By: Jessica Goddard Violeta Ayala’s Cocaine Prison is a Spanish language documentary that follows the intertwined lives of three people; two of which are entangled in the Bolivian justice system for their involvement in the illegal cocaine trade.
By: Jessica Goddard Kathleen Hepburn’s Never Steady, Never Still is a serious, greyscale, dragging meditation on subjects so inherently sombre, it’s practically masochistic to sit through the whole film without allowing yourself a break.
What happens when Andrey Zvyagintsev makes a political film with a female lead? A disappointing monstrosity that could’ve been a masterpiece with forty-percent discarded.
Las Vegas entertainer Molly (Brittany Allen) encounters a stray member of the undead in Nevada’s desert (aka. the Valley of Fire) while a zombie apocalypse breaks out. The blood-thirsty brute terrorizes Molly by stalking her through the desolate outskirts, which is an incredible challenge since Molly has seen how ravenous and relentless her enemy is. Knowing safety is 36 miles away is added distress for Molly since maintaining energy and will is a personal struggle for…
By: Jessica Goddard Barry Avrich’s Blurred Lines: Inside the Art World is a well-paced, informative documentary about the otherwise largely inaccessible world of producing, marketing, and selling high end art.
Let’s assume that bad things are always happening. While someone finds enjoyment in life, someone else may be barely hanging on to their reality. That’s basically the gist of Wayne Wapeemukwa’s debut feature Luk’Luk’I, an obvious stream of consciousness that doesn’t expand beyond that idea.
Written, directed, and produced by Martine Blue, Hunting Pignut is the story of Bernice, played by Taylor Hickson (Aftermath, Deadpool), a teenager in a rural Newfoundland community. She is a typical teenage misfit: lonely, bullied at school for no obvious reason, and picked last at sports. When Bernice’s estranged father dies of a drug overdose, his wake is crashed by a gang of gutter punks claiming to have been his closest friends – one of…
By: Jessica Goddard Mina Shum’s Meditation Park is an engaging, quirky, and empowering film about the overdue self-actualization of a Vancouver woman (Cheng Pei-pei) in light of the discovery of her husband’s affair. This thoroughly modern film also expertly highlights the immigrant experience in multicultural Canada, while making clear that the narrative is culturally universal. There is an exquisite balance of humour and poignancy in the writing, strengthened by an excellent cast.
By: Jessica Goddard This detailed and thoroughly layered period drama intertwines two stories against the backdrop of the Catholic Church’s controversial reforms in the 1960s, known as Vatican II.
It’s not healthy to compare movies, but I have a feeling I would’ve had greater appreciation for Ingrid Veninger’s Porcupine Lake if I hadn’t already seen Andrew Cividino’s Sleeping Giant. Both are of Canadian origin, they take place over the course of a Summer away from home, and they follow a coming-of-age narrative with kids.