Bonjour Tristesse: this part-Canadian remake by Durga Chew-Bose of the Otto Preminger 1958 classic has Chloe Sevigny in the Deborah Kerr role as the snobbish high-class matron. Every frame is beautifully shot by Maximilian Pittner and I thought Sevigny pulled off the role well. The problem was the often-fleeting dialogues among the other characters that seemed as languorous as the sun-drenched setting. A Different Man: Aaron Schimberg’s black comedy has a lot of assets including an intriguing premise and great score. A film about physical deformity turns into a character study with a bizarre, yet not really satisfying, twist. Firebrand: Karim Aïnouz’s take on Henry VIII’s rebellious – and last – wife, Katherine Parr is all Jude Law as the old awful monarch, an award-winning role. Alicia Vikander as the Regent is stiff and the script doesn’t give her a lot to work with. But the sets are probably accurate about how physically uncomfortable the 16th century monarchy actually was. It’s Raining Men was the perfect star vehicle for up-and-coming French actress Laure Calamy and she’s perfect in a surprisingly formulaic film where all ends well and no harm is done; there’s even a burst-out music and dance scene. Anora (Sean Baker) won the Cannes Palme d’Or and it won the WIFF LiUNA People’s Choice award. But it really did nothing for me, this one note story about a Brooklyn sex worker Anora (Mikey Madison) who falls in love with the immature and drug-addled scion (Mark Eydelshteyn) of a Russian oligarch and the ongoing craziness – with seemingly every third line having the f-word – of their relationship. But, ah, what do I know? Maria (Pablo Larrain) stars Angelina Jolie as the late great Greek opera singer Maria Callas but in the autumn of her life when she’s striving to make a comeback. It’s very atmospheric and Jolie is reasonably good but who steals the show is Haluk Bilginer as Aristotle Onassis. The Battle of St. Leonard is a fascinating documentary by Quebec filmmaker Félix Rose about a late 1960s language war between Montreal’s immigrant Italian community and French Quebecois. It marked an important milestone in that province’s quest for French equality and language rights though the main activist Raymond Lemieux paid an emotional price. Conclave by Edward Berger has the stars – Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, Sergio Castellitto and Isabella Rossellini - the lush sartorial trappings of elite Cardinals and the magnificent backdrop of the Sistine Chapel. Yet the intrigue and political gamesmanship plot gives way to a bizarre unexpected twist and a less than satisfying outcome. Skincare (Austin Peters) stars the versatile Elizabeth Banks based on a true story of the rivalry between two estheticians which spirals out of all proportion and demonstrates the twists to which the human mind is capable.
