MONDOmagazine

Taking Woodstock
Directed by Ang Lee
Focus Features, 2009

By Brian Last

While they have made books and films about the Woodstock ‘69 music festival, nothing can come close to actually living it and being there. A sense of being present for the concert’s inception is what director Ang Lee has achieved with his latest film, based on the book Taking Woodstock: A true story of a riot, a concert, and a life. The book was written by Elliot Tiber & Tom Monte, and adapted for the screen by James Schamus.

The story takes place in the summer of ‘69, obviously, in upstate New York. Eliot Tiber puts his life on hold and leaves his Greenwich Village home to help his oddball parents run their humble, rundown motel, in the hopes of saving it from bank foreclosure; his parents, Jake and Sonia, don’t really do much of anything at all at their motel. On his arrival in Bethel, New York, (2 minutes from the now-famous Woodstock), Tiber also finagles the only permit for a musical performance in the small town. After the town of Wallkill puts the kaibosh on hosting a massive concert, Tiber gets in touch with concert organizers and the rest, as they say, is history.

Read the rest of this entry »

Trish Lundstrom as Mimi. Photo by Cylla von Tiedemann.

Mimi, Or A Poisoner’s Comedy
Lyrics and music by Allen Cole
Book and lyrics by Melody A. Johnson and Rick Roberts
Directed by Alisa Palmer
Runs September 15 – October 25 @ Tarragon Theatre

By Daina Valiulis

As the cast gleefully sings at the end of this show, “All good (and bad) things come to an end.” Thank goodness they do.

Based on the true story of the French seventeenth-century murderess the Marquise de Brinvilliers (Trish Lundstrom), Mimi tells the tale of a “bad” girl who basically can’t help herself. Her father (Victor A. Young) threatens to cut her off from the family fortune if she doesn’t stop her affair with Godin de Sainte-Croix (Ron Pederson), despite the fact that Mimi’s husband (Martin Julien) and the maid (Tamara Bernier Evans) are sharing the same bed before his very eyes. So Papa banishes the lover to the Bastille and Mimi attempts to be good by feeding the poor her saintly mother’s pigeon pies. Meanwhile, Sainte-Croix learns about poison from an Italian prisoner in the Bastille, escapes, and plots with Mimi to murder her father. Obviously, her attempt to be “good” fails miserably and she becomes addicted to murdering people.

This production failed to capture from the get-go: it began with a campy number consisting of pedantic and dull sexual allusions and double entendres, going for cheap laughs. The music, plain and unremarkable, did not get much better as the play progressed. Rather than furthering the plot in constructive ways or giving us a glimpse of a character’s inner workings, it served only to stagnate and lengthen the show. The worst part occurs in the second act when, for some reason, King Louis XIV appears with his detective, who sings a song about the “poor little pigeon” he finds with an arrow through its heart — the main ingredient of a certain murderess’ pigeon pies. Why was this song necessary? What did it offer? Read the rest of this entry »

By Sean Kelly

It was busy time for me at the Toronto Film Festival as I saw about ten or so films over the course of the week-long festival. I wrote reviews for films throughout the week; however, now that the festival is over I’ve decided to write some brief thoughts on films that I saw, but never had a time to write a full review for. And what a fine batch it was, for the most part.

Leslie, My Name is Evil
Directed by Reginald Harkema
Canada
Part of the Vanguard Programme

Reginald Harkema follows up his 2006 film Monkey Warfare with a dark comedy about a young man dealing with his  infatuation for a member of the Manson Family while serving on the jury for their trial. Read the rest of this entry »

Bunny and the Bull
Directed by Paul King
UK

By Helen Fylactou

Bunny and the Bull is an innovative debut feature film from director Paul King. King is well known as the director of the cult hit television series The Mighty Boosh. Working with a limited budget, King captures the imagination of his audience in this story of friendship, love, and mental disorders. Although Paul King’s film is sometimes deliberately unclear as to whether or not it is a comedy, a drama or perhaps both, Bunny and the Bull is beautifully written, beautifully shot, and beautifully acted throughout.

