March 2022

Reviews

Halo

A television show based on the hit video game Halo feels like a long time coming.  And now that it’s finally come to fruition as a Paramount+ exclusive, audiences both familiar with the game and unfamiliar may walk away shrugging their shoulders.  The show isn’t necessarily bad (based on the first two episodes that have been made available to the press) but, just like the armour of the franchise’s leading “supersoldier”, the result is very…

Reviews

Run Woman Run

Run Woman Run is a sweet and charming dramatic comedy about family, community, healing, and grief.  Written and directed by Zoe Leigh Hopkins (Kayak to Klemtu), Run Woman Run stars Dakota Ray Hebert (In Her City) as Beck, a single mom who is forced to re-examine her lifestyle after she is diagnosed with diabetes.  While her father (Lorne Cardinal of Corner Gas) and sister (The Exchange’s Jayli Wolf) beg Beck to start eating right and exercising,…

Reviews

Learn to Swim

By: Trevor Chartrand In this feature directorial debut of Thyrone Tommy, Learn to Swim focuses on the failing relationship between a stubborn jazz saxophone player Dezi (Thomas Antony Olajide) and an up-and-coming singer, Selma (Emma Ferreira).  The film plays with time and takes place both before and after the relationship has failed.  I hesitate to compare the film to 2009’s 500 Days of Summer, simply because Learn to Swim takes a much more sophisticated, and…

Festival Coverage

Wylie Writes’ One-On-One with Jonas Chernick

From his breakout with My Awkward Sexual Adventure to his recent collaborations with other actors and returning filmmakers, Jonas Chernick has been an actor/screenwriter to watch for.  The projects he creates or attaches himself to are filled with an unforgettable, compassionate energy.  His latest collaboration with director Jeremy LaLonde (How to Plan an Orgy in a Small Town) and Becky’s Amanda Brugel is one of his strongest efforts to date, but it also might be the most he…

Festival Coverage

Canadian Film Fest ’22: Ashgrove

Amanda Brugel (Kim’s Convenience, Becky) and Jonas Chernick (Borealis) are centre stage in Ashgrove, a two-hander character drama that serves as a great vehicle for both stars and an ethereal departure for filmmaker Jeremy LaLonde (The Go-Getters, How to Plan an Orgy in a Small Town).

Reviews

Alice

Alice has been inspired by interesting stories of enslaved black Americans making an escape and discovering what era they’re currently living in.  For the titular Alice (Keke Palmer), the same exposure happens when she runs away from her plantation and is startled when she doesn’t recognize the environment around her.  With her “master” Paul  (Jonny Lee Miller) hot on her heels, she meets working-class driver Frank (Oscar-winning musician Common) who takes her in and realizes…