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TIFF 2018 – Day #3

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Hello NEON Fans!

I started off Day #3 with some big star moments.

My first film of the day was GLORIA BELL directed by Sebastian Lelio.  Lelio has remade his film GLORIA (which played at THE NEON 4+ years ago) for an English-speaking audience…this time with Julianne Moore in the lead role.  During the Q&A, Moore admitted that she had been approached to play the role, but she said she’d only do it if Lelio was attached.  (Lelio is most recently know for directing DISOBEDIENCE as well as the Oscar winning film A FANTASTIC WOMAN.)   Folks wondered why he would want to remake his own film, and he told our audience today that musicians shouldn’t be the only artists who get to re-work their art over and over “with a different band.” Here’s the brief TIFF description of the film: “Academy award winner Sebastián Lelio (A Fantastic Woman) directs Academy Award–winning actor Julianne Moore (Still Alice) in this English-language remake of his 2013 film about a free-spirited, middle-aged divorcee hoping to find love on the dance floor.”  I had an interesting response to this film.  I was completely invested, I laughed at times, I felt hurt for our lead at times.  Though engaged from beginning to end, I wasn’t 100% connecting with the material…until the last 10 minutes.  It was the final scene that completely took my emotions by surprise.  I already knew how the film would end, but I suddenly felt a connection with Gloria that made me love the entire film.  I felt a sisterhood with her, and I had a small breakdown in the theater.  This is a film for all the single people who keep putting themselves out there.

Next up was CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME? directed by Marielle Heller.  Here is the TIFF description of the film: “A jaded, out-of-work biographer (Melissa McCarthy) resorts to selling forged historical letters on the black market, and grapples with the ethical complications that arise, in Marielle Heller’s charming biopic about bestselling writer Lee Israel.”  Melissa McCarthy is a complete gem in this film…and it is her best work to date.  She’s still able to give us comedy, but it’s so much more human than anything I’ve seen her do before.  This touching movie has you rooting for a criminal, and she’s someone you probably wouldn’t like if you just met her on the street.  This film is polished and endearing, and I think it will find a good audience.  (I’ll attend the Fox Searchlight party for this film as well as OLD MAN AND THE GUN tomorrow night.) In person, Melissa McCarthy is smart, funny and clearly in love with the character she played and created with her co-star Richard E. Grant.  The Q&A after the screening was wonderful.

TEEN SPIRIT, directed by first-time feature director Max Minghella (son of Anthony), was my next film.  Not being a fan of any of the pop-star-creation shows (like The Voice or American Idol), my expectations weren’t terribly high.  But Elle Fanning & Zlatko Buric delivered.  Here’s TIFF’s brief synopsis: “A shy teenager dreams of pop stardom and enters an international singing competition as an escape from her small town and difficult family life, in actor Max Minghella’s (The Handmaid’s Tale) feature debut.”  I was pleasantly surprised by how invested I became in this film.  Though not without a couple eye-rolls and moments where I felt like story arcs shifted too quickly, I was ultimately a fan of this film (though the last 2 minutes left me a little flummoxed).

SPLINTERS, directed by Thom Fitzgerald, was my last film of the day.  In a word, it was terrible.  Here’s the TIFF synopsis: “Two decades after his inspired feature debut The Hanging Garden won best Canadian Feature at TIFF, Thom Fitzgerald again explores interconnections of sexual identity, family, and small-town Nova Scotia life, in this intimate drama about a young woman reassessing her relationship with her mother following the death of her father.” In most circumstances, I would have simply left the screening after 20 minutes.  But when I leave a screening early, I don’t feel like I have the right to write poor criticism.  However, because there weren’t other options for screenings this late at night and because I didn’t have any concrete post-screening plans, I stuck it out and watched the entire film (even though 90% of the audience walked out).  Though there are a couple good scenes (which come really late) and some great agricultural landscapes, this film is full of some really poor, on-the-nose performances with lots of “indicating” and over-the-top body language.  The screenplay was at times quite trite and there were moments when I wish a camera could have been on my face to show my bafflement as to what was happening on screen.  Overall, I can’t imagine this film ever getting picked up for American distribution.

