Better Days

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Paid attendance of 452 in total plus 13 AFF staff.  

$1000 was donated to the Hamilton Out of the Cold Program from the proceeds. 

300 submitted their ratings for Better Days.  

5: Excellent  - 101   (34%)
4: Very Good-  91    (30%)
3: Good -         77    (26%)
2: Poor -          22    (  7%)
1: Very Poor -   9     (  3%)

Better Days is a comedy-drama that explores starting over after a family tragedy, with a great cast led by Sonja Smits (Street Legal, Videodrome, Owning Mahoney) and Alix Sideris. Directed by Joan Carr-Wiggin (Getting to Know You, Happily Ever After), the film showcases her distinctive approach to film making and follows the story of a woman trying to figure out her new life, which while complicated by her adult children and friends, might benefit from the help of three teenagers.  Better Days offers a refreshing blend of comedy and drama from an inspirational filmmaker. Better Days was filmed in Sault Ste. Marie.

All proceeds to Hamilton Out of the Cold. 

Thanks to our Season Sponsor: Rastin's Wilson Street PharmaChoice Pharmacy

Time: 100 min

BUY TICKETS HERE: https://secure1.tixhub.com/memorialarts/Procurement/lindexfmk.asp?cboPerformances=332&cboEvent=163&iEvents_id=163

Reviews

Better Days sometimes seems headed into Hallmark Movie territory, only to be smartly snapped out of it by Carr-Wiggin’s writing.  ... Weirdly, it’s tempting to imagine what Better Days would be with a big Hollywood budget, a sort of Nancy Meyers-esque frothy thing with A-list movie stars and fabulous production values. And maybe all the incisive writing toned down for a mainstream audience.  ....  Yeah, forget that idea.  Liz Braun, Alliance of Women Film Journalists

Much of the success of Better Days is due to a remarkable performance by Smits as the grieving Kate. By handing the reins to the veteran Smits, Better Days is in the best of hands. By leaning into the madness of the moment, Smits is absolutely on fire from beginning to end. This is a film that delves into the chaos of grief and, as a result, requires a chaotic performance but she knows exactly when to hit the right notes. And Better Days’ unique tone gives Smits ample material with which to play. With moments ranging from comedy to gravitas, she offers a beautiful and complete performance. Steve Norton/Screen Fish

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/better_days_2023

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt19315304/

213 plus 9 AFF staff in attendance

$1000 donated to Ancaster Food Drive from this screening and Rose

Ratings for The Teachers' Lounge (131 submissions)

5: Excellent     41 (31%)
4: Very Good   47 (36%)
3: Good           32  (24%)
2: Poor              6  ( 5%)

1: Very Poor      5  ( 4%)

Carla Nowak (Leonie Benesch) is a dedicated, idealistic young teacher in her first job at a German middle school. Her relaxed rapport with her seventh-grade students is put under stress when a series of thefts occur at the school, and a staff investigation leads to accusations and mistrust among outraged parents, opinionated colleagues, and angry students. Caught in the middle of these complex dynamics, Carla tries to mediate—but the more she tries to do everything right, the more desperate her position becomes.

98 min

German with English subtitles

Proceeds to the Ancaster Community Drive

Thanks to our Season SponsorL Rastin's Pharmacy

Time: 106 min

BUY TICKETS HERE: https://www.memorialarts.ca/films/rose

Awards

Nominated for an Academy Award: Best International Film

Berlin Film Festival: won Europa Cinemas award
German Film Awards: won Best Picture, Actress, Screenplay and Director
National U.S. Board Review: nominated one of top 5 International Films
Palm Springs Film Festival: won Director to Watch
Valladolid Film Festival: won Best Editing
Nominated for 17 other international awards

Reviews

A nail-biting thriller in which director İlker Çatak and sensational star Leonie Benesch turn a tale of petty theft at a German middle school into a battle between freedom of expression and institutional control all too easily recognizable as our own. Peter Travers ABC news

The Teachers’ Lounge is a pulse-pounding exploration of the ways we draw lines between enemies and friends, and the courage it takes to blur them. Sheri Linden/Hollywood Reporter