Stephen (Edward Hoog) is an obsessive-compulsive that has not left his house in a year. But unbeknownst to him, and the audience, his self-imposed seclusion is about to end. Stephen’s rituals are interrupted by a rodent infestation in his home. This disturbance in his restricted routine triggers hallucinations of his friends and he is forced to re-live his last venture out of his home: a journey through Europe. Stephen uses the mementos throughout his apartment to reconstruct his recent travels with best friend, Bunny (Simon Farnaby). These thoughts force Stephen to face his fragile psyche and to begin to understand the reasons that he became a recluse. Read the rest of this entry »

Amazing Spider-Man #606
Joe Kelly (w), Mike McKone (p), Andy Lanning (i), Marvel Comics

Oh, good. Another Spider-Man comic with a cover so gross I feel embarrassed to read it on the subway. Thank you, J. Scott Campbell for reinforcing negative stereotypes about comics. After a great few issues written by Fred VanLente we’re back to the middle-of-the-road stuff here. It’s not bad, the scene where Spidey is pissed about all the girls in his life getting mad at him and he takes it out on a mugger was fun, but the stuff with Black Cat didn’t grab me. Plus, one of my big pet-peeves took place in this issue: please don’t turn the last page of a comic into the cover (see Fables #88). It really ruins the climax of the book. — Owen Craig

Owen’s rating: 2.5 out of 5 (it would be a 3, but I’m docking a half point for that cover)
Miles’ rating: 3 out of 5
Isaac’s rating: 2.5 out of 5

Blackest Night: Superman #2
Check out the full review of this comic in our Crossover Corner below.

Dark Reign: The List – X-Men #1
Matt Fraction (w), Alan Davis (p), Mark Farmer (i), Nathan Fairbairn (c). Marvel Comics.

Warning: apparently Miles is grumpy this week and hates everything, you’ll see a trend in the following reviews. This is the lesser of Matt Fraction’s X-Men comics this week. It’s not that bad, but it’s saved in great part by Alan Davis’ always amazing artwork. Norman Osborne decides to get a little payback on Namor and does so by exploiting long-forgotten continuity. The best part is the fight scene, the worst part is the extremely abrupt ending. It’s a hard one to rate. As a really cool bonus they include Matt Fraction’s first work at Marvel, a Wolverine story drawn by Sam Kieth. How cool must that been for him, “oh, yeah, I just got a little job at Marvel and it’s drawn by Sam ‘motherfucking maker of Maxx and Sandman’ Kieth.” — Miles Baker

Miles’ rating: 2.5 out of 5 Read the rest of this entry »

The Joneses
Directed by Derrick Borte
USA

By Rachel West

The talent of The Joneses

The Joneses brings new literal meaning to “keeping up with the Joneses” as neighbours do battle to gain superstar status within their lush community in this social satire.

Meet the Joneses: they’re the postcard-perfect new neighbours in an affluent gated community. They have the latest in home furnishings, high-tech gadgets, and sports cars. To top it off, they are incredibly good-looking and highly likeable people who throw such amazing parties that their neighbours can’t help but clamor to be like them. The Joneses are who we as the audience aspire to be. Kate (Demi Moore) and Steve Jones (David Duchovny) makes friends with their neighbours, Larry and Summer, who — more than anyone — seek the approval of their affluent new friends, and will stop at nothing to be like them. When catastrophe strikes, both families must re-evaluate their lifestyles and make difficult choices that define who they are and who they want to be.

A smart film, The Joneses is both a commentary on and satire of American consumer society, Read the rest of this entry »

Fringe Season One
Created by J.J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci
Warner Brothers.

By Miles Baker

Never judge a show based on seeing five minutes of it. I did that with Buffy the Vampire Slayer and ended up regretting it eight years later. The same thing happened with Friday Night Lights, but the time period was shorter. With Fringe, I watched half a scene when the first episode aired thought, “well, that seems contrived” and left it that. After watching all 21 episodes of season one, I actually wasn’t all that wrong, but there is a lot of merit to this show.

When I break it down into individual elements, this is a good show: I like the genre, I like how it handles the genre, I like the characters, I like the gender mix, I like the use of humour. But when I add it all up there’s something missing — inspiration, or some spark of originality. Fringe is a competently executed show, but it has nothing you haven’t seen somewhere else, particularly X-Files. Read the rest of this entry »

Suck
Directed by Rob Stefaniuk
Canada
Part of the Contemporary World Cinema Programme

By Sean Kelly

I can remember back to the 2004 film festival when I was interested in seeing Rob Stefaniuk’s film Phil the Alien. I was all set to order my ticket, but it ended up going off sale right as I was processing the order. I made it up to myself by ensuring Stefaniuk’s latest comedy Suck was one of my initial ticket purchases for this year’s festival. I am glad that I did, since there is a good chance that this may end up being my favourite film of the festival.

Even though Stefaniuk has been working on Suck ever since Phil the Alien, I do say the film couldn’t have come out at a better time, since we are right in the middle of a big vampire craze, with the popularity of True Blood and Twilight. The added twist here is that this film features rock-and-roll vampires. Read the rest of this entry »

By Sean Kelly

After a very busy opening weekend as a TIFF volunteer that included being stationed at a George Clooney screening — and being way around the corner when Clooney was on the red carpet — I finally got to see some films. Specifically, I saw one film and a presentation.

