http://filmfest.mb.ca/ Movies at the Evans Theatre, on the campus of Brandon University en-us http://filmfest.mb.ca/site/detail/293 Actor Stephen McIntyre will be present for a Q&A at Friday's show. Anyone under the impression that crime pays should watch Gary Yates’s latest feature, High Life, which screened at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival® and won the prize for best Canadian film at the 2009 Calgary International Film Festival. Timothy Olyphant (TV’s Deadwood) plays Dick, a down-on-his-luck morphine addict and hospital orderly whose job gives him convenient access to his poison. Early in the film, he’s reunited with his old buddy Bug (Stephen Eric McIntyre, Niagara Motel), who’s fresh out of a stint in prison. After Bug helps to get Dick fired, the two hatch a drug-addled plan to grab enough money to allow them to live on easy street forever. Their heist involves ripping off an ATM on a Friday, the thought being that then the machine will be packed with loads of cash. The best part, Dick surmises, is that no one will have to get shot or die. But plans never go quite as expected, and these unruly thugs soon find themselves embroiled in a shootout that leads to a chase when they steal an armoured truck during the exchange of gunfire. Written by Lee MacDougall based on his hit stage play, this bitterly funny film shows the depths to which people will sink. Commencing with a frenetic and zany opening-credit sequence, High Life has a frantic energy to it that doesn’t let up. Yates has cast his film perfectly, from Olyphant and McIntyre to Joe Anderson as the high-strung thief Donnie, and Rossif Sutherland as Billy, the sexy accomplice who’s included in the heist plans primarily because of his way with the ladies. Yates’s artful gear shifting between violence and humour emanating from the stupid acts of his characters creates a kind of comedy of agony. There’s something truly painful in watching such a hapless gang of losers stumble and fall, bungling their pipe dream of getting filthy rich. With its retro soundtrack and fatalistic look at the not-so-quiet desperation of these violent lives, High Life evokes Scorsese at his very best. Fri, Mar 12th, 2010 7:30 PM Sat, Mar 13th, 2010 7:30 PM Sun, Mar 14th, 2010 7:30 PM Fri, 12 Mar 2010 19:30:00 -0600 http://filmfest.mb.ca/site/detail/m/293 http://filmfest.mb.ca/site/detail/294 The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is a fantastical morality tale, set in the present day. It tells the story of Dr Parnassus and his extraordinary 'Imaginarium', a travelling show where members of the audience get an irresistible opportunity to choose between light and joy or darkness and gloom. Blessed with the extraordinary gift of guiding the imaginations of others, Dr Parnassus is cursed with a dark secret. Long ago he made a bet with the devil, Mr Nick, in which he won immortality. Many centuries later, on meeting his one true love, Dr Parnassus made another deal with the devil, trading his immortality for youth, on condition that when his first-born reached its 16th birthday he or she would become the property of Mr Nick. Valentina is now rapidly approaching this 'coming of age' milestone and Dr Parnassus is desperate to protect her from her impending fate. Mr Nick arrives to collect but, always keen to make a bet, renegotiates the wager. Now the winner of Valentina will be determined by whoever seduces the first five souls. Enlisting a series of wild, comical and compelling characters in his journey, Dr Parnassus promises his daughter's hand in marriage to the man that helps him win. In this captivating, explosive and wonderfully imaginative race against time, Dr Parnassus must fight to save his daughter in a never-ending landscape of surreal obstacles - and undo the mistakes of his past once and for all... Fri, Mar 26th, 2010 7:30 PM Sat, Mar 27th, 2010 7:30 PM Sun, Mar 28th, 2010 7:30 PM Fri, 26 Mar 2010 19:30:00 -0600 http://filmfest.mb.ca/site/detail/m/294 http://filmfest.mb.ca/site/detail/295 From Jason Reitman, the Oscar-nominated director of JUNO, comes UP IN THE AIR, the timely odyssey of Ryan Bingham (Oscar winner George Clooney), a corporate downsizer and consummate modern business traveler who, after years of staying happily airborne, suddenly finds himself ready to make a real connection Ryan has long been contented with is unencumbered lifestyle lived out across America in