I stopped for a quick beer before coming back to my Airbnb apartment, and I ended up running into a couple industry folks that I knew.  Upon hanging out with them for a few moments, I was then introduced to someone who I have been e-mailing for years.  It was fun to put a face with a name, and we chatted for about an hour before I decided I needed to get back to all of you.

Thanks so much for taking the time to read my rundown of Day #3.

More tomorrow!

Jonathan

McCoy On Movies: Life of the Party

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“Hi – I’m every Midwestern mom you’ve ever seen in a Hollywood movie where I get to smile!” Deanna (Melissa McCarthy) shows her school spirit in a scene from Warner Bros. new comedy LIFE OF THE PARTY. Credit: Hopper Stone. © 2018 Warner Bros. Pictures. All rights reserved.

WATCH THE TRAILER(S) HERE: 

 




KEY CAST MEMBERS: Melissa McCarthy, Molly Gordon, Maya Rudolph, Julie Bowen, Gillian Jacobs, Stephen Root, Debby Ryan, Jimmy O. Yang, Chris Parnell, Luke Benward, Adria Arjona, Sarah Baker, Matt Walsh, Heidi Gardner and Jessie Ennis


WRITER(S): Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone

DIRECTOR(S): Ben Falcone

WEB SITE: http://www.lifeoftheparty-movie.com/HERE’S THE STORY: Deanna (Melissa McCarthy) is having a great time; her daughter Maddie (Molly Gordon) is starting her final year of college and she is set to go on a dream vacation to Italy with her husband Dan (Matt Walsh). 


Then Dan tells her she wants a divorce and her world is turned completely upside down.


Buoyed by her best friend Christine (Maya Rudolph), Deanna decides to overcome her sadness about her marriage ending by righting the one thing she’s always regretted: Not finishing her college degree by going back to school with her daughter. But as she will soon find out, being a college student in her 40s is going to be even wilder than it was when she was in her 20s … Especially if her daughter’s friends have anything to say about it.  

WHO WILL LIKE THIS FILM THE MOST? Melissa McCarthy fans; Mike & Molly fans; Lifetime movie fans

WHO WON’T (OR SHOULDN’T) LIKE THIS MOVIE? People hoping for something more like McCarthy’s earlier work; many adult males who will have nothing to relate or latch on to; people who will be bored by the film’s cute but simplistic nature. 


SO IS IT GOOD, BAD OR JUST AWFUL? Released in time for Mother’s Day, Life of the Party could best be described as a simple but cute comedy, or, more descriptively, an inspirational comedy … If the Lifetime Network made comedies where some man didn’t murder a woman.


McCarthy, who co-wrote the movie with her husband and the film’s director Ben Falcone (who continues his short but effective cameo streak), must have had a very specific target audience in mind when creating Life of the Party: late 30s to early 50s age suburbanite women who have young daughters they want to bond with – because nearly every scene in the film feels like one big mother-daughter field trip with a few laughs here and there for good measure. Nothing like any of her previous efforts save for the forgettable Tammy, Life of the Party is cute, fun in parts … But lacks anything than its overt, sappy charm to make it last once you’ve left the theater. 


The side characters are fairly one-dimensional but somewhat fun sidekicks, the story is easily digestible and again, McCarthy makes her character relatable as she has a fairly common story. But there again lies the issue as the film itself feels rather common, right down to its cut-and-paste ending. Maya Rudolph gets to serve as most of the film’s comic relief, even though she doesn’t seem to be allowed to take it as far as she could.


And that’s the underlying tragedy of Life of the Party: Despite all the scenarios where McCarthy and company find themselves in that would lend to more outrageous, more comedic moments, much of the film feels restrained so it can stick to a PG-13 rating. There is a much funnier, much more heartfelt movie waiting to get out of Life of the Party, but since the film would be more accurately named “Life of the Afternoon Brunch Party,” it sadly never materialized.