A gripping story of idealism battered by bruising reality, high-handed authority and arrogant, misguided students who organize themselves to achieve maximum chaos, “Lounge” is a cautionary slice of education in an “Every parent’s an expert” era. Roger Moore/Movie Nation

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt26612950/

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt26612950/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

Attendance: 309 plus 8 AFF Staff

$1500 donated to the Ancaster Community Services for the March 25 screenings

Ratings (Freud - 155 submitted)

5: Excellent -    33  (21%)

4: Very Good - 57  (37%)

3: Good -          46  (30%)

2: Poor -            15. (9.5%)

1: Very Poor -     3.  (2.5%)

On the eve of the Second World War, two of the greatest minds on the twentieth century, C.S. Lewis  (Matthew Goode) and Sigmund Freud (Anthony Hopkins) converge for their own personal battle over the existence of God. FREUD’S LAST SESSION interweaves the lives of Freud and Lewis, past, present, and through fantasy, bursting from the confines of Freud’s study on a dynamic journey.  Directed by Matthew Brown (The Man Who Knew Infinity).

Proceeds to the Ancaster Community Services

Thanks to our Season SponsorL Rastin's Pharmacy

Time: 122 min

BUY TICKETS HERE: tickets for sale online shortly

Awards

Nomination: Best Actor (Anthony Hopkins) - Movies for Grownups Award

Reviews

Just when you think you know everything Hopkins can do, he digs down and comes up with something new. Mick LaSalle San Francisco Chronicle

Freud's Last Session is a film for those who enjoy acting at its finest. Richard Proeps/The Independent Critic

The script also tells us an enormous amount about these two men, both in what they say and what they don’t. By the conclusion, we have a good idea of what they believe, why they believe it, and how they feel about the other. Tim Brennan/About Boulder

Anthony Hopkins gives another mesmerizing performance as Sigmund Freud, during his (wholly conjectured) meeting with author and Christian convert C.S. Lewis. Christopher Lloyd/The Film Yap

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt20420628/

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/freuds_last_session

260 + 8 AFF staff in attendance

$900 donated to Neighbour to Neighbour from the April 29th screenings

(212 submitted ratings)

5: Excellent - 205

4: Very Good -  7

3: Good -          5

Based on the book If It's Not Impossible...: The Life of Sir Nicholas Winton by Barbara Winton, ONE LIFE tells the incredible, emotional true story of Nicholas 'Nicky' Winton (Johnny Flynn), a young London broker who visits Prague in December 1938. In a race against time, Winton convinces Trevor Chadwick (Alex Sharp) and Doreen Warriner (Romola Garai) of the British Committee for Refugees in Czechoslovakia to rescue hundreds of predominantly Jewish children before Nazi occupation closes the borders. Fifty years later, Nicky (Anthony Hopkins) is haunted by the fate of the children he wasn't able to bring to safety in England. It's not until the BBC show "That's Life!" re-introduces him to some of those he helped rescue that he finally begins to come to terms with the guilt and grief he carried -- all the while skyrocketing from anonymity to a national hero.

Time: 109 min

Season Sponsor: Rastin's Pharmacy

Film Date Sponsor: Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club

BUY TICKETS HERE: off sale

Reviews

As we continue to grapple with today’s issues of war, refugee crisis and growing antisemitism, the film’s relevance is so troubling that you cannot fail to be moved by it. Rex Reed/Observer

“One Life” tells a story that needed to be told and tells it impeccably. Mick L:aSalle/San Francisco Chronicle

[A] handsome and soberly stirring period piece... RobbieCollin/Daily Telegraph(UK)

The film does justice to this overwhelmingly moving event in British public life in a quietly affecting drama. Peter Bradshaw/The Guardian

Serves as an urgent reminder of the importance of individual action at a time when the world refugee crisis is at a scale not seen since the Second World War. Alissa Simon/Variety

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13097932/

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/one_life

210 +11 AFF staff in attendance

$800 donated to Cancer Assistance Program from the May 13 screenings 

(172 submitted ratings)

