Rebel With a Clause
Brandt Johnson
2025, 86 mins.
Speak words for me
Grammar, noun: the study of the classes of words, their inflections and their functions and relations in the sentence
For those like me who, daily, try to get their words right, this playful documentary about language fanatic Ellen Jovin carting her Grammar Table through all 50 states (thank goodness Canada isn’t the 51st or she’d still be at it…), is a pleasant survey on how our common language is used, abused and pushed forward. Devotees of apostrophes, en vs. em dashes, lie vs. lay, [note the Oxford comma here!] and how to correctly spell y’all will revel in their own correctness or come away aghast at their errors, as the case may be.
For everyone else it’s an intriguing look at passersby who have the chance to get any nagging grammatical question addressed in person.
Although perhaps a wee bit overbalanced by spelling (their, they’re; effect, affect, etc.) and pronunciation rather than daunting grammatical dilemmas (can a sentence end with a preposition?), the most important learning from this compendium of brief streetside interviews is that the main function of today’s English language is allowing us to communicate thoughts and ideas to one another whether or not the grammar utilized is the goodest it can be!
Johnson (also cinematographer, editor and husband) deftly captures all of the wordy encounters and binds them artfully together on both sides of the COVID divide. JWR
Romancing Sydney
Richard Copans
2025, 83 mins.
Disinvitation to the dance
Here’s a romantic sextet for the ages (young, middle and oldish) where the dance interludes save the production from viewer oblivion.
Couple number one meet by circumstance: newly evicted Elisa (Susanne Richter)—kicked out without warning despite having paid up for the next two weeks seeks tearful solitary solace in a quiet park that night. Hearing her sobs, Sachin (Mishra, carrying most of the film on his sturdy shoulders), after plot-conveniently running out of oil and forced to park his ailing auto nearby, soothes the suddenly homeless damsel and it’s love at first calamity.
In the lavender camp, lead male dancer Alex (Connor Dowling) is soon to marry his blushing paramour Zac (Brendon Wong) if and when the apparent love of his life has the, er balls, to come out to his family.
Rounding out the Down Under love nest is antique shop owner Lili (Gabrielle Chan) whose 11-year employee, George (Peter Hayes) finally realizes he must abandon his alpha male pretence if ever to take his boss to dinner, then live happily, coitally ever after. (To tidy up the narrative, Sachin also works in the emporium of ancient, bargain relics (a vintage handbag for $10?).
What makes this narrative production worth a look are the “dreamy” dance sequences (especially the contributions from Mishra and Dowling, both of whom contributed to the choreography team) along with the woodwind-rich, uncredited original score.
Do take a look, but be warned about displaying twitchy fingers whenever confessing forever love. And if and when all else fails, just remember, “That’s [insert your calamity] not my problem”. JWR