Sensory extremes. Films reviewed: Black Bag, Novocaine
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.
Dangerous places. Films reviewed: Flight Risk, Presence, Nickel Boys
Hi, this is Daniel Garber at the Movies for culturalmining.com and CIUT 89.5 FM.
Mike Leigh’s Hard Truths is finally opening theatrically this weekend; I loved it at TIFF, it’s one of the best movies of the year and Marianne Jean-Baptiste’s performance as Pansy is unparalleled — don’t miss Hard Truths.
But this week I’m looking at three more movies set in dangerous places. There’s a witness in a prop plane in Alaska, a family in a haunted house, and two teens in a reform school that’s rotten to the core.
Flight Risk
Dir: Mel Gibson (Review: Hacksaw Ridge)
Winston (Topher Grace) is a bookkeeper on the lam. He used to work for the mob, but when they found out he was pocketing too much of their earnings he decided to run. Now he’s hidden away in a remote corner of Alaska where he’s sure they’ll never find him. They didn’t find him, but a pair of US Marshalls did. The cops are led by the hardboiled Madolyn (Michelle Dockery). She’s eager to be on active duty, after years stuck at her desk. She promises Winston full immunity if he agrees to testify. Now she just has to safely bring him to the lower 48. But first to an international airport in Anchorage. It’ll be a short ride over some mountains, and they’ll be on their way. Sure enough, there’s an old prop plane waiting on the tarmac the next morning. The pilot, Daryl (Mark Wahlberg) is a bit of a character, who directs his non-stop patter toward Madolyn. She sits beside him in the cockpit, with Winston — a potential flight risk — safely chained down in the back. Everything’s going perfectly until they realize the plane isn’t heading in the right direction. And the face on Daryl’s pilot license? Well, it isn’t Daryl. Who is in danger, who is dangerous, and who can safely fly the plane to Anchorage?
Flight Risk is a compact, action-thriller set aboard an old prop plane flying over the Alaskan mountains. It’s fast-moving, 
funny and a bit violent. The characters are all cartoonish: Mark Wahlberg has his head shaved with a deranged smile like Jack Nicholson in the Shining. Michelle Dockery, an English actress makes a good tough-as-nails cop. And Topher Grace completes the triumvirate playing Winston as an awkward petty criminal trying to overcome his fears. It feels like those Covid-era movies, with its small cast and single location. But in this case, it’s the constant fights and the changing balance of power in a tiny enclosed space — aboard a fast-moving plane — that give this film its oomph.
Flight Risk is no masterpiece, but I enjoyed it.
Presence
Dir: Steven Soderbergh (The Laundromat, Side Effects, And Everything is Going Fine)
A typical family is moving into their new home. It’s beautiful, quite old, with lots of wood and windows. Chloe and Tyler (Callina Liang, Eddy Maday) each have their own room, but that doesn’t stop them from bugging each other. Tyler is a self-centred high school jock who wants to join the in crowd, and will do anything to get there. To booster his chances, he brings a popular, but suspect, guy Ryan (West Mulholland) into the house. Ryan has his eyes on Tyler’s younger sister Chloe, who is going through the trials and tribulations of adolescence and self doubt. Their Mom and Dad (Lucy Liu and Chris Sullivan) are also adjusting. She’s the main breadwinner in this family, and is facing a crisis at work. Has she been cooking the books? Dad — an educator — is more laid back, but still senses trouble, especially when it’s interfering with their relationship. But none of them seem aware of a bigger problem that affects them all: The place is haunted! There’s a ghostly presence in this house, that has been there a long time, and is not going anywhere. It floats through the place, unseen and unheard, observing everything but doing nothing. Until it starts letting itself be known. Is this presence a ghost or a poltergeist? Is it good or evil? And what will it do to this family?
Presence is a typical family drama but seen through the eyes of a ghost. The camera (meaning the presence) never leaves the house, and if someone steps outside we can’t hear what they’re saying. It’s not a real horror movie; while there is a 
hint of the supernatural, and a fair bit of suspense, it doesn’t overpower the drama.
And yet… I quite liked this movie. Steven Soderbergh is hit and miss. Some of his films are cheap-looking and predictable, filled with clichéd characters and cookie-cutter stories. Others are innovative and surprising. This one totally works
If you’re looking for a typical horror movie, this ain’t it, but if you want something new and different, you should check out Presence.
