The next drama title to be highlighted in the Great Movies – 100 Years of Movies book is the French film Rules of the Game, an examination of passion, etiquette and class. Andre Jurieux (Roland Toutain) has just flown across the Atlantic solo, allowing him to claim a level of celebrity, but all for…
Tag: love
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex (1972) – Woody Allen
So the list of recommendations that accompanied my screening of Manhattan continues with the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book. This time, Allen skewers sex with this collection of stories, reflecting the chapter titles of the famous book of the same name. Some of them are a lot of fun, there is a…
Pandora and the Flying Dutchman (1951) – Albert Lewin
The recommendations following Pandora’s Box in Great Movies – 100 Years of Film is this romantic fantasy drama starring Ava Gardner and James Mason in the titular roles and both of them are seeking a form of redemption and salvation. Gardner as Pandora, for me, is extremely unlikable character, cold, manipulative, and quite willing to…
Hot Docs 2014: I Am Big Bird – The Carroll Spinney Story (Chad Walker & Dave LaMattina
There are times when everything comes to a perfect moment, when a film resonates with you, and echoes not only through the memories in the rooms of your mind, but also through the chambers of your heart. The last time it happened to me was Patrick Read Johnson’s 5-25-77, it happened again the other night,…
Hot Docs 2014: Before the Last Curtain Falls (Thomas Wallner)
Having its World Premiere this evening at 8:30, at the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema, this gorgeously shot film is a stirring documentary about performance, love and sexuality. The center of the film’s focus is a group of aging gay and trans cabaret performers who have gone on tour with their beautifully choreographed stage show, Gardenia. Now, the tour…
Hot Docs 2014: To Be Takei (Jennifer Kroot & Bill Weber)
I was lucky enough to catch a screening of this film last night at the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema, if you missed it, please find time to see it today at 6 at the same location! This is hands down my favorite film of the festival to date. And I can’t be the only one…
Hot Docs 2014: 112 Weddings (Doug Block)
It’s tough for me to call a favorite this early in the Hot Docs schedule, but Doug Block’s incredible film, 112 Weddings, has won me over completely. If you are going to see it tonight at its international premiere at the Isabel Bader theatre at 7pm, I can only offer these three words to you:…
At Middleton (2013) – Adam Rodgers
Available now from Anchor Bay Canada, is this delightful film, At Middleton, starring Andy Garcia and Vera Farmiga. It’s a tale of regrets, life, choices, love, second chances, and a perfect day. So of course it takes place at the symbolic crossroads of life… a university. Andy Garcia is George Hartman, Vera Farmiga is…
Sunrise – A Tale of Two Humans (1927) – F.W. Murnau
Following on the tail of Pandora’s Box, this recommendation from Great Movies – 100 Years of Film,a splendidly filmed silent movie, is a moving and involving drama, that follows two characters on their rediscovery of their love for one another, and the threat of its loss. Set in a small village, frequented by city dwellers,…
Romantic Movies for Valentines Day
So it’s Valentine’s Day. You and your sweetie have had a romantic dinner, or a nice walk (pleasant and warm even with the chill in the air), arm in arm, hand in hand, you decide to go back to the apartment and have a cuddle while watching a romantic movie that isn’t overly sappy……
The Mind Reels 