An artist making an autobiographical documentary is a bold and, quite frankly, strange move. But in the case of Moby Doc, this choice is on brand for enigmatic electronic musician Moby. Early into the movie, even Moby acknowledges how seemingly unconventional this choice is. This doesn’t excuse the odd conception of Moby Doc but, at least, it gives us an idea of how self-aware the musician is. However, a detrimental line is crossed when Moby…
Spirit Untamed is a cute movie with endearing friendships and a really sweet message.
The premise for Spiral (better known by its full title Spiral: From the Book of Saw) is an interesting take on the traditional spin-off, and a sigh of relief for a movie goer like myself who hasn’t kept up to speed on the Saw horror franchise.
For the first 20 minutes or so, I was really enjoying Nicola Lemay’s Canadian family film Felix and the Treasure of Morgäa. The animation popped off the screen, the writing and visual gags were amusing, and the story was nesting in a promising adventure-fantasy element. Even the obligatory cute animals were making me laugh. I was excited to finally have an animated children’s movie ready to recommend to families.
Actor-turned-filmmaker Pat Mills has made some great comedies (Guidance, Don’t Talk to Irene), and he’s currently challenging himself by branching out to different genres (CBC Gem’s short-form series Queens dabbles with mystery, for instance). The Retreat is Mills’ shot at making a straightforward horror-thriller, and it doesn’t go as straightforward as his previous endeavours.
Wrath of Man is a good example of a movie exceeding expectations. Even if it’s just a slight change in elevation, it still counts in the long run.
Nicolas Cage’s cult appeal becomes rusty in Willy’s Wonderland, a tongue-in-cheek horror-thriller featuring the actor squaring off against animatronic creeps in an abandoned children’s play place.
Written and directed by Ryan Noth (No Heart Feelings), Drifting Snow depicts a rural Ontario winter in all its frozen glory. But, tangled timelines and poor pacing hinder what could otherwise be a compelling drama.
Painkiller is more of a mouthpiece than a movie. The filmmakers are so excited by the film’s premise, that they would rather table action sequences and tense showdowns to have discussions about Big Pharma and the opioid epidemic it seems to be encouraging. I admire their enthusiasm, but this attitude has distracted them from making a good movie.
By: Jolie Featherstone Shelly Love’s feature film directorial debut A Bump Along the Way is an emotionally intelligent dramedy about a mother and daughter coming-of-age together at different points in their lives.