By: Trevor Chartrand Based on a true story, Brotherhood is a harrowing tale of survival that recounts the tragedy beset upon a boy’s summer camp in Balsam Lake, Ontario in 1926. On the night of July 20, thirteen boys and two camp counsellors set out to cross the lake in a canoe to gather food and supplies for the camp. They encountered high winds that capsized the boat, leaving them floating in the cold water…
By: Jolie Featherstone Director Rian Johnson (Looper, Star Wars: Episode XIII – The Last Jedi) makes a triumphant return to his whodunnit-loving form with Knives Out. Fourteen years after his much-loved debut feature, Brick, a passionately-told film noir set in a modern-day Southern California high school, Johnson’s Knives Out charmed audiences with one of the most talked-about films at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival.
By: Jessica Goddard At the Marriage Story screening I attended, a complimentary packet of tissues was waiting in the cup holder of each seat in the theatre. Quite the statement. So when the movie opens with both leading characters reading the lists of things they like about one another in front of a mediator, you know this will be a wrenching watch.
By: Jessica Goddard Margaret Atwood is fairly low-hanging fruit as far as documentary subjects go. At the moment, it’s almost certain she’s Canada’s most recognized, beloved author, and her latest novel, The Testaments, came out in September and is a sequel to her best-known work, The Handmaid’s Tale.
By: Jessica Goddard Full disclosure: I am bad at watching war movies. I watch war movies out of some (likely misdirected) sense of duty – if actual human beings lived these horrors, I should be able to stomach cinematic recreations of them, is my thinking. But, I find it very hard to watch people die (which I’ve chosen to attribute to a smug overabundance of empathy) even if it’s only a performance. For this reason,…
By: Trevor Chartrand Pedro Almodóvar’s Pain and Glory is a well-crafted melodrama; an emotional piece weighed heavily by its evocation of sadness and regret. The film stars Antonio Banderas as Salvador Mallo, an aging filmmaker who reflects on his past and the mistakes he’s made – mistakes that seem more clear through older, wiser eyes. Almodóvar explores themes of life, love, family, regret, and retribution, all through the lens of the classic mantra: ‘hindsight is…
Blood Machines (DIR. Seth Ickerman) The cinema is a visual and narrative medium, but the narrative is often king. Way too many films will give up on the visuals to tell a story, leading to slightly stagnant results. As such, it is sometimes oddly refreshing to get a film which will sacrifice narrative cohesion in order to produce a spectacle of light and sound. Seth Ickerman is such a filmmaker and Blood Machines, a collaboration between…
James vs. His Future Self (DIR. Jeremy LaLonde) Jeremy LaLonde’s recent movies have truly owned their genre in a unique way. The Go-Getters was a gleefully foul play on the traditional buddy formula, and How to Plan an Orgy in a Small Town was a charming sex comedy. With James vs. His Future Self, LaLonde takes a swing at crossing science fiction with a romance – it’s a sweet success.
By: Trevor Chartrand The beloved and monstrous Addams Family returns to cinemas this Halloween; animated for the first time ever on the big screen, and directed by the duo who brought adults Sausage Party. This new film focuses on a real estate mogul trying to drive monsters out of town (à la Shrek), Pugsley Addams’ bar mitzvah, Wednesday Addams’ teenage rebellion, Lurch endlessly playing pop songs on a piano, and a never-ending slurry of other superfluous subplots…
By: Jolie Featherstone Charlie and Hannah’s Grand Night Out is a supremely playful romp that follows two friends as they embark on a madcap night out in Antwerp. Charlie and Hannah, two friends with their own goals for the night ahead, imbibe “magical” candy to amplify their night on the town. As the candy works its “magic”, Charlie and Hannah are whisked into a journey of mystical proportions.