By: Liam Parker Reminiscent of Jason Robert Brown’s hit musical The Last Five Years, The Swearing Jar takes the traditional tropes of a rocky relationship and turns them completely on its head. The Swearing Jar is a masterclass in storytelling. What begins as a beautifully sombre tale of love and heartache accented by musical interludes of haunting beauty, descends into a striking and refreshingly human tale of sorrow, loss, and grief.
The Nan Movie has made its way across the pond from the UK to North America like a rolling storm cloud. Sometimes though, an anticipated storm turns out to be pretty mellow and not the disaster you were expecting; a pleasant surprise, even. And sometimes, such is the case with The Nan Movie, that storm can hit you harder than you ever expected.
Call me a wet noodle, a buzzkill, or a “namby-pamby” (a term I learned from this movie), but I did not fall under the romantic spell of Mr. Malcolm’s List. In fact, I thought Mr. Malcolm’s List was pretty cheesy. Then again, the love-struck emotions in Emma Holly Jones’ period piece are supposed to hit those levels of mushy sentimentality. It’s just a matter of reigning them in before they spill over to become just…
By: Jeff Ching I was excited when I found out that Stanleyville was the feature directorial debut of Maxwell McCabe-Lokos, who wrote 2013’s The Father – one of the most criminally underrated dark comedies of all time. The Father was a Canadian film about a husband and father trying to move on with his life after dealing with the shocking news of his wife getting arrested for cheating on him…with a minor. What a concept, and a hilariously…
Terence Davies’ latest period biopic Benediction is comparable to his last feature, A Quiet Passion, though this movie is much better and says a lot more about its subject.
By: Jeff Ching The Middle Man takes place in the fictional town of Karmack, USA. Of every fictional city I’ve seen in the movies, Karmack is the last place I would ever want to live.
A young woman is caught between the expectations of her Pakistani family and her growing independence in writer/director Haya Waseem’s haunting coming-of-age drama, Quickening.
Kicking Blood is a really goofy vampire flick, and I’m not sure how much if it is intentional. I was entertained nonetheless by Blaine Thurier’s film, even if it’s a bit of a buzzkill during the final third.
Run Woman Run is a sweet and charming dramatic comedy about family, community, healing, and grief. Written and directed by Zoe Leigh Hopkins (Kayak to Klemtu), Run Woman Run stars Dakota Ray Hebert (In Her City) as Beck, a single mom who is forced to re-examine her lifestyle after she is diagnosed with diabetes. While her father (Lorne Cardinal of Corner Gas) and sister (The Exchange’s Jayli Wolf) beg Beck to start eating right and exercising,…
Moon Manor didn’t quite work for me. However, it finishes with poignant elegance while sending home a sobering message about stigmas behind certain health conditions. In this case, how does an elderly man (James ‘Jimmy’ Carrozo playing a version of himself) with debilitating Alzheimer’s choose to live his life? Moon Manor’s answer: throw yourself a FUN-eral and go out safely on your own terms. Moon Manor follows Jimmy on his “last day”.