June 6, 1999
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Felicia's Journey (1999) **
Atom Egoyan's film about a young Irish lass and an strange English gentleman (Bob Hoskins).
The End Of The Affair (1999) **
Mélodrame de Neil Jordan ("The Crying Game", "Michael Collins"). Avec Julianne Moore, Ralph Fiennes, Stephen Rea. Le célèbre (et controversé) metteur en scène irlandais Neil Jordan, connu surtout pour les films violents (pleins des vampires, des terroristes et des tueurs cinglés), s'intéresse pour la première fois au mélodrame traditionel. Adapté d'une nouvelle de Graham Greene, "The End Of The Affair" raconte l'histoire d'un jeune écrivain cynique (Ralph Fiennes) qui tombe amoureux d'une femme mariée (Julianne Moore). Heureusement pour lui, l'époux de sa bien-aimée est un diplomate particulièrement terne et ennuyeux. Mais comme nous sommes à Londres dans les années 40, l'adultère est hantée par un sens aigue de la culpabilité. C'est à la fois une réflection sur l'amour, une audacieuse critique sociale, et un drame existentiel. Les spectateurs se retrouvent devant un film inégal, mais très fascinant. L'intrigue est carrément déroutante: est-ce un drame religieux ou une histoire d'adultère? Que faire de ces guérisons miraculeuses et d'autres interventions divines? Car ici, au triangle amoureux traditionel - la femme, son amant et le mari trompé - s'ajoute un quatrième élément: un Dieu vengeur, qui punit la faiblesse et la tricherie. A l'instar des oeuvres de Robert Bresson ou Carl Dreyer, "The End Of The Affair" semble s'adresser au public adult, sophistiqué et... croyant.
The Last September (1999) **
Irish fight for independence, seen through the eyes of a young girl from an aristocratic family.
Something More (1999) **
Directed by Rob King. With Michael Goorjian, Chandra West and Jennifer Beals. Unable to decide if it wants to be a raunchy sex farce or a serious drama about relationships, this Canuck flick from Saskatchevan emerges as a disappointing flop. Which is too bad, because with only a few minor changes, it could have been quite a memorable film.
Angela's Ashes (1999) **
Drame d'Alan Parker ("Midnight Express", "The Wall"). Avec Emily Watson, Robert Carlyle, Joe Breen, Ciaran Owens, Michael Legge. La célèbre autobiographie de Frank McCourt, couronnée d`un Prix Pulitzer en 1997, arrive enfin sur nos écrans. Alan Parker - connu surtout pour les drames carcéraux ("Midnight Express") et les films musicaux ("Pink Floyd's The Wall", "Bugsy Malone", "The Commitments") - n'est peut-être pas le réalisateur idéal pour traduire toutes les subtilités psychologiques du livre, mais il réussit quand-même à créer une étonnante fresque sociale. L'action se déroule à Limerick, une petite ville d`Irlande, dans les années 30 et 40. Le jeune Frank, l'ainé d'une famille extrêmement pauvre, voit ses petits frères et soeurs mourir l'un après l'autre, tandis que son père (Robert Carlyle) sombre de plus en plus dans l'alcoholisme. La rôle de Frank est superbement interpretée par trois acteurs differents: Joe Breen à l`age de 6 ans, Ciaran Owens à 12 ans, et finallement, par Michael Legge à 16 ans. Il faut également remarquer la très belle musique de John Williams (nominée au Golden Globes), qui contribue beaucoup au succès de ce film.
Of course, the book was WAY better. And an egocentric director like Alan Parker ("Pink Floyd's The Wall", "Evita") would be just the type to turn a literary masterwork into a pretentious mess. But surprisingly, he has actually crafted a rich and deeply satisfying adaptation of Frank McCourt's Pulitzer Prize-winning autobiography, set in a poor Irish town in the 30's and 40's.
Guinevere (1999) **
Directed by Audrey Wells. Canadian film starring Sarah Polley. An award-winner at Sundance.
Molokai: The True Story Of Father Damien (1999) *
Directed by Paul Cox. Story of a priest to chooses to live among lepers in Hawaii.
Accelerator (1999) **
Directed by Vinny Murphy. Exciting existential drama about Irish youth stealing cars and running for their lives.
