Lj-Lou
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Sample: Title; rating (out of 4); principal setting; year of release; international co-producer (if any); cast; description; scriptwriter; director; content warning; running time.
LA LOI DU COCHON *
* 1/2 setting: P.Q.
(2001) Isabel Richer, Sylvain Marcel, Catherine Trudeau,
Jean-Nicholas Verreault, Stephane Demers, Marie Brassard, Zhenho Han, Christopher
Heyerdahl, Christian Begin, Marie Gignac.....A woman with gambling
debts (Richer) allows pot growers to grow a secret marijuana crop on her
pig farm, but plots to double cross them, only to have her plans go awry.
Noirish thriller benefits from the off-beat milieu and is kind of intriguing,
watching the various twists and turns unfold (including her sister acting
as a surrogate mother for a local couple). Fast-paced enough to keep your
interest, but it borders on frenetic at times, never slowing down enough
so that you actually get to know, or care about, these people (despite
a sufficiently charismatic performance from Richer). But the movie's biggest
flaw is that you just aren't sure if it's trying to be funny in
spots...or whether some over-the-top scenes are just, well, over-the-top.
It's not that it really succeeds in being funny...but it does border on
silly at times, particularly villains Marcel and Verreault. Heyerdahl does
a nice turn (speaking French with a Russian accent!) as a sinister underworld
connection. Digital Video is the low-budget filmmaker's friend, lending
a reasonably expensive look to low-budget movies...but nighttime shoots
tend to betray its video nature. English title: Pig's Law. sc: Joanne
Arseneau. dir: Erik Canuel. - violence, brief female nudity.- 96 min.
LOLA
* * setting: B.C.
(2002) Sabrina Grdevich, Joanna Going, Colm Feore,
Chris William Martin, Ian Tracey, Janet Wright.....Neurotic, directionless
woman (Grdevich) meets up with a troubled free spirit (Going) and, through
circumstances, assumes aspects of the woman's life. The core idea here
isn't bad (not surprisingly, it's been done before in decidedly more mainstream
flicks), and the movie boasts a fine cast all around (especially Feore
and American import Going). But the extremely thin, slow-moving story meanders
aimlessly, too self-conscious of its own pretensions (with lots of "hip"
jump cuts and sped up film in place of story and characterization), not
really putting much flesh on its bare bones. It's basically an excuse for
a bunch of vignettes...with none of the vignettes being that interesting
in and of themselves. The main character is neurotic and, occasionally,
irrational (she gets knocked on the head, presumably so her actions don't
always have to make sense), and, ultimately, fails to entirely bond with
the audience -- a fault, perhaps, partly attributable to Grdevich, who's
a decent actress, but not always an ingratiating one. And in a movie like
this, if the audience isn't committed to the main character...there's nothing
else to fall back on. sc./dir: Carl Bessai. - partial female nudity.- 98
min.
LOLA ZIPPER *
* setting: other
(1993) (/France) Judith Reval, Jean-Paul Comart, Arielle
Dombasle, Francois Perrot, Thibault De Montalembert, Tom Rack, Martin Neufeld.....To
save his job, a down-on-his-luck Paris talent agent (Comart) bets he can
turn a crude street teen (Reval) into a glamourous star. Ill-conceived
riff on Pygmalion (see that entry for a Canadian-filmed
version) suffers from unlikeable characters. It's too nasty and abrasive
to be funny, but too contrived to be serious. And the attitudes,
whether reflecting an inability to update the ideas, or merely French sensibilities,
are...uncomfortable. sc./dir: Ilan Duran Cohen. - brief female nudity.-
95 min.
LONELY KNIGHTS
* 1/2 setting: USA.
(1988) Dack Rambo, Jennifer Dale, Frances Hyland,
Jeff Pustil, Donald Davis, Norma Dell'Agnese, Eric Murphy, Ken James, Barry
Flatman.....Story of a reporter (Dale) who falls for a charity organizer
(American actor Rambo), but becomes curious about his mysterious background
-- while she's also working on a series abbout wealthy families. Modestly-budgeted
Harlequin-style romantic drama tries to count on the camaraderie and badinage
between the cast, particularly Dale and Pustil (as her camera man), to
pad out the running time -- but what can be amusing for a scene or two
is no substitute for a story. Shifts gears a few times -- from being a
seeming sincere look at charities to a corporate take-over drama to, of
course, a romance...except Dale and Rambo spend a lot of the movie without
any scenes together! Bottom line, despite some good intentions, it's kind
of tedious. One of those movies with dialogue indicating it's supposed
to be set in the United States...even though Canadian flags crop up in
the background! sc: Don Young. dir: Henry Less. - sexual content.- 96 min.