5: Excellent -   149

4: Very Good -  22

3: Good -            1

The Old Oak is the last pub standing in a once thriving mining village in northern England, a gathering space for a community that has fallen on hard times. There is growing anger, resentment, and a lack of hope among the residents, but the pub and its proprietor TJ are a fond presence to their customers. When a group of Syrian refugees move into the floundering village, a decisive rift fueled by prejudices develops between the community and its newest inhabitants. The formation of an unexpected friendship between TJ and a young Syrian woman named Yara opens up new possibilities for the divided village in this deeply moving drama about loss, fear, and the difficulty of finding hope. The release of The Old Oak reunites legendary British director Ken Loach with Zeitgeist Films and Kino Lorber following our 2020 release of his film Sorry We Missed You. Loach, who is 87 years old, has announced that The Old Oak will be his final film.

Thanks to our Season Sponsor Rastin's Pharmacy

Film Day Sponsor: Olive Tree Wealth Management (Matthew Moccio) and Famee Furlane (Peter Narduzzi)

Proceeds to Cancer Assistance Program

Time: 113 min

Awards

Ghent International Film Festival: won Best Film

Lucarno International Film Festival: won Audience Award

Palm Springs International Film Festival: on Bridging the Borders (Special Mention)

Valladolid International Film Festival: won Best Film and Best Actor

Cinefest Sudbury: won Audience Award

Palic Film Festival: won Audience Award

Calgary International Film Festival: won Audience Award (Special Presentations)

Reviews

It's as engrossing, thoughtful, heartfelt, angry, hopeful, and altogether valuable as his best work. If it is indeed Loach's farewell, it's one hell of a fine note to go out on. Matt Zolter Seitz/RogerEbert.com

An intimate but ambitiously mounted ensemble piece, The Old Oak ranks among Loach’s foremost state-of-the-nation dramas. Jonathan Romney/Screen Daily

The third part in a loose, geographically defined trilogy, as sensitively penned by Loach collaborator Paul Laverty, The Old Oak is a gentler film than the stark austerity painted by I, Daniel Blake or the chilling dissection of the gig economy in Sorry We Missed You. The film is, however, astute in its depiction of a disenfranchised community,  Tara Braley/The Irish Times

[Loach] could hardly have delivered a more resonant, timely or indeed angry swan song than this feature which takes up arms against the decay of national compassion. Jonathan Romney/Screen International.

I hope that this isn’t Loach’s final film, but if it is, he has concluded with a ringing statement of faith in compassion for the oppressed. Peter Bradshaw/The Guardian

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt19883634/

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_old_oak

157 paid attendance

$500 donated to the DeMazenod Door Outreach Program from the May 27th screenings

Perfect Days (116 submitted ratings)

5: Excellent   26

4: Very Good 41

3: Good         37

2. Poor            9

1. Very Poor    3

A beautiful tale woven by master German filmmaker Wim Wenders and acclaimed Japanese actor Koji Yakusho.  A work of fiction with the feel of a documentary.  A film that only Wenders, who has perfected the art of both, could have brought to the screen.  Hailed at the Cannes Film Festival as Wenders’ greatest masterpiece in recent years,

Hirayama (Koji Yakusho) works as a public toilet cleaner in Shibuya, Tokyo. His is a calm, quiet existence.  Every day, he wakes up at the same time, gets ready the same way, and works the same way. Though his life may seem monotonous, no two days are ever the same, and he steps into each new day with a serene optimism.  Hirayama’s way of life exudes a gentle beauty.  He loves trees and gazing at komorebi,  the shimmering of light and shadows that is created by leaves swaying in the wind.  But unexpected events create ripples in his life that reach back into his past.

