No Stranger Than Love is known around the Wylie household for its unofficial working title I’ve coined – the ‘Alison Brie Hole-in-the-Floor’ movie. However, the only memorable aspects of Nick Wernham’s rom-com are those two details – the former Community actress and the bottomless pit that randomly sprouts in her living room and gobbles up a promiscuous co-worker (Colin Hanks).
How to Plan an Orgy in a Small Town is a pleasant surprise on a couple of levels. It’s easy to see why this naughty-but-nice crowd pleaser has gathered acclaim; even taking home the Best Feature award at this year’s Canadian Film Fest.
Try this premise on for size: a scared young man – Eugene – attempts to put an end to his bottoming-out fate by hitting the road and finding theoretical gold at the end of a literal rainbow. Being enrolled in special classes has given the handicapped student a slanted view of reality – a contradiction since he witnesses his chain-smoking mother giving up daily. While on his trip, Eugene quickly finds out that the world can…
In Geordie Sabbagh’s indie A Sunday Kind of Love, the audience follows an aloof, cynical author Adam (played by Dylan Taylor) as he struggles through his writer’s block and procrastinates. His girlfriend Tracy (played by Meghan Heffern) tries to motivate him, but his moping is unstoppable. He retreats to a nearby coffee shop and meets Emma (played by Melanie Scrofano), who presents herself as an admirer and soon reveals that she’s actually, well, death (sans black cloak and scythe).
There is no bigger proponent of Canadian cinema than myself. If a film really captures me, I’ll go out of my way to champion it. Low budget, undetectable indies sometimes need that extra push. However, no matter if the film is big or small, if the end result is wildly inconsistent, I have to throw in the towel. Case in point: Navin Ramaswaran’s shockingly inept Chasing Valentine.
Producer/director Brian Stockton pulls a reverse Ghost World with The Sabbatical, a low-key comedy where the older eccentric follows a current generation through a younger artist.
About Scout could’ve gone in the wrong direction, but it doesn’t. Despite following a “to do” list of quirky indie things with precocious characters who have been schooled by Juno Technical Institute, there’s a consistent sincerity that never failed to smitten.
