By: Trevor Chartrand Directed and co-written by Canadian actor/filmmaker Koumbie, Bystanders is an exploration of a high-concept ‘what-if?’ scenario; a film which specifically ponders the question of our own accountability and societal responsibility with regards to the actions of others.
By: Trevor Chartrand Cat Daddies is a documentary about, you guessed it, men who own cats. As someone with a career in the pet industry, and as a ‘Cat Daddy’ myself, I could safely assume I’m the target audience for Hye Hoang’s movie. While I had high hopes for Cat Daddies to spin some riveting “tails” (eh? eh?!), this doc, unfortunately, is barely fur-deep.
The winter holidays are fast approaching, and ’tis the season for an onslaught of Christmas movies. While most of these movies are usually found on cable or on subscribed streaming services, this will be the second year that Vortex Media screens a seasonal flick in select theatres before it heads to Super Channel.
While far from perfect, director Harry Wootliff’s (Only You) drama True Things is an excellent showcase for actor Ruth Wilson, as well as a challenging portrait of a woman caught between societal expectations and her own desire.
Written and directed by real-life couple Dominque Braun and Terrence Martin, Get Away If You Can is a surreal, and occasionally baffling, thriller.
Directed by Marcel Sarmiento (The ABCs of Death [D Is for Dogfight], Faceless) and written by Gregory W. Jordan, The Royal is based on the true story of Willie Mays Aikens, a star hitter for the Kansas City Royals (and the Toronto Blue Jays!) who was sentenced to 20 years in prison for drug possession. Before his arrest, Aikens was one of the top sluggers in major league baseball, hitting a total of 110 home runs…
Actor Mark O’Brien, who you may recognize from his film roles in Ready or Not, End of Days, Inc. and Hammer, or his recurring role on TV’s Republic of Doyle, makes his feature-length debut as a writer and director with The Righteous. And coming from a performance background, it’s understandable that The Righteous is an “actor’s movie” in the sense that it relies heavily on its performances and character work.
Stupid For You, a sophomore effort from musician-turn-filmmaker Jude Klassen, is an awkward movie. Sometimes deliberately, and sometimes unintentionally so.
Nitram is by no means an easy watch, but I do implore readers to go into the movie knowing very little about it. The movie is outstanding in its own right, but to have limited knowledge of the Australian drama makes it more powerful. I’ll do my best to provide as much interest as possible with this review, but it’s no spoiler to mention Nitram starts as a character study and ends in a real-life…