Love And Rage (1999) *
Directed by Cathal Black. Greta Sccachi plays an aristocratic woman who falls in love with a handsome brute. Essentially, it's an Irish variation on D.H.Lawrence, except that here, people can lose their nose during foreplay.
In Her Defense (1999) *
Directed by Sidney J.Furie. With Marlee Matlin, Michael Dudikoff and Daniel Pilon. There are way too many boring cliches in this Canuck courtroom drama-slash-suspense thriller: a horny lawyer (Dudikoff), an abused woman (Matlin) wanting to get rid of her husband, an ambitious crown prosecutor (Pilon). Add to it a complicated, but very predictable plot, and you get another example of Canadian taxpayers wasting their money on a film nobody will ever want to see.
Siam Sunset (1999) **
Directed by John Polson. With Linus Roache, Danielle Cormack, Ian Bliss. Filled to the point of overflowing with a busload of odd and peculiar eccentrics from Down Under, “Siam Sunset” is a surrealistic comedy about refrigirators falling off the sky, freak storms, earthquakes, psychotic ex-lovers and poisonous snakes. The humour is broad, and yet oddly nuanced and precious. The film greatly benefits from the clear, lambent quality of the natural southern light, which allows its talented cinematographer to capture the incredibly bright, gaudian colors of the Australian desert landscape.
Cette première réalisation brilliante de John Polson (l’acteur australien qu’on a vu dans “The Sum of Us”) renoue avec une certaine forme de narration, dite “surréaliste”, organisée autour d’une multitudes d’évenements tantôt drôles, tantôt bizarres et toujours inexplicables. Ainsi, on y peut voir des frigos qui tombent du ciel, des serpents géants qui dorment sous les lits des amoureux, et finalement des huragans, des tremblements de terre et d’autres catastrophes quotidiennes qui pursuivent sans cesse notre héro en acharnant sur lui leur furie furieuse. C’est pourtant une comédie très légère, et ulta-sympathique, qu’on nous sert ici, façon de dire “regardez comme c’est drôle quand ça arrive aux autres...”.
May 5, 1999
Emporte-moi (1999) **
Directed by Lea Pool. With Karin Vanasse, Pascale Bussieres and Monique Mercure. Nostalgic, often meandering drama about a young girl (Vanasse) growing up in Montreal in the early 1960's. She divides her time between fighting with her Holocaust survivor father, french-kissing her brother, having an adolescent crush on a girl, imitating Anna Karina in "Vivre sa vie", running away from home, and collecting stray dogs.
Elvis Gratton II: Miracle a Memphis (1999) **
Directed by Pierre Falardeau. With Julien Poulin, Yves Trudel and Jean Chretien. Is Falardeau a chauvinistic xenophobe? Well, he obviously loath the American culture and the Canadian federalism, but he reserves his strongest hatred for those pure-laine Quebecers (like Elvis Gratton and Jean Chretien) who dare to look beyond the narrow confines of the separatist/nationalist perspective. But Falardeau is still one of Quebec's best filmmakers and even this mean-spirited, eneven, and often desperate farce is infinitely better, funnier and more intelligent than most local comedies.
Le Dernier souffle (1999) *
Directed by Richard Ciupka. With Luc Picard, Julien Poulin and Donovan Reiter. The latest attempt by the Quebec film industry to recapture the local market from the Hollywood domination by producing Hollywood-style commercial blockbusters. It features the most bizarre cast of heroes and villains representing every corner of the political spectrum: FLQ, MUC police, FBI, neo-nazis, right-wing militia, and the Russian mob. The film is rarely boring, but always contrived, and hopelessly conventional.
Quand je serai parti...vous vivrez encore (1999) *
Directed by Michel Brault. With Francois Reddy, David Boutin and Claude Gauthier. Patriotic, heavy-handed, slow and unbearably tedious historical drama about the 1838 rebellion of Freres Chasseurs against the British tyranny. Led by Chevalier de Lorimier, the insurrectionists were quickly routed, captured, tried and executed. The film will annoy both sides: the francophones will be depressed by its defeatist attitude, while the anglos will squirm over the intensely negative portrayal of their ancestors.
Matroni et moi (1999) *
Directed by Jean-Philippe Duval. With Alexis Martin, Guylaine Tremblay and Pierre Curzi. First the good news: The dialogue is superb, expertly mixing pretentious intellectual mumbo-jumbo with down-to-earth, obscenity-ladden gangster lingo, and creating a delightful cacophony of verbal contrasts. But now the bad news: The film stinks, wasting its qualities on an idiotic plot, annoying characters and desperate jokes.
