By: Henry J. Fromage –
Day 2 of TIFF featured some true oddities, plus more familial drama than you can shake a stick at and, yes, a documentary.
646. Stuffed
This absolutely bugfuck film stars Henry Melling as a man whose only human connection, his mother, seems to now be entirely lost to dementia. When he reads a wanted ad asking “do you want to be extraordinary”, something awakens in him. At the other end of that ad is a recluse taxidermist with her eyes set on the ultimate species her collection lacks. Oh yeah, and this is a musical. There is no reason in hell this should work (arguably it wouldn’t if it weren’t a musical), nor that it should have such a streak of unexpected humanity running through it, but by golly, it does. Two Beers.
Take a Drink: for sandwiches or references to sandwiches
Take a Drink: for obituaries
Do a Shot: for mercy killings
647. River
I’m a tiny bit torn on this Midnight Madness pick and soon to be Shudder-distributed horror. It’s technically impeccable, quickly builds characters you build about in the three siblings reuniting despite lots of buried family trauma and drama to spread their father’s ashes from his favorite boat, and absolutely delivers the goods when it’s skin mask-wearing carnage time. There’s still something holding it back from greatness- perhaps it’s just a bit too mannered, or perhaps you just can’t stand yelling “finish him, goddamit” at the screen so much. Two Beers.
Take a Drink: beer me
Take a Drink: arrow
Take a Drink: when the mask comes off or goes on
Do a Shot: for each death (they make em count)
648. The Smell of Apples
The Smell of Apples follows 11-year-old Marnus across five fateful days where he goes from perfectly happy and oblivious kid to understanding the kind of society, and family, he really belongs to. This a movie where the racial violence simmers in the background until it leaks out of every crack of this family and their place in society- which based on the presence of the reactionary Chilean military officer visiting them in secret, is even more starkly misaligned with the growing forces of freedom than even usual for the time in 1970s South Africa, which is saying something. Two Beers.
Take a Drink: for signs of Apartheid
Take a Drink: for each day intertitle
Do a Shot: for casually uttered slurs
649. Ah Girl
Ah Girl follows 7-year-old Ah Girl, who runs a little contraband chewing gum business on her school’s playground, and her younger sister Ah Tian in 1990s Singapore as their parents’ marriage crumbles in the background. Our young lead actress is quite a discovery, funny and heartbreaking in equal measure as she grows up fast when she gets a glimpse at the flawed (and frankly still quite young) people her parents really are. Two Beers.
Take a Drink: for annoying little sisters
Take a Drink: they said the title!
Do a Shot: for ghost spiders
650. Salvation
Salvation follows Danny, a young Scotsman who has just become a freshly minted certified life coach. He sets off to build his business off of anyone he can get to listen, which are generally folks even more sad sack than he his. He brims with self-confidence, which doesn’t appear to have gotten him far in life so far, and may be more of a liability than an asset in the end for his clients, or at least the one client he has left by the end. Two Beers.
Take a Drink: for inspirational speeches/sales pitches
Take a Drink: for anyone who expresses skepticism or turns down his services
Do a Shot: for fake money
651. What Lies Between Us
This knotty Danish drama examines every side of three families pitted against each other when one of their boys accuses the other two of sexual assault. By telling this story primarily via the viewpoint of the mother of one of the accused, we end up in an infinitely more complicated moral space- how to support your own child and the victim, who happens to be the child of your best friend? There are no good answers here (even if there are, of course, right ones). Two Beers.
Take a Drink: whenever someone refers to Oskar as weird, different, or any variation thereof
Take a Drink: for every interview
Take a Drink: for every tennis match or training session
Do a Shot: for school parent emails, Facebook groups, and meetings
652. Low Lies the Land
This beautifully shot documentary follows several wine-making (and one vegetable farming) families in the Piedmont region of Italy throughout an entire year and production cycle. It’d be idyllic if not the talk of climate change-induced drought, the lack of youth interested in taking up the family business (although encouragingly, there are a few profiled here), and the specter of a broker buying out plots on behalf of foreign investors who likely have no interest in the actual making of wine themselves. Through it all, though, like those that came before them persevere, keeping a storied tradition alive. Two Beers.
Take a Drink: for talk of drought
Take a Drink: for sales pitches
Do a Shot: for grandma’s wheelie chair
