It’s March 31, 1943, and Broadway lyricist Lorenz Hart (Ethan Hawke) is chatting up the patrons at Sardi’s, a restaurant that will be hosting the production of Oklahoma! after their opening night. The buzz around this new musical is rumoured to be a hit for Hart’s collaborative composer Richard Rogers (Andrew Scott), who paired with Oscar Hammerstein II for this folksy endeavour. Hart, whether he knows it or not, tries to tune out and drown away his…
Movie musical maestro Bill Condon (director of Dreamgirls and Beauty and the Beast [2017], and screenwriter for Chicago and The Greatest Showman) provides a good stage-to-screen adaptation of Kiss of the Spider Woman. But, it’s also a reminder that sometimes a filmed version of a bottled staged show can’t overcome its blatant challenges. Most of 1993’s Tony award-winner takes place within a shared jail. Luis (soap star Tonatiuh) has been incarcerated for indecency and continues to experience other prejudices for…
Oh, Hi! would make a surefire date flick for seasoned couples who have since shed their desperation for romance. Having that self-assurance would make Sophie Brooks’ off-kilter rom-com much more satisfying. If you’re a couple that is more green, hey, there’s nothing wrong with a film provoking some interesting post-screening chats about comfort and communication over some coffee and pie. Issac (Logan Lerman of The Perks of Being a Wallflower) and Iris (Theater Camp’s Molly Gordon,…
40 Acres represents the best qualities of Canadian cinema. R.T. Thorne’s outstanding survival thriller is enormously entertaining with taut and rhythmic tension, but the movie also pitches hauntingly beautiful scenery (a near-future dystopia using Northern Ontario as a backdrop) and a metaphorical vision about land being usurped from minorities. The blockbuster hit A Quiet Place was a sensory experience for audiences to perceive the stark hopelessness of an apocalypse through silences. In comparison, 40 Acres offers movie goers…
Star power carries On Swift Horses, which isn’t necessarily a negative criticism in this case. Jacob Elordi, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Will Poulter, Diego Calva, and Sasha Calle have incredible chemistry with each other, and with the audience. Their charming, and often seductive, appeal has the powerful potential to attract a younger crowd towards period dramas without cheapening the quality of the film or lowering the expectations of the viewer. While light on plot and long in…
St. Vincent co-stars Bill Murray and Naomi Watts are briefly reunited in The Friend, a pandering would-be weeper from Bee Season filmmakers Scott McGeehee and David Siegel who are adapting Sigrid Nunez’s novel of the same name. While New York writer Iris (Watts) wrestles with her conflicted emotions over her mentor Walter (Murray) after he takes his own life, the writer takes on the additional challenge of caring for Walter’s elderly Great Dane, Apollo. Driving home how everyone…
The Penguin Lessons is a period dramedy that sings a familiar song but director Peter Cattaneo knows how to play this music really well. With The Full Monty and Military Wives under his belt, it only makes sense for Cattaneo to keep churning out audience-friendly biopics that are inspired by, or based on, true stories. Steve Coogan (of Greed and Alan Partridge fame) portrays Tom Michell, an educator who travels to Argentina to teach English to teenage boys and…
Going from one perception of dystopia (O’Dessa) to another, Can I Get a Witness? proposes a much “sunnier” version. At least, on the surface. Canadian filmmaker Ann Marie Fleming pitches a reality where the Earth’s sustainability is balanced and resolved. The only trade-offs being that nobody can use technology or travel or live past 50. If you’re reaching that age, an end-of-life ceremony (of the sacrifice’s preference) is prepared where you’ll self-euthanize yourself. In your presence, as…
Parthenope (Celeste Dalla Porta) is an intelligent and challenging anthropology student who impresses her teachers and peers. When she’s not in class, the Naples native embraces life with her brother, Raimondo (Daniele Rienzo), and lifelong best friend Sandrino (Dario Aita). The men around Parthenope are infatuated with her, and the women admire her. Is there anything she can’t do? The answer: no – she can in fact do it all; such as take a break from…
Fernanda Torres is an Oscar front-runner for Best Actress, after winning the Golden Globe for her sensational performance in the epic drama I’m Still Here – the buzz is well-earned. Despite the movie being too long while also rushing through the last period in this devastating story, I’m Still Here is a very strong movie about the emotional endurance of love. Torres plays Eunice Paiva, the mother of a large family who are trying to live under strict…