Buried
Directed by Rodrigo Cortes
Spain/USA 2010
94 minutes
Rated 14A (coarse language, disturbing content)
Premiering at TIFF 2010, Buried is one of the year’s most suspenseful, claustrophobic and truly scary films. It opens in complete darkness until a Zippo lighter ignites to reveal Paul Conroy (Ryan Reynolds), trapped within a coffin. An American civilian, Paul was working as a truck driver in Iraq before his convoy was attacked and he was taken hostage. Armed only with his trusty lighter and a BlackBerry, he tries to make sense of his predicament and make contact with anyone who might help. As oxygen dwindles and Paul’s options fade, we share in the terror of time running out. Worthy of comparisons to Hitchcock (Rope, Lifeboat), Buried is an unforgettable film, best experienced in a theatre. For those able to take it, Buried is recommended. (Oct 29-Nov 2)

The Concert
(Le Concert)
Directed by Radu Mihaileanu
France/Italy/Romania/Russia 2010
119 minutes
Rated 14A (coarse language, violence)
This year’s classical music comedy is The Concert. Andre Filipov toils as a cleaner at the Bolshoi Theatre where thirty years earlier he presided as conductor, before Brezhnev’s 1980 anti-Jewish purge of the orchestra. When Filipov discovers an invitation on the theatre’s fax machine from the Theatre du Chatelet, in Paris, he sees a golden opportunity for musical and political redemption. He searches for his old orchestra members, now thirty years removed from their primes and scattered about Europe and the former USSR. With a collection of aging musicians, Gypsies and Russian mobsters, the orchestra members wobble and reel like a three-wheeled buggy enroute to their debut in Paris and the big payoff—the concert at which they will perform Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D Major. Recommended for all lovers of Russian comedy and classical music. In Russian and French with subtitles. (Dec 17-23)

A Drummer’s Dream
Directed by John Walker
Canada 2010
85 minutes
Director John Walker joins Nasyr Abdul Al-Khabyyr at the week-long drum camp Nasyr hosts on a farm in northern Ontario for 40 students of all skill levels – and six other of the world’s finest master drummers, including Kenwood Dennard, Raul Rekow, and Dennis Chambers. The sheer joy of these artists in making music, as well as their humour and camaraderie, is captured in Walker’s love song to the drums and those who play them. www.adrummersdream.com (Nov 7)
A Drummer’s Dream is the Closing Gala screening (All Seats $15.00) of the 2010 Guelph Festival Of Moving Media (GFOMM), followed by Festival Wrap-Up Party at the Artisanale, including a drum circle in which everyone is invited to participate. Bring a drum.
GFOMM advance tickets will be available from Oct 30-Nov 7, in the bookstore and also from the GFOMM office, located in Old Quebec Street, 55 Wyndham St N, from Nov 4-7, 12-6pm.

Fair Game
Directed by Doug Liman
USA 2010
104 minutes
Rated TBA
Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity) has created a suspense-filled glimpse into the dark corridors of political power. Fair Game is a riveting action-thriller based on the autobiography of real-life undercover CIA operative Valerie Plame (Naomi Watts), whose career was destroyed and marriage strained to its limits when her secret identity was exposed by a politically motivated press leak. As a covert officer in the CIA, Valerie leads an investigation into the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Valerie’s husband, diplomat Joe Wilson (Sean Penn), is drawn into the investigation, but when the Bush administration ignores his findings and uses the issue to support the call to war, Joe writes a revealing New York Times editorial that ignites a firestorm of controversy. Landing somewhere between All The President’s Men and The Ghost Writer, Fair Game is recommended. (Dec 3-16)

Force of Nature: The David Suzuki Movie
Directed by Sturla Gunnarsson
Canada 2010
93 minutes
Rated PG (mature theme)
Force of Nature opens with David Suzuki delivering his Legacy Lecture at the UBC campus, but soon widens onto a path of Mr Suzuki’s personal history. As he passionately calls for a more responsible stewardship of the planet, Mr Suzuki also takes us to the places where memories dwell for him—from an internment camp memorial in BC to the small town of Leamington, Ontario. Mixing personal memories with his informed cries for ecological responsibility makes Force of Nature: The David Suzuki Movie, a fitting portrait of the scientist, educator, broadcaster, activist and iconic Canadian. (Nov 19-25)

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest
Directed by Daniel Alfredson
Sweden 2010
141 minutes
Rated 14A (violence, disturbing content)
As The Girl Who Played with Fire ended, Lisbeth was hospital-bound by helicopter following a particularly brutal family reunion with her father and half-brother. In this final installment of the hugely popular trilogy, Salander and Blomkvist investigate the roots of corruption within Sweden’s Police and Security Forces and Lisbeth’s past is fully exposed. While that may sound rather matter-of-fact, you’ll be gripping the arms of your seat as this wild narrative roller-coaster twists, turns and hurtles towards its conclusion. Get on board. Swedish with subtitles. (Oct 29-Nov 11)