Survival of the Dead
Directed by George A. Romero
Canada / USA
Part of the Midnight Madness Programme

So, the very first film I ended up seeing at this year’s Toronto Film Festival was a repeat screening of the latest zombie picture from George A. Romero. I’d never seen any of Romero’s Dead films, so this was going to be an interesting experience. Romero now lives and films in the Toronto area and the film is considered a Canadian production. Read the rest of this entry »

Agents of Atlas #11
Jeff Parker (w), Dan Panosian and Gabriel Hardman (a), Elizabeth Dismang (c). Marvel Comics.

That felt a little rushed. Agents of Atlas quickly wraps up it’s “Terror of the Jade Claw” story in a tight little bow just in time for a two-part crossover with the X-Men next month. This story could have used a little more breathing room — it seemed like it should have been a four-part. I wouldn’t have minded a delay to let Hardman finish all the pencils because the switching between him and Panosian is disappointing. Panosian isn’t the worst, it’s just that he’s paired with someone who has different sensibilities and is also way better him. Sorry, man. That said, I am loving these characters and this book. I really hope that the X-Men crossover boosts sales because I don’t want this book to end. — Miles Baker

Miles’ rating: 3.5 out of 5

The Amazing Spider-Man #605
Fred Van Lente, Brian Reed (w), Javier Pulido, Luke Ross, Rick Magyar, Yanick Paquette, Mark Farmer (a), Javier Rodriguez, Rob Schwager, Nathan Fairbairn (c). Marvel Comics.

I guess Valentine’s Day has come early this year with this three part monster of an issue devoted to the loves and love life of Peter Parker. First is a look at what Mary Jane has been up to before her recent return to New York, and it’s a really satisfying story, a fun adventure with generally top notch art. It also dares to say that “there’s always tension in a relationship when the one partner is so much more successful than the other,” a key dynamic in the Mary Jane/Spider-Man relationship that was never successfully addressed. It kind of sucks that it couldn’t get addressed before Pete and MJ’s relationship got seriously retconned. But better late than never I guess. The rest of the issue has Peter dump Michelle Gonzales, even though another issue with them dealing with the fallout of the Chameleon’s matchmaking would have been amazing. At least this is how Peter would actually handle the situation, quickly and honestly, without really giving her a chance. And then checks out some online dating stuff. My hero. — Isaac Mills

Isaac’s rating: 4 out of 5 Read the rest of this entry »

Samson and Delilah
Directed by Warwick Thornton
Australia

By Helen Fylactou

Samson and Delilah is the love story of two teenage Aboriginals struggling to survive in and out of a Warlpiri community in the Northern Territory of Australia. Thornton manages to stay clear of the heavy-handed proselytizing that can burden social realism. He doesn’t make the characters in his film heroic and the film is not accusatory to the audience. The audience is meant to come to their own conclusions while Thornton artfully conveys the burgeoning effects of poverty, drugs, and exploitation on the indigenous communities of Australia.

The film opens with Samson (Rowan McNamara) waking up to the sound of his brother’s band. Samson sits up and reaches for the cup of gasoline that he keeps next to his bed. When Samson emerges from his bed, the audience is shown the community for the first time — a community with one general store, run-down homes, and red desert as far as the eye can see. In juxtaposition to Samson, Delilah’s (Marissa Gibson) morning rituals include waking her grandmother, Nana (Mitjili Gibson), and helping her with her medications.

Delilah spends the afternoon watching Nana create art pieces that are quickly collected by a man in exchange for a few dollars. Delilah admires her grandmother’s work, yet is dispirited by the man who is buying it. The appropriation of the Aboriginal community is a central theme throughout the film. Read the rest of this entry »

Barrymore aglow!

Whip It
Directed by Drew Barrymore
USA

By Rachel West

Drew Barrymore makes her directorial debut with the ensemble film Whip It, which follows one girl’s odyssey through the Texas roller derby circuit.

A chick flick on wheels, Whip It tells the tale of misfit Bliss Cavendar (Ellen Page) trying to find a place to fit in, in her suburban Texas town. Not one for the beauty pageants her former beauty queen mother (Marcia Gay Harden) has her competing in, Bliss is turned on to the world of the bad ass chicks in the roller derby circuit. With inifinitely more grrrl power than pageants can offer, the striking ladies of the Hurl Scouts derby team have Bliss enamoured with the sport. Lying about her age, Bliss makes the team and enters the world of the over-21 derby, balancing her boring home life with her wild nights on the skating track as Babe Ruthless.

Triple-threat actress, producer, and director Barrymore is impossibly hard not to like, especially after hearing her speak at the film’s world premiere. Read the rest of this entry »