Nickel Boys
Co-Wri/Dir: RaMell Ross (Hale County This Morning, This Evening)
(Based on the novel by Colson Whitehead)
It’s the early 1960s in segregated Tallahassee, Fla. Elwood (Ethan Herisse) is an earnest and polite young student who lives with his grandmother (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor). He loves reading and studying and is interested in Black American history and the civil rights movement happening all around him. When his history teacher, Mr Hill — an actual Freedom Rider! — gets him a scholarship at a prestigious Black technical school, everything is falling into place. Until, Elwood, while hitchhiking to his new school is arrested for riding while black! The driver of the car he’s in — a total stranger — is charged with some crime, and Elwood is his accessory. He ends up sentenced to serve time at a notorious reform school called Nickel Academy.
Nickel is a cesspool of corruption and cruelty, a school in name only. The kids are rented out as prison labour, like picking oranges off a tree. When he defends a little kid being beaten up at the school, Elwood is the one punished, not the bullies. And the punishment is severe: beaten until he bleeds or locked into a “sweat box”. Worse than that are the kids who suddenly “disappear”, never to be seen again. Luckily one kid stands up for him and becomes his best friend. Turner (Brandon Wilson) is as cynical as Elwood is idealistic. Elwood’s Nana has hired a lawyer to overturn his sentence — that’s what keeps him going. Turner — from Texas — has 
never had it easy, so he has no hope, just the will to survive. For a black kid in the Jim Crow south, the law doesn’t mean much. He tells Elwood that to get out of this place alive you have to know the rules. There are no laws, or right and wrong; last till you’re 18 and you’ll be free.
But as time passes, and Elwood’s future looks increasingly bleak, he starts to keep copious records of the violence crimes and corruption at Nickel Academy. Can he get the information to the authorities? Will it do any good? And which of the Nickel boys will survive?
Nickel Boys is an excellent historical drama about two young black men trapped in a horrific reform school. While historical in its details, it’s experimental and unconventional in its form. Most scened are shot from Elwood’s or Turner’s POV, with the focus often the ground, the sky, someone else’s hands or feet or the inside of his own head. It’s disconcerting at the beginning but you get used to it. The narrative is not completely linear either, with time jumping forward 20 and 
40 years, to show what happens to Elwood in the future. It’s full of compelling memorable images, like kids picking oranges using high wooden stilts. The two main actors are newcomers but very good in their portrayals. But over everything hangs the awful truth of the terrible crimes at these sorts of places (like the Residential Schools in Canada).
Nickel Boys is both moving and upsetting to watch.
Nickel Boys is now playing, with Flight Risk and Presence both opening 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.
Solving problems. Films reviewed: Sometimes Always Never, The Laundromat, Chiko
Hi, this is Daniel Garber at the Movies for culturalmining.com and CIUT 89.5 FM.
Toronto’s Fall Festival Season is in full swing this October. Look out for Toronto After Dark – scary and fantastic films; Rendezvous with Madness – films on addiction and mental health; Planet in Focus focussing on environmental films for its 20th anniversary; ImagineNative with movies by and about indigenous peoples around the world… and many more.
But this week I’m looking at three movies, from Germany, the U.K. and the US. There’s a gangster who turns to drugs to find success, a grandpa who turns to word games to find his missing son, and an older woman who turns to amateur sluething to find the bad guys.
Sometimes Always Never
Dir: Carl Hunter
Alan (Bill Nighy) is a dapper businessman in small town England. He likes Marmite, tea and scrabble. He’s meeting his estranged, adult son Peter (Sam Riley) to view a body at a remote village morgue. Alan’s other son ran away decades ago, disappearing without a trace. Could this be him? When the body turns out be the son of another couple, Margaret and Arthur (Jenny Agutter, Tim McInnerney), Alan follows Peter home. It’s an excuse to finally meet his daughter-in-law Sue (Alice Lowe) and grandson Jack (Louis Healy). Won’t you stay for dinner? The evening turns into an extended visit as 
Alan insinuates himself into their homelife, sharing a bunk bed in Jack’s room. The teenager is a shy introvert who spends all his time gaming online. To change his life, his grandfather gets him a haircut and a custom-made suit. He’s a tailor, you see. The movie’s title refers to which buttons to button on a three-button suit. Top to bottom: sometimes, always, never.
Alan’s obsession with Scrabble has a lot to do with his missing son, who ran away in the middle of a game. It’s what separates 
him from his son – but will it bring them back together? – and influences his relations with Margaret and Arthur, the couple he met at the bed & breakfast. But can a board game bring his missing son home again?
