The Postcard Killings
By: Trevor Chartrand A plain and passable thriller, The Postcard Killings is stamped with mild mystery and timid intrigue that ultimately doesn’t deliver a whole lot of punch.
Crime
Judy & Punch
Punch and Judy are a couple of characters in a traditional British puppet show who are not exactly known for their subtlety. Punch is placed in charge of taking care of their kids. He hits the kid, his wife gets mad, he hits his wife, a cop shows up, he hits the cop, and so on and so forth. As such, it is a bit unusual that someone decided that this story, or rather the…
Dreamland
Pontypool is one of my favourite movies, even though I really dislike its post-credit sequence. It’s a random bit that looks like a deleted scene from Robert Rodriguez’s Sin City series, featuring obscure characters that we haven’t seen before exchanging hard-boiled dialogue – it’s moody nonsense. It makes as much sense as the entirety of Dreamland, a pseudo-fantasy-noir that has the gall to ride the coattails of Pontypool; squandering the reunion of its filmmakers and…
A Fall from Grace
In between takes on the set of David Fincher’s Gone Girl, Tyler Perry must’ve thought about making a crime drama or an erotic thriller; and he must’ve thought about merging those ideas into one project. But like most pipe dreams, these visions are usually filed away into our subconscious. But for Perry, A Fall from Grace must’ve been itching to get out.
I See You
Adam Randall’s thriller I See You is so good, it hurts. Seriously though, because I’m biting my tongue. I want to gush about this fantastic movie so much, but talking about it in detail would be a disservice. The film dishes out so many surprises and they all stick a miraculous landing.
Line of Descent
Are you still thirsty for crime movies after soaking in The Irishman? You might want to give Line of Descent a shot. In no way is Line of Descent in the same league as Martin Scorsese’s masterpiece, but it’s a solid pick for people looking for to be entertained by lighter popcorn fare after watching Netflix’s consequential epic.
Toronto After Dark 2019: ‘Contracts’ and ‘Paradise Hills’
Contracts (DIR. Alex Chung) Critics Jean-Luc Comolli and Paul Narboni once suggested that all films were inherently political because, even when a film lacks an overt political bent, its refusal to question the politics of its world is an acceptance of said politics. This lesson in film theory may sound like it is coming out of nowhere, but it serves a purpose, namely in explaining that Alex Chung’s Contracts—which had its world premiere at Toronto After…
Wylie Writes’ One-On-One with Corey Stanton
Robbery is a solid drama that tells the compelling story of Frank (Art Hindle), a cerebral career criminal suffering from dementia. When his son, Richie (Jeremy Ferdman), finds himself the target of a dangerous organization to whom he owes money, Frank must come out of retirement and use the remnants of his mind to save his son. I talked with writer/director Corey Stanton to see where this surprisingly unique story came from.