Latest

Crime

Reviews

What Jennifer Did

Documentarian Jenny Popplewell returns to true crime with her latest film, What Jennifer Did.  Finding a comfortable balance between a conventional format (talking heads, unsettling nighttime B-roll) and the resourceful surveillance storytelling she exhibited in Netflix’s American Murder: The Family Next Door, Popplewell recounts the details of a disturbing attempted double murder, while also dissecting its police procedural.

Reviews

The Black Mass

By: Trevor Chartrand Readers, please note – if you’re not familiar with the serial killer Ted Bundy, The Black Mass will likely leave you feeling confused and alienated.  Then again, if you are familiar with Bundy and his capture, you’ll also feel just as confused and alienated…but probably disgusted as well.  By making this film, director Devanny Pinn has wasted the time of her crew, her cast, and anyone unfortunate enough to make the mistake…

Reviews

The Delinquents

A reclusive bank employee, Morán (Daniel Elías), is tempted to use his privilege to take advantage of his workplace.  His plot to rob the bank is on standby until the perfect moment – cue Román (Esteban Bigliardi), a teller who leaves work early and is used as an incidental accomplice once Morán steals $650,000.  Román, now more aware, is brought into the fold by the amateur thief and is told to hold the money while…

Reviews

Infinity Pool Uncut

In a plot that would make any vacationer anxious, and in the “not too distant future”, novelist James Foster (Alexander Skarsgård) and his wife Em (Cleopatra Coleman) are suckered into a crime that develops into an additional crime during a getaway at a luxurious resort.  James, who becomes the most guilty, is given the choice to opt out of his execution if he pays a lump sum of cash for a clone to be made…

Reviews

Bandit

Brief stylistic choices in the comical caper Bandit reminded me of 2013’s Pain & Gain. And while I shuddered remembering how nasty Michael Bay’s true-crime comedy was, those feelings were soon followed by a sigh of relief as Bandit’s charm washed over me.

Reviews

Emily the Criminal

It’s odd to perceive the high stakes drama Emily the Criminal as a game-changer for star/producer Aubrey Plaza, but it absolutely is. Her role in John Patton Ford’s feature-length filmmaking debut requires the actor to channel her deadpan demeanour towards a more serious direction that details her character’s desperation, exhaustion and, later, her vindictive desires – it’s an incredible performance in an exciting dramatic thriller.

Reviews

Ambulance

By: Jolie Featherstone [CW: child severely injured, violence, medical/surgical scenes] Ambulance is signature Michael Bay: action, melodrama, impressive stunt work and, of course, MASSIVE EXPLOSIONS!  We would expect nothing less from the director of the Transformers series, Bad Boys, Pearl Harbor, and Armageddon.

Festival Coverage

Canadian Film Fest ’22: The Last Mark

In this efficient “hitman with a heart” tale from director Reem Morsi, The Last Mark is a confined thriller starring a conflicted crook (Shawn Doyle) and a kidnapped call girl (Alexia Fast) reeling for a “job” that went sideways after the escort witnesses the murder.  The characters hide out at a safe house arranged by a fixer (Ashgrove’s Jonas Chernick) to escape the hitman’s unpredictable partner-in-crime (Bryce Hodgson).  The dynamic between the unlikely fugitives is deliberately…