LONESOME DOVE: The Outlaw Years (TV Series)After middling ratings for the first season, the new series went for a darker, grittier ambience...but retaining the same virtues and vices (good-if-mostly-bland performances, expensive-look...and slow, lackluster stories) only peopled now mainly by unlikeable characters (only Rowan and Turner were without an unscrupulous side). No matter how many times the episodes tried for morality tales, and showing the various characters' "hearts-of-gold", it couldn't get away from the fact that, fundamentally, they were pretty repellent. Dark and gritty is all very fine, but the audience still has to care. McCormack's performance remained the show's highlight...you wanted to like him, but ultimately couldn't. Ironically, Bairstow had been quoted during the first season as saying The Series' wholesome ambience matched his religious and ethical beliefs (I guess he didn't mind shooting), but with The Outlaw Years' emphasis on corruption, violence, and prostitution (most of the supporting female characters were prostitutes) one can imagine Bairstow was less-than-happy with the changes -- perhaps explaining why his character seemed to play a less-pivotal role than he had earlier. But all the (arguably cynical) changes were for naught: The Outlaw Years faired no better than the first season and was canceled after one year. Another interesting policy change was the addition of an American actor (Scoggins) to the regular Canadian cast, while tending not to import U.S. actors as guest stars. According to one source, there is an episode of this series that has never been aired in Canada (involving a teen-age couple taking the Sheriff hostage). Loosely inspired by the novel by Larry McMurtry. One season of hour long episodes on CTV. |
LONESOME DOVE: The Series (TV Series)Largely hookless TV series was the most expensive Canadian one ever filmed in the west and it boasted great period detail, solid performances from both the principals and notable guest stars, and great ambience. But the stories themselves tended to be flaccid with characters who were likeable but, except for McCormack, not especially interesting. An O.K., hard-working show that was usually watchable, but not compelling enough to call you back on a regular basis. Which, apparently, must have been the general consensus since in the season final, Hirt's character was killed off...opening the way for some significant alterations. And since the second season was given a new subtitle (Lonesome Dove: The Outlaw Years), it is reviewed separately under that title. Filmed in Alberta, but set in the United States with most episodes featuring a bigger-than-average American guest star. Loosely inspired by the novel by Larry McMurtry (and the 2 U.S. TV mini-series). Hour-long episodes, shown in Canada on CTV. |
LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT
* * 1/2 setting: USA.
(1986) William Hutt, Martha Henry, Tom McCamus, Peter
Donaldson, Martha Burns.....A day in the life of the ultimate dysfunctional
family: the Tyrones of 1912 Conneticut. This film of American playwright
Eugene O'Neil's dark and famous (and semi-autobiographical) drama, based
on a stage version originally directed by Diana LeBlanc, is an O.K., critically
heralded production. But often it seems professional and respectful,
rather than truly passionate and exciting, with Wellington's direction
more concerned with style and mood than characters -- which is what the
thing is about. And the play itself, long and peopled by kind of
bitchy characters, doesn't progress in terms of characters they way you'd
like. The third Act scene between Hutt and McCamus, both in terms
of the performances and the play, is pretty electric though. sc:
the play by Eugene O'Neil. dir: David Wellington. 177 min.
The Long Journey of Lukas B., a German novel by Willi Fahrmann, was turned into the CBC mini-series By Way of the Stars
LONG LIFE, HAPPINESS AND
PROSPERITY * * * setting:
CDN.
