Let My People Go!
Directed by Mikael Buch
Written by Mikael Buch and Christophe Honoré
France, 2011

In a small, idyllic Finnish town, Ruben (Nicolas Maury) is living a similarly idyllic life. His lover, Teemu (Jarkko Niemi), is a blonde bombshell of a boyfriend, he finds steady work as a postal worker, his neighbours seem to like him, and nobody seems to mind that he’s homosexual. To Ruben, life is gay. This all changes when Ruben delivers a package of spurious intentions. He’s forced to pack his bags and head back to France, leaving behind his dream life for a hellish nightmare.

Back home, Ruben is reunited with his dysfunctional family, and as tensions come to a boil, secrets and harboured resentments are finally brought to the forefront. However, the film never elevates beyond genre conventions. The characters are stock, their problems are clichéd, and they way they resolve the conflicts are overly sentimental.

As the story unfolds, the events start becoming harder to believe, with the script taking every opportunity to be saccharine and to melt the film’s fragile story structure with cheese. Extra characters and subplots are added to create narrative intrigue, but they are haphazardly handled and only serve to add to the melodrama.

Let My People Go! exists as a strange paradox because, as progressive minded as the characters are, they nevertheless fall into indie genre stereotypes.

- Justin Li

Visit the official website for Inside Out

For the TJFF 2012 review of Let My People Go!, click here

Eureka Review, Season 5, Episodwe 5, “Jack of All Trades”
Written by Jaime Paglia and Eric Wallace
Directed by Jaime Paglia
Airs Mondays at 9pm ET on SyFy

This week’s Eureka provides laughs, body swapping, an emotional confession, a dark moment, a potential character departure and a marriage proposal.  That’s a lot of ups and downs for one episode, but “Jack of All Trades” reaches these extremes with ease.

Residual effects from the Matrix are still occurring as Jack’s conscience first swaps bodies with Fargo, then Zane, and finally Allison.  It appears that since Jack was the only one connected to the Matrix wirelessly, his brain is acting as a sort of WiFi hotspot.  The swaps occur randomly and make for some mostly hilarious situations.

Some of the actors, particularly Colin Ferguson (Jack), Erica Cerra (Jo), Kavan Smith (Andy), and Joe Morton (Henry) find themselves playing outside of character during the Matrix storyline as virtual (and evil) versions of their characters.  “Jack of All Trades” takes the idea of playing out of character to a whole new level as Colin Ferguson plays the roles of Fargo, Zane, and Allison while those respective actors (Neil Grayston, Niall Matter, and Salli Richardson-Whitfield) take turns playing Jack.  It is uncanny how effective these four actors are at portraying their co-stars’ characters- they’re all able to portray the subtleties of the characters they have swapped with, making it easy to get caught up in the body swapping as if it is real.

The funniest swap belongs to Jack and Zane.  They swap bodies while Allison and Jack are in bed together and Zane and Jo are in the shower.  This is especially uncomfortable as there has been tension between the four of them since the Matrix.  Zane is continuously disgusted with being stuck in Jack’s body (“I’m so doughy” and “I’m half scarecrow and half Andy Griffith!”) and he manages to wreak some havoc for Jack by harassing a female driver while posing as the Sheriff.

This part gets a bit confusing…While Allison is in Jack’s body, Jo confesses to Allison (thinking it is Jack) that she has thought about the possibility of the two of them (Jo and Jack) together.  Allison doesn’t tell Jo she’s inside Jack’s body and tells Jo that he has never thought that way about her.  This is probably untrue, but Allison figures it’s better to just hurt Jo than there be a chance Jo and Jack could end up together.  It’s a very uncharacteristically dark move by Allison, but she feels threatened and finds an opportunity to protect her relationship.  Jack later proposes to Allison, but it begs the question: Would Jack have proposed had he known of Jo’s true feelings?

The final scenes provide a couple other serious moments after an especially comedic first three quarters of the episode.  Fargo finds out that Holly’s conscience may still be alive within the Matrix, but he makes the decision to shut it down in order to stop the body-swapping and save Jack.  Later, Grace tells Henry that she has to leave for a while to figure out her emotions since she is still traumatized by the Matrix ordeal.  As expected, the events of the Matrix are continuing to affect the people of Eureka.

Christopher Laplante

Survivor: One World Review, Season 24, Episode 15, Reunion
Airs Wednesdays at 8pm (ET) on CBS

Although they tend to focus on a few contestants, Survivor reunions always include standout moments that make them worth the extra hour. This year’s has more than its share of highlights, with many coming from Jeff Probst himself. He asks questions to the wrong people, interviews random audience members, and seems more flustered than usual. That said, he’s also having a great time and keeps the mood light. The kinder tone of the final Tribal Council sticks around for the reunion, with even Colton and Alicia not coming off terribly. She gives a heartfelt apology that feels genuine and shows that at least she realizes her conduct was troublesome. The one exception to the love fest is Troyzan, who compares himself to Richard Hatch and still won’t admit he got played. Sporting ridiculous dyed black hair, he lacks self-awareness but doesn’t seem to bother anyone too much at least.

Kim looks gorgeous and comes off really well because she’s so humble. It’s clear why everyone likes her, and Sabrina and Chelsea don’t seem angry about losing. This is one of the most likable trios at the end, so it doesn’t lead to any silly drama. Kim also wins another $100,000 as the fan favorite, which completes her utter domination. She’s certain to return for an All-Star season, and it will be interesting to see how she does. Although her performance places a huge target on her back, it’s possible the more arrogant winners would get more attention. If she can survive the early going, Kim would have a strong chance to go far once again.