Jacob Two Two Meets The Hooded Fang (1999) *
Directed by George Bloomfield. With Gary Busey, Miranda Richardson and Max Morrow. After a very promising start, this bizarre children fantasy quickly degenerates into a series of violent, unpleasant and vaguely dickensian confrontations involving enslaved kids and their adult tormentors. Written by Mordecai Richler, this alleged kidpic has a very R-rated sensibility. Give it a pass and see Elmo in Grouchland instead.
Le Grand serpent du monde (1999) **
Directed by Yves Dion. With Murray Head, Zoe Latraverse, Gabriel Arcand and Louise Portal. Imagine, if you will, a middle-aged bus driver from Montreal. He's into philosophy and young women. Night after night, he picks up the same people from the same bus stops: a mentally-challenged excentric, an old lady with a dog, a man who could be a vampire and a seductive young girl. The film - slow, meditative and artfully directed - explores their alienation with a flegmatism worthy of Wim Wenders.
Souvenirs intimes (1999) *
Directed by Jean Beaudin. With Pascale Bussieres, Yves Jacques and James Hyndman. Hopelessly pretentious film about rape, revenge and forgiveness. Characters suffer, torture each other, scream, suffer some more, reveal their true identities, fight, and finally reconcile.
Alegria (1999) *
Directed by Franco Dragone. With Frank Langella, Julie Cox and Rene Bazinet. Some film are just so irritating in their utter and insufferable mediocrity, they compel viewers to kick the chairs, throw the popcorn at the screen, spill their drinks and scream like wounded hyenas. This cinematic adaptation of the famous Cirque du Soleil spectacle is a case in point. It's like a cross between "Oliver Twist" and "Big Top Pee-wee", made by tone-deaf fashion victims.
Laura Cadieux.. la suite (1999) *
Directed by Denise Filiatrault. With Ginette Reno, Dominique Michel and Pierrette Robitaille. Remember, it ain't over until the fat lady sings. But while Reno & Co.'s can-can number is literally side-splitting (remember those dancing hippos in Fantasia?), the rest of the film is downright pathetic. Who wrote that dialogue? And while it's supposedly set on a Saguenay cruise ship, we don't even see a single rocky cliff! Did they run out of money and couldn't shot a single scene at Cap Trinité or Cap Eternité?
Pin-Pon le film (1999) **
Film pour enfants de Ghyslaine Côté. Avec Yves Soutières, Thomas Gratton, Philippe Lambert, Julien Poulin. Les tout-petits seront enchantés par cette gentille comédie pleine d'humour et de la joie. Même les parents auront un sourire aux lèvres en regardant les démélés rocambolesque de trois clowns en balade. Les aventures du Pinpin, Ponpon et Pouet Pouet ne sont peut-être pas aussi excitantes que celles de James Bond (moins d'explosions, par exemple...), mais elles vont sûrement réjouir ceux et celles qui savent apprecier une joile chanson melodieuse, un beau numero de danse et une plaisanterie de bon gout. L'intrigue est plutot mince (on part en camping, on dessine des papillons, on attrape des poissons...), mais on ne s'ennuie jamais.
Little tots should be enchanted by this pleasant comedy about three gentle clowns going on a camping trip. The humor is simple (lots of slapstick, very little sophistication), the songs are marvelously melodious and the pacing is quite energetic. Pinpin and Ponpon are no Laurel and Hardy, but their innocent charm is quite infectious.
April 4, 1999
My Grandmother Ironed The King's Shirts (1999) ***
Heavy Rotation (1999) **
Watt directed this bizarre Japanese cartoon about some really mean teddy bears.
Suprise Cinema (1999) ***
The Old Man And The Sea (1999) ***
Beautiful adaptation of Ernst Hemingway's famous novel. Directed by Alexandr Petrov. An IMAX cartoon that won an Academy Award for best animated short.
Sandland (1999) **
A story about a shipwreck and a mysterious witch. A visually impressive German film. 3-D computer animation. Directed by Heiko Lueg.
