It’s the weekend again, and that means Film Focus. Here’s Mike Laidman with what’s new in local theaters.




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The Oscar nominations were recently announced, and so there’s going to be another push behind some of last year’s best movies. And luckily, we’ve got two of the best right here. There’s no need to be worried about any staid, plain, heavy dramas here. Both of this week’s openers - Lion and Arrival - check the boxes for Oscar material while also offering compelling drama, great characters, and action.

Strap in, and get ready for the journeys ahead. We’re on the road to India, with a stopover in the cosmos.

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Mike Laidman

Welcome to another edition of Film Focus. I’m Mike Laidman.

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Lion (2017, Garth Davis)
An adopted Indian boy sets out to find his family.

From Slumdog Millionaire, to The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, to The Man Who Knew Infinity, Dev Patel has shown that he has the range and power to hold a movie together. Now, add Lion to that list.

Five-year-old Saroo gets lost on a train which takes him thousands of kilometers across India, away from home and family. Saroo must learn to survive alone in Kolkata, before ultimately being adopted by an Australian couple. Twenty-five years later, armed with only a handful of memories, his unwavering determination, and a revolutionary technology known as Google Earth, he sets out to find his lost family and finally return to his first home.

The movie doesn’t steer away from showing child poverty on the streets of Kolkata, lending it some gritty realism. But at the same time, it doesn’t take its post-modern odyssey too seriously, with a light, artistic touch that doesn't let too much of the heavy drama underneath seep through. With an uplifting story and talented cast, make Lion a movie you see before it roars out of theatres.


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Arrival (2016, Denis Villeneuve)
A linguistics professor must communicate with aliens.

When mysterious spacecraft touch down across the globe, an elite team - lead by expert linguist Louise Banks - are brought together to investigate. As mankind teeters on the verge of global war, Banks and the team race against time for answers - and to find them, she will take a chance that could threaten her life, and quite possibly humanity.

It’s amazing what Hollywood will do sometimes to try and give their movie broader appeal. While this sounds like a souped-up version of some other movie, but is actually true, Arrival doesn’t come across this way at all.

Instead, it delivers a must-see experience for fans of - and this is important - the thinking person's sci-fi that anchors its heady themes with genuinely affecting emotion and a terrific performance from Amy Adams. More gentle sci-fi thriller than anything, it also showcases the directorial talents of Denis Villeneuve. Don’t miss this one.