Written by 
The most interesting film this week might well be September 5. It’s about journalism, as sports reporters at the 1972 Olympics suddenly have to cover a huge story when terrorists attack Israeli athletes. I’ve heard very good things about it from someone who saw it at the Whistler Film Festival. It’s been at many others and gained awards or nominations at most of them.
It opens today but here in Canada only in Toronto. I’ll have a look at it when it starts playing all across the country next month. There’s lots else to cover today anyway.
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim: 3 ½ stars
La Cochina: 4 ½
Queer: 3 ½
Elton John: Never Too Late: 4
Oh, Canada: 4
Carry-On: 3
Kraven the Hunter: 2 ½
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE WAR OF THE ROHIRRIM: J.R.R. Tolkien left extra story ideas in the appendices to his massive saga. This tells one of them, the background to a fortress that is mentioned in the books, called Helm’s Deep. Nearly 200 years before it was called The Hornburg, part of the kingdom of Rohan ruled by Helm Hammerhand (voice of Brian Cox). He challanges a usurper to a fight, kills him with one punch and thereby enrages the man’s son, Wulf (Luca Pasqualino) who raises an army to get revenge. The king’s daughter Hèra (Gaia Wise) wants to negotiate, after all she and Wulf were childhood friends. He won’t deal though, attacks and puts the fort under siege.
Hèra takes on the job of keeping the people’s spirits up. She’s known as headstrong and proves her courage. Her dad never saw her as a possible successor for his job. She proves him wrong, both in rallying his people and in a later sword fight with Wulf himself. Four writers expanded the story from the appendices to make her a symbol of female empowerment and capability. The film honors nicely the spirit of the original trilogy made by Peter Jackson. He served as executive producer here. But the biggest change is that this version is animated. That’s been done before but this is in the Japanese style called anime and directed by a veteran of the form, Kenji Kamiyama. What he’s created shines, especially in the rich backgrounds. The film is a bit too long, and drags at times, but plays well. (Theaters) 3 ½ out of 5
LA COCINA: The Bear gets all the attention these days but other dramas set in restaurant kitchens come along now and then and this is one of the best. It reaches the level of art and is quite germane right now because of Trump’s deportation plans. Most of the people working in this restaurant are undocumented, illegals, his followers might call them. It’s a study of the American dream unattained and of modern-day capitalism.
It started as a play in England by a writer who used to work in a restaurant kitchen. The director of this film version, Alonso Ruizpalacios from Mexico, has the same work experience so you know it is authentic.
The eatery is on Times Square in New York, very busy and probably large, judging by the bustle in the kitchen. There’s heavy drama there and our entry is with newly arrived Estella (Anna Díaz) who’s been told Pedro (Raúl Briones) will help her get a job. He does but is undocumented himself and is being strung-along by a mean-spirited boss with offers to help get his papers.
He’s also got a romance going with a server (Rooney Mara) who is pregnant and wants an abortion. He objects, but when $800 goes missing (just the cost of an abortion) he’s viciously accused as a suspect. His freak-out reaction and shouting denunciation is extreme and comical at the same time. It’s a powerful film and the acting is superb. (Several art-house theaters across Canada) 4 ½ out of 5
QUEER: In real life, Daniel Craig has dropped playing James Bond and here he’s gone a big step further, playing a gay, a loner, a drug addict, based on a novel, and in effect a memoir, by William S. Burroughs. The good news is that Craig nails the role. He’s weary, an American drifting through the bars of Mexico City, making small talk with other Yanks but often drinking alone.
He feels a revival when his lust returns at the sight of another ex-pat, fresh out of the military and played by Drew Starkey. He seduces him. They have a warm connection, volatile at times, and some hot sex. Director Luca Guadagnino presents it tastefully, resorting to a lot of teasing to show it. His real focus is on Craig’s character’s coming out of the empty life he’s been leading and building a real relationship. And his talk about what being homosexual means to him. He calls his “proclivities” a “curse” but has learned to bear the burden “proudly.” He then takes the younger man on a quick tour of South America and a trip into a jungle to find a plant said to enable telepathy. An American botanist, played by Lesley Manville, shares only a bit of what she’s learned about it. The movie drifts on after that and also ends inconclusively. But the atmosphere and character building before that has been fine. (In theaters) 3 ½ out of 5
ELTON JOHN: NEVER TOO LATE: The Beatles two weeks ago; Bob Dylan next month and here’s Elton John’s story now. And befitting the flamboyant singer, it’s a documentary with lots of drama. Did you know he never really had a best friend? That a manager broke his heart? That his father was distant; that his parents were violent and that his “whole childhood was full of fear?” All that and more comes out in some very candid recollections from the rocket man. The film was co-produced by his husband, David Furnish. He doesn’t seem to have held much back, not the mood swings, the dark times and the sheer drive that could only be satisfied with hard work.
