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"The Sweet Hereafter", from
Tuna
I haven't seen this
film, or any Egoyan films. Tuna felt The Sweet
Hereafter was a masterpiece, so he wrote an
in-depth review. I ordered a copy after reading
his review! His words follow:
Director Atom Egoyan
adapted Russell Banks' novel, The Sweet
Hereafter, for the screen. He believes directing
begins with writing the screen play, and only
directs films that he writes. This is not the
only unusual thing about his work. While he
doesn't mind people who use a linear time
sequence in films, he prefers to think of a film
as an on-screen dream, where people slip
effortlessly from past to future to present.
Partially because of this, and because he avoids
narrative voice-over (he sees that as the easy
way out to convey the plot) you have to think to
interpret his cinematic dreams. This has caused
some to criticize him for being "too
cerebral." Based on this film, and Exotica,
he is one of my favorite directors, and I will be
doing another of his films soon.
A common theme in
Egoyan's recent films is dealing with loss of a
loved one. He says he is fascinated by the
grieving process, and is hoping to understand it
by making films about it. He also believes that
the image is everything, and sees dialogue as
much less important, so creates visually moving
films, and employs actors who have the ability to
covey information with body language and facial
expressions. Anyone can shout "I hate
you," but it takes talent to do this without
speaking. Since he delivers his message in these
ways, he privides time to think with a slower
pace than those who employ linear time, a
standard curve of excitement, and plenty of
dialogue.
The Sweet Hereafter was
critically acclaimed, was nominated for numerous
awards, and won many of them. This particular
film also won public acceptance, and is ranked
#178 in the top 250 films of all time by IMDB. It
is the story of an attorney who goes to a small
town that has suffered a nearly unimaginable
tragedy hoping to recruit enough residents to win
a huge award in a class action suit. The school
bus for this rural town crashed, and nearly all
of the town's children were killed. Only two
survived -- the bus driver, and a teenager who
had babysat for most of the kids who were killed.
As the attorney attempts to get the grieving
parents to retain him, we learn many of skeletons
in the closets of the town people. The attorney
is also dealing with a similar loss in his own
life -- his daughter is a drug addict and
essentially lost to him. He believes he can find
a guilty person or entity to punish for the bus
crash, much as he would like to find out why he
lost his own daughter. Sure, he is an
"ambulance chaser," but he is a
dedicated one who honestly thinks he can help the
parents channel their anger and grief.
Any more would be a
spoiler, and I hope you will see this film. The
nudity is provided by the talented Alberta
Watson, who is probably best known as Madeline in
the TV series La Femme Nikita. Scoop's note: you may remember
her excellent portrayal of the sexy, lonely mom
who sleeps with her son in David O Russell's
twisted black comedy, "Spanking the
Monkey". (Russell is the same guy who
directed "Three Kings")
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Alberta Watson (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
"Mischievous", from
Tuna
I haven't seen
this film, either, and in this case I
suppose I never will. Tuna's review
follows:
Mischievous made
me angrier than any soft-core porno in
recent memory. Why? It wasted a great
plot on no-talent actors. There is plenty
of good looking flesh, some of it well
lit, but this could have been so much
more. A man engaged to be married attends
his High School reunion, and reacquaints
himself with the girls he traded dares
with throughout High School. She has not
changed, and he ends up in jail for
indecent exposure and using an incendiary
device. He can't resist her, and is drawn
ever deeper into the adrenaline rush her
games provide him. He loses his fiancee
when she finds strange panties in his
coat pocket, and loses his job when he
has phone sex during a customer meeting
with his boss present. She has much more
serious things in mind for him. Any more
would be a spoiler. This has a better
plot than I Like To Play Games ... what a
shame the acting isn't half as good.
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Jennifer Burton (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
Julie Mantia (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
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