The iconic “crossing the streams” scenario, originally pitched by Ghostbusters, has served to be an effective comparison when describing debacles. Such is the case for another supernatural film, Handling the Undead. Norwegian filmmaker Thea Hvistendahl essentially”crosses the streams” by running a metaphorical subtext with more literal examples. Hvistendahl aims for nuance, but misses and creates heavy-handed deliveries and drawn out results.
Sweet Virginia is an ant hill of a movie – if you look underneath its still surface, you’ll find many working parts. There are many strengths, but director Jamie Dagg, screenwriters Benjamin and Paul China, and the phenomenal cast do a very good job at subtlety concealing them; allowing the film to wash over the audience from start to finish.
By: Addison Wylie The characters in the Australian/Ireland import Strangerland are surrounded by miles of flatland. The tattered town of Nathgari maintain a tight community, yet there is a sense of feeling forlorn and stranded. Newly minted feature filmmaker Kim Farrant uses these qualities to effectively stir up restlessness and sputtering hope when her story of missing children is in full swing. Catherine and Matthew (played by Nicole Kidman and Joseph Fiennes) are still adapting…
By: Addison Wylie As soon as I found out Señoritas was the feature debut for filmmaker Lina Rodriguez, everything started making sense. Señoritas reminded me a lot of Krivina and Tower, two indies I caught at TIFF two years ago. Both films featured up-and-coming filmmakers taking on character studies and applying a drawn out pace. What separates those two independent films from Señoritas is that they were building towards something. Krivina applied a twist that…
By: Addison Wylie Europa Report made my head throb from boredom and ache from excessive visual irritations. But before all that negativity, Sebastián Cordero’s found footage sci-fi opened my mind with its art direction and effects. Europa Report’s most impressive strength is its ability to make the audience feel as if we’re in that same spaceship as the featured crew members heading to Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons. Cordero has used subtleties to blend numerous…