It’s no surprise that Jeff spends an entire segment focusing on Colton and his hateful comments toward Bill and many others. He heads into the audience and talks to Colton’s mom, who’s obviously uncomfortable but does her best. Then it gets weird. The next speaker is Mayim Bialik from Blossom, who thinks Colton is great TV. Jeff may claim this isn’t a plug for her role on The Big Bang Theory, but that seems pretty unlikely. Even stranger is the next guy, who’s a random fan who likes Colton. Several actual contestants don’t even get a chance to speak, including the injured Kortney. Why is Jeff talking to that guy? Colton basically apologizes and says he’s learned a lesson, but it doesn’t seem entirely sincere. He can’t help but continue to play a character in front of the cameras. After watching this segment, it’s clear that Colton will be back soon to play again. It feels like a set-up for next spring’s season, which is rumored to contain a bunch of returning players.

Matt just can’t get a break. Jeff calls on him early, but the question asks about the guys choosing to go to Tribal Council and giving up immunity. Matt had already been voted out at that time, and this is his only chance to talk. Tarzan receives more time and manages to slide in as many big words as he can. He was very cranky on the island at times, but he did make for great television. In other news, Leif gives a sweet shout-out to his wife, and everyone really likes Jonas. He might have a shot to return despite a 12th-place finish. Sabrina and Chelsea also come off well, though they don’t get much of a chance to speak. Unfortunately, all the focus on Colton cramps the available time for the others.

Next season will finally get away from Samoa and have three tribes competing in the Philippines. This is the first time Survivor has visited that country, so it’s a welcome change. The new twist is bringing back three returning players that were all medically evacuated from the game. Although some fans may want to see gravedigger James, Bruce, or even Colton, the rumored picks are intriguing. There’s been no official confirmation, but it sounds like Jonathan Penner, Mike Skupin, and Russell Swan are the choices. Penner is a smart, fun guy who provided great television during his first two appearances. It will be intriguing to see how Skupin adjusts to a game that has changed dramatically since his appearance way back in season two. Swan is a question mark because he left pretty early from the first Samoa season. His exit was one of the more harrowing evacuations in the show’s history, so the doctors will likely be extra careful.

Considering Survivor: One World on the whole, it falls somewhere in the lower middle of the 24 seasons. The entertainment value was pretty high because of strange moves and over-the-top characters. However, the game play from individuals not named Kim fell short of providing much excitement. The finale was pretty dull even though it crowned one of the show’s most deserving winners. Too many players are still following the Christina route and just lie low to avoid elimination. Jonas puts it well at the reunion when he talks about his regret at not playing harder. The producers need to focus more on choosing intelligent players who both understand the game and are fun characters. Kim sets the bar high for game play, and a season filled with players on her level would offer the intriguing strategy that’s been missing from recent years.

It’s a mixed bag for Simon and Kate this time. In a week with several notable season finales, some live up to expectations and some live down. After breezing through Kate’s Roundup, we look at the rest of the week, taking particular time with the Fringe finale, Mad Men, Sherlock, and, one final time, Smash, which also aired its season finale. Then we spotlight the season finale of Parks and Rec, “Win, Lose, or Draw” before welcoming Chris Gore from Attack of the Show back on, this time to the DVD Shelf, where we look at Chris Morris and Charlie Brooker’s 2005 cult series, Nathan Barley.

Other shows covered this week: Cougar Town, The Voice finale, the Around the World in 80 Plates premiere, Community, The Vampire Diaries finale, Supernatural, the HIMYM finale, the New Girl finale, 30 Rock, Eagleheart, Awake, Bob’s Burgers, Girls, and Veep.

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Game of Thrones, Season 2, Episode 7: “A Man Without Honor”
Written by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss
Directed by David Nutter
Airs Sundays at 9pm ET on HBO

Not having read George R. R. Martin’s book series while writing weekly content about the show can be a strange experience. While I feel I’m at the mercy of a show that often takes drastic plot turns and moves in and out of openly supernatural territory without warning, many of the show’s most dedicated fans merely await what’s coming with relish. There’s an element of disorienting blindness, and the awareness that any associations or guesses made here can be quietly snickered at as being totally off-track by those in the know never goes away. Now, with that said, there’s absolutely no way those charred corpses at the end of “A Man Without Honor”  are actually Bran and Rickon, right? Yes, this is a series that isn’t afraid to shock, but the conventions of televisual entertainment dictate that several things are “off” about the sequuence – the total lack of identifying marks on the BBQ’d youngsters, Theon’s loaded look of guilt (and his general incompetence), the fact that they’re under the protection of the wily Osha, who’d surely have died at their side had it come to that, and, most tellingly, Bran’s mention of the orphans they might endanger should they make contact. Maybe it’s a really well-orchestrated double ruse of some kind, but I really doubt it.

With that said, that last scene is still one hell of a gut-punch, proving just how far Theon’s fallen and will continue to fall – the churning orchestral score doesn’t hurt, either. It’s one highlight of a fairly strong Thrones, one that manages to liven up even the dodgy Jon Snow segments somewhat. Those scenes are aided in great part by Ygritte’s openly expositional but still-entertaining dismantling of the Night’s Watch, as well as Snow’s manhood. Still, when it comes to extended bouts of dialogue, this week’s most compelling entrant is Jaime Lannister, who reappears for the first time in ages, still chained within Robb Stark’s camp. There’s nothing original about his escape plan – it’s clear as soon as he enters Jaime’s lair that the young squire is doomed – but Nikolaj Coster-Waldau makes for a pretty great raconteur, so even though the sequence goes on a little too long, its predictability never renders it boring.

