Unpacking the astonishing life of Orson Welles
Documentary deftly uses new and archival interviews to shed light on late actor
Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles
From theatre- world wunderkind to Hollywood maverick to reluctant frozen- peas pitchman, Orson Welles lived one of the most eventful lives of the 20th century.
And while it’s a struggle to pack all of the highlights into a single documentary, a new release at the Bloor does an admirably efficient job.
Directed by Chuck Workman and released to coincide with the 100th anniversary of its subject’s
birth, Magician: The Astonishing Life
and Work of Orson Welles deftly combines new and archival interviews and excerpts from a vast body of work that is as extraordinary as it is notoriously unwieldy and incomplete. ( Indeed, The Other
Side of the Wind — one of many projects that Welles left unfinished at the time of his death in 1985 — is being readied for release later this year.)
Workman solicits comments from biographers, intimates and such admirers as Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese to help shed light on Welles’ saga.
Nevertheless, it’s the big man who dominates the proceedings here, whether he’s holding court on talk shows or starring in iconic scenes in Citizen Kane, Chimes at Midnight and The Lady from Shanghai. Magician plays the Bloor Friday to Thursday.
Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead
Though it may not boast the same production values as Mad Max: Fury
Road, another wild new flick from Down Under still delivers plenty of postapocalyptic mayhem. A horror comedy that played Toronto After Dark last fall and returns for a theatrical run, Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead also provides some valuable new tips for anyone who hopes to survive the coming zombie plague. ( For starters, keep a hockey mask handy.)
It begins a weeklong run at Cineplex Cinemas Yonge Dundas on Friday at 9: 30 p. m.
Dreaming in Technicolor and more ’ 80s flicks at Lightbox
TIFF launches two summer series this week, starting with a tribute to the technology that revolutionized the movie business. Dreaming in Technicolor presents digital and 35 mm screenings of Hollywood classics such as Singin’ in the Rain ( Friday at 6: 30 p. m.) and Bonnie and Clyde ( Tuesday at 6: 30 p. m.). Guests include film preservationist Grover Crisp, who introduces Lawrence of
Arabia on Saturday at 2 p. m., and director Norman Jewison, who presents Fiddler on the Roof on June 28 at 3: 30 p. m. On a more tubular tip, Lightbox digs deep for Back to the ‘ 80s 2: Electric Boogaloo. The hiphop flick Wild Style kicks off the awesome slate on Friday at 9 p. m.
My One Demand at Luminato
The British artist group Blast Theory turns the whole city into a set for a live real- time movie event at Luminato.
On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, local film and stage stalwarts such as Julian Richings and Maggie Huculak hit the streets with cameras in tow to star in a roving ensemble drama that will make use of many familiar locales.
These activities will be witnessed by viewers who’ll either be watching on a screen in TIFF Bell Lightbox or on tablets or computers wherever they like.
Duly intrigued moviegoers can visit luminatofestival.com to book their seats ( both real and virtual) or register for free screenings at sites in Scarborough, Etobicoke and North York on June 26.
What Now? Remind Me
In their latest valiant effort to present new marvels of world cinema that have been unusually slow to play Toronto, the team at MDFF host the local premiere of What Now? Remind
Me, an acclaimed and acutely personal film by the great Portuguese director Joaquim Pinto. The 164minute documentary charts Pinto’s experiences as he undergoes a yearlong clinical trial for a new HIV treatment.
Pinto may claim that “my life is uneventful,” in the opening moments but the rest of his engaging, insightful film — a major prizewinner at the Locarno festival in 2013 — suggests otherwise. What Now? Remind Me plays the Royal onTuesday at 7 p. m.
Outdoor screenings:
What with NXNE happening all over town this weekend, the music- centric slant of this summer’s program of free outdoor flicks at Yonge- Dundas Square seems especially fitting. It continues after sunset on Tuesday with a David Bowie double feature of the high- gloss vampire pic The Hun
ger and the concert movie Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.
Then on Wednesday, the Open Roof Festival continues at 99 Sudbury with the Duplass brothers’ new comedy
The Overnight and live music by Del
Bel.