Montreal Magnum

Moonlight, one of the most lauded films of the year 2016, depicts a world that feels near inescapable. Set in an impoverished neighbourhood in Miami, our protagonist, a confused, introverted, gay African American boy named Chiron, is trapped in a world where his mother is a crack addict, his role model is the one selling the drugs to her, and he is brutally bullied for not fitting the mould. The film is broken up into three parts, ‘Little’, ‘Chiron’ and ‘Black’, each a name and iteration of the main character’s life. ‘Little’ (Alex Hibbert) is a shy young boy, introverted and different from those energetic, bombastic kids around him. His mother, Paula (Naomie Harris), is a verbally abusive single mother (though she has moments of maternal caring), stuck in an endless cycle of drug abuse. With no father at home, Little gravitates toward Juan (Mahershala Ali), as well as his girlfriend Teresa (Janelle Monáe). Juan is a drug dealer in charge of those selling on the street corners of the ghetto. A complex figure, he sees that the boy is different and truly wants to give him a hand up, yet is a huge part of the problem. Quiet moments of mentorship and advice abound, like when Little says he hates his mother. Juan, simply states "I bet you do. I hated my mom too. Miss her like hell now, though."

A perfect film to watch as you hunker down on a cold, blustery winter’s night, 2008's Transsiberian, directed by Brad Anderson (The Machinist) follows a married American couple, Roy (Woody Harrelson) and Jessie (Emily Mortimer), as they take the Trans-Siberian Railway from Beijing, through Siberia, and ending in Moscow. A taut, tense traditional thriller, the couple, despite their recent charitable efforts (helping needy children in China), are having some relationship issues. With opposite pasts, Roy is an excitable, boyish man who has lived a good life, while his wife has been running from her demons, finally finding some semblance of normalcy after meeting him (they were thrown together by way of a serious car accident). At one point, Jessie ominously utters "kill off all my demons, Roy, and my angels might die, too" – a complicated warning for her do-gooder husband.

Narrated by the Grim Reaper (Gabriel Byrne), 2009's Perrier’s Bounty is an intriguing Irish film that mixes action and comedy within a crime story (all centred around a complex father/son relationship). Written by Mark O’Rowe (who also scribed the entertaining 2003 flick Intermission) and directed by Ian Fitzgibbon, they thrust us into the life of protagonist Michael McCrea (Cilian Murphy), a flawed, complicated figure who just happens to be sleeping in the afternoon while two thugs, Ivan (Michael McElhatton – Roose Bolton in Game of Thrones) and Orlando (Don Wycherley), sit on his couch eating his pistachios. Henchmen to a dangerous gangster, Darren Perrier (Brendan Gleeson), the duo remind the recently woken man that he owes the crime boss a hefty sum that must be paid in four short hours. Surrounded by an ever-complicated life, his female best friend Brenda (Jodie Whittaker), who lives one floor down, is struggling with her longtime boyfriend Shamie (Pádraic Delaney), while his father Jim (Jim Broadbent) arrives out of the blue and states that he is dying of cancer – the two have not spoken in some four years. Pushing them to the periphery while he deals with the more pressing problem of Perrier, he reaches out to a local drug dealer, Clifford (Domhnall Gleeson), as the man knows every low life in the city of Dublin. Getting directions to The Mull (Liam Cunningham – Davos Seaworth in Game of Thrones), a loan shark, he petitions him for some cash. Having none of it, instead, The Mull invites him to partake in a criminal venture with his buddy Dinny (Breffni McKenna), and Michael, desperate for any solution, agrees.

Taking the rare angle of having the femme fatale be the voice-over narrator, the 1946 film noir Decoy, directed by Jack Bernhard, does a lot with the little budget it had. Perhaps the most brutal dame of them all, Margot Shelby (Jean Gillie) is shot at the very beginning of the story, wounded by a then unknown assailant. It is at this point that she recounts her sordid tale. Honey to a rough and tumble aging gangster, Frankie Olins (Robert Armstrong), the man has been placed behind bars following a robbery – which left a guard dead and the thief four hundred thousand dollars richer (which he hid before he got caught). Soon to be sent to the gas chamber, he still has hope that his girl, along with a gangster associate, Jim Vincent (Edward Norris), will find a way to help him escape his doomed fate. Vincent, already short tens of thousands in aiding his fellow hoodlum, is not eager to throw more dough his way.

Following in the footsteps of movies like the Taken franchise, Mel Gibson’s most recent film (I am sure some of you are surprised to hear that he has a new flick) is a formulaic, yet entertaining action thriller that hits the right spot. Titled Blood Father, the motion picture is directed by Jean-François Richet (who made the underrated remake of Assault on Precinct 13 and the sadly overlooked Mesrine movies) and starts with a young woman buying an abundance of ammunition at a superstore – enough that we know that she is up to no good. Her name is Lydia (Erin Moriarty) and she soon joins a gang of thuggish looking men in the car, with her being attached to their slimy leader Jonah (Diego Luna). A player in the cartel, he has a number of stash houses being run by ordinary looking people – one of which has stolen from him. In too deep, Lydia is forced to tag along, as she has also gypped them, though she denies it. After an egregious mistake, the girl flees, luckily escaping the group’s long, hard grasp.

Taking characters from the classic western and transporting them into the modern age, Hell or High Water has its requisite share of cowboys, Indians, and cops and robbers, though it cleverly pairs the cowboy and Indian as two Texas Rangers hunting down a pair of outlaw bank robbers. Written by Taylor Sheridan and directed by David Mackenzie, the story follows brothers Tanner (Ben Foster) and Toby Howard (Chris Pine) as they travel through small Texas towns, robbing bank after bank as they go. Tanner, the older sibling, is a wild card criminal who has spent ten of his thirty-nine years behind bars. The brains of the operation, however, is Toby, a charming, clever man who meticulously plans each robbery. He has a melancholic aura, as the death of his mother, as well as a strained relationship with his ex-wife and two sons, has left him flapping alone in the wind.