxd: @Nehahallim, @r0nii, @tafmangwiro
Next Wave runs from April 10-13, 2025.
Go to tiff.net/tiff-next-wave-2025 for details.
Best movies of 2024!
Hi, this is Daniel Garber at the Movies for culturalmining.com and CIUT 89.5 FM.
It’s time for my annual best movies of the year, where I list the films that struck me as remarkable in some way: the novelty, shock, joy, and satisfaction the film provides. This includes the direction, acting, plot, and the look of the movie. If any of those are just mediocre, it probably won’t make the list. They make hundreds of new movies every year, but in this list I only include films that were either released in Toronto or screened at a festival here in 2024. And I’m forced leave out certain categories — like documentaries and animation — for lack of space. Otherwise movies like Pelikan Blue, Memoir of a Snail, Flow, and The Wild Robot would definitely have made my list. And finally, because it’s a holiday, I’m recording this a week in advance, even though I know I’m going to leave out some movies I meant to include. Oh well..
With no further ado, here are my fave movies from 2024 in semi-alphabetical order.
Anora 
Dir: Sean Baker
…is a comedy romance about about an exotic dancer in Coney Island who falls in love with the son of a Russian oligarch. Mikey Madison is great as Anora.
The Brutalist 
Dir: Brady Corbet
…is a four-hour epic about a modernist architect who leaves postwar Hungary to make it big in America, but forced to deal with his patron. The look of this movie is incredible.
Conclave
Dir: Edward Berger
…is a dramatization of a boring topic — Cardinals electing a new pope — and somehow makes it into a shocking thriller.
Emelia Perez
Dir: Jaques Audiard
…is a very unusual musical melodrama about four women in Mexico, including a transgendered woman who wants to hide her past as the former head of a drug cartel.
The Girl with the Needle
Dir: Magnus von Horn
…is a shocking historical dramatic horror movie about a woman in post WWI Copenhagen who gives her baby up for adoption, not knowing its future. This one blew me away.
Hard Truths
Dir: Mike Leigh
…is a powerful drama about two black families in London, with Marianne Jean-Baptiste in an stunning performance as a deeply likeable matriarch. (In my review I called this a perfect film).
Kill the Jockey 
Dir: Luis Ortega
…is a brilliant, surreal and mind-blowing fantasy about a jockey in Buenos Aires. I saw this gem at TIFF, and I sure hope it gets released soon.
Love Lies Bleeding 
Dir: Rose Glass
It’s a violent, sexy neon noir, about small-town crime in the southwest, with Kristen Stewart as the daughter of local kingpin who falls for a female weightlifter.
Paying for it
Dir: Sook-yin Lee
…is a low-budget, local comedy/ drama set in Toronto’s own Kensington Market about a cartoonist who gives up dating in favour of sleeping with paid sex workers.
Sing Sing
Dir: Greg Kwedar
…is a true drama about a group of prisoners at Sing Sing putting on a musical, starring Hollywood actors like Coleman Domingo and formerly incarcerated ones.
The Seed of the Sacred Fig 
Dir: Mohammad Rasoulof
…is a dramatic-thriller about a Teheran family torn apart, where a father who arrests dissidents for the government, has a daughter involved in political protests. It was secretly shot within Iran.
The Substance
Dir: Coralie Fargeat
…is an over-the-top audacious, LA fantasy-horror of a fading TV celebrity who tries to create a younger, more perfect version of herself.
Universal Language
Dir: Matthew Rankin
…is a fantastical reimagining of Canada’s two solitude’s as Quebec and an Iranian/Canadian amalgam located on Winnipeg.
Runners Up (in alphabetical order)
The Apprentice, Didi, The End, Gladiator II, Heretic, Kill, Kneecap, The Life of Chuck, Misericordia, The Order, A Real Pain, Riff Raff, Sasquatch Sunset, Smile 2, The Queen of My Dreams, Wicked.
This is Daniel Garber at the Movies, each Saturday morning on CIUT 89.5 FM and on my website culturalmining.com.
Daniel Garber talks with Jeff Harris about #TIFF24!
Hi, this is Daniel Garber at the Movies for culturalmining.com and CIUT 89.5 FM.
