This third and best installment of Carl Bessai's identity trilogy (Lola, Johnny) is named for its hero, a retired university professor (Ian McKellen) who travels to Canada from London to accept an honorary degree. He also takes the opportunity to check up on his niece, Nadia (Deborah Kara Unger), but the visit isn't appreciated: somewhere in Emile's past, he betrayed her, and his efforts at redemption -- involving grandfatherly advances on Nadia's young daughter -- initially fall flat.

"Call it 'Mild Strawberries': the debt to Bergman's seminal film is obvious, both in its flashback-heavy construction and gentle humanist sentiment. McKellen is superb as usual." -- Adam Nayman, eye WEEKLY

  Finbar McBride (Peter Dinklage, who "just happens to give one of the best performances of the year") is a man trying to live life on his own terms. Looking only to be left alone, he takes up residence in an rural town's old train depot, but soon finds himself reluctantly becoming enmeshed in the lives of his neighbors, especially Olivia (Patricia Clarkson), a forty-year-old artist struggling with the break up of her marriage, and Joe (Bobby Cannavale) a thirty-year-old with a talent for cooking and an insatiable hunger for conversation - whether anyone wants to talk to him or not. There is gentle humour in Fin's efforts to close the door on the friendly advances of the unrejectable Joe. And the more-than-friendly advances of a local librarian (Michelle Williams) spark other possibilities hitherto unconsidered. With nothing in common but their solitude, this mismatched trio forges an unlikely bond, which ultimately reveals that even isolation is better shared.

"A movie with an intellectual existence both on and off the screen, as well as an emotional resonance that is difficult to shake." -- Jason Anderson, Newsday

  "The Canadian buzz film of the year," is directed by Jennifer Abbott and Manufacturing Consent co-director Mark Achbar, based on the upcoming book, The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power by UBC law professor Joel Bakan. The documentary asks the question, if a corporation is a 'person' in the eyes of the law, what kind of person is it? According to the diagnostic criteria used by psychologists, the answer is a psychopath: self-interested, amoral, callous and deceitful. After all, this is a person who has few qualms about poisoning the environment, exhausting the earth's resources, disregarding human rights and breaking the law, all in the name of profit. The film features commentary from such crusaders as Naomi Klein, Michael Moore and Noam Chomsky, interwoven with candid interviews with CEOs and corporate insiders.

"Imbued with a sense of wry humour that makes it as devastatingly funny as Bowling For Columbine ... [It would be] easy to dismiss by anyone unwilling to delve into message movies that leave them unsettled or challenged. The trouble is, The Corporation is as smart as it is clever. It presents such a reasoned, cogent, well-documented argument that it makes a mockery of anyone who dismisses it out of hand, without debate." -- Bruce Kirkland, Toronto Sun

"One may be dumbstruck by the fact that so many spokespeople for what the film's makers clearly regard as the primary evil of our era would even sit for the camera, let alone smile so openly in its gaze. They put a cheerful and human face on the cheerless and fundamentally inhumane process of unchecked acquisition. If this self-interested, profit-driven, globally omnivorous capitalist structure is like a person, the film argues, then this person is a psychopath. And the psychopath smiles easily, for it believes it is doing absolutely nothing wrong." * * * * -- Geoff Pevere, Toronto Star

  This animated feature has been compared to Being John Malkovich -- each has a plot that transcends synopsis: it must be seen to be appreciated. Sylvain Chomet wrote and directed this gem about Madame Souza, a grandmother with a club foot, who raises her orphaned grandson to be a champion cyclist, then chases after him with their snarling dog Bruno when he's kidnapped during the Tour de France. Their quest takes them across the ocean to a giant megalopolis called Belleville where they encounter the renowned "Triplets of Belleville," three eccentric female music-hall stars from the 30's who decide to take Madame Souza and Bruno under their wing. Virtually without dialogue, the film conveys motive and meaning with mood and music.

"In an era when live-action movies often play like cartoons, this is an animated film that feels all grown up (but) you can happily take along the children.... Haunting, gorgeous." * * * ½ -- Rick Groen, The Globe & Mail

"A true art-house animated motion picture -- a rarity, to be sure. However, for someone with an adventurous cinematic appetite, a production that makes Miyazaki appear mainstream is surely worth a look. * * * -- James Berardinelli

  The once-thriving fishing port of Sainte-Marie-la-Mauderne pins its hopes for revival on a new plastics factory, but their bid depends on securing a resident doctor. The residents of Ste-Marie embark on an outrageous scheme to seduce a hot-shot plastic surgeon by convincing him their sleepy harbour town is the ideal place to live. Cricket replaces hockey as the village's favourite past-time (although they can't quite decipher the rules) and the doctor's phone is tapped in order to glean tidbits of useful information. Hailed as "Quebec's answer to Waking Ned Devine" (with a dash of The Full Monty for good measure), Jean-François Pouliot's debut feature beats Hollywood at its own feel-good game.

