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April 2024

Reviews

The King Tide

Newfoundlander director Christian Sparkes (Hammer) seems as though he dipped into A24’s back catalogue to draw inspiration for his effective east coast chiller The King Tide. While there may be stylistic similarities to David Eggers’ work (The Witch, The Lighthouse) and Ari Aster’s movies (Hereditary, Midsommar), Sparkes’ ominous dramatic thriller doesn’t necessarily resemble Canada’s usual output. At least, not since Denis Côté’s Ghost Town Anthology.

Reviews

Occupied City

An unofficial cut of Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining titled The Shining Forwards and Backwards supposedly features hidden meanings and themes when a reversed version of the movie is superimposed on the original. Filmmaker Steve McQueen (director of the Oscar-winning 12 Years a Slave) applies a similar narrative with his very ambitious (and very long) documentary Occupied City. But instead of mirrored images, McQueen presents several locations around Amsterdam and has narrator Melanie Hyams recite the…

Reviews

The People’s Joker

The People’s Joker feels as if it comes from the nichiest corners: an autobiographical mixed media art piece, based on the filmmaker’s own trans coming-of-age, that reclaims pop culture as a way to personally convey and connect the past to the present. But as specific as The People’s Joker may sound on paper and as polarizing as it appears on screen, this wickedly transgressive tragicomedy is one of the most accessible films ever contributed to…

Reviews

Sasquatch Sunset

By: Trevor Chartrand I recently covered 2023’s A Disturbance in the Force, the documentary about the Star Wars Holiday Special.  Now, if there’s anything to take away from that doc, it’s that bipedal apes grunting at each other for 90 minutes doesn’t exactly qualify as captivating entertainment.  It’s a lesson directors David and Nathan Zellner would have benefited from before making Sasquatch Sunset.

Reviews

Irena’s Vow

Fun fact: did you know, in 2024, there’s been more films about the holocaust than movies about killer spiders?  I suppose this isn’t really an odd coincidence considering audiences don’t often see movies about killer spiders.  But also considering Sting is currently playing in theatres and Infested streams on Shudder by the end of April, it’s a bit weird the arachnids are still outnumbered.

Reviews

The Movie Man

The Princess Diaries The Dark Knight The Secret Life of Pets Mission: Impossible – Fallout These are the four movies I’ve seen at Highlands Cinema in Kinmount, Ontario.  Four completely different movies with a ubiquitous moviegoing experience; provided by the theatre, its staff, and owner Keith Stata.  It’s only fair to present my bias before reviewing The Movie Man, Matt Finlin’s documentary about Stata’s legacy and the history of his DIY multiplex.  Located in the…

Reviews

Villains Inc.

After watching kids have a ball with subversive superhero fodder like Megamind, The Bad Guys, and the Despicable Me franchise, older audiences finally get to have their fun with Villains Inc.  But instead of assuming that adults want another frenetic flick with balls-to-the-wall violence and a four-to-twelve-letter colourful dialect (ala Kick-Ass and its sequel), Villains Inc. works within a more patient element with organic wit while outrageous characters build charismatic rhythms.

Reviews

Sting

Horror filmmaker Kiah Roache-Turner seems to be thumbing his way through a rolodex of creepy villains. He made one hell of a zombie movie with Wyrmwood and, now, he’s given modern creature features a run for their money with Sting.

Reviews

La Chimera

Filmmaker Alice Rohrwacher is on the cusp of making a good movie with La Chimera but, in a feigned and suspicious manner, the writer/director can’t help but break the reality of her story to satisfy her own needs.