Of Time and the City a personal look at Liverpool

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Published: September 09, 2008 1:46 a.m.

Last modified: September 09, 2008 1:54 a.m.

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Of Time and the City
Rating: ***
Terence Davies returns to action after eight years with Of Time and the City, in which the master filmmaker meditates on his hometown of Liverpool. That the Beatles are only referred to in passing suggests this is a very personal civic history.

Constructed largely out of archival footage, with a soundtrack split between great, glorious swaths of classical music and the director’s own bone-dry voiceover, the film is enjoyable but not as exhilarating as its Cannes buzz suggests.
– Adam Nayman/For Metro Toronto

The Brothers Bloom
Rating: ****
Anyone who saw 2005’s Brick knows filmmaker Rian Johnson can take an entirely inconceivable premise and turn it into something very cool. In The Brothers Bloom he does it again, making a funny, suspenseful and tender movie about two con-artist siblings coming to terms with a lifetime of enduring foster homes, planning stunningly elaborate cons and the coping with the void caused by living a “written life.”

With stellar performances and a keen visual storytelling sense courtesy of Johnson, this flick is a pure pleasure to witness.
– Steve Gow/For Metro Toronto

Only
Rating: **
The fact that it takes 50 minutes for the main characters to introduce themselves is indicative of the glacial pacing in Only — a lo-fi drama about Daniel and Vera, two pre-teens stuck in rural Canada.

While exploring the wintery countryside, the pair bond over their hopes (Vera wishes for “safety”) and fears (Daniel is scared of “being tortured”?). Most of the time, however, they walk around looking at inukshuks, eating cheese and talking about Daniel’s love of bacon.
– Steve Gow/For Metro Toronto

Pride and Glory
Rating: ***
Gritty and dark but occasionally lacking some of the gravitas it purports to have, Pride and Glory works well enough as an examination of corruption, morality and honour.

Led by solid performances from Ed Norton and Colin Farrell, the film provides some decent intrigue but at times feels contrived. Although with plenty of blood and F-words to go around, it’s not enough to sink it.
– Raf Brusilow/For Metro Toronto

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