By Anne Brodie
Toronto’s Revue Cinema presents Caligula: The Ultimate Cut today, one of the most provocative mass market films of the seventies. From Bob Guccione and directed officially by Tinto Brass it stars some of the UK’s most respected stage actors- Malcolm McDowell, Helen Mirren, Teresa Ann Savoy, Peter O’Toole, John Gielgud and many more, some you might not recognise with their clothes off. Thought of as scandalous and contentious, Caligula follows the political and personal depravities of Prince Gaius Augustus Germanicus, better known as Caligula, as he arrives in Capri to rule Rome and Roman holdings in 37 A.D. His uncle Caesar Tiberius, sick with syphilis and mental illness has been murdered. His palace is a temple to the human appetite – every kind of imaginable sex act – which we see – and greed for physical indulgences and stimulation and murderous campaigns to protect one’s rank. A sizeable group of women seems to be kept for accessible sex – they’re at it all day and all night -with and without machinery and or human partners. It’s shocking at first and must have shot people out of their seats back in 78, but it isn’t erotic in any way. We are distracted by the cruel games Caligula plays to amuse himself, stabbing Senators, chopping off the heads of those he dislikes in spectacularly original ways, and having sex with his sister. He has a special lady Caesonia, played by a brunette Mirren described as the most promiscuous woman in Rome. This reboot is instructive for those who didn’t catch it back in the day but don’t expect a knockout. What was shocking then isn’t now and the theme of ruined, hateful men seeking power is too painfully familiar in 2024. A weird, indistinct but omnipresent, threatening score feels humid and while the costuming is eye-popping, don’t expect historical accuracy. McDowall (Son of a Critch these days) is certainly lively throughout so cheers to that.
Good One from newcomer India Donaldson is a quiet character of 17-year-old Sam (Lily Coilias) her father Chris (James Le Gros) and his oldest friend Matt (Danny McCarthy) who set out on a sleepover hike in the Catskills. Donaldon makes the most of that beautiful area showing us running streams, flora and fauna, an environment sure to tame wild city hearts. And it does for a while. Chris is newly divorced and Matt a grieving widower; Sam sees their pain and takes over the jobs of setting up the tents, purifying river water and keeping them fed and organised. Roles are slyly reversed as the men deal with their losses at 60 while Sam offers encouraging, common-sense advice. Matt and Chris bicker a lot; they’ve known each other a long while, and gradually, it gets harsh. Matt makes a strange remark to Sam and the tone of the trip changes; before long they turn on her. It’s slow and subtle, the writing, direction, story and performances, especially Coilias who anchors the film. Sam is constantly weighing information and the men’s signals over her own needs to “fit in” to their universe and try again and again to cheer them up. Wow. Hats off to Donaldson. Hits hard. TIFF Lightbox now, expanding August 23.
Robert Schwartzman’s The Good Half is a soulful look at grief and memory as a family that’s not particularly close gathers to say goodbye to their mother. Nick Jonas, who is terrific in an understated and memorable performance, is Renn, a writer in LA who flies home to Cleveland for the funeral; it’s been a long time since he was there. In his sadness, he meets Zoey (Dee Beasnael) and exchange numbers. Once home, memories of his beloved mother Lily (Elizabeth Shue) flood him; he’d not liked her two recent husbands (David Arquette and Matt Walsh) and didn’t get along with his sister Leigh (Brittany Snow) so had kept his distance. Each storyline between Jonas and his co-stars is lifted by intense realism, within well-defined perimeters of each character. Most of all it is disciplined. Initially, it seemed to undersell but has such strength and confidence it offers a new way for film to approach losing loved ones and family, with quiet reflection, those memory floods, searching for ways to connect with those from whom you may have distanced yourself, and accepting reality with gratitude and love. It also presents things we may not necessarily have considered in the face of death. Sister and brother go to empty their mum’s house – despite being locked out by her current husband -and are triggered. Bit by bit they tell their stories and regain some closeness. Zoey and Reen reconnect and she asks to come to the funeral where he will deliver the eulogy. This film has much to offer; quiet power and a sense of comfort, even in unfair or uneven circumstances. Jonas and Snow are especially effective within the film’s quiet. Theatres Aug 16
Elliott Page wrote the story and stars in Close To You the screenplay adapted by Dominic Savage. who co-wrote the story. And then the actors improvised. It concerns a Toronto woman who, like Page, transitions to male. Sam decides to visit his family, a prospect he put off but is now ready to face; it’s been four years since he saw them, and it will be the first time since his transition. He expects trouble, although his parents are progressive and behind him; maybe he’ll find out they or his siblings really aren’t. Aboard the train to Cobourg, he sees his high school friend Katherine (Hillary Baack) in the same carriage. They have an instant emotional response seeing one another. Katherine is married with two children but is thrilled to see him. A deep connection simmers; they admit they think about each other. Sam arrives home to a fulsome welcome from all, except his sister’s husband Paul who takes repeated digs and at the family for accepting him. Sam’s parents (Peter Outerbridge and Wendy Crewson) try to tamp things down but over the day, Paul’s toxicity makes it impossible for Sam to stay. He heads to the train but instead goes to Katherine’s café. She can’t come to Toronto with him, but shows up the next day and they reunite properly. They’re filled with joy and comfort but we are left to wonder what hurdles they’ll face . Page is phenomenal, with solid performances in this personal story that may presenttruths that may be playing out in your neighbours’ homes and across Canada. Theatres nationwide Aug. 16
Remember the fuss when The Exorcist came out the day after Christmas in 1973? If you don’t and don’t know about it, I dare you to find and watch it. It was a global smash with Ellen Burstyn, Max Von Sydow, and a very young Linda Blair; she was tormented by evil forces, levitating and crashing her to the floor, her face misshapen and shrieking evil things. Her mother frantically looks for help when a mysterious specialist arrives out of nowhere. He begins the ancient ritual and what followed were some of the most horrifying scenes in cinema history. It earned $193,000,000 (huge then) and exorcisms became common knowledge and film fodder. Lee Daniels travels that territory with his audacious The Deliverance based on the 2011 true story of Latoya Ammons’ well-documented family possession in Gary, Indiana. It stars the power ensemble of Andra Day, Glenn Close, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor and Mo’Nique; each is so good they may figure at awards shows next year. The subject matter is taken seriously, as a human occurrence and so it becomes much more than exploitative thrills. It becomes a study of unknown threats, the worst kind. Day is Ebony, a single mother of three who struggles; she’s an addict, tough, loving, and broke, saddled with this new reality. A camped-up Glenn Close – she’s phenomenal – tries to get her to find Jesus. First, a plague of flies and a stench, and the children acting out of character, they frighten health and welfare staff. In real life, a nurse and Ammon’s case worker say they witnessed her son walk backward up a wall and flip over his grandmother’s head. Daniel’s handling of this outrageous story is calm and straightforward; he doesn’t feel the need for florid dressings because the story is strong enough. Daniels says he sat on the story for ten years but decided to go ahead with it when he realised it was less a horror buzzkill than a “call to faith”. Select theaters now and Netflix August 30.
