The Devout
The Devout is a new addition to the faith-based genre, and it’s actually a pretty cool flick. You don’t often hear “cool” in the same discussion as recent faith-based cinema, so I assume I already have your attention.
Canadian
Canadian Film Fest ’17: The Heretics
As a film critic, you try your hardest not to be jaded. However, I find myself struggling not to make blasé comments about Black Fawn Films’ latest horror movie The Heretics.
Canadian Film Fest ’17: Modern Classic
Making a movie like Modern Classic requires film experience, and I’m not talking about knowing how to assemble a shot list. It’s a taxing process of compromises that pulls you through the ringer while you remain hopeful and eager. Modern Classic, a flippant film about this love/hate relationship, uses catharsis and dry humour to exhale.
Canadian Film Fest ’17: Broken Mile
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.
Canadian Film Fest ’17: #AnAmericanDream
Ken Finkleman (of CBC’s cult hit The Newsroom) wryly lampoons streamlined success in #AnAmericanDream.
Hello Destroyer
Kevan Funk’s Hello Destroyer, a complicated and clinical disclosure of the underlying traumas associated with hockey, was well-received at TIFF last year for a good reason: there aren’t many films brave enough to de-mythologize Canada’s national sport.
The Red Maple Leaf
In Frank D’Angelo’s The Red Maple Leaf, special agent Alfonso Palermo (D’Angelo) asks potential suspects to “indulge him” during interrogations. I’ve heard some describe D’Angelo’s filmmaking as indulgent, which is why I smirked whenever Palermo asked this. Whether this was a cheeky wink toward critics is a mystery, and will probably remain unanswered.
Kiss and Cry
Kiss and Cry is a lovely Canadian companion to Josh Boone’s crowd-pleaser The Fault in Our Stars.