Part text-based detective story, part searing family drama about a bitter father-son relationship, Footnote is a film that can be read many ways.

Set in the insular community of Talmudic scholars, the story revolves around a mix-up. Eliezer Shkolnik receives a phone call congratulating him on receiving the Israel Prize; except the phone call was intended for his son, Uriel Shkolnik.

Although they're both Talmudic scholars of a sort, the father and son are on opposite ends of the academic spectrum. Younger Uriel is a star, in demand as a speaker at synagogues and community halls for his pithy observations on Jewish tradition. The father is a hermit who has toiled for decades on a radical thesis only to be usurped by another colleague. One treats words with an almost forensic devotion. The other mixes and matches text to suit the topic.

Eliezer Shkolnik (Shlomo Bar Aba) in Footnote. (Sony Pictures Classics)

Director Joseph Cedar captures Uriel's frustration with his Dad, whose disappointment with his son is written on his face. There are interesting questions posed about the value of family ties versus secrets that eat away at us. As Eliezer transforms from plodding zombie to a joy-filled, whistling human because of his win, his son refuses to take the acclaim that is rightly his. But Eliezer himself, a crank who could give Walter Matthau a run for his money, can't help himself. In an interview with a journalist, he insults, not just his son but the very institution giving the award. Shlomo Bar-Aba captures Eliezer expertly, showing someone who retreats into the world of the word. His standards are high and unforgiving, regardless of the consequences they create.

While Footnote touches on the modern politics of Israel and the daily security gauntlet everyone runs, it's greatest relevance is toward anyone who's worked in higher education. There's a scene that manages to be farcical and scathing at the same time where Uriel begs the Academy of Science Israel prize jury to reconsider their decision. It's an academic knife fight in close quarters as the entire jury and Uriel cram into a supply closet doing double duty as a conference room. Between the scraping of chairs and constant shifting of positions, Uriel drops his warm and friendly persona and opens fire on jury chairman Grossman. As Uriel tears into him, we watch as the creases in actor Micah Lewensohn's waffle-wrinkled forehead get deeper and deeper. A mini masterwork of comic claustrophobia.

Footnote isn't note perfect. There are allusions to certain misdeeds by family members that could use clarifying and writer/director Cedar clouds the climax by playing up Eliezer's autism. It's an unnecessary embellishment on a character who is fascinating from frame one. Still, like a curious crossword, Footnote is a film worth puzzling over.

RATING: 4 out 5.

"When I read it, I thought it had the possibility to be the most influential American film since I can't remember. What we're dealing with is the destroyed fabric of a once-upon-a-time empire. And the empire is obviously here."

That is the august Donald Sutherland speaking with The Telegraph about The Hunger Games and Lord, I wish he was right.

Full disclosure, I'm a fan. I've read the series. It contains post-apocalyptic action, rebellious teens and mutant half-breeds and I was powerless to resist. And the heroine, Katniss, is the anti-Bella. Sure she's caught in a love triangle between Peeta , the white-bread baker boy, and Gale, the moody-loner-keeping-the-home-fires-burning. But it was Katniss' voice that puts the series head and shoulders above Bella's tale of self-sacrifice. This is a young woman who fights for herself and her family. Yes, in the few spare moments when she's not running for her life or avoiding tracker jackers, she ponders her choices. But survival is the priority.

Liam Hemsworth stars as Gale Hawthorne in the film. (Alliance Films)

Yet, now, as the blockbuster book is set to become the biggest film of the season, all I can see are the missed opportunities. For fans that know the material, it's fine. In the words of Farmer Hoggett "That'll do." But to quote another film, "It could have been a contender."

At this moment in history, with the up-to-the-minute themes of the rich and the poor, the 1-per-centers, and our world being filtered through reality TV, The Hunger Games had the potential make a lot of people uneasy.

Just for a moment imagine what a Paul Greengrass or Kathryn Bigelow could have done with this. (Turns out director Steven Soderbergh did some second unit directing on a small riot scene -- a scene that is one of the few moments in which the movie approaches the potential of the books.)