Jaime’s sister Cersei has a lot to say this week, too, finally openly acknowledging her incestuous ways to a rattled Sansa, who is battling the dual stressers of hitting puberty (meaning that she can now officially become Joffrey’s heir factory) and the lingering terror of her near-gang-rape from last week. Hopefully she’ll get even a sliver of hope sometime before the season’s out, if only to give the reliable Sophie Turner notes to play other than “terrified” and “pretending not to be terrified.”

Finally, he Qarth portion of the program really ramps up this week with the (slightly awkward) revelation that Xaro and the still-very-creepy Pyat Pree are not only in cahoots, but have staged a magically-buoyed coup that culminates in a half-crescent of throat-slitting. The effectiveness of the sequence helps to make up for the fairly soapy acting and dialogue from Dany and the returned Jorah, who are taking will-they-won’t-they to unfortunate new heights. Just get on with it, kids. The Arya/Tywin scene this week is a little on the draggy side as well; we’ve seen these beats with these characters already, great as they both are, so it’s high time for Arya to get on with that third name.

With the spectre of full-scale warfare on the horizon (Stannis’s massive fleet is imminent), Season 2 still has a lot of work to do if it’s not going to leave a ton of open questions for the Martin-ignorant. Is there a correlation between the presence of new dragons and the resurgence of magic, previously thought by many to be in total disuse? Why did Melisandre only use her black viscous hellbeast-baby thing to kill off Renly? (Does it have something to do with only being able to kill off those who are directly related to Stannis?) Etc. Thankfully, there’s no reason to expect that the show’s remaining three hours won’t satisfy most lingering concerns, while also being tremendously entertaining.

-
Simon Howell

Survivor: One World Review, Season 24, Episode 14,
“Perception is Not Always Reality”
Airs Wednesdays at 8pm (ET) on CBS

There have been only a few cases where the Survivor winner has been telegraphed so far in advance. A recent example was Boston Rob’s roll through the Redemption Island season, but his edge as a four-time returning player made it easier. Kim has played front and center since the merge and put a huge target on her back. She’s walked the line between staying loyal to her alliance and removing major challengers. During the two-hour finale, she has several opportunities to take out players who could steal the prize. The surprising part is that she resists that temptation and sticks with Sabrina and Chelsea to face the music. Her confidence in the Final Tribal Council is clear, and the only remaining obstacle is bitterness from the jury.

Strong competitors from the past have assumed this powerful group would reward the most worthy player. It’s a big gamble to stick with nice people even if their games have been weaker. Winners like Natalie White and Bob Crowley are already fading from our memory after winning because they faced hated players. Kim earned a bunch of immunities and made big moves, but it’s her likability that earns her a 7-2 victory and the million-dollar prize. Jury members like Kat have been glaring nastily at Kim for weeks, so it’s refreshing to see most players take the high road. In fact, they take such a nice route that the composers use an excess of piano music to spotlight it. Kat does a complete about face and gives a passionate speech about her heart condition and getting the most out of life. Tarzan also fails to disappoint with a ridiculous monologue about his wife. They both shine, but the true champion is Jonas for mocking every ultra-serious juror in the show’s history with a fun joke about calling him “master”. Nicely played.

Heading into the Final Tribal Council, the others need strong plans to thwart Kim’s rise to Survivor greatness. Unfortunately, their performances play right into her hands. Here is a summary of each player’s approach to charming the Jury:

Chelsea: Instead of clarifying why she’s different than Kim, she admits that they worked together on everything. She also tries to combat the impression she’s cold-hearted.
Sabrina: She explains her lack of effort in challenges or strategy because it kept the target off her back. She lost her job recently, which makes this money essential.
Kim: She owns the strategic moves and talks about being willing to do anything to win, even if it means angering the people who leave.

It’s possible that Chelsea and Sabrina are doomed from the moment then enter the Final Tribal Council. However, neither truly goes for it and seems resigned to the fact that Kim is going to win. Their haphazard approach embodies the entire season and shows the superiority of the victor. One surprise from the questions is the perception that Chelsea is mean, with Christina even asking her why she hates people. This comes out of nowhere and is surprising given her edit for the season. The closest person to attack anyone is Troyzan, who asks Kim an inane question that could earn her a million dollars if she’s right. It’s clear that he’s not going to vote for her regardless, so it’s no surprise that he votes for Sabrina. Her other vote comes from Leif, who again seems way too nice to be on this show.

The two-hour episode begins with an exciting immunity challenge that incorporates several past contests into a fun combo. After untying ropes (again), cross a complicated maze, grab puzzles pieces, and then work to solve them to get three numbers. Chelsea and Alicia are extremely close, but Kim grabs immunity at the last minute. The deceptive editing suggests that Kim will flip on her pal Chelsea because she’s the biggest threat, which is the sensible move. Alicia seems confident she’s headed for the end, but Kim decides to stick with her alliance and boots her. Finally! This leaves Christina as the obvious goat to take to the finals. By winning the challenge, Kim avoids having to use her immunity idol at all. She wisely keeps that information secret to avoid grandstanding in front of the jury.

