I remember interviewing filmmaker Igor Drljaca in 2012 when his feature film debut Krivina was a selection at TIFF. Even though his slow-burning drama Krivina left me lukewarm, I walked away from our one-on-one with a movie goer’s gratification, knowing that Drljaca – with his confident opinions – was going to have an interesting career ahead of him.
How to Plan an Orgy in a Small Town is a pleasant surprise on a couple of levels. It’s easy to see why this naughty-but-nice crowd pleaser has gathered acclaim; even taking home the Best Feature award at this year’s Canadian Film Fest.
Try this premise on for size: a scared young man – Eugene – attempts to put an end to his bottoming-out fate by hitting the road and finding theoretical gold at the end of a literal rainbow. Being enrolled in special classes has given the handicapped student a slanted view of reality – a contradiction since he witnesses his chain-smoking mother giving up daily. While on his trip, Eugene quickly finds out that the world can…
No Men Beyond This Point is a Canadian comedy that isn’t constantly funny as it is consistently clever.
In Geordie Sabbagh’s indie A Sunday Kind of Love, the audience follows an aloof, cynical author Adam (played by Dylan Taylor) as he struggles through his writer’s block and procrastinates. His girlfriend Tracy (played by Meghan Heffern) tries to motivate him, but his moping is unstoppable. He retreats to a nearby coffee shop and meets Emma (played by Melanie Scrofano), who presents herself as an admirer and soon reveals that she’s actually, well, death (sans black cloak and scythe).
Geordie Sabbagh’s A Sunday Kind of Love hits its hometown at a great time. Canadian Film Day is just around the corner, and it joins the ranks of other exceptional Canadiana fare that you should celebrate on April 20.
Jonathan Taggart’s bare-bones documentary about people disconnected from electric or natural gas infrastructure has a loose, unpolished feel. It’s a fitting accompaniment to an exploration of people who live in a way that many of us would find bafflingly inconvenient.
Sexploitation cinema’s latest entry Gone by Dawn boasts bare bodies as if its already waving down Mr. Skin for a year-end top prize in nudity. However, don’t be fooled by this skin flick. Even though the film prides itself on sex appeal, there’s something more meaningful underneath it all.