Instead, producers turned to Gary Ross: the master of movies that settle over you like a warm blanket just out of the dryer. Remember, he is the writer of Big, and director of Seabiscuit and Dave.

This is the man they entrusted with author Suzanne Collins' dark dystopian vision. Why? Because Ross delivers a family-friendly, PG-ready version of the gladiatorial death match. It's the Hunger Games with the sharp edges smoothed off. Because when you're handling the adaptation based on $16 million in book sales, you don't take chances.

Director Gary Ross on set. (Alliance Films)

If Twilight proved anything, it's that fans besotted by their love for the original are blind to the quality of the film making. The bar isn't low; it's subterranean -- hence the focus on the hunks of The Hunger Games. Thor's bro Liam Hemsworth as Gale. Josh Hutcherson as Peeta, someone with an open face, easy to love. If there's a surprise, it's that the filmmakers actually cast an actress with some fire in her eyes, opting for Jennifer Lawrence as the iron-willed Katniss. Sure, jumping from Winter's Bone to the world of Panem seems like a leap. But remember she's already proved she's franchise ready in X-Men: First Class, plus she cleans up good for the carpet.

The Hunger Games film begins top-heavy with exposition. We're introduced to Panem, the shattered remains of North America, where a handful of cities live under the iron fist of the totalitarian government. The capitol allows the citizens of the various districts to prove their loyalty by offering up their youth for an annual gladiatorial death match watched by millions. It's Death Race 2000 crossed with Running Man and the voyeurism of The Truman Show.

Effie Trinket (Elizabeth Banks, left) and Katniss Everdeen (jennifer Lawrence) in The Hunger Games (Alliance Films)

First we meet the hard-scrabble citizens of District 12, a coal mining town cast with the extras from The Grapes of Wrath. The opening scenes watching Katniss and Gale hunting in the forest is when The Hunger Games is at its best. But after Katniss volunteers to save her young sister from the horror of the games, we're thrust into the gaudy Capitol City. In an attempt to play up the rift between the rich and the poor it seems the costume designers over-compensated with a Rainbow Brite colour scheme that makes Flash Gordon seem subtle. Our first taste of things to come is Elizabeth Banks as the guide to the games, Effie Trinket. She's a pale-faced Kabuki clown that's impossible to take seriously.

In her journey to the games, Katniss is paired with Peeta, a bland-looking baker boy. They have a shared history that's hinted at, But where The Hunger Games truly stumbles is in presenting Katniss' inner struggle. Forced to compete together, the two become fan favourites for the games. Helped by their stylist Cinna (played by a surprisingly subtle Lenny Kravitz) they're presented as star-crossed lovers, thrown together in desperate times. In the novels, the question about what is real and what's a ploy is the narrative engine propelling us forward. In the film we see but a sliver of this; A furrowed brow, an unspoken question. The rest is left to us to add. Not to mention poor Gale left at home in District 12, seen briefly brooding in a corner.

Once the games get underway, the action takes a turn for the mundane. Ross favours shaky close-ups, his way of duplicating Collin's "first person narrative". Sadly there appear to be few steadicams in this future. And while fans may have been looking forward to seeing how the government manipulates the games for the loyal citizens of Panem, what we get instead is like a glitzy Coach's Corner, with the games host Caesar and Claudius the announcer providing play by play.

Lenny Kravitz plays Cinna. (Alliance Films)

Still, just like the indomitable spirit of Katniss, there are actors who overcome the horrendous hair and make up. Woody Harrelson plays Haymitch, a former winner of the games who mentors Peeta and Katniss. Saddled with ridiculous long, limp, blond bangs, Harrelson still bubbles with a mixture of bitterness and rage and the movie could use much more of him. Stanley Tucci also triumphs over his purple pompadour playing Caesar Flickerman, the Guy Smiley of the games. He's the crowning jewel of the propaganda machine, but Tucci plays both sides giving us the sense he's more than just a puppet with a painted grin.

