The Hexecutioners (DIR. Jesse Thomas Cook) By: Shahbaz Khayambashi If I can give one bit of advice to a first-time attendee of Toronto After Dark, it would be to avoid the festival’s world premieres. In my time of attending this festival, I have had the opportunity to see three world premieres – I’m zero for three. Now, I can say, after having viewed The Hexecutioners, I can chalk up another clunker. This film is an absolute mess…
Backtrack (DIR. Michael Petroni) By: Shahbaz Khayambashi Michael Petroni’s Backtrack contains a villain that does not often end up in horror films: guilt. Adrien Brody portrays a psychiatrist, still seeing patients as he is being torn apart inside by the death of his young daughter. It is at this juncture of his life where he realizes that he needs to come to terms with a traumatic accident that he witnessed, and inadvertently caused, as a child….
By: Shahbaz Khayambashi Lenny Abrahamson follows Frank, his underrated study of the effects of mental isolation on the human psyche, with the TIFF People’s Choice Award-winning Room, which looks at the other side of the matter: the effects of physical isolation on the human psyche. The film tells the story of a woman (Brie Larson) and her five year old son (Jacob Tremblay), both of whom have been kept prisoners in a man’s shed for seven…
By: Addison Wylie If you haven’t heard of African journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas, he’s doing a good job hiding his identity. Few have seen him face-to-face, but this is because his safety and his flourishing career depends on staying incognito. Even in Ryan Mullins’ documentary Chameleon, Anas’ face is either blurred out or obscured for good reason. Anas’ groundbreaking investigative journalism mixes elements of crime-fighting. Using his ability to illustrate a story and set up…
By: Shannon Page Directed by Jeffrey Schwarz (I am Divine, Vito) and based on the memoir Tab Hunter Confidential: The Making of a Movie Star, Tab Hunter Confidential explores the life and career of matinee idol Tab Hunter. After he was discovered by a movie agent, Hunter became, as fellow actor George Takei so aptly states in the film, the “embodiment of youthful American masculinity”. With his blond hair, blue eyes, and natural charm, Hunter…
By: Shahbaz Khayambashi After the saccharine dramatics of Monsieur Lazhar and The Good Lie, Philippe Falardeau has finally returned to his comedic roots – the place where his talent truly shines – with his hilarious new film, My Internship in Canada. In this satirical take on Canadian politics, a Member of Parliament named Steve Guibord (Patrick Huard), holding power over three small Quebecois towns, finds himself as the single deciding vote on whether or not…
By: Shahbaz Khayambashi For the first time in their ten year history, the Toronto After Dark Film Festival broke with tradition and allowed an under-18 crowd to one of its screenings. More specifically, anyone over the age of 14 was invited to come and view Lazer Team, the new film from Rooster Teeth Productions. A company which is apparently very popular with kids, according to the sheer number of teenagers who turned out to see…
Tales of Halloween (DIR. Darren Lynn Bousman, Axelle Carolyn, Adam Gierasch, Andrew Kasch, Neil Marshall, Lucky McKee, Mike Mendez, Dave Parker, Ryan Schifrin, John Skipp, Paul Solet) By: Shahbaz Khayambashi Let me get two simple facts out of the way: I love horror anthology films and, even with this love, I can easily admit that there are very few truly good ones out there. They do exist, but for the most part, horror anthology films…
By: Addison Wylie I don’t consider it a good sign when a film makes you consider similar movies of its kind that you’ve given bad reviews to. Take Allan Ungar’s Gridlocked. I not only didn’t like it, but it made me wonder if I was too harsh on other action copycats like Olympus Has Fallen. However, I’m not going back on my word. Olympus Has Fallen is as much of a Die Hard ripoff as…
By: Addison Wylie Shut In’s leading damsel Anna (played by Beth Riesgraf) and filmmaker Adam Schindler have something in common: both have the ability to surprise and disarm. Schindler’s thriller begins as one of Toronto After Dark’s tamer offerings, and then socks us upside the head with brutal consequences and intense confrontations. Anna is reserved in mourning, and her agoraphobia keeps her hushed inside a rickety house. When she’s threatened by thieves interested in her stashed wealth, Anna reveals…