2021

Reviews

Paradise Cove

I can’t endorse Paradise Cove, but I also wouldn’t stop you from watching this trashy thriller about a homeless former model terrorizing a couple of homeowners who are new to the neighbourhood.  Before the film becomes unforgivably dumb, it’s a shameless guilty pleasure.

Reviews

Cowboys

Jillian Bell (Office Christmas Party) and Steve Zahn (Saving Silverman) play against their comedic type in Cowboys, a solid family drama that could also be interpreted as an unconventional buddy western between Zahn and young breakout Sasha Knight.

Reviews

Freaky

Freaky is not only one of the better examples of a body-swap story, it’s also one of the best horror-comedies ever made.  It’s consistently hilarious, shockingly violent, and filmmaker Christopher Landon is quick to take note of the formula’s hindrances and correct them.

Reviews

Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar

When you watch Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar, a new buddy comedy written and starring Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo, you start associating other movies with it.  “This is Kristen Wiig’s Austin Powers”,  “This is Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo’s take on A Night at the Roxbury”,  “In fact, this is the best Saturday Night Live movie that never was an SNL skit in the first place!”.  The viewer does this because…

Reviews

Saint Maud

Rose Glass’ long-awaited feature-length debut Saint Maud has been billed as a horror, but it’s more of a melancholic character piece that analyzes the psychological turmoil a devout follower could experience….that works way too hard to be textbook horror.

Reviews

Meltdown

By: Trevor Chartrand Director Fredric Golding takes a look at climate change with Meltdown, a documentary that focuses on the decline of melting glaciers in Greenland, the world’s ‘ground zero’ for evidence of climate change.  The film features an odd-couple collaboration between Yale Science professor Tony Leiserowitz and renowned photographer Lynn Davis – two vastly different personalities with a shared interest in raising Global Warming awareness.

Reviews

A Glitch in the Matrix

A Glitch in the Matrix is a documentary about the expressive and opinionated reactions to simulation theory, and the suggestion that our existence may be so trivial compared to a grand existential scheme we happen to be pawns or avatars in.  The film is directed by Rodney Ascher, the creative mind behind other out-there docs Room 237 and The Nightmare, and while I wanted to get wrapped up in this interesting subject matter, I was constantly…

Reviews

Falling

By: Trevor Chartrand Falling is the incredibly strong directorial debut from Viggo Mortensen, featuring fully-realized characters in a well-constructed, grounded world.  The film illustrates humanity at its most raw in this powerfully compelling and dramatic character study.

Reviews

First Blush

Written and directed by Victor Neumark, First Blush is the story of a young married couple, Nena (Rachel Alig) and Drew (Ryan Caraway), who decide to open up their relationship after they meet a beautiful young actress named Olivia (Kate Beecroft).  For a feature film debut, First Blush is passable and hints at Neumark’s talent for exploring complex interpersonal dynamics.  However, as a depiction of polyamory, it misses the mark.

Reviews

Finding ‘Ohana

Netflix’s adventure flick Finding ‘Ohana is a Hawaiian twist on the classic 80s kids caper The Goonies.  It’s a movie connection the filmmakers want you to be aware of either through easter eggs (casting Ke Huy Quan who played Data in The Goonies, another character bellowing “hey you guys!”), or in the film’s direct lifting of an undoubtably similar story following young adventurers pursuing hidden treasure.