A teenager’s public suicide sends shockwaves through their high school, as students and teachers alike reel and cope. On the fringe of the tragedy is Hashi, a shy creative writer who had a close friendship with the victim. Being generally shy and uncomfortable to begin with, Hashi – despite finding an emotional connection through poetry – doesn’t know how to exhale his pain. Unfortunately, he chooses ways to grieve that are detrimental to his life.
In January, I declared Monolith as one of the dumbest movies I’d have ever seen; despite it being an entertaining flick. I secretly felt that no other movie released in 2018 could top its foolishness. Little did I know Rob Cohen’s disaster movie The Hurricane Heist was waiting around the corner, ready to blow me away.
The Accountant of Auschwitz proposes a moral dilemma about whether to follow through convicting a 94-year-old man with crimes against humanity for contributing to the horrors of the Auschwitz death camp. The man in question, former SS guard Oskar Gröning, is physically frail, stoic, and would undoubtably live out his final years in prison, but are these current details relevant when discussing justice for 300,000 people who were murdered for their culture?
Alain Ducasse is a sensational chef with incredible senses, and Gilles de Maistre communicates that well in his labour of love The Quest of Alain Ducasse.
Craig Johnson (director/co-writer of The Skeleton Twins) returns with another sweet story about solving personal ambiguity with wonder, caution, and experience in Netflix’s Alex Strangelove. This time, the angst takes place in high school, as Johnson evolves the “teen sex comedy” sub-genre with positive (and current) messages of sexual orientation.
By: Trevor Chartrand Michelle Ouellet’s Prodigals depicts a feeling as much as a narrative. Based on a stage play of the same name, the film is about a group of 20-somethings reflecting on their lives, and coming to terms with the emptiness staring back at them. While it may sound bleak and unsettling, the film isn’t without a few shimmering rays of hope.
By: Trevor Chartrand It’s refreshing to see original scripts can still make their way to the big screen! Between the endless tirade of superhero movies, novel adaptations, sequels, remakes, and reboots, it’s rare to see something that’s actually fresh. Films aren’t often greenlit without a built-in fanbase – and even when they are, they rarely rise above mediocrity. Thankfully, this isn’t the case with Drew Pearce’s Hotel Artemis. The film isn’t going to revolutionize cinema…