(2002) Sandra Oh, Valerie Tian, Ric Young, Chang Tseng,
Tsai Chin, Russell Yuen, Alannah Ong, Donald Fong, Christina Ma.....A
precocious girl (Tian), seeking to find a boyfriend (and happiness) for
her workaholic, frustrated mother (Oh) starts experimenting with charms...which
tend to have unexpected impact on others in her local Chinese-Canadian
community. Ensemble comedy-drama veers effectively from whimsy and comedy,
to genuine pathos, with some striking cinematography toward the climax
(just taking advantage of Vancouver's rainy environment), and benefiting
from textured, empathetic performances all around -- Oh is good, and Tian
a delight, but Young probably makes the strongest impression as a man whose
focus on his estrangement from his own father has led him to neglect his
son's aspirations. It goes on a bit too long and the filmmakers juggle
so many interconnected threads that, admittedly, it gets away from them
in the end, with some threads seeming to be forgotten, or resolved unsatisfyingly.
But, generally, an effective, amusing, inoffensive effort. Strangely, some
criticized it for wallowing in false stereotypes or not being Chinese enough,
while others felt the characters' actions were too weird and foreign. So
here's the key: think of the characters as people -- nothing more,
nothing less -- and it should all fall into place for you. sc: Dennis Foon,
Mina Shum. dir: Mina Shum. 92 min.
THE LONG ROAD HOME *
* setting: Ont.
(1989) Denis Forest, Kelly Rowan, Gareth Bennett,
Barclay Hope, Louis Tucci, Marvin Karon.....American draft dodger (Forest)
arrives as a counsellor at a Canadian summer camp in '69 where he must
sort out his conflicting emotions and ideals. Forest is good, but
the early part of the film suffers from being too disjointed. Not
bad, but despite the attempt, this still seems like just another summer
camp movie (look below). sc: Dan Dantree. dir: William Johnston.
84 min.
LONGING FOR ETERNITY see Portion d'eternite
LOOKING FOR ALEXANDER see Memoires affectives
LOOKING FOR LEONARD *
* 1/2 setting: P.Q.
(2001) Kim Huffman, Joel Bissonnette, Ben Ratner,
Justin Pierce, Darcy Belsher, Molly Parker.....An unemployed immigrant
(Bissonnette) strikes up a relationship with a young woman (Huffman) who
robs convenience stores with her boyfriend and his brother...only to have
an accidental murder complicate things. Serio-comic, film noirish romantic
drama is enjoyable, somewhat amusing, but a touch slow-moving and kind
of meandering, with a few too many scenes that are meant more to be vignettes
(with characters sitting before a stationary camera, having quirky conversations)
than pieces of a whole. And for a movie that wants to act like it's tackling
weighty themes of right and wrong, and moral choices, there's a certain
nihilism underlining it all -- the heroine is, after all, an armed robber
and shop lifter! But Huffman and Bissonnette have enough charm and talent
to carry the thing -- in fact, Bissonnette has been an under-rated actor
for years (why does it take his brother to give him a leading part?!?)
The title refers to Leonard Cohen, but it's not clear why -- they couldn't
even afford to put some Cohen songs on the soundtrack. Instead, there are
occasional inserts of clips from the 1960s documentary Ladies and Gentlemen:
Mr. Leonard Cohen, and Huffman is reading Cohen's novel, Beautiful
Losers...neither of which are clearly identified with the "Leonard"
of the title. Go figure. sc./dir: Matt Bissonnette & Steven Clark.
87 min.
LOOKING FOR MIRACLES
* * setting: Ont.
(1989) (/U.S.) Greg Spottiswood, Zachary Bennett,
Joe Flaherty, Patricia Phillips, Noah Godfrey.....Story of the uneasy
relationship between two brothers (Spottiswood and Bennett) at a summer
camp in the '30s, where the older is a counsellor under false pretenses.
Nice looking made-for-TV CBC comedy/drama has trouble handling the relationship
between the two brothers and ends up being just a collection of scenes
-- some work and others don't. Flaheerty received the Best Supporting
Actor Gemini. sc: Kevin Sullivan, Stuart McLean (from the book by A.E.
Hotchner). dir: Kevin Sullivan. 104 min.
LOST *
* * * setting: B.C./other
(1986) Kenneth Welsh, Helen Shaver, Michael Hogan,
Linda Goranson, Richard Donat.....An atheist (Hogan), his wife (Shaver)
and his religious fundamentalist brother (Welsh) decide to sail down to
Costa Rica and wind up capsized and lost during a storm -- and tempers
flare, particularly when the brother decides God is testing their faith.
Extremely gripping and powerful suspense-drama, with excellent performances
from the three leads, especially Hogan. Grim, provocative and definitely
not to be missed. Based on a true story. sc./dir: Peter Rowe
(from the book by Thomas Thompson). 94 min.