airports, hotels and rental cars. He can carry all he needs in one wheel-away case; he's a pampered, elite member of every travel loyalty program in existence; and he's close to attaining his lifetime goal of 10 million frequent flier miles- and yet... Ryan has nothing real to hold onto. When he falls for a simpoatico fellow traveler (Vera Farmiga), Ryan's boss (Jason Bateman), inspired by a young upstart efficiency expert (Anna Kendrick), threatens to permanently call him in from the road. Faced with the prospect, at once terrifying and exhilarating, of being grounded, Ryan begins to contemplate what it might actually mean to have a home. Fri, Apr 2nd, 2010 7:30 PM Sat, Apr 3rd, 2010 7:30 PM Sun, Apr 4th, 2010 7:30 PM Fri, 02 Apr 2010 19:30:00 -0600 http://filmfest.mb.ca/site/detail/m/295 http://filmfest.mb.ca/site/detail/296 Transplanting the upstairs-downstairs comedy to New Delhi, Dilip Mehta has crafted a delightful feature debut scripted in collaboration with his acclaimed sister Deepa (Water, Heaven on Earth). Featuring charming turns from Don McKellar (Where the Truth Lies, Blindness) and Lisa Ray (Water, Defendor) and a standout performance by Seema Biswas (Water), Cooking with Stella is great fun to watch as it offers a glimpse of how Canadians live in India’s capital. As head housekeeper at a diplomatic residence in New Delhi, Stella (Biswas) serves up delectable dishes to a succession of Ottawa civil servants. But while she sets a divine table, some of her other activities are less above board – she skims inflated bills to pad her modest salary and raids her employers' pantry for her own "duty free" business. Each night, she impishly prays to the Virgin Mary to bless her crooked schemes. The arrival of Maya (Ray) and Michael (McKellar) initially disrupts Stella’s routine. To her surprise, the wife is the diplomat while the husband stays home to look after their baby daughter. Even more shocking, he has designs on her kitchen! When Michael, a trained chef, discovers Stella’s culinary talents, he asks her to be his guru and teach him the secrets of authentic Indian cooking. She warily agrees to this breach in master-servant protocol, and as the two begin whipping up mouthwatering curries and dosas together, her trepidation eventually turns to pleasure. Meanwhile, the beautiful and virtuous Tannu (Shriya Saran) joins the household to care for the baby. Can Stella make her an ally in domestic subterfuge, or will the honest young nanny topple the kitchen kingpin? Determined to protect her turf, Stella plots her slyest and most ambitious ruse yet. Fans of Deepa Mehta’s Water might remember Biswas in a heart-wrenching dramatic role. She is every bit as good here, but utterly transformed – both commanding and coy, especially in her market and kitchen scenes with McKellar. A proud and complex Indian working in a Canadian enclave, her Stella redeems all deceptions with a radiant, irresistible smile. Fri, Apr 9th, 2010 7:30 PM Sat, Apr 10th, 2010 7:30 PM Sun, Apr 11th, 2010 7:30 PM Fri, 09 Apr 2010 19:30:00 -0600 http://filmfest.mb.ca/site/detail/m/296 http://filmfest.mb.ca/site/detail/297 Tom Ford’s historical importance (to date) rests in part on his unique collaborations with the late twentieth century’s great commercial photographers: Richard Avedon, Steven Meisel, Helmut Newton, Herb Ritts and so on. With them, he championed the idea that style could govern our memories, without an appeal to straightforward nostalgia. Evidence of this same balance of past and present can also be found in the clothes he famously created at Gucci. Ford drew from the past in ways that clearly distinguish tribute from innovation, evoking both technological change and the timeless truths of the human form. In his first feature film, a crowd-wowing Special Presentation at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival®, Ford continues along this rich and aesthetically complex pathway. The setting is Southern California and our moment in time is officially the early sixties. We meet George Falconer (Colin Firth, Easy Virtue, Dorian Gray), a gay college professor, as he learns that his lover Jim (Matthew Goode, Match Point, Brideshead Revisited) has died in a car wreck. Grief overwhelms him, and his “invisible status” in society begins to close in again. Suicide seems the best way out. But a mad night with Charley (Julianne Moore, Blindness, Chloe), his best girlfriend from