The final-four challenges have moved away from endurance and seem designed to deliver a more random result. This one requires serious concentration to keep from knocking down a stack of wooden bowls from the top of a tenuous structure. Kim grabs an early lead and receives a surprising test from Christina, but she never loses focus and takes the final win. It would have been interesting to see what the others would have done if Kim had lost. Instead, it comes down to keeping Christina or backstabbing an ally. It’s really easy to pick on Christina, who comes off terribly during her final day on the island. Jeff Probst and the entire jury spend Tribal Council looking down on her for giving up so easily. It fits with the way she’s played the entire game, so it seems fitting that she goes out with a whimper. It leads to pretty dull television, however. Thankfully, the Fallen Comrades walk returns before the challenge. Welcome back to a wonderfully cheesy delight!

Heading into the Final Tribal Council, the narrative is so direct that it feels like Kim must somehow lose the game. Sabrina gives a heartfelt confessional about her tough situation at home, which raises expectations that she might steal the crown. By taking fairly strong allies to the end, Kim risks making the error that Coach made last season by sticking with Albert and Sophie. The difference is her genuine likability, which leads to one of the more dominant performances in Survivor history.

Dan Heaton

The Lannisters are placed in a positive light, for once. What did we think of this image makeover? This week Beverly Bee from the SoS Doctor Who podcast joins Kate and Michael to break down the latest episode of Game of Thrones, “A Man Without Honor”, and discuss the difference between standard dramatic and fantasy acting.

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Once Upon A Time, Season 1, Episode 22: “A Land Without Magic”
Written by Adam Horowitz & Edward Kitsis
Directed by Dean White
Airs Sundays at 8pm (ET) on ABC

This is how to do a finale. “A Land Without Magic,” does exactly what it’s supposed to for the kind of show that “Once Upon A Time” is. This is no simple task. For a fantasy/epic/romance/drama with magic, mystical beasts, parallel worlds and a cast big enough to fill three shows, the finale pulls off an incredible feat of not only being cohesive, but intensely entertaining – not to mention pretty damn good.

There are plenty of action-packed spectacles, a solid story to fill in the stray plot holes, enough twists to keep it interesting, and a grandiose exit by way of cliffhanger. The finale is still not without its faults, but it’s such a gratifying experience that any blunders feel meaningless in the scope of the season whether it be easy dialogue or a CGI dragon.

We open in the Enchanted Forrest when our old friend The Huntsman helps Prince Charming break out of the Queen’s prison. Charming soon finds himself in a tussle with Rumpelstiltskin, leading him to make a deal that involves hiding a magic potion inside the dragon Malificent if he wants to find Snow White.

In Storybrooke, Emma rushes a poisoned Henry to the hospital. While trying to think of a logical reason for Henry’s condition, she finally, finally considers that perhaps Henry was right. Once this happens, once she “believes,” she immediately remembers her first moments in the Enchanted Forest.

Regina makes her entrance, but before she can check on Henry, Emma whisks her to the back storage room and accuses her of everything we’ve known this whole season. Regina comes clean and they both venture to seek Mr. Gold for help in curing Henry. Just like her father, Emma finds herself at Rumpelstiltskin’s mercy. In order to cure Henry, she must seek what her father hid years ago in the dragon, which also happens to be in Storybrooke.

“Once Upon A Time,” doesn’t usually call attention to its technical style, but when it does, it’s not without justification. The dragon battle scene is one of the most impressive sequences in this show. Yes, the dragon looks like an old PC game, but that can be ignored. The layering of how we experience this fight is surprisingly sophisticated. At this point in both worlds, Charming and Emma fight the same creature, establishing literal and metaphoric parallels between the two characters. Emma is indeed her father’s daughter as we see her courageously fight a creature that ten minutes ago, she thought couldn’t exist. The editing technique that induces these narrative parallels is the real treat.

The crosscutting in this dragon scene is impeccable. When Charming’s battle first begins, the dragon chases him around a corner, screeching after him. The next shot is a disguised cut to Emma looking back at the dragon as if it were screeching at her too. Soon after, Emma runs away from the dragon toward the right of the screen. Using this as visual continuity, the scene abruptly cuts to Charming running in the same direction.

Soon, we leave Emma staring up at the creature as a voice over ominously reads “And yet she was beyond hope.” It’s a clean break from the action that not only transitions to the next scene beautifully, but also transforms Emma. Things have changed. Emma is breaking the curse and she is fulfilling her destiny just like the characters in Henry’s book. It’s a tiny metaphysical moment that posits the most “real world” character into her own fairy tale. These stylistic choices produce a multilayered piece of storytelling that merits multiple viewings to appreciate the planning and choreography that went into making this scene work within the complex narrative of this show. Again, impressive.

The pacing from scene-to-scene also deserves mention. There are many moments that play out as quickly as the dragon fight, but there are just as many lulls. Writers and creators Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis strategically arrange these moments to keep the episode dynamic so that no scene feels forced or unnecessarily long. What’s better is that these moments allow the actors to build the emotional climax.

The breakout performance this entire season is Lana Parrilla as Regina. Robert Carlyle was the most consistent actor of the cast, delivering Emmy-Award worthy performances in every one of his scenes, but Parrilla steals the show again like she did last week. She is the clear-cut villain. It’s so black-and white that evil is part of her name. Yet she evokes such genuine sympathy when she tells Henry that she loves him. Emma’s bond to Henry feels more like a sibling relationship. Regina still feels like his mother. The fact that she raised and cared for him is her only redeeming quality. For all the things she’s done to everyone else, this feels miniscule, but it’s enough to make us care for her and it’s because of Parrilla that it’s real.

