All Fall Down

Finally rolling out across Canada, Collapse is the documentary of the year and here's why.

Collapse is story about how the world ends, as told by "independent journalist" Michael Ruppert.

In an empty room (an old meat-packing plant) Ruppert sits and smokes and describes the shape of doomsday.

This is a warning, a rant about peak oil, climate change, the economic crisis and literally end of civilization as we know it.

Marshaling facts and figures, aided by campy newsreel footage Ruppert explains why this generation will be the last to enjoy SUVs and long drives to the mall. And according to Ruppert we don't have long, so start stocking away those canned goods and organic seeds now.

It may sound paranoid, but the film is surprisingly persuasive. Director Chris Smith helps by staying out of the way. It's just Ruppert, a dark room, and enough smoke to kill the Marlboro Man. Occasionally Smith challenges Ruppert from off camera but it's not much of a debate.

Smith wisely leaves Ruppert's personal details until the end of the film. That and what Smith leaves out would undercut the impact of the tale. But in the end the movie works on two levels; either as a warning or an examination of the storyteller.

Forget 2012, here's your real disaster. Don't miss it.

Recommended Reading (The Fox & The Road)

Variety is the name of the game this week as I take on The Road and Fantastic Mr Fox.

Both are based on beloved books. Of the two I think Fantastic Mr. Fox is more successful.
From the beginning to the end this is a movie brimming with life. Even though the characters are animated, the little fur-covered marionettes dance and sing, laugh and smirk. Like the best kind of kids film Mr. Fox doesn't condescend to his audience. Director Wes Anderson treats all his characters with respect and that gives them a depth we don't often see in the genre.

You may remember there was a bit of ruckus a while ago about the production. Some folks in the animation studio were annoyed about the auteur directing the action "via email." While that may be true the fact is much of what makes Fox so charming is due to Anderson's insistence; His directing style, his focus on old-school animation techniques, even down to the way they recorded the voice actors. If you want to see more watch this clip from makingof.com.

As far as The Road goes, let me say this. Viggo Mortensen is amazing as the Father. One of the great actors of his generation I think. The movie is as stark as the source material but seems to lack a little of the poetry of the novel. Part of the problem may be the power of the images. How can author Cormac McCarthy's dialogue compete with those pictures of the crumpled hydro towers and ash-covered highways?

Before you go see The Road may I recommend you read this fantastic interview with author Cormac McCarthy and director John Hillcoat. You'll learn where the relationship between the father and son began and that not even the McCarthy knows why the world ends.

Also, before John Hillcoat took on The Road he gave us one of the decade's best westerns: The Proposition. An Aussie tale of rough justice set in the outback. Highly recommended.

Stargazing

This week one of my favourites from the Toronto International Film Festival comes out. Bright Star is directed by Jane Campion, who gave us The Piano and other fine films.

In the past Campion's films have had an edge to them, she's been described as a feminist filmmaker, whatever that means.

But it's been a number of years since we last heard from her and her tone, her approach has somewhat softened. Bright Star isn't a film with an agenda, other than to pay tribute to a luminous love story.

You'll see a lot of reviews with words like "luminous" for Bright Star. It' s not just because we're trying to be punny. It's because this is a film where light is spilling off the screen. Set in 19th-Century Britain, Campion contrasts the bleak English countryside with the colour-wild costumes the characters wear. It's a feast for the eyes and soul.

Bright Star tells the tale of the relationship between poet John Keats (a thing of beauty is a joy for ever) and his neighbour Fanny Brawne. Keep you eyes out for Paul Schneider as Charles Brown, Keat's partner-in-poetry who tries to keep his friend from Fanny's clutches.

Although the movie is filled with memorable images, (a hand pressing a note against glass) it's also a movie about words. You wouldn't think that a movie about writing poems could sustain itself for two hours, but it does. Consider it a love letter to language.

Once you do go see Bright Star may I recommend you listen to the podcast The Treatment. Elvis Mitchell recently interviewed Jane Campion and you can hear why Campion took a break from directing and how her fascination with needlework dovetails into Fannie's character.

Enjoy.

Mad Men (and Women)

Some pre-Oscar cramming going on in G.O.F.land.
This week it's Revolutionary Road.
There's a number of things working for this picture.
Casting for one thing. Leonardo DiCarpio sometimes comes across a little too impish, too baby-faced.
Here it works for him, this sad-sack tale of a married couple who can't sit comfortably in the 1950's conformist lifestyle.
To see Leo sitting in his suit and fedora, it seems big on him. Awkward, but perhaps that's the point. The lifestyle doesn't fit right.
The Titanic duo are back with Kate Winslet playing April, the long-suffering wife straining to find the man she loved when she met him.

Based on the novel by Richard Yates and directed by Sam Mendes the movie is American Beauty-esque. This is about the tyranny of conformity. The dark side of the suburbs, this time with more smoking and hats. And speaking of hats, the art direction and cinematography is impeccable. The movie has a suffocating feel of neatness. Every house looks like the perfect 1950's pad. There are many memorable shots, my fav may be a long shot, the camera staying on the married couple as they silently clomp down an empty school hallway. The click clack of their hard-soled shoes on the linoleum says a lot.

This is not a happy movie. But the filmmakers should be applauded for going as dark as they do. There are also some standout performances. Leo and Kate are great. I found Kate's intensity here terrifying, an intelligent woman, horrified with her lot in life and refusing to settle.

Also another actor to keep an eye out for is Michael Shannon. He plays John, the son of the couple's real estate agent. John is a mathematician but he's having trouble and spent some time in the local sanitarium.

When John drops by the couple's house (on Revolutionary Road, hence the title) he's the voice of reason, spitting and sputtering the truth that few care to admit. It's an amazing, scene-stealing performance. One that's Heath Ledger-like in it's intensity.