At the moment, there isn’t a more indulgent director than Frank D’Angelo. The Canadian entrapreneur/musician has made a film career out of mob movies featuring (and recycling) loaded casts, essentially, playing cops n’ robbers. The material is more than criminals and anti-heroes pointing guns and using twelve-letter words to berate each other, but some have argued otherwise. The Neighborhood, unfortunately, gives the haters ammunition.
By: Jessica Goddard Kathleen Hepburn’s Never Steady, Never Still is a serious, greyscale, dragging meditation on subjects so inherently sombre, it’s practically masochistic to sit through the whole film without allowing yourself a break.
Let’s assume that bad things are always happening. While someone finds enjoyment in life, someone else may be barely hanging on to their reality. That’s basically the gist of Wayne Wapeemukwa’s debut feature Luk’Luk’I, an obvious stream of consciousness that doesn’t expand beyond that idea.
By: Jessica Goddard Mina Shum’s Meditation Park is an engaging, quirky, and empowering film about the overdue self-actualization of a Vancouver woman (Cheng Pei-pei) in light of the discovery of her husband’s affair. This thoroughly modern film also expertly highlights the immigrant experience in multicultural Canada, while making clear that the narrative is culturally universal. There is an exquisite balance of humour and poignancy in the writing, strengthened by an excellent cast.
By: Jessica Goddard This detailed and thoroughly layered period drama intertwines two stories against the backdrop of the Catholic Church’s controversial reforms in the 1960s, known as Vatican II.
Pilgrimage will be known as “that movie where the Punisher fights alongside monk Spider-Man”. By that, I mean Tom Holland (Spider-Man: Homecoming) and Jon Bernthal (Netflix’s Daredevil and The Punisher) have starring roles in Brendan Muldowney’s action/drama about a monastery’s dangerous mission.
By: Jessica Goddard Luca Guadagnino’s Call Me By Your Name is a complex and highly nuanced coming-of-age story, packed with moving performances.
By: Jessica Goddard Geremy Jasper’s Patti Cake$ is a fresh and energetic take on the “wannabe rapper” sub-sub-genre.
The Only Living Boy in New York, Marc Webb’s second film of the year after Gifted, is both a surprise and an expected move from the filmmaker.
Lucy (Brittany Snow) emerges from a subway ride like any other ordinary day to find that her Brooklyn neighbourhood, Bushwick, is under attack – soldiers are tackling, bombing and shooting the civilians. People are fighting back, fighting each other, and even looting. While caught up in the mess, Lucy is saved by an imposing-looking custodian named Stupe (Dave Bautista). The two make plans to travel to the military extraction point, navigating the chaos and bloodshed as best…