Besides the sub-standard computer graphics, the only other real weak point is some of the dialogue. In Charming’s encounter with Rumpelstiltskin, Charming has little more to say a few one-liner questions the beckon exposition from Rumpelstiltskin. Actor Josh Dallas has such little to work with in this interaction that he’s forced to read these lines in a ridiculously gruff manner to give them some bit of character. Thankfully he has a chance to showcase his talents and swell our hearts later in his love confession to Mary Margaret.

In addition to some of the easy expositional lines, some of the primetime wit falls flat. When Mr. Gold says he hid some magic for a rainy day, Emma replies “It’s storming like a bitch, where is it?” This line could have worked better if the characters talked like this more often, but it just ends up feeling cheap and out of place.

As far as tying up loose ends, the writers do a commendable job. They effectively use Jefferson, The Mad Hatter, in driving the plot forward. When they introduced him a few episodes back, he felt like a distraction to the main story, but he integrates well into the narrative of the finale. The writers also bring back Emilie de Ravin as Belle for a brief and gratifying moment in reuniting with Rumpelstiltskin. It seemed like they were going to forget her in the psych ward (which still has Chief Bromden from Cuckoo’s Nest and now apparently Sidney Glass). Instead, they use her in building the suspense for season two, which promises to bring another worldwide curse, much to the repose of Regina.

And in concluding the episode in true “Lost” fashion, once Rumpelstiltskin’s curse drifts into town, the clock strikes 8:15, bringing everyone back to where it started. What’s to happen to Storybrooke now? Thanks to the executives at ABC, we’ll learn this fall.

See you in season two,
Ryan Clagg

The Good

OSS 117: Lost in Rio

The most complimentary thing you can say about Michel Hazanavicius is something everyone acknowledged after his Oscar-winning 21st century silent film, The Artist – Hazanavicius knows his cinema. OSS 117: Lost in Rio boasts endearing performances and successfully taps into the nostalgia for 1960’s cinema. This is the spoof that the Austin Powers trilogy wished it could be. Just don’t expect this spy film to be revelatory.

The Day I Saw Your Heart

Although wildly imperfect, The Day I Saw Your Heart magically conciliates its flaws with French charm. From any other country, this film might not have worked, but because it’s French, it does. It’s clearly unfair, but, as Julie Delpy might say, c’est la vie.

Off-White Lies

Although from wildly different genres, Maya Kenig’s Off-White Lies shares many thematic concepts with Luc Besson’s The Professional. As a study of turbulent kinships, Off-White Lies shakes off all notions of tabula rasa, and, instead, embraces the mantra of que sera sera.

My First Wedding

From the beginning, My First Wedding feels distinctly familiar, but like that crazy uncle you only see at family gatherings, it’s peculiar enough to make you laugh. The disastrous wedding is on par with that in Melancholia, but the film’s tone and conclusion make it a quaint and charming comedy that may cause more smiles than anything else.

The Bad

How to Re-Establish a Vodka Empire

The film’s major draw is its interesting, if somewhat questionable, back-story and its creative cutaway storytelling devices. Edelstyn also does a good job with connecting his current experiences with his grandmother’s. But for all of its narrative appeal, this documentary plays out as a brazen act of self-promotion. While watching How to Re-Establish a Vodka Empire, it’s hard not to feel like you’re being sold to.

Naomi

The film is heavy-handed, hackneyed, and obvious from the start. If you’ve seen Unfaithful, or if you’ve read Lolita, you’ll likely know how this film ends, even though the finale is a disgracefully trite deus ex machina cop-out. Naomi is never as clever as it believes itself to be, and far worse than you’ll ever expect it.

The Prize

The story is purportedly based on the actual memories and childhood experiences of the director, Paula Markovitch, but, as anyone can tell you, it’s hard to vividly remember what happened to you at age seven. The best you can recollect are vague, random, and incoherent sequences, and that’s exactly what her film amounts to. Watching The Prize in totality is an unsavory Pyrrhic victory.

Polish Bar

The main reason for Polish Bar’s shortcomings is its lackadaisical concentration. Switching between its many narrative obligations, parts of the film will stagnate in importance, and because this happens to all aspects of the storytelling, everything feels paltry.

The Ugly

Something Wild

Although Something Wild starts off as a heroic feminist portrayal of rape, it eventually devolves into a sorry case of misogynistic apologetics. As daring and inventive as it might’ve been, the film’s fractured tone, contrived melodramatic conflict and anachronistically iniquitous conclusion have made it an exhausting, glib, and outdated look at sexual assault.

My Australia

The film spends its first half lambasting the Polish for being unfairly vitriolic towards Jews. The second half then proceeds to contradict the first by reversing the roles, stripping its cautionary tone, and being ignorant of the subsequent hypocrisy. The ending and resolution of the film’s conflict is superficial and contrived, but by that point, none of it even matters, because My Australia’s real conflict is with itself.

This Is Sodom

This Is Sodom commits the cardinal sin of being an unfunny comedy. Even so, the film is recognized as Israel’s biggest blockbuster in 25 years, with the directors, Adam Sanderson and Muli Segev, drawing comparisons to Monty Python and Mel Brooks. But thou shall not bear false witness; a more apt comparison is to say that they’re the Israeli equivalent of Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer.