Consider going to this party if you need a simple outing for your mom or middle-aged friend … Otherwise, this classic movie scene might sum up how this party may feel for anyone else. 

OVERALL RATING (OUT OF FOUR POSSIBLE BUCKETS OF POPCORN):

 
 

Who You Gonna Call?

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The most controversial movie of the summer is here … But is the 2016 all-female lead version of Ghostbusters as good, better or worse than the original? The answer lies within

 

“If this was the 90s, one of us would bust out rapping at any second …” Abby (Melissa McCarthy), Holtzmann (Kate McKinnon), Erin (Kristen Wiig) and Patty (Leslie Jones) prepare to stare down evil inside the haunted Mercado Hotel in a scene from Paul Feig’s reboot of GHOSTBUSTERS. Credit: Hopper Stone. © 2015 CTMG, Inc. All rights reserved.
 

WATCH THE TRAILER(S) HERE:


KEY CAST MEMBERS: Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones, Chris Hemsworth, Matt Walsh, Michael K. Williams, Neil Casey, Ed Begley, Jr., Karan Soni, Zach Woods and Michael McDonald 

WRITER(S): Kate Dippold and Paul FeigDIRECTOR(S): Paul Feig

WEB SITE: http://www.ghostbusters.com/HERE’S THE STORY: Possibly the most controversial movie of the summer, Ghostbusters is a reboot of the beloved 1984 film that now stars Kristen Wiig as Erin Gilbert, a professor at Columbia University thisclose to obtaining her tenure. Problem is, her old friend Abby Yates (Melissa McCarthy) has just put the old book they co-authored together up on Amazon.com. That wouldn’t be so bad if the book didn’t propose the presence of ghosts and other spirits in our world, which Erin knows might make her look like a crackpot and ruin her tenure chances. 


But once Ed Mulgrave (Ed Begley, Jr.) comes calling to Erin to let her know about the presence of a ghost at a nearby museum, Abby and her assistant Jillian Holtzmann (Kate McKinnon) reluctantly rope her along for the ride to investigate – which turns out to be an experience they will never forget. For not only do they see a ghost, the ghost sees them – which leads to a rather nasty encounter for Erin and her dry cleaning.


Meanwhile, subway worker Patty Tolan (Leslie Jones) is simply doing her job when chasing an aspiring graffiti artist leads to her discovering a ghastly figure of her own and eventually contacting Abby, Holtzmann and the now-fired Erin. And as a series of similarly otherworldly events unfold, the foursome decide to go into business, eventually settling on the name Ghostbusters (much to Erin’s chagrin) and hiring Kevin (Chris Hemsworth) as their secretary … Even though the only thing he knows how to do well it seems is make Erin’s heart aflutter with his good looks.


But why are all these ghosts starting to suddenly pop up in New York City? No one knows for sure … Except maybe for Rowan (Neil Casey), that is …

WHO WILL LIKE THIS FILM THE MOST? Feminists; Kate McKinnon fans; Leslie Jones fans; those who like modern sitcom comedy; Chris Hemsworth fans; those who don’t have an affinity for the original 1984 film 

WHO WON’T (OR SHOULDN’T) LIKE THIS MOVIE? Dedicated fans of the 1984 film; people who generally don’t like franchise reboots/remakes; Melissa McCarthy fans looking for her to do something different; people who come to the movie expecting the humor found in Feig’s previous best-known works like Bridesmaids or Spy

SO, IS IT GOOD, BAD OR ABSOLUTELY AWFUL? Much safer and played broad for laughs than it should be, the new Ghostbusters movie is about as polarizing as Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump. And unless you’re 100 percent on board with one of those candidates, you’ll realize that is a choice that might make many people want to abstain from electing it as their choice over the original. First, while the well-documented online backlash about the film’s female leads was in many instances ridiculously misogynistic, one thing that it was somewhat valid was the fact that the move was gimmicky. And not just because of the casting of four female leads. For one, while it’s no secret executive producer Dan Aykroyd had been pushing for years to get a third Ghostbusters movie made, neither is the fact that by casting four female leads the production team knew they were going to have a built-in talking point. Despite the success of women like Amy Schumer, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Samantha Bee, Jessica Williams and more recently Nikki Glaser, etc., the debate over whether or not are women funny has long since been settled. Because they are. And Ghostbusters co-writer and director Paul Feig’s 2011 female comedy magnum opus Bridesmaids is a prime reason that has since been settled to all but the usual Internet trolls. 