Griefwalker
Directed by Tim Wilson
Canada 2008
70 minutes
Griefwalker is a National Film Board of Canada feature documentary film on the work of Stephen Jenkinson, a Canadian champion of the dying peoples right to “a good death”. First released in 2008, the film is the product of Mr Wilson’s dedication and 12 years of filming. It is a powerful portrait of Stephen Jenkinson’s work with dying people and moves audiences deeply to taste what Stephen teaches, “Not success. Not growth. Not happiness. The cradle of your love of life is death.” Stephen Jenkinson will be in attendance. (Nov 28, 2:00pm Only) All Seats $20.00. Advance tickets available in the bookstore and www.sacredwisdomcentre.com

Howl
Directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman
USA 2010
84 minutes
Rated 14A (coarse language, sexual content, substance abuse)
Howl opens in a San Francisco coffeehouse, where the young Allen Ginsberg (James Franco) first delivers his seminal work of epic poetry to a crowd that, of course, includes fellow Beat generation mainstays, Neal Cassady and Jack Kerouac. The work of illustrator Eric Drooker animates portions of the poem/film, while Ginsberg performs his masterpiece. History was made that night in 1955 when a new generation of authors and artists boldly announced their presence to America. But the other side of America responded with obscenity charges against Ginsberg and his publisher Lawrence Ferlinghetti. The ensuing courtroom battle pits Ginsberg’s defense lawyer (Mad Men’s Jon Hamm) against an army of prosecutors and experts on the nation’s morality, played by David Strathairn, Mary-Louise Parker, Treat Williams and Jeff Daniels. Howl is recommended for the Beat-bio-curious and any other wayward sons and daughters. (Nov 26-Dec 2)

Inside Job
Directed by Charles Ferguson
USA 2010
108 minutes
Rated TBA
Already one of the best-reviewed documentaries of the year and a standout film from TIFF 2010, Charles Ferguson’s Inside Job lays bare the economics, political involvement and corporate malfeasance behind the 2008 financial crisis. By clearly explaining the business structure and economic theory, Ferguson makes the viewer comfortable with understanding what happened. He then clears away the smokescreen of obfuscation that surrounds Wall St and exposes the lies and greed behind the corporations and individuals who live, quite opulently, from the avails of their market manipulations. Typical of the film’s many rave reviews is this from the Boston Globe’s Wesley Morris, “The (Inside Job) is a masterpiece of investigative nonfiction moviemaking—a scathing, outrageous, depressing, comical, horrifying report on what and who brought on the crisis.” Highly Recommended. (Nov 12-18)

It’s Kind of a Funny Story
Directed by Ryan Fleck, Anna Boden
USA 2010
101 minutes
Rated 14A (crude content, substance abuse)
Leave it to the creative team of Fleck and Boden (Half-Nelson), to bring us this comedic drama, or should that be, dramatic comedy about teen angst, suicidal tendencies and society’s views of mental illness. Unable to cope with his emotional instability and overwhelming suicidal urges, 16-year-old Craig (Keir Gilchrist of United States of Tara), checks himself into the local psych ward for treatment, which he later discovers, goes with a five-day minimum stay. Fellow ward-mates Bobby (Zach Galifianakis) and Noelle (Emma Roberts) fill the prescription for humour and sexual tension, while helping Craig to confront much of what lies behind his emotional confusion. Unlike One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, there is no villainous nurse, rather a ward full people with mental health issues, working towards solutions. As the titles says, It’s kind of...
(Nov 5-11)

Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole
Directed by Zack Snyder
USA 2010
100 minutes
Rated PG (some scary scenes, violence)
Adapted from author Kathryn Lasky’s popular fantasy series about a society of sentient owls, Guardians of Ga’Hoole takes us into a dense narrative forest, populated by all manner of winged creatures. The young owl Soren and his mates uncover a sinister plot hatched by Metalbeak and his cronies to take over the forest and cover it in darkness. This epic tale of good vs evil has a definite ornithological tip of the wing to Tolkien’s Ring Trilogy. With the likes of Geoffrey Rush, Jim Sturgess and Helen Mirren providing the voices and the digital wizardry of Australian animators Animal Logic (creators of the delightful, Happy Feet) Legend of the Guardians has been charming audiences and critics this autumn. (Dec 20-23) Matinees Only. All Seats $5.00.

Never Let Me Go
Directed by Mark Romanek
UK 2010
104 minutes
Rated 14A (sexual content)
Young British actors Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield and Kiera Knightley star in this adaptation of Kazuo (The Remains of the Day) Ishiguro’s haunting, dystopian novel. The story is set at the Hailsham boarding school, somewhere in the English countryside. As the children approach adulthood, questions arise about the strict rule of the headmistress, Miss Emily (Charlotte Rampling), and what expectations they must fulfill in the near future. Their cloistered upbringing, private schooling and extreme measures exercised regarding personal health point to a larger plan for their lives. Without giving away any further plot detail, the story exposes questions about humanity, and our views on life and death, but without the usual sci-fi, futuristic weaponry and warfare. Never Let Me Go is a novel of big ideas and the film is recommended for its thoughtfulness and restraint in the adaptation, views also shared by Variety reviewer Peter Debruge, who writes, “Never Let Me Go is that rare find, a fragile little four-leaf clover of a movie that’s emotionally devastating, yet all too easily trampled by cynics.”
(Nov 26-Dec 2)