TIFF is the most important film festival in this hemisphere, that gives us hints about the upcoming Awards season, what movies we should look out for, and where contemporary cinema is going. It ended six weeks ago, so it’s a good time to take a look at what TIFF brought us — the hits, flops, changes and sleepers, and just about the TIFF vibe itself. Jeff Harris is a professional photog who has covered TIFF for more than two decades, in photos and features for Macleans, The Walrus, and culturalmining among other outlets. So I’m very pleased have friend of the show Jeff Harris, here, in person, for a spirited discussion about this year’s TIFF.
TIFF 24 RECAP – PART 1
Films discussed include:
- The Substance
- The Assessment
- Bird
- Heretic
- Emilia Pérez
- The End
- Fanatical: The Catfishing of Tegan and Sara
- Elton John: Never Too Late
- The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal
- Piece By Piece
- Better Man
TIFF 24 RECAP – PART 2
Films discussed include:
- Paul Anka: His Way
- The Luckiest Man in America
- The Last Republican
- The Order
- The Seed of the Sacred Fig
- The Girl with the Needle
- Kill the Jockey
- Nightbitch
TIFF 24 RECAP – PART 3
Films discussed include:
- The Life Of Chuck
- The Wild Robot
- Mother Mother
- Pepe
- Dahomey
- The Brutalist
- Riff Raff
- Nutcrackers
Daniel Garber talks with Ugana Kenichi about The Gesuidouz at #TIFF24
Photograph by Jeff Harris.
Hi, this is Daniel Garber at the Movies for culturalmining.com and CIUT 89.5 FM.
Translator: Aki Takabatake
The Gesuidouz are a punk band in Tokyo. Hanako is the band’s leader and vocalist, the only woman in the group. There’s Ryuzo on bass, Masao who wears a fright wig on guitar, and blonde mohican Santarou on drums, who doubles as the band’s cook. They write their own music and lyrics, perform live and have released a dvd album. The only problem is… they’re terrible! There’s no tune, rhythm or meaning to these songs, just a lot of incoherent noise. Almost no loyal fans and their discs are still sitting in cardboard boxes. Their manager issues an ultimatum: he’ll find them a house in the country to live in, but if they can’t write and release a hit single in time, this band is finished. What will become of The Gesuidouz?
The Gesuidouz is a Japanese punk-music comedy that reinvents the rock movie. It’s the work of indie filmmaker Ugana Kenichi. His fantasy films have screened at festivals worldwide, including Slamdance, Porto and many others.
I spoke with Uganda Kenichi in a room at the Hyatt Hotel during the Toronto International Film Festival, where The Gesuidozus had its World Premiere.
Daniel Garber talks with Neil Diamond and Catherine Bainbridge about Red Fever
Hi, this is Daniel Garber at the Movies for culturalmining.com and CIUT 89.5 FM.
Photos by Jeff Harris.
What do a feathered headdress on the cover of Vogue, a 70s pop video by Cher, and the gesture used by fans of the Kansas City chiefs have in common? They’re all about the world’s obsession with North American indigenous culture and how it’s been appropriated by the mainstream for fun and profit. And it’s used and misused everywhere, in Europe, North America — even in Asian culture — but with little or no attributions or compensation ever given to the people who originated them. What’s wrong with this, how 
can it be corrected, and what is the cause of Red Fever?
Red Fever is a punchy new documentary that takes a look at cultural appropriation of indigenous art, religion, customs, and their bodies and faces within the mainstream of art, fashion, sports, entertainment, and even democracy. Using fast-moving historical footage, photos and music, it brings us back to the largely unrecognized origins of many aspects of our daily lives. It’s seen through the eyes of 
Cree filmmaker Neil Diamond who guides us across oceans and continents, as he confronts, in a humorous way. Neil Diamond is known for Reel Injun, The Last Explorer and One More River. It’s co-directed by Catherine Bainbridge, a Canadian writer, producer and director who co-founded the award-winning indigenous production company Rezolution Pictures, and is best known for co-directing the award doc Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World.
I spoke with Neil and Catherine in person, in Toronto during Hot Docs.
Red Fever opens in Toronto on June 14th, 2024 at the TIFF Lightbox.
Daniel Garber talks with Harrison Xu and Ivan Leung about Extremely Unique Dynamic
Hi, this is Daniel Garber at the Movies for culturalmining.com and CIUT 89.5 FM.