In the case of Ghostbusters, though, once you get past that issue, you have to examine the actual film itself. And in doing so, the flaws start to become more and more detectable by each frame. Whereas Leslie Jones’ character was looked to be made a fool in the trailer – another source of deserved and preventable controversy – she actually makes her character fit into the mix … But for every one person that will see her actions as funny and fitting, there’s the distinct chance others will see her as the loud black female that is usually the loud black male role in a comedy with a predominantly white cast. Feig and Jones’ have defended the character in recent interviews, but depending on what you see (or more accurately, want to see and focus on), it’s going to be hard to tell either side of that argument they are wrong. 



It has its fair share of laughs, to be sure, and the acting – even that of Leslie Jones (which was among the many beleaguered elements of the film’s debut trailer) – is not horrible and works for the characters. McKinnon essentially steals the show with her character’s super wackiness (this is her on Saturday Night Live turned up all the way to “10”); then again, her character is so wacky and off the wall that she might be too intense for some people. (Harold Ramis’ character was weird but subdued; McKinnon’s is NOT subdued to put it mildly.) But other than Jones and McKinnon, the biggest laughs are generated from Chris Hemsworth’s portrayal of an ultra-dimwit male secretary – a not-subtle-at-all dig on gender roles. Despite their comedy pedigree, Wiig and McCarthy’s characters are so one dimensional they are under utilized. While the chemistry among the four female leads is clear, that chemistry isn’t matched with the material as the jokes – for a film that is attempting to flip its haters on its ear – is often to broad and doesn’t go big enough. Often fed with a “here comes the joke!” setup, the 2016 Ghostbusters always make sure you are two steps ahead of them, which hurts the enjoyment of the film. 


While men in the film are often the patsy of the joke, the lead male villain portrayed by the relatively unknown Neil Casey (an actor/contributor to several hit comedy shows in recent years including Kroll Show, The League and Saturday Night Live) is, well, not good – both in terms of as a character and in Casey’s portrayal of it. This is no Gozer or Vigo the Carpathian here, he’s not even a Zuul – he’s just … Corny. Likewise, despite Dan Aykroyd’s self-serving boasts, this version of Ghostbusters, no matter how you slice it, is NOT funnier or scarier than the original. The graphics look better, but that doesn’t make it better. Still, that is not the biggest problem the film has …


No, the biggest problem with this version of Ghostbusters has is the one that was the easiest to prevent: The only thing that is original about it is the casting of the four female leads. For JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING ELSE FEELS LIKE THEY TRIED TO MAKE THE FIRST FILM OVER WITH NO NUANCE TO MAKE IT STAND ON ITS OWN. (Sorry for yelling.)

Cast-wise, it’s the same except you’ve got two passive, somewhat simple scientists (the Dan Aykroyd character) instead of one, the wacky scientist (the Harold Ramis character) … And the non-scientist black character (the Ernie Hudson character) – but no Bill Murray character, which was so essential to the first one. Likewise, there’s the delusional I will be the leader of the ghosts character (see the first two films), but no Walter Peck EPA villain that was perfectly snarky to deal with nor any other really intriguing side characters save for some extremely quick cameos from the likes of Matt Walsh and Steve Higgins.

What? Surprised I didn’t mention the cameos from the original cast? That’s because they really aren’t that good – Aykroyd has the best joke of any of them and it’s now in the film’s opening week TV commercials. (It is nice to see Annie Potts in a movie again, though … And the subtle tribute to the deceased Ramis was kinda nice.) There’s also a rehash of Slimer and the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, but they are little more than meaningless nostalgia meant to appease fans of the original – and the usage of one of them makes even less sense. I mean, the original theme song is used and then presented with a lame modern remix for heavens sake – how much more of an homage are you trying to make?!