"Supported by Ken Scott's warmly witty script, Pouliot deftly achieves the perfect balance of lighthearted charm and nefarious (albeit well-intentioned) deceit. Raymond Bouchard delivers a standout performance.... A definite crowd-pleaser." -- Diane Burgess, Vancouver International Film Festival

  Errol Morris, the creator of Mr. Death has chosen another fascinating subject for his Oscar-nominated documentary. Robert S. McNamara, the Secretary of Defense for John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, has been an observer of and participant in many of the key events of the 20th century. Morris incorporates archival footage, still photographs and tapes of Oval Office conversations, but relies most heavily on footage culled from over 20 hours of interviews with his subject. The 86-year-old McNamara discusses his role in firebombing Japan during World War II, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the Vietnam War. What emerges is neither a defence nor a biography, but a rich and detailed survey of recent American politics. Sitting and talking to the camera, McNamara is candid and riveting.

"One of 2003's most memorable documentaries. * * * ½ -- James Berardinelli

"The Fog of War raises too many uncomfortable questions to be a definitive statement on its subject or his times. Therein lies the film's greatness: the events McNamara describes do not belong in the past tense. The connection Morris draws between Johnson's warmongering and the hawkish nature of the current American administration suggests that they are all still immersed in the fog McNamara describes. " * * * * -- Jason Anderson, eye WEEKLY

  An Irish immigrant family struggles to make a new life in America -- not in the typical turn-of-the-century setting, but in 1980s New York. Real-life sisters Sarah and Emma Bolger give astounding performances as the daughters of Johnny (Paddy Considine) and Sarah (Samantha Morton), who have recently suffered the loss of their infant son. The family strikes up a frienship with the man from the shabby tenement downstairs, Mateo (Djimon Hounsou, Amistad), an anguished Nigerian artist know as 'the man who screams.' Johnny's feelings of inadequacy spark a simmering suspicion that his wife and Mateo share romantic feelings. Writer-director Jim Sheridan (My Left Foot, In the Name of the Father) co-wrote the script with his daughters Naomi and Kirsten Sheridan. The result is a (slightly altered) autobiographical tale from the startlingly mature perspective of a child.

"A giddy blend of tragi-comic elements. The family laughs and cries in equal measure -- and we respond in kind. Because the film is so beautifully acted, and so deftly woven into a timeless tale, we are enlightened. As the film ends in a subtle yet palpable swell of hope, we are reminded that the human spirit is a resilient thing." -- Bruce Kirkland, Toronto Sun

"[In] a moment sudden and true; we realize how sluggish many movies are in making their points, and how quickly life can blindside us." * * * * -- Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Wednesday, May 12, 2 pm and 7:30 pm
Goodbye Lenin! (PG)

(Germany, 2003; English subtitles)

WINNER, BEST EUROPEAN FILM, 2003 BERLIN FILM FESTIVAL

  Don't miss the film that swept six of the sixteen categories at the European Film Awards. It's 1989, and 21-year-old Alex (Daniel Brühl) lives in East Berlin with his mother (Katrin Sass). When Alex is arrested while protesting, his mother suffers a heart attack and falls into a coma. Over the following months, Alex watches as the Wall comes down and the city transform into something unrecognizable. When his mother awakens with no idea that Burger Kings have replaced rations queues, Alex is intent on shielding her from a shock that could produce another heart attack. With the help of family and friends, he carefully recreates familiar, Socialist surroundings -- even songs. A perfect plan, as long as they never leave the apartment ...

"By turns funny, instructive, and sad, 'Goodbye Lenin!' does an admirable job at breathing life into a tumultuous time in the country's history." * * * * -- About World Film

  The screenplay, based on Farley Mowat's short story Walk Well My Brother has been deftly written and directed by Charles Martin Smith, who starred in another Mowat adaptation, Never Cry Wolf. His feel for Mowat's pared-down style sets the stage for memorable performances by Barry Pepper (25th Hour) as opportunistic pilot Charlie Halliday, and Annabella Piugattuk as Kanaalaq, his seriously ill passenger being transferred to Yellowknife. When the pair crash in the Arctic tundra and must fight for their survival, Kanaalaq proves startlingly resilient. A subtly acted and stunningly photographed story of two people from different cultures who find strength in themselves and each other.

"Dare to walk a mile in Farley Mowat's shoes: 'The Snow Walker' is a powerful, poignant and transcendent film." -- Bruce Kirkland, The Toronto Sun

* * * -- Adam Nayman, eye WEEKLY

By invitation.