Sam Tweedle, a local theatre critic for KawarthaNow.com, is one of the most well-versed music wiz’s I know. We occasionally run into each other at local productions he’s writing about, but I’m almost more familiar with his online takes on his favourite musicians and underrated albums. During our run-ins, he picks my brain about movies. We agree on Kirk Cameron, we disagree on 1st Summoning, but I digress.
A bunch of different ideas coexist in The Beach Bum, but they never truly come together.
Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am is an efficient documentary, even if it’s as standard as biopic docs get.
Family history is a dependable theme for filmmakers to explore. The Last Black Man in San Francisco, however, is more about what it means to preserve that lineage. In their breakout feature film debut, filmmaker Joe Talbot and actor Jimmie Fails unpack an observational story that’s related to that, based on elements of Fails’ real-life experiences.
Comedian Iliza Shlesinger gives at-home viewers an up-close-and-personal look at her career leading up to her latest Netflix special in the “fan-u-mentary” Iliza Shlesinger: Over & Over.
We don’t watch Hotel Mumbai, we experience it. Filmmaker Anthony Maras makes his feature film debut with a dramatization so intense and effective that the audience has no choice but to grit their teeth and squint their eyes as they muster through the film’s realistic reenactments. I haven’t felt that way since Paul Greengrass’ heart-wrenching portrayal of 9/11 in United 93 (2006).
By: Jessica Goddard Yesterday offers a fun hypothetical situation, and if you don’t overthink it, you’ll enjoy this movie as a tribute to the Beatles’ legacy. Spattered with modern Beatles covers and commentary on the ways the music industry has transformed since those songs were written, the film explores what might happen if one struggling singer-songwriter were suddenly the only person to remember the work of John, Paul, George, and Ringo.
At just over an hour, Never-Ending Man: Hayao Miyazaki is a rare opportunity to watch Studio Ghibli’s master at work as Miyazaki comes out of a temporary retirement to experiment with CGI animation.
What would happen if you woke up one day and just one seemingly ubiquitous thing had vanished off the face of the earth? As far as thought experiments go, this formula can lead to a variety of paths, most of them worth a bit of digging. However, what would happen if the Beatles vanished off the face of the earth and the answer was told by a cheque-cashing Danny Boyle, based on yet another formulaic…
