By: Jessica Goddard A movie packed with subtlety and nuance, Kelly Reichardt’s Certain Women both wrenches the heart and flexes one’s critical capacities. Do we have sympathy for this character because we authentically suspect they’re a good person in spite of their actions, or do we desperately want them to be a good person because we feel so deeply sorry for them?
There’s nothing more easygoing than a road movie with good music and likeable leads. In a nutshell, that’s Folk Hero & Funny Guy, a comedy starring Alex Karpovsky (The Foxy Merkins, HBO’s Girls) and Wyatt Russell (Goon: Last of the Enforcers) as best friends who tour working class cities, exhibiting their passions.
Movie goers waiting for a biopic to blow their socks off shouldn’t rely on Tommy’s Honour, a drama that seems to fulfil its non-fiction requirements procedurally. Tommy’s Honour would be par for the course (ba-dum-tss) if it wasn’t so underwhelming.
By: Jessica Goddard The Belko Experiment, directed by Greg McLean (Wolf Creek) and written by James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy), is a cruel, manipulative, needless exploit into pure violence and gore.
Set in 2007, after the official end of the Iraq war had been announced, The Wall follows two American soldiers who investigate the area where civilian workers were attacked during the construction of an oil pipeline. The soldiers find themselves pinned behind a crumbling wall by an enemy sniper and struggling for survival.
Bas Devos’ feature film debut Violet is an unforgettable movie. There’s so much to admire about it: its cinematography, its patience, and Cesar De Sutter’s outstanding introverted performance. However, Devos’ daring ambition to visualize inner conflict through minimal dialogue may be the film’s strongest achievement.
I love my mom, which is why I won’t be taking her to see Mom & Me for Mother’s Day. Well, to be fair, we live four hours apart from each other, so we were planning on spending this day apart anyways – her card is in the mail. But, if there were a sudden change of plans and we could watch a movie together, I would still insist we steer clear of Ken Wardrop’s doc.
Botanist and author Diana Beresford-Kroeger guides us through the forests of Vancouver Island, California, Germany, Japan, and Ireland in Jeff McKay’s documentary Call of the Forest: The Forgotten Wisdom of Trees. Like many ecological documentaries, the film emphasizes the relationship between trees and other organisms that make up complex forest ecosystems as well as how this ecosystem is connected to the earth’s oceans and atmosphere.
By: Nick Ferwerda Buster’s Mal Heart is a psychological thriller that will keep you guessing until the end.
