By: Jolie Featherstone [CW: child severely injured, violence, medical/surgical scenes] Ambulance is signature Michael Bay: action, melodrama, impressive stunt work and, of course, MASSIVE EXPLOSIONS! We would expect nothing less from the director of the Transformers series, Bad Boys, Pearl Harbor, and Armageddon.
Mothering Sunday is, at least, commendable for the swings it takes. Instead of following a typical period drama formula, director Eva Husson (Bang Gang [A Modern Love Story]) and screenwriter Alice Birch (Lady Macbeth) explore a titillating affair through several time-jumping perspectives. At first, it’s frustrating to keep up with the pace that’s further developing the romance between housemaid Jane Fairchild (Assassination Nation’s Odessa Young) and elite gentleman Paul Sheringham (Josh O’Connor of God’s Own…
In this efficient “hitman with a heart” tale from director Reem Morsi, The Last Mark is a confined thriller starring a conflicted crook (Shawn Doyle) and a kidnapped call girl (Alexia Fast) reeling for a “job” that went sideways after the escort witnesses the murder. The characters hide out at a safe house arranged by a fixer (Ashgrove’s Jonas Chernick) to escape the hitman’s unpredictable partner-in-crime (Bryce Hodgson). The dynamic between the unlikely fugitives is deliberately…
The drop in quality between Judd Apatow’s comedy The Bubble and his previous effort The King of Staten Island is staggering, confusing, and disappointing. The King of Staten Island was, in my opinion, the best movie of 2020. While The Bubble is in contention to be the worst movie of 2022.
Despite The Nudels of Nudeland being one of the strangest movies I’ve ever seen, it did expose me (pun intended) to naturist filmmaking. That’s right, naturist filmmaking. That translates to a movie performed by actors who are entirely in the buff, embracing nudism and using it to tell a story as well as to enlighten viewers on this chosen lifestyle. Distracting? Sure. A bit awkward? You betcha. Heavy-handed in its persuasion that it teeters on…
Academy Award nominated filmmaker Richard Linklater revisits rotoscope animation to portray a slice-of-life narrative in Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood.
A television show based on the hit video game Halo feels like a long time coming. And now that it’s finally come to fruition as a Paramount+ exclusive, audiences both familiar with the game and unfamiliar may walk away shrugging their shoulders. The show isn’t necessarily bad (based on the first two episodes that have been made available to the press) but, just like the armour of the franchise’s leading “supersoldier”, the result is very…
By: Jolie Featherstone Aaron and Adam Nee’s The Lost City is modern-day swashbuckler a la Romancing the Stone that delivers a delightful blend of adventure, comedy, and romance to the silver screen.
Run Woman Run is a sweet and charming dramatic comedy about family, community, healing, and grief. Written and directed by Zoe Leigh Hopkins (Kayak to Klemtu), Run Woman Run stars Dakota Ray Hebert (In Her City) as Beck, a single mom who is forced to re-examine her lifestyle after she is diagnosed with diabetes. While her father (Lorne Cardinal of Corner Gas) and sister (The Exchange’s Jayli Wolf) beg Beck to start eating right and exercising,…
By: Trevor Chartrand In this feature directorial debut of Thyrone Tommy, Learn to Swim focuses on the failing relationship between a stubborn jazz saxophone player Dezi (Thomas Antony Olajide) and an up-and-coming singer, Selma (Emma Ferreira). The film plays with time and takes place both before and after the relationship has failed. I hesitate to compare the film to 2009’s 500 Days of Summer, simply because Learn to Swim takes a much more sophisticated, and…