Review: Lianna (1983)

* * * 1/2
Director: John Sayles
Starring: Linda Griffiths

There aren't a ton of films that you can honestly say are really ahead of their time. Films, by and large, actually tend to be just a little bit behind trends (because, of course, you can't capitalize on something until it's happened) and tend to be less the harbingers of change than confirmation that changes in society have already occured. John Sayles' Lianna is a film that really was ahead of its time, so far ahead that in certain respects there are movies made today that don't match its intelligence and sensitivity regarding its subject matter.

Friday's Top 5... Plots So Profound They Require Multiple Movies In One Year

#5: Lovelorn Mall Cops (2009)

They get no respect, they get no chicks - except, I would imagine, by the end of their respective movies they've rectified that second thing - but they have jobs that give them the illusion of power. It's a recipe for hilarity.

Canadian Film Review: Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould (2009)

* * *
Director: Michele Hozer, Peter Raymont

Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould is a comprehensive biography of Glenn Gould, the celebrated Canadian pianist who, like many a genius before him, died tragically early. In putting the film together, directors Michele Hozer and Peter Raymont make use of archival interview and performance footage of Gould, interviews with people who knew him well, and footage from home movies. They give a satisfactorily clear picture of Gould though it should be noted that despite its title, the film really can't penetrate into the inner life of the musician.

Unsung Performances: Rosemarie DeWitt in Rachel Getting Married

Seeing The Company Men recently got me thinking about one of my favourite unlauded performances from recent years: Rosemarie DeWitt's fantastic turn as the eponymous character in Rachel Getting Married. The nominees that year were Taraji P. Henson for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Amy Adams and Viola Davis for Doubt, Marisa Tomei for The Wrestler, and eventual winner Penelope Cruz for Vicky Cristina Barcelona. That's a good lineup, to be sure, but DeWitt could give them all a run for their money.

Review: Of Gods and Men (2010)

* * * 1/2
Director: Xavier Beauvois
Starring: Lambert Wilson, Michael Lonsdale

Do you stay or do you go? To stay means risking death, but to leave means undercutting the whole point of ever having been there in the first place. Xavier Beauvois' Of Gods and Men, based on events which took place during the Algerian Civil War in 1996, centres on the conflict between doing what's best for yourself and doing what you think is best generally. It's a thoughtful and often powerful film with plenty to recommend it.