March 3, 1999
Kabaret Olgi Lipinskiej: Epidemia sukcesu (1999) ***
"Pielgrzymka" *
"Nasz pan premier" **
"Pada snieg" **
"Wszyscy dla wszystkich" *
"Geografia" *
"Za stolem" ("Zmiana na lepsze") **
Kabaret Olgi Lipinskiej: Kazdemu za swoje (1999) ***
"Los Caballeros degrengolada" **
"Piaskownica" ("Skumbrie w tomacie") **
"Idzie kondukt przez ulice" *
"Kazdemu za swoje (z horacjusza)" **
"Wszystko plynie jak to szambo" **
"Hej radoscia oczy blysna" ("Ryba, brzana, kielbik") ***
"Znikly pacholy" **
Kabaret Olgi Lipinskiej: Don't worry be happy (1999) ***
February 2, 1999
Cruel Intentions (1999) **
Directed by Roger Kumble. With Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillipe and Reese Whitherspoon. Expecting a nightmare of depravity like "Wild Things", I was cruelly disappointed by this contemporary adaptation of "Dangerous Liaisons", set among Park Avenue's preppies and debutantes. There is very little perversity in this piece of monumental anachronism, which tries to adapt the (im)moral values of debauched French aristocrats to the lifestyles of brothers and sisters of Monica Lewinsky. The result is a laughable mess, both tedious and campy. It takes more than ravished virgins or horny stepsisters to arouse my interest. **
The Faculty (1999) **
Slimy (but drugs-free) alien creatures take over the bodies of teachers and students in a small-town Ohio high-school. And so the local Breakfast Club members (a nerd, a gorgeous cheerleader, a quaterback, a drug dealer, a taciturn outcast and a Southern belle) have to stop this Invasion of the Body Snatchers. The best scene has the kids sniffing dope in order to flash out the traitor in their ranks. Mindless and predictable, but actually quite fun.
Entrapment (1999) **
Directed by Jon Amiel. With Sean Connery, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Ving Rhames. An ordinary caper flick about an insurance investigator (Zeta-Jones) teaming up with a seasoned art thief (Connery) to pull off a daring bank robbery. The first hour, set mostly in the medieval Scottish fortress of Castle Duart, is hopelessly tedious. Then, the film moves to Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur (the world's tallest buildings) for a moderately exciting climax. But since Zeta-Jones is young enough to be Connery's granddaughter, don't expect much sexual chemistry between the leads.
Encounter In The Third Dimension (1999) **
Directed by Ben Stassen. With Stuart Pankin and Elvira. An IMAX showcase of 3-D computer animation. Plenty of eye-popping rides and other thrills.
In Too Deep (1999) **
Directed by Michael Rymer. With Omar Epps, LL Cool J and Nia Long. An African-American Donnie Brasco, with a black cop (Epps) working deep undercover to expose a ruthless drug lord (Cool J). The opening scene is terrific, using cross-cutting, flashbacks and brechtian distanciation in a new and exciting way. But then, unfortunately, the film settles comfortably on a conventional narrative path, with few surprises or thrills.
The Insider (1999) **
Directed by Michael Mann. Exciting tale about a tobacco-industry whistleblower.
Edge Of Seventeen (1999) **
Directed by David Moreton. With Chris Stafford, Tina Holmes and Anderon Babrych. Set in Sandusky, Ohio in 1984, it's a tender coming-of-age/coming-out-of-the-closet drama, where the issues of sexual identity, friendship and love are debated at length. Less explicit than most contemporary lesbian films, but quite remarkable for its sympathetic portrayal of straight folks (parents, girlfriend, etc.).
Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999) **
Directed by Michael Patrick Jann. With Denise Richards, Kirsten Dunst and Ellen Barkin. Any film that has teen beauty pageant contestants puking their guts out in unisson, can't be all bad. But even that scene isn't as tasteless as the sight of Richards dancing with a crucified Jesus. A badly made, often desperate satire, shot in a documentary style, with plenty of truly outrageous bits, and a delightfully quirky performance by Brittany Murphy (watch her, she's a new-star-in-the-making).
