Road to the Lemon Grove is at its best when it indulges fully in its love affair with Sicily. Montages of food in market stalls, picturesque coastlines, narrow streets, fruit trees, donkeys – these are the most pleasurable moments in the film. Unfortunately, they are all too frequently interrupted by a forced plot, underdeveloped characters, and an awkward premise.
By: Jessica Goddard A poignant and sincere exploration of family, loyalty, and cultural divide, The Farewell turns its writer-director’s quirky anecdote into effective drama.
The How to Train Your Dragon series receives a fulfilling finale with The Hidden World, a sensational sequel that not only ties its saga back to the creation of legendary stories, but also features the best visuals DreamWorks Animation has ever produced.
By: Trevor Chartrand Animation studio Laika Entertainment has a reputation for dark and brooding content with releases like Corpse Bride (2005) or Coraline (2009), but this year’s Missing Link breaks their mold as a fun-for-most-ages adventure story.
There’s been a modest resurgence of oddball, family-friendly fantasies. We were reminded of it with Tim Burton’s Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, and now with Eli Roth’s The House with a Clock in Its Walls. While I’m more of a fan of how the former balanced all of its supernatural factors, I still really liked and admired Roth’s kooky flick about an uncle teaching his nephew the tricks of the trade to sorcery.
Supa Modo hit an emotional sweet spot with me, as I’m sure it will with TIFF Kids audiences. It’s easy to engage with a film that has this much optimism and zest.
Let There Be Light is a gratuitous entry into the popular faith-based sub-genre, but it acknowledges some interesting albeit heavy-handed ideas about being open to change.
