Seen in September

Rocky and Rylan in Project Hail Mary

End of summertime viewing. The beginning of the fall schedule. Remember when TV had seasons? No? Don't worry, it never mattered much. For the first time in a long time I saw a couple of Toronto International Film Festival mantinees. I thought the cost of tickets would deter the crowds but that didn't seem to happen ("gala" screenings cost over a $100 a seat, while "regular" old films in the festival went for about $35). One great thing about seeing a movie during a festival is actually the audience, not the film itself. Everyone is usually into it and are up for whatever they're about to see, and that feeling might be worth the cost of admission.

Project Hail Mary
Prime Video
Ryan Gosling saves the world, and then another world. Rylan Grace (Gosling) wakes up on a spaceship with temporary amnesia (presumably caused by the hibernation process he’s just woken from) and pieces together what led to his predicament. The predicament is that he’s the only surviving astronaut sent to find out what is killing our sun. This sci-fi story is from Andy Weir, the author of The Martian, so it’s a fun mix of actual science and actual fiction. Along the way, we discover Grace wasn’t really the typical hero you might expect sent to save the Earth. He also meets and collaborates with an alien who he nicknames Rocky based on the alien’s appearance. There are a lot of fun “what-ifs” and set pieces that have a satisfying (if slightly open) ending.

Pompeii: Out of Time
Disney+
Did you know Tom Hiddleston studied Classics and learned Latin at university? Well, now you do because he won’t shut up about it. Hiddleston’s interest in antiquity and the real human tragedy of Pompeii is at the core of this limited series that walks us through the volcanic explosion that led to the loss of the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum.

The plaintiff.

Coyote vs Acme
This movie, based on a one-page comedic short in the New Yorker, Coyote v. Acme, was highly anticipated, if only just to see it make it to theatres. A contemporary financial strategy of studios like Warner Brothers has become to burn millions of dollars making a film only to decide the result is more valuable as a tax write-off. I suppose the calculus is that instead of paying for marketing and distribution, you simply shelve the film and use the cost to balance the books. Fortunately, that business-savvy cynicism lost out in this case as Hollywood creators let fans know this is a good film and deserved better than being a line item in an accountant’s ledger. As a fan of Looney Tunes, I enjoyed seeing the cast of characters come back to life in a Roger Rabbit-like movie that had cartoons living among live-action actors. One thing I didn't like was the washed out colouring of the film. I assume that was a choice to make the cartoon characters pop more on screen but I would say it gave the entire movie an unappealing pallor. It is amazing to me that Warner’s has squandered these characters in a way that, say, Disney or the Muppets never would. We find Wiley E. Coyote convincing a small claims lawyer to take on the Amazon-like mega corporation, ACME, in a civil suit. Is Wiley really looking for reparations, or is his genius-level scheming something more? As one reviewer said, this might be the most surprising anti-corporate film of the year.

La Vuelta España
FloSports
I’m including this live sporting event because when you watch between 20-30 hours of something over 3 weeks, you should probably note it. This year looked like the race where the reigning world champ and best rider in the world, Tadej Pogačar, would complete the cycling world’s triple crown by winning the one grand tour he hadn’t yet conquered. Unfortunately for Pog, fate had a different script as he was leading the field when he took a bad crash and had to abandon the race. That gave all the other competitors the opening they needed, and Enric Mas surprised everyone to be the first Spaniard to win this Spanish classic in over a decade.

Ride or Die S01
Prime Video
When did the premise of “regular person has secretly been a highly skilled assassin for a private security agency unknown to friends and family” become a trope, if not a genre of its own? It’s often cloaked as the suburban husband/housewife’s double life being exposed. Hannah Waddingham (Judith) and Octavia Spencer (Debbie) lead the series as best friends whose relationship is put to the test when Debbie discovers Judith’s secret life. For the most part, the leads carry the story, but it runs out of steam before the series ends. Apparently, its second season was cancelled, which isn’t surprising. I think it would have to be a pretty big hit to keep such star leads committed for another season.

Bitter Christmas
TiFF
Pedro Almodóvar’s latest is probably his most introspective when it comes to his creative process. This is one of those story-within-a-story films that switches between the present day and a Christmas years before. It’s an example of autofiction where an artist uses their own life as a launchpad for their work. In Bitter Christmas, a woman, Elsa, with unresolved grief of her mother’s death begins having anxiety attacks. Years later, she relates that story to a friend, Raúl, a screenwriter who is inspired to start writing a screenplay. Despite being asked not to by Elsa, Raúl can’t help himself and only throws himself further into his work, considering his artistic endeavour more important than damaging a friendship. The idea is an interesting one, but I can’t say Almodóvar handles it adroitly. There are plenty of scenes with clumsy dialogue and confusing switches in the timeline (the roles of the characters in the current timeline versus those in the historical one have similar-sounding names but have their genders switched). Once confronted, Raúl admits it’s been years since he’s had a great film or a screenplay he’s been excited about, which does sound a lot like Almodóvar’s own later career, which seems admirably self-aware.