Nowhere Boy
Directed by Sam Taylor-Wood
UK/Canada
98 minutes
Rated 14A (coarse language, sexual content)
With nary a mention of the famous fab four that was to come, Nowhere Boy charts the formative, adolescent years of John Lennon. Aaron Johnson cuts a fine figure of the young John, cast more for his spirit and rebellious posture than a look-alike image. He presents a hungry and tortured soul, aching for the stardom that would be his destiny, but emotionally trapped between his caring aunt Mimi (Kristin Scott Thomas) and his less responsible mother, Julia (Anne-Marie Duff), who gave him up. Nowhere Boy is an excellent period piece, a great character study and as Roger Ebert raves in his Chicago Sun-Times review, “We learn that the emotional roller coaster of his formative years probably contributed to the complexity of his lyrics.” I am the Walrus, or There are places I remember...? (Nov 12-18)

Secretariat
Directed by Randall Wallace
USA 2010
122 minutes
Rated G
Secretariat is the feel-good film of the autumn. It tells the story of one of horseracing’s greatest champions, the Winner of the 1973 Triple Crown. While a horse stars (they actually used five different horses to film the race sequences) it is the human story that we connect with. Guiding Secretariat to phenomenal success is the horse’s owner, Penny Chenery Tweedy. Her strength, determination and courage to prevail in the chauvinistic world of 1970s horse racing are as impressive as what happens on the track. Diane Lane is magnificent in the role, with strong and often comic support from John Malkovich, as trainer Lucien Lauren. Secretariat is recommended for the sweaty-palmed tension of the races and the happy ending. (Dec 3-9)

The Social Network
Directed by David Fincher
USA 2010
120 minutes
Rated 14A (language may offend, substance abuse)
The short (to date), illustrious, troubled and highly profitable life of Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg comes to the big screen via Ben Mezrich’s book, The Accidental Billionaires, Aaron (The West Wing) Sorkin’s script and director David (Fight Club) Fincher. The story traces events in and around the dorm rooms of Harvard in 2003, where a small group of nerdish undergrads, led by Mr Zuckerberg, create a new method of communication. Playing on Mark’s own latent insecurities, introverted awkwardness and secret yearnings for social acceptance, the film exposes the creation of a social network by a genius social misfit. One of the year’s best-reviewed movies and a sure front-runner for awards season, The Social Network is highly recommended. (Dec 10-19)

Tamara Drewe
Directed by Stephen Frears
UK 2010
111 minutes
Rated TBA
Tamara Drewe is a delightful, sexy romp of a comedy set in the lovely English countryside of Dorset, where highly successful crime writer Nicholas Hardiment and his wife Beth host a writer’s retreat. Once the ugly duckling of the village, Tamara Drewe returns, post radical rhinoplasty, with the confidence and swagger of a young woman in full bloom. With her own agenda, and a new rock star boyfriend Ben (Dominic Cooper), Tamara’s forthright approach towards life and sensuality, turns many a head in the village, and sets keyboards ablaze with libidinous inspiration for the wannabe writer retreatants. Based on Posy Simmonds graphic novel (inspired by Thomas Hardy’s Far from the Madding Crowd), Tamara Drewe draws its comedy from the naughty deeds of horny villagers and repressed writers, as they cavort through their pastoral idyll in this bed-hopping farce. Great fun!
(Nov 19-25)

The Tempest
Directed by Julie Taymor
USA 2010
110 minutes
Rated TBA
Julie Taymor, director of such diverse and fanciful films as Frida, Titus and Across the Universe, turns her creative eye to William Shakespeare’s late-career masterpiece, but with a gender-bending twist—Helen Mirren takes the lead role of Prospera. Joining Ms Mirren in this magical tale of conjured feats, bawdy deeds and spritely spirits, is an all-star cast, including Alfred Molina, Russell Brand, Felicity Jones, Ben Whishaw, David Strathairn, Chris Cooper, Alan Cumming and Djimon Hounsou. A fresh approach to a classic play, with an amazing group of actors, sounds pretty good to me. See you there. (Dec 26-31)

This is a Love Story
Directed by Catherine Barlow
Canada 2010
57 minutes
As described by Beginnings Family Services, this documentary explores the lives of families impacted by open adoption. They share their stories of heartbreak, strength, and hope as they move through the process of choosing the best interests of their child. They also attempt to minimize adoption losses, maintain important relationships and provide access to necessary truths. This educational film examines the many possibilities available for negotiating openness, as parents navigate their relationships over time. The film features the music of Brendan O’Halloran, David Lalonde and Kevin MacLoed. All proceeds go to Beginnings Family Services, a non-profit agency, providing free and confidential support services to individuals and couples facing unplanned pregnancies. (Nov 20, 4:00 only) www.beginnings.ca