By: Trevor Chartrand Fisherman’s Friends is a charming little movie that celebrates the strength of a close community, shining its spotlight on a gang of quirky singing fisherman from Port Isaac, UK. Unlike the throat lozenge brand that shares this same title, this film goes down smooth and easy – and it won’t leave a bad taste in your mouth.
The Rest of Us needs a low triple-digit runtime, but sets up a needless challenge for itself to tell its story in under 80 minutes. What’s the hurry? And if filmmaker Aisling Chin-Yee has to compromise the narrative with condensed scenes and sharp edits to win the challenge, what’s the point?
Jeffrey McHale’s documentary You Don’t Nomi dissects 1995’s much maligned racy drama Showgirls in a similar way that Rodney Aster’s Room 237 delved into different theories on Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation of The Shining. Both films are about how cult interest breathed new life into a filmmaker’s original vision, however the difference between the documentaries stems from their points of interest. Room 237 was about how movie goers have interpreted visual totems within the film. You…
Military Wives has been tailor-made to be a crowd-pleaser. The ingredients are there: the leading characters have an entertaining dynamic that plays on their opposite personalities, they lead a team of underdogs, nostalgic pop tunes are worshipped amongst the film’s kind-hearted humour, a strong patriotic backbone holds up a story that’s been loosely based on real events. As much as it bugs me that the filmmakers believe they’ve cracked the code to pleasing general audiences…
Sometimes, a filmmaker will come up with a unique, unprecedented concept and turn it into a one-of-a-kind feature. More often than not, however, the concept confounds the creative; leading to a muddled mess that disappoints the viewer even more than the average bad effort. Case in point: The Roads Not Taken. It’s the latest film from once-celebrated English filmmaker Sally Potter, a woman who once managed to turn the perplexing Orlando into a film, which…
The Assistant is a faithful portrayal of workplace harassment. Drawing from her experience as a documentarian (Ukraine Is Not a Brothel), writer/director Kitty Green brings layers of realism which she channels well through her actors. I think Green’s vision is admirable, but I completely understand if audiences feel disregarded watching the movie.
Intended as a sequel, of sorts, to Braveheart, Robert the Bruce sees Angus MacFadyen (Braveheart, Alive) reprise his role as the titular Scottish king. Unfortunately, this is one of those movies with all the right ingredients – but no spark.
One thing that can be said in Hope Gap’s favour is that it has a strong sense of place. Filmed in Seaford, Sussex, the stunning white cliffs, quaint village streets, and the dark stone beaches are displayed wonderfully. Hope Gap is, at points, a visually beautiful film; unfortunately, it isn’t a particularly interesting one.
What role does the precarity of labour play in young people choosing to take on dangerous jobs? In the #MeToo era, how does one go about separating an artist’s actions from their work? Is anonymity possible in the 21st century? What is the difference between violence and a simulation of violence? If unethical acts lead to brilliant art, is it ethical to consume the art? What do these questions have in common? Well, for one, they…
