Justin McConnell is a filmmaker who uses tension marvellously, usually either channeled through shadowy environments or visceral fears. In his latest film Broken Mile, he breaks personal ground by using time to intensely disorient his audience.
Ken Finkleman (of CBC’s cult hit The Newsroom) wryly lampoons streamlined success in #AnAmericanDream.
Budding filmmaker Andy King has been in hot water with former Toronto councillor Doug Ford, the brother of late mayor Rob Ford who was caught up in worldwide controversy involving drug use caught on tape. The plot of King’s feature Filth City is centred around a belligerent, frantic mayor searching for a video that captures his illicit drug binging at a house party – you can see why Doug is a little mad.
The strengths in Streamer are very subtle and camouflaged by deliberate monotony.
Inspiration may be Jason Armstrong’s first feature-length movie in seven years, but he’s been a consistent storyteller. Just this Summer, Armstrong (along with frequent collaborator Mike Klassen) made 9 Days with Cambria, a moderately successful web series confronting abuse through short stories performed by different actresses portraying the same character.
Engineers (DIR. Tyler Williams) In a worn-down warehouse, three individuals tempt an experiment on a corpse. The result may be not exactly what they intended.
Holy Hell is the latest exercise in “grindhouse appreciation” or “exploitation homage” from a close-knit production crew who undoubtably had fun making an insane, politically incorrect vigilante yarn. The audience, unfortunately, won’t be feeling that same heedless joy.
A murderer whose calling card is a scratched-down horror story; a couple goes trick or treating and it quickly gets out of hand; a family brings home a witch to burn at the stake; a group of gutter punks find an easier way to come by food; a pair of police officers have a shady side business.
Capture Kill Release begins in the middle of a devious plot: young lovers Jenn and Farhang (played by Jennifer Fraser and Farhang Ghajar) are toying with the idea of murdering a random person. Their intentions and motives are deliberately foggy, which makes the film’s fly-on-the-wall experience more unsettling, disturbing, and impossible to look away – this is not for the faint of heart.
Readers from last year may have remembered my disdain for the Canadian short films featured at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival. This year, out of a wide array of great shorts preceding each feature, the programming won me back.