Peter Rajesh Joachim, a graduate of Sheridan College’s advanced television and film program, makes his feature-length directorial debut with the shoestring crime drama Blood Empires. It’s adequate and exactly what you would expect from a new filmmaker tackling a genre that’s known for obvious clichés, but thankfully Joachim is aware enough to somewhat withhold his cast from sleepwalking through tiresome territory.
With on-the-nose dialogue and underwhelming characterization, Mr. Church manages to be as boring to watch as it is uninspired.
The Eyes of My Mother is a painstakingly-crafted black-and-white chiller that has been described as a horror/drama. While writer/director Nicolas Pesce delivers a heart-wrenching story with unsettling imagery, it all adds up to a bleak and empty experience.
It would be unprofessional to make guesses on what compelled Katie Holmes to make All We Had based on what we know from tabloid magazine headlines. However, it’s hard not to assume when audiences observe the mother-daughter bonding of Holmes and breakout actress Stefania Owen.
Complete Unknown looks and sounds ordinary, but that’s the idea. Joshua Marston’s drama centres on dull people with dense occupations who are celebrating a birthday party for Tom, the most unlikable person within their social circle. However, the night is shaken up by an attractive, unknown guest.
Inspiration may be Jason Armstrong’s first feature-length movie in seven years, but he’s been a consistent storyteller. Just this Summer, Armstrong (along with frequent collaborator Mike Klassen) made 9 Days with Cambria, a moderately successful web series confronting abuse through short stories performed by different actresses portraying the same character.
Siobhan Devine’s The Birdwatcher is a bad movie, but it made me reflect on how spoiled Canadian audiences really are.
While Jean of the Joneses may be predictable, the film is the work of an exciting new voice in cinema. Writer/director Stella Meghie truly knows how to write fully developed, sympathetic characters; it’s an absolute pleasure to spend 82-minutes with her creations.
After a long, ten-year stint in filmmaker jail, Mel Gibson has returned with Hacksaw Ridge: a gruesomely violent WWII biopic about Desmond Doss, a medic and devout Seventh Day Adventist, who saved the lives of over 75 soldiers during the Battle of Okinawa without killing a single enemy combatant. Hacksaw Ridge features Gibson’s typical heavy-handed religious symbolism to great effect here, and serves as an unnerving contrast to the graphic violence in the film’s third…
Doug Martin (Nick Jonas) is sidetracked by an alluring neighbour, Lena (Isabel Lucas), during a summertime escape. Her husband (Dermot Mulroney) is too unpredictable for comfort, which leads Lena to warm up next to her unassuming and equally randy neighbour. The pair go to great lengths to protect their affair, even if that means resorting to crime.