The Front Room
While a filmmaker who commits to their premise is usually worth commending, The Front Room repels the viewer towards condemning it.
Reviews
Deaner ’89
Canadians are currently witnessing a funny contrast in their local multiplex – Reagan is screening at the same time as Deaner ’89. If Reagan is supposed to accurately depict what the United States was like in the 80s, Deaner ’89 is the “meanwhile in Canada” example.
His Three Daughters
Invoking comparisons to Mass and Our Friend, His Three Daughters may not be as good as those character-driven dramas, but it’s still a fantastic chamber piece that should spark award buzz around its stripped-down cast.
Caligula: The Ultimate Cut
Caligula: The Ultimate Cut is deservedly being treated as an event. This restoration of the provocative 1980 swords-and-sandals historical drama is currently being screened in 4K Ultra High Definition at select theatres as part of an exclusive roadshow. The movie is the epitome of a re-imagining; a perfected cut that scraps all of the footage from the box office hit in exchange for a shot list of different angles and takes, as well as using…
Reagan
Reagan is such a conservatively-made movie that it would almost be pointless to go after the film for its politics. Revered to most as the first conservative president of the United States of America, Ronald Reagan’s presidency was a touchstone of the 80’s and there’s no denying how deep his political influence ran afterwards.
My Penguin Friend
My Penguin Friend hearkens back to animal movies of the 90s – wholesome and cleaned up family flicks where an animal trainer was, off-screen, using all sorts of tricks to make a cuddly pet shake hands with a precocious child actor. My Penguin Friend is wise to use this nostalgia to remind viewers of how likeable and crowd-pleasing these films are; the reminiscing distracts audiences away from the lean film’s shaggier qualities (such as briefly…
Strange Darling
Right up until practically the end of the film, Strange Darling features two mysterious characters who are trying to measure each other up.
Between the Temples
By: Trevor Chartrand The notoriously quirky Jason Schwartzman (The Overnight) stars in Between the Temples as – brace yourself – an odd-ball character. Shocking, right? In all seriousness though, Nathan Silver’s offbeat film does ultimately prove to be a relatively serviceable, if tired, indie-style dramedy. To the movie’s credit, Silver explores an otherwise formulaic narrative with a character-focused vulnerability that truly enhances the material.
The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat
The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat makes a strong case on the importance of compatibility. Not just within a production, but also regarding the bond between characters.
Close to You
Close to You is stark with vulnerability, living within the vacuum of anxiety from the personal perspective of a trans man.