LOST AND DELIRIOUS
* * setting: P.Q.
(2001) Piper Perabo, Jessica Pare, Mischa Barton,
Jackie Burroughs, Mimi Kuzyk, Graham Greene, Emily Vancamp, Caroline Dhavernas.....A
newcomer to a girl's boarding school (Barton) befriends her roommates (Perabo
and Jessica Paré) and becomes aware of their secret lesbian affair;
but when the affair becomes public knowledge, one breaks it off, and the
other spirals out of control. Drama has its admirers, and it starts out
reasonably O.K., if flawed, not entirely fleshing out the romantic relationship,
and with Perabo's character (as written and performed) kind of over
done. But when the break-up occurs, and Perabo's character has her meltdown...the
plot and the characters just kind of stop in favour of scene after scene
of Perabo making a public display. And the supporting characters seem under-utilized.
In a country where Art House filmmakers indulge in icy, aloof films, one
about out-of-control passion is refreshing, and it could've been -- should've
been -- truly great, but isn't. There's too little development, and
too much cloyingly heavy handed -- even silly -- symbolism, and little
that's unpredictable (maybe an unexpected twist would've been if it's the
wild girl who breaks it off, and the straight-laced girl who freaks out
-- just a thought). By using Barton as thee focus, Perabo and Pare -- the
characters the movie should be about -- are kind of short-changed.
It's the sort of movie that is disappointing just after you've watched
it...and downright maddening when you've had time to think about it. Despite
Perabo and Pare looking like supermodels, and one sex scene, this isn't
an "erotic" drama. Maybe it should've been. Because without greater intensity
given to the relationship -- emotionally or physically -- the fall
out from the break up isn't given much grounding. And although it's nice
to see the filmmakers trying for modern style pop-references,
Doctor
Spock is the baby doctor; Mister Spock is the emotionless "Star
Trek" character. Barton and Perabo are Hollywood imports. Director Pool's
first English language feature. sc: Judith Thompson (loosely based on the
novel The Wives of the Bath by Susan Swan). dir: Lea Pool. - partial
female nudity, sexual content, violence.- 101 min.
THE LOST DAUGHTER (TVMS)
* * setting: CDN./other
(1998) (/Switzerland/Germany/Australia) Richard Chamberlain,
Helmut Griem, Christoph Ohrt, Susanna Simon, Clare Sims, Charles Powell,
Andreas Apergis, C. David Johnson, Blaine Hart.....When his estranged
daughter (Sims) disappears after a religious cult's mass suicide, a Canadian
business man (Chamberlain) goes to Switzerland trying to discover if she's
alive or dead, only to have cult members trying to stop him. Suspense-drama
obviously started out as one of those executive-driven, "based-on-the-shocking-true-story"
affairs, but instead tries something a little more ambitious by doing it
as out-and-out fiction (though still clearly inspired by the Solar Temple
suicides). Unfortunately, the results are uneven. American
import Chamberlain is O.K., but the film suffers from Cardinal's usual
clunky direction, uneven supporting performances, and a story that, other
than the fate of the daughter, runs out of questions and twists half-way
through. The pulpy thriller side of the story doesn't go far enough,
and the earnest, docudrama aspect (flashbacks to cult life, etc.) fail
to really give you insight into the whys and hows (and use of "holograms"
undermines credibility -- 'cause outside of science fiction, holograms
don't exist!). It aired in Europe in 1997. Four hours.
sc: Peter Palliser. dir: Roger Cardinal.
LOST IN THE BARRENS
* * * setting: Man.
(1990) Nicholas Shields, Evan Adams, Lee J. Campbell,
Graham Greene, Marianne Jones.....Preppie (Shields), in the '30s, is
forced to live with his trapper uncle (Campbell) when his trust fund runs
dry. Once there, he finds himself befriending a native youth (Adams)
when they become lost in the wilderness. Good, youth-oriented made-for-TV
drama has lots of twists and thrills, though little is expanded upon.
The two leads are good. Followed by Curse of
the Viking Grave. sc: Keith Leckie (from the novel by Farley
Mowat). dir: Michael Scott. 96 min.
Lost Innocence see Short Films
LOST SOULS
* * setting: USA.
