July 19, 2024

WIFF’S WEEKEND WATCH LIST — 7/19

Check out our recommendations of what to watch this weekend.

if you love a good crime drama

the bikeriders

Vincent Georgie: Boasting an appealing cast lead by Tom Hardy and Austin Butler, American filmmaker Jeff Nichols has crafted an engaging, edgy and ultimately engrossing film about divided loyalties. Worth the watch.

Synopsis: Over the course of a decade, a Midwestern motorcycle club evolves from a gathering place for local outsiders to a sinister gang, threatening the original group’s way of life.

Available on Apple TV, Amazon Prime and YouTube.

if you want a gentle drama

the old oak

Vincent Georgie: Longtime British filmmaker Ken Loach announced his retirement with this tender, unpretentious and deeply humane story of a community struggling to do the best they can in a changing landscape. Casting widely unknown, non-professional actors allows for the working-class heart of the story to shine through. A fave from WIFF 2023.

Synopsis: A pub owner in a previously thriving mining community struggles to hold onto his establishment. Meanwhile, tensions rise in the town when Syrian refugees are placed in empty houses within the community.

Available on Apple TV.

if you want a Canadian hidden gem

margaret’s museum

Vincent Georgie: Boasting a terrific ensemble cast lead by Helena Bonham-Carter, this Canadian production has lots of heart, melodrama and a strong sense of East Coast life. A very fine film. A widely accoladed film, especially for its actors.

Synopsis: In a small mining town in 1940s Nova Scotia, Margaret (Helena Bonham Carter) grows to despise the mines after her brother and dad die working there. She then meets Neil (Clive Russell), a bagpipe player who’s just as put off by the hard work of rural living as she is. Though her mother disapproves, Margaret and Neil get married, and Neil promises to find work outside of the mines. This proves impossible, though, and Neil is forced to work with the rest of the town’s men, with tragic results.

DOUBLE FEATURE

all hail, mad max

Vincent Georgie: Come for the kinetic, inventive and jarringly engrossing re-invention of Mad Max from 2015, and stay for the its inevitable prequel released earlier this Summer. These are high-quality action/fantasy films at their finest.

mad max: Fury Road

Years after the collapse of civilization, the tyrannical Immortan Joe enslaves apocalypse survivors inside the desert fortress the Citadel. When the warrior Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) leads the despot’s five wives in a daring escape, she forges an alliance with Max Rockatansky (Tom Hardy), a loner and former captive. Fortified in the massive, armored truck the War Rig, they try to outrun the ruthless warlord and his henchmen in a deadly high-speed chase through the Wasteland.

Available on Apple TV and Amazon Prime.

furiosa: a mad max saga

Snatched from the Green Place of Many Mothers, young Furiosa falls into the hands of a great biker horde led by the warlord Dementus. Sweeping through the Wasteland, they come across the Citadel, presided over by the Immortan Joe. As the two tyrants fight for dominance, Furiosa soon finds herself in a nonstop battle to make her way home.