We're only days from The Academy Awards and one of its most honored actors has just died. Gene Hackman won two Oscars (for The French Connection and Unforgiven) and had three other nominations (Bonnie and Clyde, Mississippi Burning, I Never Sang for My Father). He was known for the profound presence he had on screen in these and several other important movies.
And speaking of the Oscars it's probably because of them that any big new films are waiting for another week. I guess, it's assumed that movie fans are catching up to see the nominees. No worry though. There are gems among these smaller films.
Superboys of Malegaon: 4 stars
Cold Wallet: 3 ½
My Dead Friend Zoe: 3 ½
Last Breath: 2 ½
Arthur Erickson Between the Lines: 4
SUPERBOYS OF MALEGAON: The joys of amateur filmmaking. We've seen examples before and this one, from India, is one of the best. The mood is bouyant and happy, certainly ending that way after an interlude of acrimony and friendships breaking down. Don't worry though you'll come out of this elated; a perfect answer to the dreary news all around us. And it's a true story; end notes tell what happened to all the characters afterwards. They even made a Superman copy which helps justify the title.
In India, movies are a popular escape for people from their difficult lives (as common knowledge says). One man, Nasir Shaikh, from the small town of Malegaon, decides a local film would be better that the usual Mumbai product. Actors play him and his pals as they make one, a copy of Sholay, a classic, one of Amitabh Bachchan's best. We see small clips from it plus the copy-cat scenes they film. It's quite funny if you know the movie. But will people come to see it? They do; it's a hit. Nasir, played by Adarsh Gourav is a celebrity. His writer and some other pals resent the airs he's assumed. And there are other problems. His girlfriend is being pushed into an arranged marriage. A key actor gets cancer. Another goes off to teach. Can this end happily? Credit two women to get us there, one who made a documentary and Reema Kagti who directed this charmer based on it. (In theaters) 4 out of 5
COLD WALLET: This is timely, looking as it does as the cryptocurrency phenomenon. As you might expect it takes a negative view of it, not unusual because in the movies conflict is a big driver. This is fiction with much to say about how and by who crypto works. An early note says that it’s based on “a slightly true story.” It gives us a hapless investor (Raúl Castillo), who learned from podcasts about the money to be made. He wants to buy a house and delights his daughter with the possibilities. But his crypto, tellingly listed as TPX, the T standing for Tulip, crashes after the promoter dies on a trip to Kenya. His friend Eva (Melonie Diaz) suspects he’s not dead at all because you can get a death certificate from Kenya just like that.
They, plus another investor friend (Tony Cavalero), decide to go find him which gets them to a country mansion not far away. “Wrong house,” a caretaker says. They sneak in anyway, find the mood neatly established by a room of animal trophies stuffed by taxidermy. They also find the promoter himself not at all apologetic for the deception he’s just pulled off. He’s played by Josh Brener with a cool, cynical self-assuredness. He’s the best part of this film, dryly expounding on how he too has been ripped off many times. “It’s called business.” He tries to manipulate the three to make them suspicious of each other. They want to find the “cold wallet,” the data stick with the information and keys to his crypto. It’s a home invasion movie in reverse (you’re on the invaders side) and, as directed by and from a story by Cutter Hodierne, a dim view, if you’re up for it, about business hucksters. (In select theaters and available VOD). 3 ½ out of 5
MY DEAD FRIEND ZOE: This is an extremely watchable film, emotional, very well acted and sharply written and directed. But too stocked with issues, real ones like post traumatic stress among military veterans, survivor guilt and, for one character, encroaching Alzheimer’s. Just too many for one film. But that’s me being hypercritical. Actually I was engrossed by the story of two army buddies (Merit, played by Sonequa Martin-Green, and Zoe, played with a bright caustic wit by Natalie Morales). We see them in flashbacks serving in Afghanistan and, back in the US, comparing thoughts on how life has treated them.
One problem, as the title says, Zoe is dead. She’s a memory, although Merit talks with her wherever she goes, including therapy sessions run by an army psychologist played by Morgan Freeman. “We all have demons but you don’t have to face them alone.” he says. Merit does need her friend’s help and companionship. Trauma experts can probably explain it. Writer-director Kyle Hausmann-Stokes skillfully depicts it.
Merit feels guilt. We don’t understand why until late (and not absolutely until the end credits roll). Also, she’s sent to deal with her grandpa (Ed Harris) and get him into an old age home. He refuses to leave his lakeshore house and is seen wandering the first floor in the middle of the night. Daytime: he compares veterans now (welcomed home by all) with his return from Viet Nam (spit on, called a baby killer). A handy comparison from the older generation.
There’s also a budding love story (Merit with the young man who runs the old age home). See? Too much. Had the film concentrated on just one or two of these threads if would cohere better. The potential and the craft are more than evident. (In theaters: Toronto and four nearby cities, Montreal, Vancouver, Halifax, Calgary and Ottawa). 3 ½ out of 5
LAST BREATH: This should have been an absolutely gripping film but curiously it feels less than that. The situation is dire; the presentation is not as electrifying as promised although all the pre-requisites are there. Three what are termed “saturation divers” are lowered hundreds of meters down into the North Sea for regular maintenance of an oil pipeline. As they’re out working on it looking like spacemen, a computer glitch and heavy weather cut them loose. Two (Woody Harrelson and Simu Liu) manage to get back into the diving bell. The third (Finn Cole) is stranded. He’s broken off from his “umbilical” as they call it. His oxygen is getting depleted; the clock is advancing. The rescue effort is complex and tense but not really in doubt.
More interesting is what happens afterwards. He’s had 27 minutes without oxygen; he’s breathing but is unresponsive. Will he come to? Experts can’t explain how he even survived. It’s a true story that director Alex Parkinson made first as a documentary and now as this realistic drama. He doesn’t have much on the divers’ personal stories (one is about to retire; one is a new father) but he gives us a lot on their work. The underwater photography is exquisite, the details of the equipment and procedures are instructive and one fact cited right at the beginning startled me. It says there are 20,000 miles of oil pipeline that “sprawl” the bottom of the earth’s oceans. That’s worth pondering. (In theaters) 2 ½ out of 5
ARTHUR ERICKSON BETWEEN THE LINES: He’s probably Canada’s best known architect and often said to have been the most influential. He’s the only Canadian to win a gold medal from the American Institute of Architects. His buildings are famous including the Canadian Embassy in Washington, Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto, Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, some in the Middle East and other countries, even Bagdad, World’s Fairs and several in or near his hometown, Vancouver. His style was called modernist although brutalist might also fit considering the ample use of concrete.
We know a lot about his professional work and this documentary fills in a lot of his personal life with memories from people close to him. A biographer highlighted that Erickson was gay, news to me but apparently not a secret. The film shows how he manifested that with his love for a Venezuelan immigrant who designed building interiors for him. He was devoted to him and always gave in to his persistent requests for money. He built a big house on Fire Island, the gay enclave near New York and hosted lavish parties. He was so bad at managing money (example $40,000 for flowers for one party) that his firm went bankrupt and he lost his home and his license. He drifted off into dementia and died in 2009 but is remembered as a “Superstar architect” who designed buildings to co-operate with the surrounding nature, not fight it. The film directed by Ryan Mah and Danny Berish is now on BC’s Knowledge Network and available across Canada on its streaming service. 4 out of 5
Comments