(1998) (/Luxombourg/U.S.) John Savage, Barbara Sukowa,
Richard Lintern, Laura Harling, Nicolas Deigman.....An American family
moves into a rural home where their autistic daughter begins communing
with the spirits of two murdered children...leading the dad (American Savage)
to suspect the killer is still out there. Made-for-U.S. TV suspenser
starts out seeming a pretty generic haunted house story, then throws in
a few off beat ideas (like the autistic daughter and a mechanical device
that channels ghosts) but not enough to compensate for implausible behavior
and the fact that the director doesn't seem to know how to make things
scarey. sc: Scott Peters. dir: Jeff Woolnough. app. 90 min.
THE LOST WORLD *
* * setting: other
(1993) (/U.K.) John Rhys-Davies, David Warner, Eric
McCormack, Nathania Stanford, Darren Peter Mercer, Tamara Gorski, Geza
Kovacs.....In 1912, an expedition goes to Africa in search of a lost
prehistoric world. If you can forgive cheesy-looking (and spartan)
dinosaurs, and instead enjoy good dialogue, a cast that's game, and a hard-working
score by Lawrence Shragge, then this lighthearted and evocative version
of the famous novel (with updated sensibilities and relocated) might do
the trick. Hokey at times, but engaging fun for the young...and the
young at heart. Followed by Return to the
Lost World (made simultaneously). Filmed, in part, in Zimbabwe.
The
Lost World has been filmed at least twice before (once as a silent
film) and also done as an audio production, and Canadians took two more
stabs at it a few years later in 1998 with Sir Arthur
Conan Doyle's The Lost World and in 1999 with the identically named
Sir
Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World (which was a pilot for the TV series).
sc: Peter Welbeck (from the novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle). dir: Timothy
Bond. - violence.- 98 min.
THE LOST WORLD (1998) a.k.a. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World
THE LOST WORLD (1999) a.k.a. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World
THE LOTUS EATERS
* * 1/2 setting: B.C.
(1993) R.H. Thomson, Sheila McCarthy, Aloka McLean,
Michele Barbara Pelletier, Frances Hyland, Paul Soles, Tara Frederick,
Andrea Libman, Gabe Khouth.....Story of the various members of a family
in a small B.C. town in the '60s, including the school principal father
(Thomson) who has an affair with an attractive new teacher (Pelletier).
Nicely eccentric comedy-drama is amusing and off-beat, but though very
well-acted, the characters never come into focus...so the audience just
observes, but never becomes involved. Still, a nice try at a British
kind of quirkiness. sc: Peggy Thompson. dir: Paul Shapiro. - brief
male and female nudity.- 102 min.
LOUIS 19, LE ROI DES ONDES
* * setting: P.Q.
(1994) (/France) Martin Drainville, Agathe de la Fontaine,
Dominique Michel .....An average nobody (Drainville) wins a contest
to have his day-to-day life broadcast live 24 hours a day on TV, resulting
in the expected perks and problems. This comedy was a smash hit in
Quebec, but it's difficult to see why. Obvious and repetative, it
puts its cliched commentary on the TV/viewer relationship ahead of story
or character. Sparodically amusing, but similar ideas have been done...better.
The biggest laughs come before the opening credits! English title:
Louis
the 19th, King of the Airwaves. It was remade by Hollywood in
1999 as "Ed TV". sc. Emile Goudreault, Sylvie Bouchard and Michel
Michaud (from an original screenplay by Goudreault, Bouchard). d. Michel
Poulette. 93 min.
LOUIS THE 19th, KING OF THE AIRWAVES see Louis 19, le roi des ondes
LOUISIANA see Louisiana (TVMS)
LOUISIANA (TVMS)
* * setting: USA./other
(1984) (/France) Margot Kidder, Ian Charleson, Len
Cariou, Lloyd Bochner, Andrea Ferreol..... Woman (Kidder) returns to
her plantation home in the 1800s to find herself poor, but schemes her
way through trouble and two (count 'em, two) civil wars. If you can
stomach yet un autre glossy American Civil War drama, this one is better
done than some...but hardly fresh or original. Also a feature film,
available
on video, which, reportedly, is darn near incomprehensible. 6
hours. sc: Charles Israel, Dominique Fabre, Etienne Perier (from
two novels by Maurice Denuziere). dir: Philippe DeBroca.
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