Extraneous Matter doesn’t work as a feature-length endeavour. But as four standalone short films, which was the origin of this project, the satirical sci-fi efforts of Japanese filmmaker Kenichi Ugana would be perceived in a worse light.
Actor Saffron Cassaday (Pete Winning and the Pirates: The Motion Picture) gives audiences an up close and personal perspective of her experience with ulcerative colitis and invites the viewer to tag along on her biohacking journey in her documentary Designer $hit.
Woman In Car wants to be a compelling character study, but it never takes off because writer/director Vanya Rose wants to focus on the actions in the story rather than the people.
Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes is a mind-melting, time-bending farce that works like a fine tuned juggling act.
Combining martial arts with survival horror and thrills, Nightshooters may have a few rough patches – but it’s a hell of a good time.
How do you satirize a genre that’s become a spoof of itself? It isn’t an impossible trick but, to pull it off, it takes a keen eye for detail and a filmmaker who can thread the needle between appreciation and cynicism. 2014’s They Came Together, a comedy from the creators of Wet Hot American Summer that hilariously destroyed the rom-com genre, is the bellwether for me, and this year’s clever seasonal spoof Cup of Cheer…
There seems to be an unhealthy trend of shooting and wrapping film productions within a short time frame (A Fall from Grace, Appiness). But for Toronto indie Space & Time, writer/director Shawn Gerrard sees the appeal of a patient process. Space & Time has been shot over the period of 11 months; allowing the film to naturally capture the passage of, well, space and time. This lends a potentially special quality to the film’s story…
