Drama

Reviews

The Miseducation of Cameron Post

As people grow up, ideas are suggested to them from various sources to help craft their life in a certain way.  However with The Miseducation of Cameron Post, co-writer/director Desiree Akhavan makes an argument about the search for personal individuality which is not only liberating, but absolutely valid.  Adapting Emily M. Danforth’s novel of the same name, Akhavan shows audiences that no matter what customs or beliefs are enforced onto another person, their voice and personality…

Reviews

Euthanizer

By: Trevor Chartrand Helmed by Finnish filmmaker Teemu Nikki, Euthanizer is one moody, atmospheric and, frankly, zany thriller.  Between overlapping tones and strategic musical cues, this movie blends genres in a way that just shouldn’t work, but somehow does – it’s like combining the sweetest strawberries with jalapenos and raw sewage.  Euthanizer somehow creates a sweet, yet spicy, story that will leave a bad taste in your mouth (in a good way).

Reviews

Shock and Awe

Woody Harrelson, James Marsden, Jessica Biel, Milla Jovovich, Rob Reiner, and Tommy Lee Jones.  These actors all play key parts in Shock and Awe, a political drama Reiner directs.  Unfortunately, they’re all overqualified for this generic vehicle.

Reviews

Boundaries

By: Nick van Dinther In Boundaries, director Shana Feste tells a story that’s loosely based on her relationship with her father and their shared life experience;  which makes it surprising that one of the movie’s biggest setbacks is how cliché it is, and how it lacks realism.

Reviews

Terminal

I can’t tell you much about Terminal because a.) talking about its multiple twists would allude to the degree of deception that is continuously at work in the film and b.) the movie is often so incomprehensible, you can’t make heads or tails of it.

Reviews

Sunset

Sunset is the disaster movie audiences had no idea they needed.  Instead of overreaching for thrilling spectacles, director Jamison M. LoCascio presents a subdued, dialogue-driven film featuring a relatable cast of characters reacting and adapting to a critical state of emergency.

One-on-Ones

Wylie Writes’ One-On-One with Sook-Yin Lee

Sook-Yin Lee is currently mystifying Toronto movie goers with her long-awaited return to feature-length filmmaking.  Octavio is Dead! gradually reels us in with a dream-like allure as we observe Tyler (Sarah Gadon) rediscover herself through the death of her absent father (Raoul Max Trujillo).  From there, Lee strings her audience on a winding narrative that consistently maintains a personal intimacy throughout its run.

Reviews

Octavio Is Dead!

Pardon me for sounding blasé, but I can’t help but clench when a Canadian film makes supernatural suggestions.  Other than the odd exception (A Sunday Kind of Love), these are ideas that are usually squandered of their potential (Considering Love & Other Magic).  Imagine my surprise in Octavio Is Dead!, the latest filmmaking effort from Shortbus actor Sook-Yin Lee, when the writer/director treaded familiar ground but drove her film in a darker direction;  blending different…

Reviews

The Lockpicker

A teenager’s public suicide sends shockwaves through their high school, as students and teachers alike reel and cope.  On the fringe of the tragedy is Hashi, a shy creative writer who had a close friendship with the victim.  Being generally shy and uncomfortable to begin with, Hashi – despite finding an emotional connection through poetry – doesn’t know how to exhale his pain.  Unfortunately, he chooses ways to grieve that are detrimental to his life.