The gang's all here.

Alpha Gang
TiFF
Weirdos from space. That’s all I got. A cast of six aliens (a notable cast at that, with Dave Bautista, Chris Pine, Léa Seydoux, Lily-Rose Depp, Riley Keough, and Cate Blanchett) have landed on Earth in Europe during WWII with the intention of learning human ways and conquering the planet. Oddly, they’ve chosen to blend in by dressing as a well-coordinated 1950s motorcycle gang but have determined that the humans seem to be self-destructing very well all on their own. The aliens, unaccustomed to their human forms, greatly fear being infected by human emotions and are frustrated by someone in their group who is urinating on the toilet seat. The whole thing is a bit of absurdist folly, so rather than try to figure it out, you should just let the thing play out and enjoy the silliness.

Butter Chicken To Go
NFB
The irony of the South Asians who toil away in wintry cities delivering a popular curry takeaway is captured in the short film as gig workers talk about homesickness and the reasons they stay in Canada working for meagre wages.

RE/ROUTE
NFB
This animated video collage short film was created as part of a series for the Toronto International Film Festival and shows us a variety of urban design failures and successes. Some key themes: public transportation and walkable cities are good, car culture and expressways are bad.

We just need a little space Carol.

Pluribus
Apple TV+
Think of a zombie apocalypse where the zombies are part of a worldwide hive mind and are very eager to keep you happy. This is my kind of pie. I love this type of sci-fi that asks more “what if” questions than it has answers for, and there really are no space opera battles or laser swords. From Breaking Bad creator and X-Files writer, Vince Gilligan, this show is about some kind of alien virus that has infected all but a dozen people on the planet. After the infection, every person is essentially one mind. If you’re familiar with the animated series Rick and Morty, you’ll get it. In one sense, the Earth is now a paradise. There are no prisons, there are no wars, there are no crimes, and why would there be when everyone is the same… person? I suppose this also sounds like a Republican’s worst nightmare come to life, but even if you aren’t all about that Libertarian life, you can see how a loss of self is problematic. For one, there is no more art, no more movies, no more books or anything that one person would create. On the other hand, there is no need for travel, the Internet, social media, or even cell phones. Would you like to know the weather in Barcelona? Don’t worry, you do. It’s a paradox of the world being a better place while simultaneously being the worst place. At the heart of the story is Carol (the excellent Rhea Seehorn), who, among the 11 other unaffected people, is the least happy and most perturbed by the events that have passed, and she can’t seem to convince any of the other uninfected folks that there’s a problem. That is until she meets Manousos, a Colombian who is even less trusting and more skeptical than Carol. It’s a simple premise that has so many ramifications and possibilities that you can’t help but wonder where it will go next.

Supergirl
Crave
A fairly fun reinvention by James Gunn of one of the old standby characters in the DC comics universe. I never really cared for Superman, Supergirl (why “girl” vs “man”?) and Krypto the super dog. To me, the idea of some kind of super family showed the paucity of ideas at DC. This film got a lukewarm, if not outright cool, reception. I feel like they made the best film that they could considering the paltry depth of this character. Who is Kara, the cousin of Superman anyway? In this retelling, she was jettisoned from Krypton as a young woman. She spoke the language, she remembered her family, knew the culture, and watched her home die. This has led to her suffering from that trauma, which her cousin doesn’t, and as such, she has no real reason to be anyone’s hero. This film follows her path from getting drunk in far-flung places to finding her purpose while saving her dog.

Getting the band back together.

Spinal Tap II: The End Continues
Crave
I had to give some space between Rob Reiner’s death and being able to enjoy this film. As a fake rock ’n’ roll documentary, its predecessor, This is Spinal Tap, was the template to an entire genre of “mockumentaries,” but the characters created by Reiner, Michael McKean (David St. Hubbins), Harry Shearer (Derek Smalls), and Christopher Guest (Nigel Tufnel) are where all the comedy lives. If you enjoyed the original, you’ll get a kick out of this follow-up, if only as a chance to send up aging rockers as they try to maintain their relevance.