”I’m afraid of connections.”

This line of dialogue is spoken by the film’s protagonist, Margot, a pretty tomboyish journalist and the type of person who only ever exists within the world of films. She is in fact talking about the connections made at airports but the line is obviously smothered in laughably unsubtle subtext just in case the audience misses writer-director, Sarah Polley’s intent. Frustratingly it is representative of a film that is so on-the-nose and contrived that it is impossible to invest in this young woman’s dilemma. That dilemma comes in the form of a tentative affair with her neighbour whilst the romance in her marriage has long since subsided into passion-free contentment.

Polley’s debut feature, Away from Her,…

If someone were to point out my favorite thing(s) to read, even more than a great novel, it would be essays about something that affected them so deeply that they felt compelled to write about it. It can be short, or it can be 20 pages long. A great author of this approach would be Lester Bangs, who wrote beautifully indulgent music reviews in such an intensely personal way that were so resonant, that for the right reader, you might want to hug the guy for articulating exactly what music can really mean in a way that you’ve been trying to express yourself. I certainly didn’t always agree with Bangs, but I always identified with how insanely wonderful the experience…

Straight up, this movie looks absolutely gorgeous. Some dude named Luc Montpellier is the cinematographer and I think that the Canadian government should pay this guy a salary of fifty thousand dollars a year, for the rest of his life, just because of how gorgeous this movie looks. I guarantee that Toronto has never, and will never, look better in a film. All the colors are rich & vibrant, and the camera movement is out of sight. See this movie just to see how gorgeous it looks. Now, on to the film itself.

I see the film as the idea of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl put into a real world person and how terrible that idea actually is. The character…

Review In A Nutshell:

Sarah Polley’s Take This Waltz is a frustrating experience, it provides audiences with a look at the difficulties of marriage, how there will be days where one would lost that sense of spark, and everyday becomes mundane and uneventful; protagonist Margot is finding herself slowly frustrated with her position, craving for something more, which an offer does arise with her across the street neighbour, Daniel.

Polley simply didn’t want the film to be your run of the mill take on marriage, friendships, and temptations; it attempts to become something much more, by attempting to flesh out the protagonist, provide her with complexities that make her feel like a real character, rather than a tool to push…

Part of A Film A Day

"You think everything can be worked out if you just make the right move? That must be thrilling... Life has a gap in it. It just does. You don't go crazy trying to fill it like some lunatic."

Take This Waltz is a film I wanted to love so much, but I just couldn't bring myself to ignoring all the flaws the film had. Personally, I watched this because of Seth Rogen and Michelle Williams, whom I absolutely love; in this film, and out of it. Williams gives a magnificent performance as Margot, an insecure, middle aged woman who's married to Rogen's character, Lou.

Now, I had a teacher once who said that Seth…

Movie #2202: Take this Waltz

VIDEO KILLED THE RADIO STAR, but it didn't kill this movie.

Honestly I was surprised by Sarah Polley's second little indie feature. At first this film is wholly unlikable and devoid of any real emotion, but as it progressed I found this film to be a unique if not uneven adventure inside the mind of a woman. I find it hard to understand my opposing gender, due to the problem of what women really want never being expressed and this film was as insightful as it was damning to my idea of women. This isn't a romance prior to contrary belief and I can see why people hate it. It doesn't give you what you…