Sometimes Always Never is a clever, funny and touching look at family life in small-town, northern England. Lots of twists in the plot, and enough wordplay to make the whole script feel like an ongoing Scrabble game. It does walk the fine line between charming and twee. The movie, though set in the present day, is drenched in sets, props, costumes, and style from an earlier era. But Bill Nighy, Alice Lowe and the rest are so good you can excuse a bit of excess quirky cuteness.
I like this movie.
The Laundromat
Dir: Steven Soderbergh
Mossack and Fonseca (Gary Oldman, Antonio Banderas) are a pair of rich lawyers who operate out of Panama. They like flashy tuxedos, palm trees and vodka martinis. Why are they so rich? Their firm holds the secrets of dictators, billionaires, drug dealers, corporations, celebrities and politicians the world over. Through the use of off-shore banking, shell corporations and absolute secrecy, they launder untold billions.
Enter Ellen (Meryl Streep), an everywoman who loses her husband in a freak accident on their wedding anniversary. Turns out the accident insurance on the boat tour they took (it sank) was bogus. Later the condo she 
buys in Las Vegas with her husband’s life insurance is snatched away by some Russian oligarchs. So she begins to investigate. All these companies – real estate, insurance, banking – seem to operate out of offices in the Caribbean. But when she goes to confront the CEO of the company giving her the runaround, she discovers it’s just a series of post office boxes. Can she follow their trail to Panama? And will the villains ever pay?
The Laundromat is a series of fables to explain the money laundering and tax evasion brought to light by the Panama Papers, a mammoth data haul leaked to the press by an anonymous whistleblower. Mossack and Fonseca themselves tell the story in episodic form, regularly turning toward the camera to look right at you. At the beginning of the movie I was giggling at its audacity and unexpected form – I couldn’t wait to see Soderbergh’s next trick. The trouble is, that were no other gimmicks. He flogs the same dead horse – this is just a movie, they’re all actors, that’s a green screen behind them – for the whole 90 minutes! Just when you start caring a bit, Soderbergh makes sure to remind you it’s not real, it’s just a game. I admit there’s one surprising twist near the end.… but it’s immediately followed by a slice of earnest Americana so cringe-worthy it would make a nine-year-old squirm in embarrassment.
The Laudromat just doesn’t work.
Chiko
Wri/Dir: Özgür Yildirim
Chiko (Denis Moschitto) is a young Berliner trying to get ahead. His parents came to Germany from Turkey as Gastarbeiters in the 60s, and he still hangs with other Turkish Germans. Especially his two best friend, Tibet (Volkan Özcan) and Curly. Together they beat up and rob a local cannabis dealer. But instead of running away, Chiko asks to meet his boss.
Brownie (Moritz Bleibtreu — he’s in Bye Bye Germany, The Fifth Estate, My Best Enemy) is a crime boss living a comfortable middle-class life. He ends up hiring the scrappy Chiko on a trial run, moving ten keys of cannabis. Chiko exalts in his new wealth and woos the Turkish-German prostitite Meryam (Reyhan 
Sahin) in the apartment next door. Is it true love or just a financial transaction?
Meanwhile, Tibet, trying to save money for his mom’s kidney operation, short-changes customers. Brownie’s thugs arrive to punish him… by hammering a nail through his foot! This leads to a series of escalating events. Chiko graduates to coke dealing, and buys a white Mercedes with gold hubcaps to match his new image. As Chiko rises to the top 
like Scarface, Tibet’s falls into a downward spiral, his seething anger getting worse and worse. Finally Chiko has to choose: kingpin Brownie or his former best friend Tibet? Which commands his loyalty – friendship or business?
Chiko is a cool and violent crime drama set in urban Germany. It’s a melodrama in the best sense. Moschitto is terrific as Chiko: the criminal, the lover, the anti-hero. I liked this film and found it very moving, both the acting and the realistic, almost documentary-like peek inside the mosques, corner-stores and restaurants of Berlin. Of course it also has what you expect from a good crime drama: chase scenes, shootouts, and fights. And it’s playing as part of the Goethe Film’s Stronger than Blood, a series of crime dramas.
Sometimes Always Never opens today in Toronto; check your local listings. The Laundromat starts today, with Chiko playing one night only, October 8th, also at the TIFF Bell Lightbox.
This is Daniel Garber at the Movies, each Friday morning, on CIUT 89.5 FM and on my website, culturalmining.com.
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