Along with his personality we get the professional story. Drawn by an ad to apply for a job at a record company and meeting Bernie Taupin, his long-time collaborator, who wrote the lyrics. “He was my other half.” Producers encouraged him to “write for yourself” not what he imagined the market wanted. Similarly he changed his name from Reginald Kenneth Dwight (because who wants that) to Elton Hercules John. He emulated Little Richard and the hits came. He started wearing feathers and glam because he wasn’t allowed to do that as a child. On stage he was “free as a bird.” His early work, recording anonymous cover songs, isn’t mentioned and don’t look for his dramatic performance at Lady Diana’s tribute. But many other songs are here including rousing versions of “I’m Still Standing” and “It’s Never Too Late” from his giant Dodgers Stadium concert. It’s a bright sparkling film. (Disney+) 4 out of 5
OH, CANADA: This is also a life story, fictional this time but representative, I would think, of quite a few real people. Leonard Fife is a filmmaker, who, as written by Russell Banks, directed by Paul Schrader and acted by Richard Gere, came to Canada to evade the draft. He never got to Cuba, which he admired, but he did get to New Brunswick where he happened upon a U.S. military test that he exposed in his first film. It made his name. Others followed and he won Gemini and Genie awards. Interesting: the depth of Canadian references in this film by an American.
Fife tells his story to a couple of his former students making a documentary about his life. They have a contract with the CBC. Also listening is his wife, played by Uma Thurman, who he insisted she be there because he reveals secrets he’s never told her before: details about his previous marriages, how badly he treated at least one wife, how he cheated on them, how he slept with the wife of a good friend, and other scandalous memories. She’s waiting to hear him say he loves her because she believes he’s not capable of love. His thoughts about the nature of art and doubts about his talent come out.
To show how memories can get mixed up, Schrader has him played in flashbacks by Jacob Elordi, Gere made to look younger and even Gere of his current age but supposedly years before. It’s tricky but works well. (In a few theaters) 4 out of 5
CARRY ON: Here’s a speedy, bristling thriller that does quite a bit better than the usual film Netflix streams as an original. It feels like it’s designed to be another Die Hard and though it doesn’t have the intensity of that one, it comes close. It’s story grabs you as a mystery, keeps you hooked as it plays and doesn’t disappoint when it finally reveals what is going on. It’s from Jaume Collet-Serra who’s made a name for himself with mid-level tension builders like this.
Taron Egerton plays a TSA officer (Transportation Security Administration) at LAX, the Los Angeles Airport. It’s the busiest night of the year, Christmas Eve. He’s x-raying carry-on baggage and a voice speaks right into his earbuds telling him to let one upcoming man’s bag through unchecked or there’ll be havoc. Taron has to figure out where the voice is coming from and how that person can know exactly what he’s doing and even just thinking of doing.
The guy turns out to be Jason Bateman. Some clever watching reveals that. What he’s intending to do takes a bit longer to find and who is behind it comes out eventually. It’s all logical, believable and not at all gimmicky. The action takes us right into the automated baggage system and into the cargo hold of a plane. It’s tense and satisfying. (Netflix) 3 out of 5
KRAVEN THE HUNTER: He’s a minor character in the Spider-Man comics but Sony, which still holds the rights to that part of the Marvel universe, has brought us a full movie about him. It’s all they can do, build on the small parts of what they control, but they could have done better than this. This film is pompous, muddled, and even quite dull, possibly because the story doesn’t connect for us. And that’s even though Aaron Taylor-Johnson does a good job playing the character and Russell Crowe has a big part playing his father.
It’s an origin story telling how Sergei Kravinoff became Kraven. His dad (Crowe) is a Russian drug lord who instills manly ideals into him and his brother Dimitri, notably on a hunting trip in Ghana. They kill a noble lion because as dad says “Man who kills legend becomes legend.” Sergei almost dies because the lion mauled him first. But he’s saved by a drop of blood from the animal and a magic potion that a local girl received from her grandmother. It also gives him the speed and strength of an animal which comes in handy later when he needs to climb up buildings and fight on a helicopter and an SUV.
The story wanders around in many directions. That girl grows up to be a top lawyer (Calypso, played by Ariana DeBose) who is also good with firearms and helps Sergei track down people he needs to kill because of a conspiracy against his father by a Russian mercenary. He has to rescue his brother, who the bad guys abduct, and kill a criminal boss with a tooth he pulls out of a tiger rug on the floor. There’s much more. The film is crowded with plot. Sound like it could be fun? For some maybe. (In theaters) 2 ½ out of 5