England, and the unexpected attentions of an angora-sweater-clad young man make George think twice. Based on a late-career Christopher Isherwood novel, told largely through flashback and featuring alarmingly precise attention to period detail in furniture, costume and architecture, A Single Man could easily have felt like a throwback, a work of atavism. But Ford pulls this pre-AIDS tale of gay love and loss into our age by reminding us, again, of what is eternal in life, love and how we choose to forgive. The film deliberately reveals how George pulls himself from the narcissism of self-sacrifice to an understanding of his value to the world and the people around him. A Single Man confirms this artist’s ongoing impact on our culture and our awareness of our place within it. Fri, Apr 16th, 2010 7:30 PM Sat, Apr 17th, 2010 7:30 PM Sun, Apr 18th, 2010 7:30 PM Fri, 16 Apr 2010 19:30:00 -0600 http://filmfest.mb.ca/site/detail/m/297 http://filmfest.mb.ca/site/detail/298 Acclaimed director Jean-Marc Vallée (whose last film, C.R.A.Z.Y., was one of the most successful Canadian films of the past decade) returns with The Young Victoria, a delicate and profoundly romantic look at England’s last golden age. The closing night film of the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival®, The Young Victoria stars the charismatic Emily Blunt (The Jane Austen Book Club, Sunshine Cleaning) as Victoria and follows her struggle to succeed as the ruler of England, a quest blocked by her mother, the Duchess of Kent (Miranda Richardson, Wah-Wah; Paris, je t’aime), and her odious “adviser,” Sir John Conroy (Mark Strong, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, Good). Widowed at a young age, the duchess has been convinced by Conroy that she must at all costs keep Victoria away from the court in order to preserve her own position – despite the complaints of King William IV (Jim Broadbent, Vera Drake, Hot Fuzz, in a very amusing turn), Victoria’s uncle, who clearly wants his niece to succeed him. When Victoria is finally crowned, she’s utterly unaware of the potential ramifications of her actions and allows herself to be misled by the dashing Lord Melbourne (Paul Bettany, A Beautiful Mind, Wimbledon), who may be using her youth and inexperience to further enhance his own position. Enter Prince Albert (Rupert Friend, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas), who almost immediately charms Victoria by refusing to stick to the script given him by his scheming and Machiavellian relations. As love grows between the two, crucial questions remain unanswered: will Victoria listen to Albert’s counsel or will her loyalty to Melbourne win out? The Young Victoria gives us an in-depth portrait of the often ruthless machinations that characterized the dealings between royal families: patriotism and family loyalties were labyrinthine in their complications, and battles for leverage and position even poisoned mother-daughter relationships. But Vallée’s film is also a truly felt romance; from the very first meeting, we sense a mutual bond between Albert and Victoria, despite the restrictions placed on their interactions. Beautifully directed and exquisitely acted, The Young Victoria is a memorable, sophisticated and very charming exploration of English history. Fri, Apr 23rd, 2010 7:30 PM Sat, Apr 24th, 2010 7:30 PM Sun, Apr 25th, 2010 7:30 PM Fri, 23 Apr 2010 19:30:00 -0600 http://filmfest.mb.ca/site/detail/m/298 http://filmfest.mb.ca/site/detail/299 Director Sean McGarrity will be present for a Q&A after the show. Adam and Zooey have been unsuccessfully trying to get pregnant for seven months. At wit’s end, they decide to detoxify, de-stress and go to the country to keep trying. Their relaxing time away turns to mayhem as they are set upon by a band of drunken young men who beat them up, and rape Zooey in front of Adam. As the distraught couple attempt to recover, they discover Zooey is pregnant. Unsure of the patronage of their child, they decide to go through with the pregnancy, use it to heal, and raise the child as their own – no matter what. Zooey is nonplussed, and uses the pregnancy to heal from her trauma. But Adam, who is sure the child has been spawned by a rapist, is haunted, and eventually driven to extremes. Fri, Apr 30th, 2010 7:30 PM Sat, May 1st, 2010 7:30 PM Sun, May 2nd, 2010 7:30 PM Fri, 30 Apr 2010 19:30:00 -0600 http://filmfest.mb.ca/site/detail/m/299