Exotic animal broker Tonia Haddix, who calls herself the “Dolly Parton of chimps,” driven by her obsessive love for Tonka, a chimpanzee she raised, stars in her own sad cautionary tale. The HBO Original doc series Chimp Crazy from filmmaker Eric Goode who made the series Tiger King shines the light on her years-long battle to retain custody of Tonka. Haddix says “Monkey love is deeper than human love, humans are meant to leave the nest and develop, not monkeys. They bond for life with their mother; she even breastfed him alongside her own baby. I’ll give my possessions and life up for that child”. Chimp Crazy, an apt title, is an effective legal/emotional thriller as Haddix stops at nothing to keep him against an avalanche of lawsuits, trials, negative publicity and police raids. Tonka had an artificial life from the get-go, raised by a controversial exotic animal broker, forced to work as a “party” favour, an “actor” and model in Hollywood. He’s best known for appearing in Buddy, starring PETA activist actor Alan Cumming who has joined the fight to remove Tonka from Haddix’ custody. In 1997 I interviewed Cumming and a chimpanzee, for the film about a woman keeping primates at home but I don’t know if the chimp that mussed my hair was Tonka. Cumming now says he was naïve back then and recognizes that “owned” chimps are wild animals, not pets. Recently, government officials removed seven chimps from the “sanctuary” where Haddix worked. But one, Tonka, was missing. Haddix said he died of a massive stroke and was cremated, and produced a bag of his ashes. This is where things get really out of control. You’ll feel disgust and pity for Haddix, who is her own worst enemy and see examples of primates turning on their “owners” in the most horrific fashion. This is real-life drama on steroids and you can’t look away. The heartbreaking situation of exotic animals bought and sold is disgusting. And US laws regarding wild animals in private homes are not enforced. Extremely powerful. August 18 on HBO and streaming on Max.
Something about Vince Vaughan’s perpetually agitated, staccato delivery amuses me and he’s in top form as a Florida Keys detective Andrew Yancy in Bad Monkey, a ten-parter on AppleTV+. The real star of the show is Florida, seen in a viciously funny light as a place where grifters, killers -the worst of us – abide, following Yancy as he navigates the crazy world of the series, looking for redemption. He’s fired and now he’s a health inspector looking for a way back into the police force. He believes he’s found the way when a tourist fishing catches a severed arm middle finger extended. Local precincts want the arm kept quiet and out of the area – bad for tourism- so he stores it in his freezer, freaking out his married girlfriend (Michelle Monaghan) who drives off. He reckons if he solves the case of the anonymous arm, he’ll get his job back. Plus he’s dealing with the obnoxious yellow “house on coke” being built beside him and its nouveau riche, very young owner. He has a beekeeper friend install a live colony up the man’s fireplace. A young woman shows up claiming to be the wife of the person who owned the arm and wants it for the funeral. Naturally, there is something “fishy” about her; she’s shady, like everyone else down there. Meanwhile, Neville (Ronald Peet) and his monkey live happily in a beach shack nearby but find they are to be evicted, his sister has sold the shack from under him; the beach is being cleared for a housing development. This barely describes the colourful, weird and wacky world of Bad Monkey but trust me, it is well worth a watch for its jolts-per-second commentary on development, corruption, voodoo, villainy and animal welfare.
We find legendary French leading man Jean Reno in a Brazilian seaside village in My Penguin Friend the true story of an unlikely bond between fisherman João and an Antarctic penguin. It begins with a family dependent on the Atlantic for its livelihood, fishing and clamming. João’s young son Niguel (Juan José Garnica) begs to go out in the boat on his birthday; it’s cloudy and João refuses but eventually gives in. They row out and Miguel is drowned in huge waves. Years later João is an old, broken man. He keeps to himself, heartbroken over his loss. He doesn’t mingle with villagers and is considered difficult. And then a life-changing moment, an exhausted, emaciated penguin separated from his migrating pod comes ashore and enchants him. In time, they become fast friends and “DimDim” moves in, migrating back to Antarctica each year and returning the next. Someone captures DimDim and João together the footage goes viral with 4 million views. Journalists show up for their stories, but a trio of marine biologists get wind of it and plan to capture DimDim and send him to a research facility. João’s years-long adventure with DimDim changes him entirely – his faith in life, his joy and optimism are restored, and he becomes a real part of the community. This sweet fact-based story offers a little non-taxing entertainment for all ages. Whoever plays DimDim does a great job! In theatres.