Crazy Moon is a mid-80s NFB/Canadian Teen Romantic Comedy starring a very young Kiefer Sutherland. This movie is pretty charming and I remember loving it as a kid when it first made its rounds on TV. Crazy Moon is about Brooks, an offbeat young guy from a rich family who has his eccentricities--such as dressing from the 1930s and only listening to big band jazz, riding his motorcycle with a mannequin in the side car, and photographing dog shit (read: he's manic depressive)--who meets and falls in love with a deaf girl Anne. Anne is played by a young Vanessa Vaugh who is actually deaf. Other than seeing Crazy Moon on Canadian TV it's been pretty hard to find, I was delighted to catch it on the Sundance channel. Copies are now readily via Amazon and through the NFB itself. I'm not saying this is an earth shattering film, but it is a very charming Harold-and-Maudesque coming-of-age romantic comedy. 3.5/5 Room is one of the more touching, sincere, raw, and beautiful film I've seen in a while. Room is an Irish/Canadian co-production directed by Lenny Abrahamson who also made the equally genuine and quirky Frank. Room is the story of a young mother and her 5 year old son who live locked away in a very tiny room. This film easily could have turned into a melodramatic kidnapping thriller, it does not. Rather, the film focuses on the gentle relationship between mother and son, and their relationship to the outside world. MUST SEE! 5/5 Mommy made me scream and shout out loud because I was so excited and it was so exhilarating! Mommy is the most recent film from Xavier Dolan--Quebec's wunderkind. I highly recommend his other films, particularly Les amours imaginaires and J'ai tué ma mère. Mommy is a film about mothers (and I really dig movies about mothers). It's quite an unusual film, in theme, narrative, and aesthetic. It was shot and is presented in 1x1 aspect ratio--that is a square that appears to be a vertical rectangle when projected on-screen. I was worried this would be gimmicky and hard to watch, rather it was used expertly and hugely effectively. The aspect ratio helps convey a heavy sense of claustrophobia that is suffocating and oppressive, underscoring the tumultuous, violent, and chaotic relationship between mother and son. Anne Dorval, Suzanne Clement, and Antoine-Olivier Pilon are perfection here. 5/5 Highway 61 (Bruce McDonald, Canada, 1991) When I first saw HIghway 61 (at 13) my brain imploded. I had no idea movies could be like this. First of all, Highway 61 was the first Canadian film that I ever saw that was genuinely good while also being distinctly Canadian.* This was my first encounter with a English Canadian film that was so truly excellent. It looked good, it sounded good, and it was funny and original. Highway 61 is a road movie (so many of my favorite films are road movies). When small-town barber, Pokey Jones, finds a dead body in his backyard rock'n'roll roadie Jackie Bangs claims it's her younger brother, whom she needs to transport to New Orleans. When Pokey agrees to drive Jackie and the body all the way down Highway 61 from Thunder Bay to the Big Easy, what he doesn't know if that Jackie is actually transporting a large amount of drugs in the body. Oh, and there one other small catch. The Devil is on their tail and wants the body! Watch for Jello Biafra as the border guard. Highway 61 is the second of Bruce McDonald's Rock and Roll Road Movies, following Roadkill and preceding Hard Core Logo (all highly recommended and rated 5/5). 5/5 *Don't get me wrong, there are some GREAT Canadian films, but if you know Canadian cinema you know that particularly English Canadian movies typically cast one or two B list Americans cast in the lead roles, not Canadians. |
LindseyHere is where I post new reviews as I see films throughout the year. Archives
June 2023
Categories
All
|