SIFF Sighting: FROM NEURONS TO NIRVANA: THE GREAT MEDICINES (Documentary; Canada)

When we think of psychedelic drugs, most of our minds go directly to the acid-tripping 60s. Timothy Leary, The Beatles, the beat poets—the gang's all there in our instant perceptions of what drugs like LSD can do to the human body.

The doctors and scientists in this film want us to believe otherwise. They're on a mission to re-open the discussion around the potential medical benefits of such drugs.

Though "bad trips" can certainly be a consequence of abusing such substances, they argue that in a controlled environment with an appropriate dosage, great things can come of using them safely. They cite evidence from the jungles of the Amazon and other faraway places where the drugs are used to help alleviate human suffering.

Despite the powerful commentary, and the welcome archive footage, the interview presentation is somewhat cheesy, with psychedelic "effects" framing and interfering with the talking heads.

It would have been easier to take seriously without the theatrics.

FROM NEURONS TO NIRVANA: THE GREAT MEDICINES will be shown at the 40th Seattle International Film Festival May 24 and 25. For tickets, go here.

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SIFF Sighting: TAKE THIS WALTZ (Drama, Canada)

Margot (Michelle Williams) and Lou (Seth Rogen) are a happily (if not immature) married couple going through the motions of life. He's a cookbook writer; she spends her days hanging out with Lou's alcoholic sister Gerry (Sarah Silverman).

When it is discovered that cute Daniel (Luke Kirby) is her neighbor, Margot tests the waters of infidelity.

The performances here are first rate, but the story and tone have trouble deciding what they want to be.


TAKE THIS WALTZ screened at the 38th Annual Seattle International Film Festival.

SIFF Sighting: MOMMY IS AT THE HAIRDRESSER'S (drama; Canada)

We've all had times in our lives where we were ignorantly content—maybe our bills were paid, our job was secure and our loved ones were safe. Times where our biggest problems were finding the minutes to catch up on the newspapers or being late to a friend's dinner party.

The family in this film, the Gauvins, is in one of those zones, with the exception of the father, who is blissfully having an affair. While he tends to his mistress, his wife acts as the penultimate partner, and mother to their three children: the precocious Elise (Marianne Fortier), the inventive Coco (Elie Dupuis) and the possibly autistic Benoit (Hugo St-Onge-Paquin). She makes elaborate meals, plays the piano, looks after their education and maintains her looks with the utmost care.

When she is blindsided by the news of her husband's indiscretions, it's too much for her to take and she escapes to a new career in London, leaving behind the children that need her so desperately.

Each child is affected differently, but the weight of the loss weighs heaviest on Elise, who feels at once responsible for her younger brothers and reckless with anger. She begins to alternately disappear to a riverside retreat and rescue Benoit from various difficult situations. Marianne Fortier plays the role with such steadfast conviction, you almost have to wonder if she's endured an abandonment in real life.

Another great tidbit about the film is the authentic feel of the 60s—we can tell from the cat-eye glasses, the cars, and the Beatles references that we're in that era, but none of it feels forced.

With superb performances and a pitch-perfect lacing of Beethoven to give it the perfect touch, I can't help but recommend this film.

MOMMY IS AT THE HAIRDRESSER'S screened at the 35th Annual Seattle International Film Festival.

SIFF SIGHTING: SAVING LUNA (documentary; Canada)

You don't have to be a whale-lover to be significantly moved by the documentary SAVING LUNA.

Married journalists Suzanne Chisholm and Michael Parfit tell of their journey reporting on a curious situation that began in 2001 in Vancouver Island.

A baby orca from the L-pod named Luna separated from her family in the San Juan Islands of Washington state shortly after birth and traveled to Nootka Sound in Canada. As it is highly out of character for whales to isolate themselves, this action seriously concerned local fish and wildlife authorities and scientists.

Even more stunning was the apparent thirst for human attention that Luna craved, constantly swimming near boats and "talking" with fisherman and dock workers.

The townspeople quickly fell in love with the orca and adopted him as a nearly domesticated pet--until the authorities intervened and forbid humans to make contact with him (even fining folks who broke the rules $100). This was devastating and counterintuitive to many and a battle soon ensued between the native people of the area, the observers who liked Luna's company and the Canadian Fish and Wildlife organization that was going to attempt to reunite him with his pod by way of nets and cars.

I won't say more than that, as it would spoil the ending, but I will say that this superb film was crafted with such humor and compassion that anyone who doesn't have an emotional reaction to it upon viewing it has to be heartless.

The personality and intelligence of the orca made me want to pack up my things and move to a remote beach where my best friends would only be whales.

They're much more appealing than many of the humans that I've encountered.

SAVING LUNA screened at the 34th Annual Seattle International Film Festival and will next be shown at the Napa/Sonoma Wine Country Film Festival in California.

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Cinebanter #34: SICKO

The MP3 file of Cinebanter 34 is available here.

In this episode, Michael and Tassoula pray they won't get sick as they reflect on SICKO. They also share their Last Five®, and discuss the IMDB top 20 documentaries. Tassoula closes out the episode with some show notes. The breakdown is as follows:

• 00:00 Intro
• 00:32 SICKO Discussion
• Break
• 27:23 To Sum It Up
• Break
• 28:05 The Last Five®
• Break
• 42:31 Documentaries Discussion
• Break
• 55:54 Show Notes
• 58:26 Credits and Outtakes

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Michael's Last Five in this episode were: APOCALYPTO, PARIS, JE'TAIME, TIME OUT, RATATOUILLE and BLACK SNAKE MOAN. Tassoula's Last Five in this episode were: 1408, ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ, GOODFELLAS, THE EDUCATION OF SHELBY KNOX and SHERRYBABY.

Special thanks to Brad Daane and Mark Cummins for providing the music in this episode.

Reviews and/or notes of every movie Michael sees can be found at his MichaelVox website.

Tassoula has reviews, musings and movie-related product links at Tassoula's Movie Review Blog.

Feedback is always welcome - you may leave comments here or e-mail the hosts at cinebanter@gmail.com.

We hope you enjoy the show!