Therein lies the failed opportunity of a movie that many will say is fine but many more will likely say never needed to exist: It fails to outdo the original, placate many of its detractors (although one must admit they likely may not have ever been placated) and give its four female leads the vehicle worthy of their talent to overcome the monumental task ahead of them. If the mission was to craft a movie worthy of a girls’ night out – sorry again, Mr. Feig – and/or create a simple cinematic diversion for the mainstream, then mission accomplished.

If the mission was to create a film that could be considered as beloved as the original, well, I’m sorry – the question isn’t who ya gonna call, it should have been why did the call to get this version of Ghostbusters get answered.

OVERALL RATING (OUT OF FOUR POSSIBLE BUCKETS OF POPCORN):

 

TIFF 2014 – Day #9

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MV5BMjEwMDczOTU3Nl5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwMDYyMDU0MjE@._V1_SX214_AL_Friday, September 12, 2014

Hello.

Thanks for coming back to check out my last day of screenings at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival.  Even though I didn’t see as many as I have during some years, I had a great time and managed to see 30 films, visit with lots of people in various aspects of the industry, and attend a couple fun parties.

My first film today was Susanne Bier’s A SECOND CHANCE.  I was first introduced to Bier’s work at my first TIFF back in 2002.  That’s where I saw OPEN HEARTS (her film from the Dogme Movement) and I fell in love…BROTHERS, AFTER THE WEDDING, the Oscar winning IN A BETTER WORLS – all great films.  Bier is truly a gifted storyteller, but this new film is just too over-the-top for me.  A veteran police officer and his wife are new, proud parents…but when the baby dies in the night of SIDS, the cop decides to swap his dead child with a mistreated baby from an ill-kept apartment to help nurse back his terribly depressed wife.  This film is like a more cinematic, 2-hour episode of LAW & ORDER: SVU.  Though the craft is there, the story and the script seem too big and even trite at times.  Though I was engaged and wanted to see what happened, I was ultimately disappointed.  (The lead actor, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, is from GAMES OF THRONES.  I’m sure there will be added appeal due to his presence.)

I usually only name films that I finish.  If I walk out early, I don’t feel a review is warranted.  That said, I watched the first 20 minutes of a movie today to kill some time.  My plan was to leave early because I needed to get to a different screening.  The movie was X + Y, and I was truly engaged (Sally Hawkins is in it, so that adds to the allure). I wish I could have finished it, but I wanted to get to ST. VINCENT in time.

ST. VINCENT is Bill Murray’s most recent film.  It’s the story of a grumpy, older man who ends up babysitting his new next door neighbor’s kid when he gets home from school.  Murray takes the kid to the race tracks, teaches him to defend himself on the playground and adds a few new colorful words to his vocabulary.  Though a little “easy” sometimes, this film is a crowd-pleaser.

 

My last film of this year’s fest was LEARNING TO DRIVE – a film starring Patricia Clarkson and Ben Kingsley.  What a perfect way to end the fest!  This is a film about a middle-aged woman who has just been left by her husband.  Feeling even more trapped in her life by not being able to pick up and go visit her daughter, she finally takes the driving lessons she needs in order to get a license.  Clarkson is luminous in this film, and her chemistry with Kingsley is spectacular.  Clarkson attended the Q&A, and she told this audience that this is a film she’s been trying to make for 9 years.  It’s touching, it’s very funny, and it’s a liberating film in regards to finding and taking control of yourself.  I hope it finds distribution!

learning-to-drive-ben-kingsley-patricia-clarkson

After the screening, I met up with a childhood friend who now lives in Buffalo.  It’s been 5 years since I saw him last, and it was so great to catch up.

Thanks so much for checking in on my TIFF experience.  It’s been a great year, and I’m going to miss this wonderful city.

In the next few days, I’ll try to upload a few photos I took on my phone and come up with a mini-recap.

All the best,

Jonathan