thor love and thunder is the big headline this week. It is expected, do not do that, it will surely be, huge. But Marvel and its parent, Disney, did not provide a preview. So you’ll have to read the Toronto critics about it or talk to anyone who saw it in theaters last night. (Passed my deadline, unfortunately.)
It is the fourth film with Thor in the lead (there have also been several with him as a secondary character) and between those four the quality has varied a lot. This one brings back the Norse god from the moment he took off to “find himself”, it brings back Taika Waititi, who also directed the last one, Thor: Ragnarök, of which this is a direct sequel and brings back Natalie Portman as a goddess and Chris Hemsworth’s love interest. You have to do a lot of research to prepare for this one.
Otherwise, check out CRAVE for two newcomers, both highly rated: West Side Story (the new) and the the worst person in the world. Also a new HBO series about anarchists.
Or these…
The sea beast: 4 stars
Apples: 3
Stanleyville: 2 ½
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THE BEAST OF THE SEA: This one has been in two theaters for a couple of weeks (Toronto and Vancouver) and if you saw it there you’re in luck. It’s big, colorful and so full of adventure that it deserves to be on a very big screen. It’s on Netflix now and anyone anywhere can and should watch it. In addition to the adventure, which reminds me of many seafaring movies from years ago (pirate sagas, mutiny on board, Treasure Islandthat guy) there’s a strong environmental message here and a kid brings it.
Maisie (Zaris-Angel Hator) stows away on a ship to watch the great monster hunter Jacob Holland (Karl Urban) work. She hunts the giant beasts to protect shipping lanes and coastal communities. She’s buoyed by a bounty offered by the king and queen, and she’s pressed by her captain’s (Jared Harris) mania, who is obsessed with killing a particular beast. Maisie believes that she is seeing a hero at work, but she gradually recognizes that it is pure aggression and does more damage than the beast, which she comes to see as a victim. She speaks for all the creatures in the ocean.
The scenes, action and atmosphere are superbly animated, directed by Ontario-born Chris Williams, who has an Oscar and years of Disney experience. This is his first solo work. Do not miss it. (Netflix) 4 of 5
APPLES: Perhaps you know the strange work of the Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos. The movies of him like Canine Y Lobster regularly attract major nominations with their absurdist black comedy. Well, here is the debut of an acolyte. Christos Nikou has worked with him, in Canine for example, and shows the same talent for surreal storytelling. The same, but softer and more accessible. He won’t always know what’s going on here, but he’ll be intrigued enough to stick around and find out.
Aris Servetalis plays a man without an identity. He has no name in the movie. He can’t remember who he is or where he came from. On a bus he doesn’t know where he was going. An epidemic of amnesia, which is spreading among the population, has hit him hard. So when he’s invited to a public treatment program, he joins in with all the enthusiasm he can muster, which usually isn’t much. But he has to. Without an identity he can’t even get a job, they tell him. A young woman (Sofia Georgovassili) with the same ailment connects with him and assigns them a series of tasks. Riding a bike, no one ever forgets how to do it, take a picture and put it in an album. Go to dance. He attends a costume party. Take one photo at a time and gradually a new identity will be consolidated.
The only memory he has is that he loves to eat apples. That will be key later. Meanwhile, this meditation on the concept of memory (what do we choose to remember? Forget?) plays like a psychological mystery but from a pleasingly skewed angle. (In theaters now: Bell Lightbox, Toronto; VanCity, Vancouver and ByTowne, Ottawa, with more to come) 3 of 5
STANLEYVILLE: This little movie has a lot on its mind, but it doesn’t get us much out of it. The real facts about humanity, for example. The nature of society itself. Do not imagine that we are sensible and cooperative intelligent creatures. Civility can easily fall apart. It seems movies often tell us a version of that, but here we go again with Toronto actor Maxwell McCabe-Lokos directing and co-writing. He is a long-time television and film veteran and has created a game show not unlike the popular television series, the squid game. Strangers are invited to a competition to win an SUV award but, more importantly, to achieve “personal transcendence” and “the very essence of mind-body articulation.”
A gaunt, strange man describes that as he invites a depressed woman to join the pageant. He (Julian Richings) calls himself Homunculus when he tells the woman (Susanne Wuest) that she has been chosen for this out of millions of people. How? For whom?
But she accepts it, moves on, and discovers that there are four other players in the game: a muscular man, a spoiled rich boy, a flamboyant aspiring actor, and an unassuming woman. She is behind the car. They are assigned a series of tasks ranging from easy (inflate balloons) to difficult (create a communication device) and intangible (write a national anthem). There are eight of these, and as the competition progresses, order breaks down in the room. Bragging, prattling, and worse. It’s meant to be satirical, but it’s also very obvious. Her version of modern consumer culture is intense, but silly. The title seems obscure, but a close look at a song lyric and a picture hanging on a wall reveals this: Sir Henry Morton Stanley, who had a town in Africa named after him because he found Dr. Livingstone (“I suppose” ). What that has to do with this story, I don’t know. (Available at VOD outlets) 2 ½ of 5