Time: 109 min

Season Sponsor: Rastin's Pharmacy

Film Date Sponsor: Retail Prophet

BUY TICKETS HERE: https://www.memorialarts.ca/films/perfect-days

Academy awards: nominated for Best International Film

Cannes: won Best Actor and the Ecumenical Jury Prize

Sofia International Film Festival: won Best Film

Asian Film Awards: won Best Actor

Montclair Film Festival: won Jury Prize

Awards of the Japanese Academy: won Best Film, Best Director

Nominated for 37 other international awards

Reviews

The fact that writer-director Wim Wenders has called a movie about cleaning toilets “Perfect Days” might strike some viewers as the height of absurdity, even perverse humor. But once they get a glimpse of Hirayama in action, the dreams (literal and figurative) behind the drudgery reveal themselves in a series of revelatory moments. Ann Hornaday/Washington Post

By the close, the picture risks taking on the quality of those allegorical novels that provided solace in the post-hippie era. Jonathan Livingstone Lavatory Cleaner. Zen and the Art of Lavatory Maintenance. But better than that. Sharper, less sentimental, less aphoristic. A film to live your life by. Donald Clark/Irish Times

Perfect Days is another masterwork from Wenders, a recognition of life’s curiosities, the small details that make it all worthwhile, and finding beauty in the overlooked things in life. Ross Bonaime/Collider

The director has crafted a film of deceptive simplicity, observing the tiny details of a routine existence with such clarity, soulfulness and empathy that they build a cumulative emotional power almost without you noticing. David Rooney/Hollywood Reporter

A sweet and sad slice-of-life about the comfort and sorrow of solitary repetition, buoyed by a Yakusho performance that rightly earned him the Best Actor prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Nick Shager/Dailey Beast

Pay attention to the shadows in Perfect Days. Pay attention also to the trees, to the ways Hirayama (Koji Yakusho) looks at them. They’re as much a character in the story as he is. Alissa Wilkinson/New York Times

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27503384/

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/perfect_days_2023

Attendance 217

$500 donated to the Good Shepherd

Ratings:

Ezra (182 submitted ratings)

5: Excellent     143   (79%)

4: Very Good    37   (20%)

3: Good              1

2: Poor               0

1: Very Poor       1

Divorced stand-up comedian Max Bernal struggles to raise his autistic son, Ezra. Forced to confront difficult decisions about the boy's future, Max and Ezra embark on a cross-country road trip that has a transcendent impact on both of their lives. Starring Bobby Cannavale, William Fitzgerald, Rose Byrne, Robert DeNiro, Vera Farming, Rainn Wilson, Whoopi Goldberg, Tony Goldwyn

100 min

Season Sponsor: Rastin's Pharmacy

Film Date Sponsor: Retail Prophet

BUY TICKETS HERE: https://www.memorialarts.ca/films/ezra

Awards

Boulder International Film Festival: won Best Feature Film

Sun Valley Film Festival: won Audience Award, Best Actor (Bobby Cannavale)

Reviews

Cannavale channels the emotional complexities and vulnerabilities of his character with compassionate clarity. Randy Meyers/San Jose Mercury News

What could have been a maudlin tale is instead a moving family drama thanks to the skill of a great cast. Liz Braun/Original Cin

Cannavale puts it all on the line as Ezra’s dad, one of his best performances, his timing right on target as a stand-up comic, his anxiety screaming from his pores. Laura Clifford/Reeling Reviews

Contrary to what one might think, its premise is not limited to families with children on the autism spectrum: it is a profoundly human story that explores issues that concern us all. Luis Bond/Diarios Las Americas

Warm, wise and wonderful. It's a captivating, funny and heartfelt journey well worth taking. Bobby Cannavale gives one the best performances of his career. William Fitzgerald is a revelation. Avi Offer/NYC Movie Guru

Goldwyn's film never feels disingenuous as there is a clear amount of love and affection that was put into telling this story the right way. Nate Richard/Collider

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt20315818/

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ezra_2024

Thelma  (293 paid attendance plus 11 AFF staff, 192 submitted ratings)

5: Excellent     138

4: Very Good.   36

3: Good             12

2: Poor.               5

1: Very Poor.       1

$750 donated to Parkinson's Canada in memory of Bill Morris.

