Coming-Of-Age
Toronto After Dark 2017: ‘Tragedy Girls’
Two teenage girls come-of-age in a small town. They use “teen speak”, spend all their time on social media, and find themselves consumed by their various hobbies. What makes Tragedy Girls different from a plethora of similar films is that one of these girls’ hobbies is murder.
Beach Rats
Beach Rats is a good coming-of-age movie from a gay perspective, but its middle portions are the most compelling. It’s bookended by familiar emotions and the finish line is the type of gut-wrenching finale audiences expect from a sombre story like this one, but writer/director Eliza Hittman takes an interesting route to get there.
Crackerhead
I like Crackerhead, but this latest experimental experience from filmmaker Mike Klassen is making me sweat – it’s a tough movie to review if you can’t crack through Klassen’s poker face. The film’s flippant facade has anarchy written all over it, but the drive behind Klassen’s directorial decisions and stylistic storytelling suggests a deeper, poignant project.
Inside Out 2017: ‘Prom King, 2010’
Charlie, a queer millennial in New York, is looking for love. His modest expectations are reasonable, yet the mission proves to be a constant bust throughout the course of Prom King, 2010. Charlie chats with friends, family, and other acquaintances within his community (mostly for catharsis or assistance), but these conversations lead to opinions – sometimes closed-minded views – about love, Charlie’s sexual orientation, and dating etiquette.
The Transfiguration
The Transfiguration has an extraordinary premise. Judging by the way it’s carried out though, writer/director Michael O’Shea doesn’t realize just how special it is.
5-25-77
News of an upcoming feature from filmmaker Patrick Read Johnson (who had previously directed mid-90’s comedies Baby’s Day Out and Angus) lit up the Internet in the mid-2000s with a fantastic trailer set to music by ELO and Jon Brion. The trailer, centred around an awkward teenager in the 1970s anticipating a unique blockbuster called Star Wars, dropped when I was in high school and working at a video store. However, the film went silent…
Violet
Bas Devos’ feature film debut Violet is an unforgettable movie. There’s so much to admire about it: its cinematography, its patience, and Cesar De Sutter’s outstanding introverted performance. However, Devos’ daring ambition to visualize inner conflict through minimal dialogue may be the film’s strongest achievement.
The New Kid
I don’t know much about MyFrenchFilmFestival, but Rudi Rosenberg’s The New Kid has made me want to study up on the online global collective.