Also, while it's a brief role, Donald Sutherland makes the most of his appearance as President Snow. Framed in a wizardly mane of white hair, there's an ominous weight to his softly-spoken words. He is malice, cloaked in velvet.

The best adaptations take novels and add something more to them, but this installment feels like a reduction. Rather than the world-building, flesh and blood spirit that imbued the Harry Potter films, The Hunger Games is a by-the-book (or perhaps it's a buy-the-book) adaptation. It should satisfy fans and will amuse the rest, but it's nothing like the unsettling original.

RATING: 3 out of 5]]>

Johnny Reid fires it up at Canadian Music Week. (Laura Thompson)

• 9-10PM JOHNNY REID @ MOD CLUB
• 10:30-11:30PM SAMANTHA SAVAGE SMITH @ HARD LUCK
• 11PM-12AM RUNNING RED LIGHTS @ SUPERMARKET
• 12-1AM CRAIG STICKLAND @ SUPERMARKET//or//
• 12-1AM LIFE BLOWN OPEN @ NEUTRAL LOUNGE

Aussies Oh Mercy gave a lacklustre performance to a thin crowd. (Laura Thompson)

Predicting great things for Craig Stickland. (Laura Thompson)

"It would be best not to open your interview with ...the squirrel", I was advised by Martin Picard's publicist. "It just might set the wrong tone."

The Quebec chef's frustration towards some media stems from a particular, perhaps unfair, interest in some of the more adventurous offerings in his new, 386-page tome of a cookbook, A Pied De Cochon Sugar Shack.

The oft-maligned, bushy-tailed rodent is up to its pesky ways again, triggering some mild pushback toward Picard's second collection of recipes, along with its patriotic counterpart, the beaver. Why?

Picard serves up panko-crusted squirrel as a sushi dish, saving the paws, tail and head for presentation. He stuffs butchered beavers with their own tails, dressing them with oyster mushrooms and cognac sauce. All laid out in glossy, coffee table book format so you too can try it at home. That's only IF you're into haute Canadiana cuisine. Wink!

If this has got your stomach churning and your animal rights antenna tweaking, consider this: Picard is a chef, and a celebrated one -- a hard-working creator and an experimental innovator. A steward of the sugar shack, an awakener of tired traditions. An ambassador for Canadian gastronomy as its most savage, indigenous, and authentic.

But also at its most honoured and revered. It's legal to trap and eat what he does. Maybe it's his sense of humour that leaves a bad taste in your mouth.

Regardless of how one feels about his from-forest-to-fryer approach, his love for his work is evident. Did you know that it took 380 litres of maple syrup just to test the recipes for this cookbook? Have you seen the delectable mile-high mille-feuille? What about the flaming Caf Saint-Benot with maple nuggets? What about how his seasonal sugar shack restaurant near Montreal is reserved solid for the next four years?

In Picard's words, "At the end, you're tired. But you live things nobody could live." He explained how much he loves working with animals from the woods around a sugar shack, a place where he spent so much time as a boy. "It's more like a genetic thing," he said.

And so we segue into the salty issue of the "ingredient" provocateur.

"You have to understand that I'm a cook," he says. "Tasting and having those kinds of meats are part of my life, you know?"

I'm satisfied with that.

--- Laura Thompson ]]>

Puppeteer Kevin Clash, the man behind Sesame Street's Elmo. (Mongrel Media)

Being Elmo is a movie about how Kevin Clash found his voice -- a voice that just so happens to be that of the helium-high, giggling, fuzzy love monster named Elmo. For fans of Jim Henson and the Muppet magic he created, the documentary offers a glimpse into the famed furry kingdom.

This story starts and ends with Clash, who was a young black kid growing up in Baltimore when he fell in love with puppets at an early age. Exposure to Sesame Street planted a seed in him and, suddenly, this tall awkward child was cutting up his father's coat to make puppet creatures of his own.

Fortunately for Clash, his mom ran a daycare, which provided him a focus group on which to practice. She also had the temerity to cold-call Muppet designer Kermit Love and introduce her son to him. On one fateful day in New York City, the puppet proteg and the master builder met. Soon, Kevin was on his way.