Daniel and Ryan are best friends who moved to LA to make it big in show biz. But a decade later, neither one is famous. So Ryan is moving with his fiancé to Edmonton, Alberta. And Daniel, who is secretly gay and may have a crush on his best friend, feels this big turning point deserves doing something special: so they decide to shoot a movie over the weekend to commemorate their friendship. But what will they use for a plot? How about something they both know well? Like a movie about two guys, Gregg and Tim, making a movie! And what will their movie be about? How about two guys — named Jasper and Jake — making a movie? And if they can stay away from edibles and pull themselves together this film will surely be something extremely unique and dynamic.
Extremely Unique Dynamic is also a new film written, directed and
starring Ivan Leung and Harrison Xu as Daniel and Ryan (and Gregg and Tim, and Jasper and Jake). Ivan is an actor and rap artist known for his love of tacos, while fellow actor Harrison has also struck it big as a voice actor specializing in anime and Korean soaps. This extremely unique film might be the only Indie, Meta, Asian-American Stoner, Coming-Of-Age, Bromantic Dramedy, ever made! Well maybe…
I spoke with Ivan and Harrison via Zoom.
Extremely Unique Dynamic is having its international premiere at the 2024 Inside Out 2SLGBTQ+ Film Festival on May 25, at 7PM at Toronto’s TIFF Lightbox.
Guy stuff. Films reviewed: The Fall Guy, The Ride Ahead, Pelikan Blue
Hi, this is Daniel Garber at the Movies for culturalmining.com and CIUT 89.5 FM.
This week, I have some movies about guy stuff — two documentaries and an action movie. There’s a guy in Sydney not afraid to get his hands dirty, a guy in New Hampshire who wants to know the real dirt, and three guys in Budapest playing dirty with some train tickets.
The Fall Guy
Dir: David Leitch
Colt Seavers (Ryan Gosling) is the stunt double for a heartthrob Hollywood action star named Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). Tom claims to do all his own stunts but those in the know know it’s Colt falling off buildings, crashing cars, and catching fire. Colt loves the excitement and thrill of doing the undoable — and he’s really good at it, too. Especially at his current film, because he works beside a camera operator named Jody (Emma Blunt). They’re spending time together, on and off duty, trading quips on set or making out behind the klieg lights. It’s his dream job. Until a terrible accident breaks his back, and he disappears from the scene entirely. And from Jody, too. Until, 18 months later, he gets a call from a producer. Gail (Hannah Waddingham), a big shaker and mover, wants him on Tom’s latest flick, a sci-fi action rom-com. He doesn’t want to, until she drops the other shoe: Jody is directing this movie and she specifically asked for him.
So off he flies to Sydney, Australia, to join a shoot in progress. It’s a shlock-fest about a space 
cowboy fighting aliens using weapons that look like heavy-metal guitars. Turns out Jody had no idea he’s coming and is still offended he dumped her for no good reason. Then Gail, the producer, asks for Colt’s help. Tom has disappeared with a gang of undesirables and she’s worried he’s in trouble. Can’t Colt find and rescue him? If not they’ll have to cancel the movie… and Jody’s career (this is her first time as a director). Tom agrees, but soon discovers he’s the target of a slew of gunmen, trying to get back a missing video. Can Colt rescue Tom, survive the bullets, catch the baddies and make it back to set in time to woo the love of his life?
The Fall Guy is a combination rom-com and action movie set within the confine of the film industry. So it’s full of references to mediocre movies. I thought the witty banter wasn’t particularly clever, and the plot twists propelling the story pretty threadbare. There are lots of unnecessary 
jokes written into the script with a nudge and a wink. Like when Jody asks Colt if she should use a split screen in the film she’s directing… immediately after which The Fall Guy movie starts using a split screen, too. That’s just weak. And yet I walked out of this film feeling totally entertained. Why?
First of all the acting is great, all the main characters well-played, especially Gosling’s Colt Seavers. More than that, though, the action is really good. The chase scenes are elaborate, the fight scenes are like watching ballet, and even the gratuitous explosions — and there are quite a few of them — are just fun to watch. And of course, in a movie about stuntmen, the stunts are all done just right. So if you’re looking for a couple of hours of forgettable entertainment, this one’s for you.
