By: Addison Wylie Actor Jason Bateman narrates Pump as if he’s providing a voiceover for a car commercial. This is fitting since a large chunk of the documentary feels like one extra-long commercial for alternative fuels and electric vehicles. However, Joshua and Rebecca Harrell Tickell have conceived a lively, well intended film that I ended up being quite fond for. Many documentaries chronicling selfish behaviour behind big business (or, in this case, Big Oil) have…
Elephant’s Dream (DIR. Kristof Bilsen) By: Addison Wylie As Kinshasa’s struggling economy heals after the civil war in the DRC, its population waits for stable change. People try to march on with their community through unfortunate situations with limited resources, but it’s achingly hard. A sequence featuring a reckless fire burning downtown shows the audience how dire Kinshasa’s firefighting team is. Supreme danger spirals out of control, the help is flustered, and panicked pedestrians criticize. …
By: Addison Wylie I truly believe that everyone starring in The Forger knows they’re capable of more. John Travolta, Tye Sheridan, Christopher Plummer, everyone. There are moments in Philip Martin’s crime thriller where you can catch an actor glimpse at a chance to open up their performance, but these fleeting breaths are revoked by Martin’s generic filmmaking and Richard D’Ovidio’s routine screenplay. First of all, Travolta doesn’t fit the build of art theif Ray Cutter….
By: Josh Chenoweth Lost River marks the directorial and writing debuts of actor Ryan Gosling, known for mainstream successes like The Notebook as well as critical darlings like Drive. After getting a less than pleasant response at Cannes in 2014, I was curious to see if Lost River was really all that bad. The answer: a resounding yes. Shot in a decaying suburb near Detroit (where else?), Lost River focuses on Billy (Christina Hendricks), a single…
Nuestro Monte Luna (DIR. Pablo Alvarez-Mesa) By: Trevor Jeffery Nuestro Monte Luna is a story of a bullfighting school, and the teenage boys who attend to train in a well-hated tradition. Nuestro Monte Luna’s narrative starts strong. It manages to immediately set up the scenario – you’re not just watching people in Choachi, but you are experiencing the little Colombian town through the camera. However, as the movie trails on, interest wanes and clarity takes a…
The Circus Dynasty (DIR. Anders Riis-Hansen) By: Gregory Breen The Circus Dynasty’s opening caption prepares the audience for the doc’s concept – a grand dynamic between two of Europe’s greatest circus families. The Berdino family (one of Europe’s largest families of artists) and the Casselly family (the world’s most award-winning artist family) have been delighting audiences all across Europe with the joint circus Arena for 21 years. A special relationship has developed with the two clans creating…
The Amina Profile (DIR. Sophie Deraspe) By: Trevor Jeffery The Amina Profile is three stories in one: a three-part politically charged long-distance romance with a twist; a bit of Going the Distance meets a bit of Milk, with a lot of Catfish. It’s a story of civil unrest under a dictatorship told through a somber love story: two women meant for each other, with half a world between them – Sandra in Montreal and Amina in Damascus. Six…
Lowdown Tracks (DIR. Shelly Saywell) By: Gregory Breen If you have ever stopped to smell the roses and listen to a busker, chances are Lowdown Tracks will bring a tear to your eye. In this heartfelt and engrossing film, activist and musician Lorraine Segato seeks to meet Toronto’s street musicians and record some of the wonderful tunes they play. Segato meets Woody Cormier, Anthony Van Zant, Maryann Epp, Bruce Bathgate and Katt Burr – five very special,…
By: Mark Barber The Dead Lands is a rare pre-colonial narrative. Rarely does a film provide a cinematic lens through which we may see a pre-westernized, pre-colonial native culture. Given such emancipating opportunities, it’s curious that director Toa Fraser would make such a comfortable film for western audiences. Featuring an all-Maori (people indigenous to New Zealand) cast, young Hongi (James Rolleston) seeks revenge on a rival tribe that eradicated his people. To do so, he…
Committed (DIR. Howie Mandel, Reed Grinsell, Steve Sunshine) By: Addison Wylie Vic Cohen was a faithful writer on The Howie Mandel Show, but had the presence of someone who was weak. Mandel (who is naturally attracted to peculiar, desperate people) wanted to learn more about him, and decided to keep a camera rolling on the pair; documenting their collaborations as well as Cohen’s growth as a confident performer. By capturing twelve years of footage, Committed…