By: Addison Wylie Opening this weekend is Canadian indie Down River, a drama that peers into the lives of three strong women pushed to extremes in order to fulfill an artistic destiny. What they also have in common is their connection to Pearl, an old soul who is ready to drop everything if she’s needed for friendship and support. Down River is a character study that offers a fair bit to chew on and doesn’t…
By: Addison Wylie Recently, we’ve seen Hansel and Gretel battle witches with steampunk weaponry in Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters and defeat a nefarious pot-peddling evildoer in Hansel & Gretel Get Baked. I’m still racking my brain as to why these Brothers Grimm siblings got the resurgence they did. Perhaps, the timing of it all makes H&G initially refreshing. It’s nice to see filmmaker Danishka Esterhazy take a low-key approach to this fairy tale and…
By: Addison Wylie Down River has so much emotion in it, the film is almost bursting at the seams to contain all of it. Actor turned filmmaker Ben Ratner pushes his four lead actresses to the brink of hysteria, but for fathomable reasons. Harper (played by Colleen Rennison) struggles as a lowly musician who’s losing touch of her sexuality, Fawn (played by Corner Gas’ Gabrielle Miller) is an actress who’s feeling a disconnect between her…
By: Addison Wylie It’s no competition that Kenny vs. Spenny – whether you like it or not – has become a staple in Canadian pop culture. Kenny Hotz and Spencer Rice’s reality television show featured the buddies going toe-to-toe with each other in various matches such as Who Can Win a Ten Mile Race and Who Can Stay in a Haunted House the Longest. However, as the competitions became increasingly irreverent and Hotz’s strategies more…
By: Addison Wylie Now that we’ve recognized the bad movies that were slingshot at audiences last year, it’s time to move on and engulf ourselves in the cream of the crop. 2013 introduced a wide variety of great films to audiences. I feel like I say that every year, but as I scour my selected picks, the only thing these movies share are the odd genre they’re grouped in. Take documentaries, for example. Audiences were…
By: Addison Wylie After being featured at Toronto After Dark, the indie Canadian thriller named Solo is making a more public appearance with a theatrical run at Toronto’s Carlton Cinema. Carlton Cinema is a very appropriate venue seeing as the theatre and the film both share a level of independence. Carlton Cinema is a quaint theatre that feels as if you step into another world of movie watching, and Solo’s lead is left in her own world…
By: Addison Wylie Solo starts out on an “A” game, but ends up finishing with a generous “C” grade. Isaac Cravit’s independent thriller is a straight-up campfire story – and, the filmmaker knows it. Gillian (played by former Degrassi: The Next Generation co-star Annie Clark) needs to prove herself to be a capable camp counsellor in order to obtain a summer job. The newbie needs to pull a “solo”, a two-night experience on a secluded…
By: Addison Wylie Every so often, a movie comes along and upsets me heavily with how it wastes prime opportunities. February has slung that film at me and it’s called Sex After Kids, a Canadian independent comedy helped out with a successful IndieGoGo campaign. The only thing that stops me from getting really angry at Sex After Kids is that there is not a mean bone in its body. Filmmaker Jeremy Lalonde has truly tried…
By: Addison Wylie Some movies can be summed up in one word. Katrin Bowen’s Random Acts of Romance can be summed up with a let down sigh. It’s tough to see a movie worth rooting for bite off more than it can chew. Or, in this case, expand its focus so far that the target the film is aiming for becomes more difficult to hit. Random Acts of Romance gets our attention with its overlapping…
By: Addison Wylie I didn’t like The Disappeared, but I can at least compliment its opening shots. Director Shandi Mitchell quickly establishes the nothingness that exists around a crew of lost men at sea. Mitchell generates an instantaneous sense of fear and hopelessness as the vagueness in their whereabouts and time of day effects the audience greatly. Then, someone speaks. And, more people speak. It’s not so much speaking as it is projecting and emphasizing…