The Ride Ahead
Dir: Dan Habib, Samuel Habib
Samuel Habib is a young man who lives with his parents in Concord New Hampshire. He has tattoos, likes music and sports. He went to public school and is getting ready for college, but realizes he hasn’t yet done a lot of things many high school kids have already done: things like going on a date or having sex. Yes, the media is filled with sexual images and porn but rarely relevant to people like him. Samuel is disabled. The thing is, movies and TV shows portray people like him in one of three ways: get help, get cured or die. He wants some advice that’s relevant to him, preferably NOT from his parents (awkward…) And he can’t stand being talked down to or underestimated by people who only see his disability. So he decides to go to the source and talk with some well-known disabled people, including many of his heroes. He does it — and makes a film out of it.
He meets with musician Keith Jones, co-founder of Krip-Hop, for some basic rules about having sex. Says Jones: “always remember: put a bag on it!”Judy Heumann, the late, great leader of the Disability Rights Movement, says “using a wheelchair means spending a lot of time staring at people’s butts!”
Andrew Peterson who lives with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder tells how he became a long-distance runner and a sports coach. And Maysoon Zayid, a Palestinian-American
Dan and Samuel Habib, The Ride Ahead at HotDocs, Photo by Jeff Harris
stand-up comic, provides both constant humour and some really tough talk. The film takes Sam (and his father, co-director Dan Habib) across the country, in boats, planes and automobiles, each of which pose separate accessibility issues, especially airplanes; Samuel uses an electric wheelchair to get around and they don’t go well with those tight spaces on planes. He also turns to his own big brother for all-around moral support and inspiration. But will Sam ever move beyond his parents’ house?
The Ride Ahead is a touching, funny and informative documentary told from the subject’s point of view. It helps correct a lot of misconceptions about disabilities, and introduces a lot of other things you probably never considered. The film is made in the form of a dialogue between Samuel, his dad and the people he encounters, often with the camera positioned either facing him or facing out. At times, Samuel’s both the subject and the filmmaker. He can speak, but in the film mainly uses an electronically generated voice whose texts he writes in advance.
I liked this documentary a lot, partly the way it makes people with disabilities the subject not the object. It covers diverse intellectual territory, from disability rights to ableism and disability justice. It also deals frankly with real aspects of everyday life. And the cast and crew, both behind and in front of the camera, from editor to soundtrack, are largely disabled themselves.
The Ride Ahead is a good movie to watch.
Pelikan Blue
Wri/Dir: László Csáki
It’s the late 1980s in Budapest, Hungary and the iron curtain may be rattling but it’s not yet opened. Still, the government is introducing new measures. It’s now legal to keep foreign currency and travel abroad. Everyone, especially young people, are dying to see what it’s like in Western Europe. But train tickets are prohibitively expensive, and no one has any money. When three guys — Rozi, Petya, and Akos — buy a forged ticket on the black market, they are dismayed and disgusted by its poor quality: smudged ink, misspelled words… They’d be caught immediately. They can do better than that using just advanced planning and simple high school chemistry. So they decide to take the bull by the horns, and make themselves some fake tickets. This involves spying on the sellers, stealing some covers, and getting a phony rubber stamp made (not an easy task in communist Hungary). But they also have to buy a cheap ticket, bleach out the ink and carefully enscribe the forgery through a page of Pelican Blue carbon paper.
After much trial and error, they manage to ride a train to Scandinavia for pocket change. But 
when they get back, rumours leak, and everyone wants a piece of the action. Should they expand their business or get out of it before the police find out?
Pelikan Blue is a beautiful, animated feature-length documentary that follows the story over three decades, using old voice recordings and new interviews. This is basically a heist movie, but one involving minimal stakes — just forged tickets across Europe. But what really struck me was the stunning art. It involves the garish lavenders and electric blues of 1980s colours, distinct characters, and simple but instantly recognizable images: a payphone, an answering machines, the brutalist rooftops of Budapest. Backgrounds are brushed with tempera paints, and the faces have squashed noses, and eyes that are tiny green dots. I cannot describe the joy I felt looking at this animation, it’s unique, it’s amazing, it’s handmade, it’s just so cool. There’s also a chill soundtrack of 1990s Hungarian music percolating through the whole film. There are lots of funny parts, and some psychedelic dream sequences, too…I just can’t get enough of Pelikan Blue.
The Fall Guy opens this weekend; check your local listings. The Ride Ahead, Pelikan Blue are two of the many movies playing at Hot Docs through Sunday.
This is Daniel Garber at the Movies, each Saturday morning, on CIUT 89.5 FM and on my website culturalmining.com.
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