In all, TJFF 2012 was a worthwhile experience, and although the festival was not as varied and nuanced as the trailer suggests, the qualitative unpredictability of the films make this years effort an interesting one.

- Justin Li

Visit the official website for the TJFF. Click here for more reviews.

Edward Scissorhands (1990)

Burton took a huge gamble by casting Depp, a relatively unknown actor at the time whose credits included a grizzly end in Nightmare on Elm Street. It was a gamble that paid off handsomely – Depp became a huge star playing the charismatic and innocent titular character and Edward Scissorhands received critical acclaim. One of the very few original projects of his career, this touching tale is still one of the highlights in Burton’s career.

Rating: HIT!

Ed Wood (1994)

The biopic of the ‘worst film director of all time’ allowed Depp to go into a more playful role, but the black-and-white film represented a drastic change of direction for Burton, which was sandwiched between the dark Batman Returns (1992) and garish Mars Attacks! (1996). Even though the takings were disappointing, the film received critical acclaim and Depp received praise for his portrayal as Wood, as well as a Best Actor Golden Globe nomination.

Rating: HIT!

Sleepy Hollow (1999)

With Depp as the quietly logical Ichabod Crane, this well-developed supernatural murder mystery is probably as good as Burton got before getting himself into big summers blockbusters. Depp is fabulous as Crane and the film is haunting and complex in all the right places. Burton’s filmography in the last decade would have been better if he didn’t stray too far from this offering.

Rating: HIT!

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)

After the lovely Big Fish (2003), Burton made this adaptation of Roald Dahl’s classic tale and started an eight-year (and counting) continuous partnership between the director and Depp. You have Depp as a strange man with a woman’s haircut and unnaturally white teeth, he looks almost miscast as the zany chocolate maker. Garish and creepy in places, it was hard to find anything interesting or fun in an otherwise unnecessary reworking.

Rating: MISS!

Corpse Bride (2005)

First venture into stop-motion animation for Burton, and he casts Depp as the awkward and somewhat noble male lead. With pale skin, large eyes and dark hair – right. The imaginative animation and ghoulish characters unfortunately doesn’t save this predictable love story and Depp’s wimpish Victor van Dort doesn’t make much of an impact, in comparison to the titular bride.

Rating: MISS!

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)

A Burton-esque musical with extra gore. Depp plays Todd; demented and hellbent on revenge. Following the huge success of the Pirates of the Caribbean sequels, Depp faced the challenge to mould himself into an established character. The result – his character is dark and twisted personified, who is unable to crack a smile. Vivid in colour, Burton was able to bring such a gruesome musical but it had nothing that could be called special.

Rating: HIT! (just about)

Alice in Wonderland (2010)

Burton tries to play it safe using another well-known story with Depp, Bonham Carter and Elfman, but this adaptation, like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, is visually pretty but boring. Depp is unnecessarily OTT and his sensitive yet unpredictable nature makes him more of a romantic hero than an insane comrade, with his character seems to take focus from Mia Wasikowska’s Alice in parts. In result, Alice in Wonderland is a practically unnecessary adaptation. Burton should known better.

Rating: MISS!

Dark Shadows (2012)

He may look like Max Schreck’s lovechild but Depp’s portrayal of Barnabas Collins in this dysfunctional family comedy is quirky to say the least. Trying to noble but coming off as comically awkward, his flawed hero has his moments. But Depp’s performance isn’t enough for Dark Shadows to revive Burton’s cinematic career in the last ten years.

Rating: MISS!

Mad Men, Season 5, Episode 9: “Dark Shadows”

Written by Erin Levy

Directed by Scott Hornbacher

Airs Sundays at 9pm (ET) on AMC

Mad Men has never been a show where plot twists and explosive action sequences reign supreme. Anyone who’s watched more than a season, knows that its main concern is character. Although the period setting is often intrinsically linked with the characters on screen, like so many other dramas in the current Golden Age of television, everything merely acts as a vehicle that informs these characters and their plights. What the show does so incredibly well, is that it blends the more evocative aspects of this time period and pairs it with inclusive, identifiable character hurdles. These hurdles can be experienced by any Don, Dick or Peggy. Where Mad Men’s current acclaim and undoubted enduring nature will lie, is in the show’s innate ability to comment on the human condition and draw this with such a subtle, yet imaginative touch.

We’re well over the halfway mark of season five, and the ability of Weiner and his writers to express themselves in new, and interesting ways never seems to cease. Usually, by season five of most shows, the creative team have been forced into changes. Often this is due to staleness and a predictability with both the show and its characters. However, Mad Men it seems suffers from none of these problems. More often than not, the show delivers what it promises.

This week we rejoin the Francis household where Betty’s struggle with over-eating frames episode nine, while the concept of gluttony, both literal and figurative, is strongly rendered. Not only does the show suggest this leads to petty competitiveness, but ultimately that it culminates in failure.

