June 2018

Reviews

The Accountant of Auschwitz

The Accountant of Auschwitz proposes a moral dilemma about whether to follow through convicting a 94-year-old man with crimes against humanity for contributing to the horrors of the Auschwitz death camp. The man in question, former SS guard Oskar Gröning, is physically frail, stoic, and would undoubtably live out his final years in prison, but are these current details relevant when discussing justice for 300,000 people who were murdered for their culture?

Reviews

Alex Strangelove

Craig Johnson (director/co-writer of The Skeleton Twins) returns with another sweet story about solving personal ambiguity with wonder, caution, and experience in Netflix’s Alex Strangelove.  This time, the angst takes place in high school, as Johnson evolves the “teen sex comedy” sub-genre with positive (and current) messages of sexual orientation.

Reviews

Hereditary

By: Nick van Dinther It’s so difficult to pull off a horror film that’s truly frightening.  Many movies rely on jump scares or violent deaths, but the results rarely stick with you after the fact.  It’s a genre that’s incredibly divisive between both fans and critics, and fails more often than it succeeds for both.  A filmmaker needs to bring something genuinely special and memorable to the table to appeal to all.  Writer/director Ari Aster…

Reviews

Prodigals

By: Trevor Chartrand Michelle Ouellet’s Prodigals depicts a feeling as much as a narrative.  Based on a stage play of the same name, the film is about a group of 20-somethings reflecting on their lives, and coming to terms with the emptiness staring back at them.  While it may sound bleak and unsettling, the film isn’t without a few shimmering rays of hope.

Reviews

Hotel Artemis

By: Trevor Chartrand It’s refreshing to see original scripts can still make their way to the big screen!  Between the endless tirade of superhero movies, novel adaptations, sequels, remakes, and reboots, it’s rare to see something that’s actually fresh.  Films aren’t often greenlit without a built-in fanbase – and even when they are, they rarely rise above mediocrity.  Thankfully, this isn’t the case with Drew Pearce’s Hotel Artemis.  The film isn’t going to revolutionize cinema…

Reviews

Astro

Director Asif Akbar (Smoke Filled Lungs) misses the mark with Astro, a sci-fi thriller that gets bogged down by its exposition-heavy script and convoluted plot.

Reviews

Let the Sunshine In

Movies about people looking for true love tend to be treated with a lighter attitude.  Mostly because audiences respond more efficiently to stories that they can relate to that don’t portray their problems as a wet towel.  To my recollection, Let the Sunshine In is the first film – in some time, at least – to put real weight behind this personal mission of romance.  Although the film provides relatable results for some viewers, the…