Being Elmo takes its time telling the story of how Elmo and Clash first met -- a fascinating blend of luck and determination. Once Clash describes of how he discovered Elmo's voice -- after the fuzzy red monster had been discarded by another puppeteer -- the story shifts to profile his role as a teacher figure. Personally, I've been a lifelong fan of all things Henson and loved watching him show others how to make a sock come to life.

The movie is packed with tidbits for Muppet maniacs like me, but there are also hints that working under Henson was no comedy.

Kevin Clash, left, in a scene from Being Elmo (Mongrel Media)

The few snippets Clash provides paint a portrait of Henson as a Steve Jobsian-like visionary who suffered no fools. If anything, Being Elmo has made me more desperate than ever to see The Muppet Man, a long-rumoured biopic on Henson himself.

While Being Elmo does show us how the famous scarlet monster moppet came between Clash and his family, for the most part the film paints a happy smile on his life story. Little is said about Kevin's role as the first black puppeteer in the company, for instance. Instead, we have the saccharine narration of Whoopi Goldberg carrying us through.

Puppets fans will undoubtedly crave more about why this quiet man feels so comfortable as everyone's furry red friend. Still, there's lots to enjoy in Being Elmo, a film that -- like its titular subject -- is easy to love.

RATING: 3.5 out of 5

Bonus feature: below, a clip of Elmo, at his best, with a special celebrity guest.

Director David Gelb had a quest to make a documentary about the greatest sushi restaurants in the world. But everyone he spoke to directed him to the unassuming man who runs a 10-seat restaurant near a subway in Tokyo: Jiro Ono of Sukiyabashi Jiro.

The room is not spacious and the ambiance could be described as sparse, but there is a three-month waiting list. There are no snacks, no appetizers; just plate after plate of award-winning sushi.

Behind the counter, Jiro is a stern host, placing his morsels just so and adjusting the portions to each eater. We watch the 85-year-old man -- grim-faced, bald head shining -- as diners swallow his creations in a single gulp.

When Gelb takes us in for a closer look at Jiro, his first words are a question: "What defines deliciousness?"

As we ponder the answer, we're treated to sumptuous close-up shots of his edible art. For Jiro, simplicity is the goal. Everything is done to bring out the essence of the fish. The rice, an often under-appreciated component, is served room temperature to better let the flavours of the vinegar seasoning and the seafood mingle.

Master sushi chef Jiro Ono is profiled in the documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi. (eOne Films)

As food critic Masuhiro Yamamoto explains, Jiro serves sushi in a series of movements, like a symphony. First, he offers the classics, such as tuna and mackerel. The second movement is centred on fresh seasonal selections. The third and final movement features traditional ingredients such as egg.

As Gelb brings us into Jiro's world, we also meet the maestro's son. Yoshikazu is a master chef in his own right, but labours in his father's shadow. Another son has already fled to the suburbs to open his own restaurant -- out from under the old man's unforgiving gaze.

Jiro has dedicated his life to reducing sushi to its essential elements and Gelb could stand to learn a lesson from his subject. There's enough quiet drama between the aspirations of Jiro's son and his other proteges, but the film doesn't stay in the tiny restaurant. Gelb widens his focus by taking a trip to the famous Tokyo fish market, where shrimp and tuna experts put aside special catches for Jiro. Dreams of Sushi also touches on declining fish stocks and overfishing.

Then, there are the visual flairs. Any fan of documentaries will recognize the soundtrack: a drum chant borrowed from Baraka (as well as its sped-up camera trick). There's the ever-present Phillip Glass fluttering away as Jiro carefully brushes each slice of tuna. Don't get me wrong. I adore Baraka and a little Glass goes a long way, but in a movie about a culinary pioneer, Gelb's cinematic flourishes feel stale.

Still, for the average sushi fan, my quibbles won't detract from the overall experience. Jiro Dreams of Sushi remains a satisfying ode to a life lived with a single-minded purpose.

RATING: 3.5 out of 5