By: Trevor Chartrand The second feature film from writer-director Lili Horvát, Preparations to be Together for an Unknown Period of Time is a strange romantic drama that’s difficult to connect with. If that title seems long and complicated to you, wait until you see the movie. Even for a film that’s barely longer than 90 minutes, this picture is an absolute slog to sit through.
Recently, I reviewed the hilariously spot-on holly-jolly spoof Cup of Cheer. The comedy did such a good job calling out tropes, clichés, and lazy writing found in Christmas movies. What it didn’t do, and what I realized after watching My Dad’s Christmas Date, is that Cup of Cheer didn’t poke fun at deceptive movies that bait viewers with seasonal qualities to dress up an otherwise dismal story. If My Dad’s Christmas Date didn’t occasionally show…
A story of possible infidelity gets an anti-Hollywood spin in Sofia Coppola’s sophisticated dramedy On the Rocks.
Eternal Beauty is ostensibly the second film to be released in recent months in which a character diagnosed with schizophrenia struggles with the broad issues of love, family, and life. Unlike Luke Eve’s heavily saccharine I Met a Girl, where a man with schizophrenia travels across Australia to find a girl who may or may not exist, Eternal Beauty’s narrative is much more complex, even confounding, and precisely what endpoint it is seeking is vague.
The premise Luke Eve’s I Met a Girl, a rather poignant road trip/love story, runs the risk of romanticizing mental illness, but manages to instead provide a positive opening for neurodiverse communities.
By: Trevor Chartrand Fisherman’s Friends is a charming little movie that celebrates the strength of a close community, shining its spotlight on a gang of quirky singing fisherman from Port Isaac, UK. Unlike the throat lozenge brand that shares this same title, this film goes down smooth and easy – and it won’t leave a bad taste in your mouth.
Director, writer, and star Frederick Keeve demonstrates a strong imagination but a weak sense of dramatic ability in his feature The Accompanist, a story about a gay piano accompanist who becomes infatuated with a male ballerina amidst a series of tragedies that befall both men.
Audiences have been spoiled with unique period films – Whit Stillman’s Love & Friendship, Yorgos Lanthimos’ Oscar winner The Favourite, and Greta Gerwig’s take on Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women. We’ve been shown that these rustic movies can exist outside of a formula, which makes Autumn de Wilde’s Emma a bit of a retrograded step. But, the conventional choices can be explained.
Two years ago, I seemed to be on the wrong side of the tracks when discussing Netflix’s bubblegum teen movie To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. Everyone threw their arms around it, except for me who thought teenagers deserved a smarter movie. Excuse my déjà vu as I find myself in the same dilemma. The reviews are in for Netflix’s latest fluffy flick The Half of It and people find it endearing, except for…