The feature directorial debut of Josh Margolin, THELMA is an action-comedy that gives veteran Oscar®️ nominee June Squibb (NEBRASKA) her first leading role and features the final performance of trailblazing actor Richard Roundtree (SHAFT). Squibb, who did many of her own stunts in the film, plays Thelma Post, a feisty 93-year-old grandmother who gets conned by a phone scammer pretending to be her grandson (The White Lotus’ Fred Hechinger) and sets out on a treacherous quest across Los Angeles, accompanied by an aging friend (Roundtree) and his motorized scooter, to reclaim what was taken from her. Parker Posey, Clark Gregg, and Malcolm McDowell also star.   Inspired by a real-life experience of Margolin’s own grandmother, THELMA puts a clever spin on movies like MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE, shining the spotlight on an elderly grandmother as an unlikely action hero. With infectious humor, Margolin employs the familiar tropes of the action genre in hilarious, age-appropriate ways to tackle aging with agency. In the first leading film role of her 70-year career, Squibb portrays the strong-willed Thelma with grit and determination, demonstrating that she is more than capable of taking care of business – despite what her daughter Gail (Posey), son-in-law Alan (Gregg), or grandson Danny might believe.
98 min

Season Sponsor: Rastin's Pharmacy

Proceeds to Parkinson Canada and Cancer Assistance Program in Memory of Bill Morris

BUY TICKETS HERE: https://www.memorialarts.ca/films/thelma

Awards

Won Awards at the Sarasota Film Festival, Calgary Underground Film Festival, Desertscape International Film Festival, Cleveland International Film Festival, Provincetown International Film Festival 

Reviews

[June Squibb], the lively actor on the verge of another Oscar nomination, has been liberated to be a leading lady for once in a 40-year career. The thieves may have grabbed this grandma’s stash, but Thelma steals the audience’s hearts.  Thelma Adams/AARP films for Grownups

Thelma is warm, accomplished and extremely witty - poking affectionate fun at the ageing process and proving you're never too old to get stuck into an adventure. Emma Simmonds/Radio Times

On top of the delightful performances by its entire cast and those winking action sequences, Thelma is genuinely one of the funniest films I’ve seen in a while. Max Weiss/Baltimore Magazine

A tender comedy at heart, Thelma is a delightful romp that focuses on the different textures of the human experience and the poignant (and sometimes very silly) moments that come with it. Sarah Tai-Black/The Globe and Mail

This is ultimately Squibb’s show and she delivers, like she always does. She should have been leading pictures the whole time and finally did something about it. Lindsay Baer/Associated Press

Thelma’s adventures with her assisted-living chum (the late Richard Roundtree) generated some of the best laughs from any film in the fest, and those scenes between grandma and grandson touched my soul. Randy Myers/San Jose Mercury News

Margolin hails from improv comedy and he’s based Thelma on his own grandma; there’s much love and humour in this most unlikely of action movies. Peter Howell/Toronto Star

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt23778968/

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/thelma_2024

320 plus 12 AFF staff attended the screening.   $1000 was donated to the DeMazenod Door Outreach from this screening and the screening of Sing Sing.

Ratings for the Great Escaper

216 submitted ratings
5:excellent - 196
4: Very Good - 20

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In the summer of 2014 - the 70th Anniversary of the D-Day Landings - octogenarian Bernie Jordan made global headlines. He’d staged a “great escape” from his care home to join fellow war veterans on a beach in Normandy, commemorating their fallen comrades.

It was a story that captured the imagination of the world - Bernie seemed to embody the defiant, “can-do” spirit of a generation that was fast disappearing.

But of course, it wasn’t the whole story. It was the story we all tell ourselves to make war and old age bearable. The bitter-sweet script explores the reality with wit and a very big heart.

Bernie’s adventure, spanning a mere 48 hours, also marked the culmination of his 60-year marriage to Rene – the story celebrates their love without sentimentality and with an eye to the lessons we can all learn from the Greatest Generation.