Genghis Blues (1999) **
Documentaire de Roko Belic. Avec Paul Pena. Gagnant d`une dizaine des prix dans plusieurs festivals sur quatre continents, ce documentaire remarquable nous présente deux portraits très intimes: celui de Paul Pena, un musicien blues de San Francisco, et celui de Tuva, une ancienne république soviétique située au centre du continent asiatique, quelque part entre la Mongolie, la Chine et la Sibérie. Le film, tourné par un cinéaste indépendant Roko Belic, prend la forme d`un carnet de voyage de Paul Pena au Tuva en 1995 pour y participer à un festival de la musique folklorique. Les chanteurs tuviens s`expriment avec leur gorges, produisant des sons uniques dans leur genre. Paul Pena reste le seul musicien Occidental qui a réussit à maîtriser cette inhabituelle technique vocale, gagnant même plusieurs prix lors du festival en Tuva.
Blue Streak (1999) **
Directed by Les Mayfield. With Martin Lawrence, Luke Wilson and David Chapelle. A robber (Lawrence) pretends to be a cop in order to recover his loot. This action comedy has a lot going for it - it's fast, funny, and often quite exciting. And yet, like most such Hollywood flicks, it fails to make any impression whatsoever. It's a cinematic equivalent of cotton candy - totally insignificant.
Drive Me Crazy (1999) **
Directed by John Schultz. With Melissa Joan Hart, Adrian Grenier and Stephen Collins. Great songs, gorgeous babes, lousy movie. Hart, with her pouty little mouth and mischievous smile, makes Alicia Silverstone look like an ugly duckling. Unfortunately, her transcendental beauty and considerable acting abilities are completely wasted in this boring teenpic about dates, parties and makovers. It's less offensive than its virtual clone "She's All That", but nowhere nearly as enjoyable.
Baby Geniuses (1999) **
Directed by Bob Clark. With Kathleen Turner, Christopher Lloyd and Kim Cattrall. A toddler genius escapes from a secret lab and reunites with his twin brother. A "Home Alone"-in-diapers, with little kids outsmarting adults and kicking them where it hurts. The kids are unbelievably cute, but some scenes (like where a tot is imitating John Travolta) actually use animation effects.
Galaxy Quest (1999) **
Directed by Dean Parisot. With Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Tony Shalhoub. Imagine William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy and the rest of the Star Trek cast (they actually have different names, but don't let it fool you) being asked by friendly aliens to lead their starship to victory over a race of evil(and slimy) space invaders. Imagine hard-core Trekkies helping to repair the ship's engines. (And this after being mercilessly ridiculed as delusional geeks). Imagine a solidly entertaining sci-fi/adventure film that gleefully deconstructs itself in order to unabashedly celebrate the Star Trek phenomenon.
Inspiré de la grande aventure de la série Star Trek, "Galaxy Quest" est un film à la fois complexe et divertissant. Essayez d'imaginer William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy et les autres acteurs de la fameuse série télé, qui se retrouvent engagés (ou plutôt kidnappés) par des bons extra-terrestres pour combattre leurs méchants ennemis. Ne vous laissez pas dérouter par le fait que les acteurs portent des noms differents - ici, la fiction et la réalité sont entremélés d'une facon extrêmement ingénieuse. On assiste, en effet, à une fascinante analyse brechtienne du phénomène Star Trek, avec des aventures saisissantes, des gags superbes et des effets spéciaux à vous couper le souffle.
Deuce Bigalow Male Gigolo (1999) **
Directed by Mike Mitchell. With Rob Schneider, Arija Bareikis, Gail O'Grady, Jacqueline Obradors and Oded Fehr. Another "fart & puke" comedy - crude, coarse, unrefined...and occassionally quite funny. Schneider plays a fishtank cleaner who decides to become a male gigolo. Well, the pay's better... Plenty of un-PC humor in this one. Turette's syndrome, narcolepsy, obesity - all are fair game.
Cette comedie produit par nulle autre qu'Adam Sandler n'est pas aussi débile qu'elle prétend, mais elle est loin d'être un chef d'oeuvre... Rob Schneider y joue un nettoyeur des aquariums qui décide un jour de changer de boulot et devenir...gigolo. Ca paie mieux...paraît-t-il. Malheureusement, il tombe amoureux d'une jolie cliente qui n`apprécie guère son choix de carrière. Ah, les femmes difficiles... L'humour est grossier...et souvent assez drôle...tant qu'on n'y pense pas trop. Toutes les vaches sacrés (les handicaps, les maladies, les défauts physiques) sont ridiculisées sans merci. C'est peut-être pas "politiquement correcte", mais ici, on s'en fiche royalement.
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