The still bloated Betty attends Weight Watchers in an attempt to control her compulsion to eat, which as we soon discover is leaving an unsatisfied void in her life. As Henry explains his own professional failings, having jumped ship in search of greater power, Betty reveals potentially her first adult philosophy in nearly five seasons. It appears that her meetings have educated her on positive means of dealing with her problems. “It’s so easy to blame our problems on others, but really we’re in charge of ourselves”, she claims. Is this the moment we’ve all been waiting for? Has Betty finally grown up in the face of her own challenges? However, it’s not long before her own petty, immature competitiveness gets the better of her and she tries to poison Sally against Don and Megan. The irony is that perhaps Sally, for all her immature sniping at Megan and Don this episode, is indeed more mature than her own mother. The fantastic symbolism of Betty’s near vacant dinner plate, and her false expression of fulfilment at Thanksgiving Dinner, highlights that her gluttony, both dietary and family related, have lead her to this unfulfilling place.

Meanwhile, over at SCDP, the copious amounts of work completed by Ginsberg in comparison to Peggy, leads Don to note “Peggy really got buried with Heinz”. In a metaphoric showing of gluttony, Peggy’s obsession with Heinz lead to her lack of success on other accounts. Not only are we reminded of Peggy’s lack of success on the Heinz account, but of her greed for extra cash from Roger on the Mohawk account, which also ended in failure.

Pete has very little to do this week, but chimes in to simply add credence to the focus of the episode. His over competitive nature and self confidence eventually culminates in what Don describes as his failure with the New York Times. He also indulgences in an office fantasy involving Beth.

In the meantime, Roger, whose experiences with Jane (buying her a new apartment and later dining with an over-competitive Bernie) underlines that monetary and sexual gluttony can leave one just as equally unfulfilled.

Furthermore, Julia points out to Megan, she already has everything – a”throne”, though she still demands more from an acting career. Deriding the soapies script, Megan proves she has lofty expectations of her acting vocation. Angrily, her friend Julia, all but labels this greedy.

Interestingly, three characters find success in ‘Dark Shadows’. One of them is Don, whose not-so-noble actions cause him to clash with Ginsberg, but fundamentally, he secures the Sno Ball account. The other is Sally, who gains a top mark for her family-tree picture; and may have potentially pruned herself from the cycle of negativity that runs in Betty’s family branch. While finally, Megan’s friend Julia wins an acting role. These experiences personify triumph rather than defeat. As is customary with Mad Men, there are always those that prosper and others who fall. After all, which viewer can’t empathise with either of those outcomes?

Adam Farrington-Williams

Simon and the Oaks

Directed by Lisa Ohlin

Written by Lisa Ohlin and Marnie Blok

Sweden, 2011

During the late 1930’s and 1940’s, young Simon Larsson (Jonatan S. Washer) and his family live in the idyllic Swedish countryside. There, he and his father (Stefan Gödicke) are at constant odds, with Simon wanting to go to grammar school and his father wanting him to be a labourer. Isolated within his own home, Simon regularly takes refuge in his books, reading them while perched on a giant oak tree.

Eventually, his father capitulates to his constant appeals, and at school, Simon meets Isak (Karl Martin Eriksson), the son of a wealthy Jewish bookseller (Jan Josef Liefers). As their friendship grows, and as the impending war looms, the two families come closer together, changing them in ways they’d never expect.

Saturated with the pastoral beauty of the Swedish countryside, and shot with careful and elegant poise, Simon and the Oaks is an outstanding visual achievement. Accompanied with a turbulent relationship between a disciplinary orthodox father and his emotionally defiant son, the film has all the trappings of becoming the Swedish version of The Tree of Life (there’s even a titular tree).

As the relationship with his father slowly deteriorates, Simon takes solace with Ruben, Isak’s dad. More sophisticated and highbrow, Ruben and Simon share similar interests, with their relationship serving as a substitute for their own failed domestic affairs.

In turn, Isak, who sees himself an artisan, begins to curry favour with Simon’s dad, Erik, who is likewise. This change in family and character dynamics becomes the crux of the film’s first half, creating potential for reciprocity and retribution, while concurrently challenging the notions of Nature versus Nurture.

This, however, also becomes the films apex.  As Simon and the Oaks moves past the halfway point and into the adulthood of the children, the film becomes operatic, no longer germane to its original strengths. Initially an ensemble piece, its gradually dissipates when established characters are shed from the story in order to focus more on the adult Simon (Bill Skarsgård).

Characters, like the adult Isak (Karl Linnertorp), are ostensibly purged from the rest of the film. Because they are so integral to the films formative first half, and because we invest so much time into their stories, their subsequent absent is perplexing.

To compensate, new characters are introduced, but since they are tertiary and neither here nor there in relevancy, they serve as nothing more than libidinous distractions (one character, Iza, has a metaphorical significance, but that will be addressed in the review’s conclusion).

All of this is done to highlight Simon’s personal story and his quest for self-realization. However, as he grows older, Simon becomes more insolent and unlikeable, making his story arc difficult to care about.

As a child, Simon was portrayed as the tortured artist living amongst derisive philistines, and as such, we sympathize. But as he grows older, he blossoms into a proudly bourgeois adult, the very same stuck-up, elitist snob his parents warned him not to be.

For example, there is a scene where, in order to impress a girl, he pompously lambasts the Marxist ‘new revolutionaries’ at his school for demanding socialism while eating the fruits of labour of their capitalist parents.  This is deeply ironic because Simon, who doesn’t work, lives with, and has his education paid by, his socialist parents.

What’s left is a story, which can be summed up as the byproduct of adding Toast with After the Wedding. Although set amongst the backdrop of World War 2 and the Holocaust, nothing about the central story demanded its inclusion as a necessity. The fact that it is included makes it feel like a manipulate storytelling device, which, along with the periodically indulgent violin symphonies, turns Simon and the Oaks into a melodramatic exercise.