96 min

Season Sponsor: Rastin's Pharmacy

Proceeds to the DeMazenod Door Outreach

BUY TICKETS HERE: https://www.memorialarts.ca/films/the-great-escaper

Awards

Barcelona San Jorde International Film Festival: won Best Actor (Michael Caine)

Reviews

This is a rather modest and simple drama, but it is one of the most important films of the year: it offers the last opportunity to see two legends of cinema together on the screen. Ernesto Diezmartinez/Letras Libres

Oliver Parker's credit that The Great Escaper avoids these pitfalls, yet remains both moving and effective. Parker never patronizes Bernard, nor does he lean into any over-the-top patriotic nonsense, something so often found in movies that are similar. Stefan Papa/Common Sense Media

Tender at times, moving at others, with a touch of humor so that the sorrow dissipates a little, The Great Escaper is one of those films that are no longer made. Pablo O. Scholtz /Clarin

For that reason, it in tandem explores – particularly through Jackson’s superb performance as Rene – the privilege of making it to old age, especially with someone you love. Stephen Romei/The Australian

[Caine and Jackson] sell even the more on-the-nose moments in William Ivory’s script, and add gravitas to what could easily have been a patronising narrative. Hanna Strong/London Evening Standard

Oliver Parker’s retelling of this hero-for-a-day saga, with its salty script by William (Made in Dagenham) Ivory, could have been a lot cuddlier. I’m glad it isn’t. Tim Robey/Daily Telegraph

A moving and surprisingly nuanced drama offering far more than flag-waving nostalgia. Superb performances from Michael Caine and Glenda Jackson. Lou Thomas/Empire Magazine

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14124080/

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_great_escaper

220 attended the screening of Crossing.  There were also about 10 AFF staff.  $900 will be donated to the Hamilton Out of the Cold from the screenings on November 4.  The audiences' ratings follow. Thanks so much for your support and feedback.

Crossing (141 ratings submitted)
5: Excellent    17
4: Very Good 64
3: Good          47
2: Poor            13
1: Bad               0

From acclaimed director Levan Akin (And Then We Danced), CROSSING is a moving and tender tale of identity, acceptance and unlikely connection that transcends borders and generations. Lia, a retired school teacher living in Georgia, hears from a young neighbor Achi that her long lost niece Tekla, a transgender woman, has crossed the border into Turkey. Hoping to bring Tekla home after a period of estrangement, Lia travels to Istanbul with the unpredictable Achi to find her. Akin's third feature is a heartfelt portrayal of overcoming the degrees of separation that divide us.
Turkish and English subtitles

105 min

Season Sponsor: Rastin's Pharmacy

Film Date Sponsor: MacKay, Brehm and Smith, Professional Organization

Proceeds to Hamilton Out of the Cold

BUY TICKETS HERE: https://www.memorialarts.ca/films/crossing

Awards

Winner Jury Award and 2nd place Audience Award: Berlin International Film Festival

Winner Jury Award: Guadalajara International Film Festival

Winner Feature Film: Sofia Pride Film Festival

Reviews

Crossing is terrific: a rich and rewarding tapestry of characters and cultures flung together and flourishing. Wendy Ide/The Observer (UK)

Akin’s approach feels so tied to novel-writing — with shifts in perspectives and at least one plot-twisting formal deceit that whiplashes you only to leave you breathless and a bit swoony — and yet the axis around which his universe orbits is entirely cinematic, and universal. Ryan Lattanzio/Indiewire

Akin doesn’t untangle his main character’s inner life; rather, he simply recognizes that healing is a process that both begins with oneself and is aided by those we allow into our lives and hearts. Nick Schafer/The Daily Beast

Another film would make this Istanbul of sex workers and street kids the stage for something brutal and didactic. Akin gives even the shabbiest address the hint of a picture book, and matches every sadness with optimism. Danny Leigh/Financial Times

A thoroughly intelligent, emotionally engaging and robustly performed movie from Levan Akin, the Georgian-Swedish director who had an international breakthrough four years ago with the love story And Then We Danced. Peter Bradshaw/The Guardian

Akin makes a calculated choice to raise awareness of the trans community in Istanbul, but he does so through representation rather than manipulation. Peter DeBruge/Variety

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27417166/

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/crossing_2024