Cat-and-mouse thriller Pins & Needles can’t escape its flaws. Unfortunately for editor-turn-filmmaker James Villeneuve, there’s plenty of them in his feature-length debut (which had its world premiere last month at the Blood in the Snow Canadian Film Festival).
Much like Netflix’s anthology series Easy and the buddy comedy Platonic on Apple TV+, Matt and Mara is a micro-scaled drama, with humourous moments, that unpacks a fractured relationship. Deragh Campbell and Blackberry’s Matt Johnson, reunited with Anne at 13,000 Ft. writer/director Kazik Radwanski, portray writers who have followed separate paths. As Matt in the movie, Johnson plays an ambitious published writer who, while visiting Toronto, reconnects with former friend Mara (Campbell). Mara has since settled down with her musician husband…
A life of tragedy is recounted in Memoir of a Snail, a melancholic stop-motion animated film for mature audiences from writer/director Adam Elliot (Mary and Max). Following the death of their closest friend, Grace (voiced by Sarah Snook of HBO’s Succession and Netflix’s Run Rabbit Run) frees one of her pet snails. From the time it takes the snail to leave Grace and arrive to its garden destination, Grace reflects on her life leading up to this heartbreak;…
Conclave is an efficient chamber piece; evoking curiousities of how a pope is chosen as well as suggesting what cutthroat decisions happen before smoke bellows out of the Vatican to update the unsuspecting public. Overseen by Cardinal-Dean Thomas Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes of The Menu), the voting procedures that follow the death of a former pope strike Lawrence at a time of doubting his faith. He keeps this vulnerability close to his chest, but is called…
Ten years ago, I gained new respect for Peter Lepeniotis. The Canadian animator was coming off the success of his first independently directed feature, The Nut Job, and he was very candid about the film industry with the audience at TIFF Kids. He was a great storyteller and a fountain of knowledge. But despite being a seasoned pro, Lepeniotis is still finding ways to challenge himself; such as with R.L. Stine’s Zombie Town, the filmmaker’s live-action directorial…
You Gotta Believe is a sports movie that’s as hokey as you could, well, believe. Based around the true story of Little Leaguers who made an impression on sports fans when the team earned a ranking in 2002’s Little League Baseball World Series championship, You Gotta Believe pulls out all the stops to grab families by their heartstrings. However, the film doesn’t feel manipulative. As he exhibited in his heavier sports drama 12 Mighty Orphans, director Ty Roberts…
While Sudbury, ON may primarily be known for its mining industry, an arts community is aching to break out. This seems to be common with Canadian working class cities. Perhaps to counter their blue collar reputations, or because there’s a determination to find an outlet for creative voices and stories.
By: Jolie Featherstone Filmmaker Rose Glass follows up her sharp horror film Saint Maud with Love Lies Bleeding – a grimy, sexy, wild ride. A stylistic and psychedelic blend of self-aware Americana meets noir, Glass delivers a heady acid trip of a love story.
Showing little regard for the intelligence of its audience, One True Loves stretches the suspension of disbelief until its final fray.
