Punch and Judy are a couple of characters in a traditional British puppet show who are not exactly known for their subtlety. Punch is placed in charge of taking care of their kids. He hits the kid, his wife gets mad, he hits his wife, a cop shows up, he hits the cop, and so on and so forth. As such, it is a bit unusual that someone decided that this story, or rather the…
Sometimes, a filmmaker will come up with a unique, unprecedented concept and turn it into a one-of-a-kind feature. More often than not, however, the concept confounds the creative; leading to a muddled mess that disappoints the viewer even more than the average bad effort. Case in point: The Roads Not Taken. It’s the latest film from once-celebrated English filmmaker Sally Potter, a woman who once managed to turn the perplexing Orlando into a film, which…
She’s Allergic to Cats is an absolute anomaly. Incorporating elements of American independent cinema, Jon Moritsugu-style filmmaking and even early video art, music video director Michael Reich has created something that is, at once, missing a cohesive audience and the sort of work that we need right now.
What is the point of making a found footage film when it is surrounded by a traditional narrative style? Not like Cannibal Holocaust, where the traditional style was used as a framing device to present the found footage, but rather a traditional narrative that occasionally cuts to a shot from the point-of-view of a camera with a red record signal in the corner. With Marcel Walz’s Rootwood, there isn’t even a documentary concept surrounding the whole thing, as…
What role does the precarity of labour play in young people choosing to take on dangerous jobs? In the #MeToo era, how does one go about separating an artist’s actions from their work? Is anonymity possible in the 21st century? What is the difference between violence and a simulation of violence? If unethical acts lead to brilliant art, is it ethical to consume the art? What do these questions have in common? Well, for one, they…
A film can sometimes take so many risks, twists, and turns that the movie itself becomes borderline indescribable. Ant Timpson’s Come to Daddy falls in this camp, so how do I even begin to discuss it?
In 2016, Fox News almost came unraveled in a few days as its CEO, Roger Ailes, was accused of sexual harassment before being forced to resign. The story of Ailes’ journey from creating the most successful American news channel to death might well be a fascinating one, but a deft hand is needed to do it (see: Addison Wylie’s review of Divide and Conquer: The Story of Roger Ailes). Unfortunately, director Jay Roach (HBO’s Recount and Game Change) does…
Terrence Malick is a fascinating oddity of cinema. After making two highly acclaimed features in the 1970s, he disappeared for two decades before returning sporadically until the 2010s, when he suddenly completed six features at a rapid-fire pace. This sudden burst of productivity did have a negative effect however. When a new Malick film was reviewed every handful of years, his visionary filmmaking style was exciting. However, getting a new one every year makes the…
The biggest strength of Toronto After Dark is, and always has been, the importance given to short films. Shorts are given their own programs, but they also play before features. Due to genre cinema’s specific limitations, shorts are both useful as a way to make a name for oneself and as a storytelling medium. As such, it’s important to look at what is happening in that world. Let’s take a look at the good, the…
Enhanced (DIR. James Mark) The idea of a low budget superhero film is an undeniably commendable one. Superheroes are incredibly generic, and there is nothing that necessitates the bloated budgets that they tend to cost, so the idea of telling those stories with less waste should be celebrated. Unfortunately, the films that come out of this practice tend to be underwhelming. Case in point: James Mark’s Enhanced.