Using his previous film, the embellished period thriller Operation Avalanche, as a stepping stone towards his latest feature, Canadian renegade Matt Johnson takes another crack at the biopic genre with BlackBerry. Director Johnson (co-writing with frequent collaborator/producer Matthew Miller) chronicles the rise and fall of the titular game-changing portable device that allowed users online access and exclusive text-based communication.
After watching the insane adolescent behaviour featured in MSC: The Movie and Magnum Opus: The .MOVie and vying for something deeper than amateur stunts, Therapy Dogs does a decent job answering my wishes.
Spice It Up does something really special that I hope will translate to general audiences. It rips on practically everything that has to do with making a movie, including those brave enough to take on such a task. It even doubles down on its niche by teasing student filmmakers and the amateur qualities they have yet to grow out of. Spice It Up isn’t mean, but it’s self-aware enough to shoot off some well-meaning friendly…
From making a dark comedy about a premeditated school shooting to slightly deceiving NASA while making a faux-documentary within a faux-documentary, it’s safe to claim that filmmaker Matt Johnson is a bit of a renegade. But similar to his storytelling innovation in The Dirties, Johnson finds a new way to twist old tales in Operation Avalanche.
Matt Johnson’s impressive and ambitious feature film debut The Dirties is making its way onto Blu-ray and DVD after earning plenty of well-deserved accolades – including winning the Scotiabank Jay Scott Prize for the top emerging artist at January’s Toronto Film Critics Association Film Awards. The Dirties is an unsettling and unflinching look at bullying through a struggling perspective. The first-person view follows Johnson and his friend Owen (both using their real names, but taking on different on-screen…
By: Addison Wylie What do I say about The Dirties? A film that shook me up and has hung around with me days after I’ve seen it. Matt Johnson’s courageous and ambitious feature film debut is a tough film to recommend to a wide audience because of its timely, controversial material handled with a sense of humour. You definitely have to be in a specific mood for its darker approach to school shootings and the…