- Justin Li

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State of Play
(360 minutes, 6 parts)
Directed by David Yates
Written by Paul Abbott
2003, UK, BBC 1

A prominent politician’s researcher falls in front of a subway car. A black youth is killed in a suspected drug-related shooting. It will later be revealed that they shared a brief cell phone conversation the morning of their demises. When Stephen Collins, the politician in question, is notified of the tragedy that has befallen his aide the grief-ridden response he produces sets off alarm bells amongst the press, one of whom is The Herald journalist Cal McCaffery, Mr. Collin’s former campaign manager. Cal soon discovers that the connection between the deceased involves a dubious silver briefcase, which is when instinct tells him that there is more than just a story here. And boy will he be proven right.

If the above is reminiscent of a 2009 American film by the same name starring Russell Crowe and Ben Affleck, it’s probably because certain studios have a knack for acquiring stellar material from any and every corner of the planet in order to produce unnecessary, if serviceable, profit machines. Yet there is something about this story that renders the decision to shrink Paul Abbott’s creation to a third its size and replace “MP” with “congressman” quite forgivable. State of Play is in many ways the kind of throwback political thriller that mainstream American cinema and George Clooney have been so nostalgic for of late, only here it is suffused with a post-Y2K breed of paranoia and agitation: where the press was once the protector and upholder of truth, it and its subjects are now cohabitants of the shadowlands of questionable practices and shady dealings. That is to say, this tale is populated by mild antiheroes. Weaved into the show’s intentionally scruffy tapestry are topical subjects like big business and big energy, rampant political lobbyism, intragovernmental corruption, racial typecasting, and media aggression. Around such material, a taut but intellectually frail thriller could be fashioned, yet only an extended drama could do justice to the utter density and murk of such a situation, portraying the sheer exhaustion of trying to navigate a turbid cesspool of intrigue.

Essentially the series’ protagonist, Cal is chicly disheveled with an air of disillusionment about him and is a natural at what he does. Played by a drolly charismatic John Simm, Cal obliquely recalls the noir private eye of yore: flawed and blue, willing to do whatever it takes to bring in the goods for the guy who keeps him employed, but anchored by a devotion to the truth, whatever his idea of truth may be. He is also loyal enough to support an old friend besieged, but enough of a prick to start an affair with that same friend’s wife when their marriage hits the rocks, whether or not it is out of underhanded spite or for love. State might have also been responsible for bumping the careers of two now famed actors: James McAvoy, who plays the cockily bright son of Cal’s boss and is a vision of what Cal might have been 15 years ago, and Kelly McDonald, doing what she does best as the fragile but tough moral centre and dishing out timid witticisms, weepy-eyed and with a sing-song brogue. She plays Della, a colleague of Cal’s and one of his main partners on the Collin’s story. David Morrissey is very convincing as a flustered and conflicted alpha male in MP Stephen Collins, proud, vulnerable, and ultimately sympathetic such that the latter third of the series delivers something of a wallop. All the bit players are great from Marc Warren’s nervously shifty informant to Polly Walker, who plays Collin’s wife Anne with sultry, brittle stoicism. Not to be forgotten is Bill Nighy as Cal’s editor and boss, brilliantly embodying the journalist as rockstar, by turns comical and cutthroat.

Interestingly, where one might attribute the show’s richness of character to its being a miniseries, it probably has more to do with Paul Abbott’s diversity of voice and literate dialogue, as well as the quality of the cast. While it may be 6 hours long, there are rarely any ‘character building’ scenes which do not in some way influence plot machinations. The pace of this BBC version is probably as breakneck as that of the Hollywood re-tread, only here there is more to digest and more in which to wallow. So if one desires insight into Cal’s childhood, they should probably campaign for a 12-hour version. With some miniseries, the question of why the material was deemed appropriate for the format often arises. For some, there is the question of funding and marketability, while others might be a prelude to a fully-fledged series, for example, Battlestar Galactica. Everything about State points to it having been conceived as a miniseries in Abbott’s head as he typed away. Even an overlong film script would require some serious content infusion to maintain this intensity for 6 hours.

State is directed by David Yates, best known nowadays for helming the final four Harry Potter installments. In this miniseries, Yates proves himself to be a director more in service of narrative tautness and pace than he is of mood and atmosphere. The mood, of which there is plenty, is maintained by the writing, the performances, and the somewhat stifling cinematography. Not a visual stylist in any sense, Yates’ hand-held, naturalistic approach nonetheless complements the material. In all honesty, if not for the intellectual ambition of this production, there is something decidedly television about it. That is to say, State positions itself firmly within the TV camp in its cinematic modesty, by no means an insult considering its towering contemporaries.

It’s difficult to say whether State of Play provides any novel insights. It’s also difficult to say whether that is even the makers’ intent, because it certainly is great entertainment- smart, too. The majority of political thrillers, even the great ones, aren’t much more than articulate, aesthetically thrilling reflections on the political climate of their day. By the same token, it never ceases to shock to be reminded of how pervasive corruption can be, how clandestine and unassuming it is for all its viciousness.

Temitope Ogundare

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****

NextMovie.com recently posted 10 of this summer’s Blockbusters re-imagined as indie films. Here are four examples. You can check out all the posters at NextMovie.com

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****

The Smile in the Mirror, by Ethan Graham Peacock

Avengers Assemble !