By: Henry J. Fromage –
No, you did not hear wrong. I am indeed in person at TIFF, soaking in every flick I can shake a stick at. I’ll be posting these reviews as they public screenings drop (we’re not supposed to until then), so keep an eye out- there are a lot more coming!
400. Butcher’s Crossing
Even with Nic Cage’s recent renaissance, I thought I knew what I was getting into with this Western directed by and starring nobody I’d particularly heard of. Well, I was wrong. Yes, it’s the story of a Harvard grad who decides to find himself in the romantic West, who gets talked into financing a buffalo hunt led by a legendary tracker who he later learns has been talking about a mother lode of a herd he’d once seen in a mountain valley for years. On that hunt he gets the adventure he thought he’d craved and much more besides- so far, so conventional, right? What director Gabe Polsky and his cast do so well is creating complexity of character- you find yourself siding with the uncouth loudmouth’s complaints, for example, even though he appeared to be one-note cannon fodder at the start. I won’t say more, but this film makes it clear that life out West was no picnic, and not in the ways you anticipate, either. Two Beers.
TIFF Special Drinking Game
Take a (small) Sip: whenever a buffalo is shot
Take a Drink: whenever you see strychnine
Do a Shot: for every changing of the seasons
401. Ashkal
Tunisian director Youssef Chebbi’s latest is a challenging, perhaps even rather opaque crime and corruption story about a series of self-immolations in a creepy abandoned housing development on the outskirts of Tangiers. It’s not clear how and why people are burning themselves to death, and the two detectives at the center of the tale fear a serial killer is on the loose, at least convincing the victims to do the deed if not performing it himself. All of the furor over these horrific deaths has given the local police force an excuse to put corruption trials on hold – the police need all the support they can get to find those responsible, you see. It’s not allows terribly easy to connect the dots, which can make the film drag at points, but there’s no arguing Chebbi’s ability to create eerie, almost Ari Aster-esque atmosphere and imagery, and the ending is a hopeless cry into both literal and political darkness.
TIFF Special Drinking Game
Take a Drink: whenever somebody catches aflame
Take a Drink: whenever somebody watches a video of that taking place
Do a Shot: whenever the hooded figure shows up
402. The Fabelmans
Of all the many fantastic worlds that Steven Spielberg has created for us to explore, he’s never done what many filmmakers kick off their careers doing- introduced us to his own. The Fabelmans is an autobiographical story “as best as he could recollect it” from the mouth of the man himself (no, I never thought I’d actually see Steven Spielberg in the flesh, but he and the rest of his cast and crew do seem awfully personable and nice). But back to the movie, which is a beautifully complex, subtly acted (outside of one shrill anti-humor example of what I’ve dubbed “Christianface buffoonery”), and surprisingly empathetic portrait of a dysfunctional family with fault lines it’s hard to see until it’s too late to do anything about the tearing asunder. It’s bound to scoop up awards, and they will be well-earned if it does. Plus David Lynch is a hoot as John Ford in a scene Spielberg swears is “word-for-word”.
TIFF Special Drinking Game
Take a Drink: whenever the circus is referenced
Make it Double: when Judd Hirsch’s intimidating circus man comes calling
Take a Drink: whenever things get weird with Uncle Benny
Do a Shot: whenever Steven, I mean Sam’s childhood movies is screened
