Movie Reviews: Canada Day Edition

First off, I’d like to wish a very happy Canada Day to all of my fellow Canucks. Today, we celebrate the 144th “birthday” of our great nation and what better way to celebrate, aside from eating bacon and maple syrup, than to slouch into a comfortable chair and catch a movie? Here are a few that I’ve watched recently.

X-Men: First Class (2011)

Originally, this movie was supposed to be a follow-up to X-Men Origins: Wolverine and it was supposed to be called X-Men Origins: Magneto. That project didn’t quite pan out, but they expanded beyond the Magneto origin story to include the origin of the X-Men too.

And so, X-Men: First Class was born. Initially, I expected Hollywood to butcher the concept, but as the trailers started to make their way out into the world, I saw glimmers of hope that soon become flashes of genius. I wouldn’t say that X-Men: First Class is particularly brilliant, but it does do a very good job at keeping you entertained while still offering some powerful moments related to how the X-Men came to be.

The exchanges between a young Charles Xavier (Professor X, played by James McAvoy) and Erik Lensherr (Magneto, played by Michael Fassbender of Inglourious Basterds fame) are particularly powerful. The scene where Xavier tells Lensherr (who hadn’t yet “evolved” into the Magneto character) that the greatest power “lies somewhere between rage and serenity” is particularly enthralling, really building up how this relationship really is built on friendship and mutual respect before it disintegrates due to difference of opinion.

Yes, the script exercises a fair bit of creative license (Havok and Darwin are definitely not original X-Men members), but I’m okay with that. Overall, the presentation is well done, the action and storytelling keep you captivated, and X-Men: First Class provides a happy “comic book movie” treat for everyone.

I Love You, Philip Morris (2009)

The title led me to believe that this flick had something to do with the tobacco industry, but I Love You Phillip Morris isn’t about that at all. Instead, it’s a beautiful yet troubled love story between two gay men. Jim Carrey plays a con man who exudes confidence, but is really a very fragile person at heart. It’s hard to take him seriously (I keeping visualizing him as his In Living Color characters), but the positively vulnerable performance by Ewan McGregor is to be applauded.

A gay relationship is no different from a heterosexual relationship, filled with challenges, little white lies, and its fair share of secrets. This is a powerful work that should not be missed.

My Afternoons with Margueritte (2010)

My Afternoons with Marguerrite is a quirky French comedy (the original title is La tête en friche) about a dim-witted man and his relationship with a well-read elderly woman. It’s almost like a romantic comedy, but without any undertones of that kind of relationship. They meet in a park one day and chat about the pigeons (who Gerard Depardieu’s character has given individual names). Along the way, the barely literate Germain learns more and more from Margueritte, granting him the unconditional positive regard that he missed as a child.

The film is charming and heartwarming, but not necessarily noteworthy in its approach. It’s sweet without putting a drain on your brain (aside from reading the subtitles).

The Illusionist (2010)

Not to be confused with the live-action Edward Norton movie from a few years back, The Illusionist is an animated feature that has a very strong European (French?) aesthetic. With virtually no dialogue, we follow an illusionist who is having a hard time finding work. He befriends a younger girl, almost providing a father-daughter relationship rather than one of the romantic variety.

Personally, I found the pacing to be too slow and while the animation and visuals are impressive, I wasn’t particularly entertained. I get it: he’s at the end of a viable career, she wants to help and likes pretty things, but the two of them can’t quite get exactly what they want out of this relationship. And neither did I.

An Inconvenient Truth (2006)

I don’t need Al Gore to lay on the guilt trip about my impact on the environment, but An Inconvenient Truth is an incredible documentary that really lets you see the kind of changes that could happen with this global warming global climate change phenomenon.

Do you know what is happening with the melting ice in Antarctica? Do you know about the equally devastating droughts in other parts of the world? Are you aware that there has been more hurricane, cyclone, and typhoon activity in recent years? Do you know about some of the factors involved in the process of having more and more powerful hurricanes?

Whether or not you agree with Al Gore is secondary. If you want to have an active and informed voice in the climate debate, you need to watch this movie. If you get the DVD or Blu-ray, be sure to check out the updates in the special features section too.