Family Switch
The only real positive takeaway from Netflix’s dreadful yuletide family comedy Family Switch, other than the odd mild chuckle, is that it acts as a canary in the coal mine for body swap flicks.
Comedy
Dream Scenario
By: Jeff Ching The idea of a random Joe Schmoe appearing in everyone’s dreams is an intriguing premise, but could Dream Scenario’s writer/director Kristoffer Borgli (Sick of Myself) have ever imagined a better set-up than Nicolas Cage portraying this ubiquitous dream character? The answer to my rhetorical question is a resounding “hell no!”. In fact, at the post-screening Q&A at this year’s TIFF, Cage explained how he easily relates to this character and brought up the meme about himself;…
Who’s Yer Father?
By: Trevor Chartrand Who’s Yer Father?, from writer/director Jeremy Larter (Pogey Beach), is a quirky dark comedy with an Eastern Canadian twist. Funny and fast-paced, this movie has a stylized bluntness to it; almost as if it’s Prince Edward Island’s own Napoleon Dynamite – but with a much more sinister tone.
Freelance
The swashbuckling comedic action-adventure sub-genre featuring a macho man saving a high-profile damsel in distress seems like a dated idea. It’s possible for filmmakers and storytellers to modernize this premise (The Lost City as a recent example), but to leave this two-dimensional dynamic at its infant stages for most of the movie feels like a no-win risk. If this is generally agreed upon, then pardon me for the switcheroo: I had a lot of fun with…
Toronto After Dark 2023: ‘Daniel’s Gotta Die’
Canadian filmmaker Jeremy LaLonde is becoming the go-to guy to find humour in despicable people. After taking a brief break to make an experimental drama (Ashgrove), LaLonde finds himself easing back into his comedic element with Daniel’s Gotta Die, a dark comedy about an inheritance-hungry, ne’er-do-well family being reigned in by a goodnatured sibling.
Dumb Money
Dumb Money is supposed to educate viewers on how the stock market was overturned by amateur buyers who invested in the video store retailer GameStop, causing a disruption felt by Wall Street. The film is informative, though viewers are still required to know the basics of stock market culture before buying a ticket. However, what I find more interesting than the biographical intentions of Dumb Money is that director Craig Gillespie (I, Tonya) has made…
The Retirement Plan
Everyone’s favourite Nicolas Cage (The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent) is back playing another enigmatic oddball. However, the role doesn’t play towards the actors usual blend of ticks and outbursts but rather, and unintentionally so, reflects the movie he’s starring in.
Back on the Strip
Back on the Strip is a guilty pleasure in the sense that I feel like I need to apologize to somebody for laughing as much as I did. This unleashed movie isn’t very perceptive or thoughtful, but it knows how to deliver a payoff and a punchline. I suppose in these circumstances you have to be fair and give credit where credit is due, but it feels like I’m rewarding bad behaviour.