Although word out of the Toronto Film Festival suggested that Lars von Trier’s Melancholia was wanting in terms of film craft, Sukhdev Sandhu’s review in the Telegraph would suggest otherwise, as would Eric Kohn’s IndieWire take. Still, Peter Bradshaw writing for The Guardian calls the film absurd, but pulls back in his criticism when he writes, “for all its silliness and self-consciousness, this is the happiest experience I’ve had with Von Trier for some time.” Seems like we’re going to have to make up our own mind. Melancholia should arrive in Vancouver sometime in November.
While we’re in a trailer mood, how about a bit of Michelle Williams as Marilyn Monroe, in the bath soaping herself, and singing …

Continue reading Another Week, More Movies, and Life Goes On →

Truth to tell, Oprah Winfrey is not one of our favourite people in the world.
VanRamblings believes that the indefatigable Ms. Winfrey single-handedly created the ‘victim culture’ during the course of the early years of her eponymous and ubiquitous afternoon talk show, when she paraded one sorry soul after another onto her stage in a litany of ‘woe is me, I have no control over my life, even if none of what’s happened to me is my fault, there’s nothing I can do to make my life better, more livable, there’s nothing I can do to become a productive citizen, all I can do is whine and feel sorry for myself’ programming that had a profound effect on how a whole generation of young women growing up came to see themselves, in the process creating a culture of alienation and anomie complemented by pop culture coverage vapid enough to turn your stomach, resulting in a do-nothing, apolitical generation of 30-somethings committed to avarice and dionysian want, who add nothing to the sum total of our existence.

Continue reading Week’s End Film News Before We Go Political This Weekend →

What one aspect of a film contributes to a film’s consideration for Oscar contender status over the holiday season? Heart. And tears, and joy.
No matter who you are, entering a darkened screening room you want to be moved, to laugh, to cry, to come out of the cinema feeling better, more whole, your priorities realigned. You want to feel that there’s nothing you can’t do, that the whole world is open to you. And if the story that has unfolded before you over two hours is a story of family, and redemption, all the better. What film follows into that category this holiday season?

Continue reading Oscar Watch: Even More Trailers of Upcoming Oscar Contenders →

For those of you who missed it at the 30th annual Vancouver International Film Festival, Yoav Potash’s powerful and gripping documentary Crime After Crime is set for broadcast on Oprah Winfrey’s OWN network (in Canada) on Thursday, November 2nd, at 6 p.m., Pacific Standard time. Potash’s documentary is must-viewing. Set your PVR now to record one of the most moving and entirely astonishing chronicles of corruption in the U.S. justice system. In December, OWN will broadcast another outstanding VIFF 30 documentary, One Lucky Elephant, which premières on December 1st.

Continue reading Cinema: A Round-Up of Film-Related Stories For The Week →