There are a lot of clichés that film can rely upon to create characters, a woman fainting to denote a pregnancy, a child avoiding eye contact to demonstrate autistic tendencies. I imagine when you’re making a short film, like Molly Parker’s Bird, it would be easy to simply rely upon stereotypes to get to the […]
Author Archives: Jess Rogers
May
03
Hot Docs 2017: The Quiet Zone
posted by Jess Rogers
I’m not sure you can ever know what it feels like in someone else’s skin. You can identify with certain issues, headaches, a stubbed toe, a bumped funny bone, but you can’t rate someone else’s experience with pain. If you had to live with numerous kinds of pain, and someone told you there was a […]
April
29
Hot Docs 2017: Thank You For the Rain
posted by Jess Rogers
There are moments in this world when we know we could have done more. The recent elections in the US, Brexit in the UK, among many others have left many people realizing they should have done more. The focus of the new documentary, Thank You For the Rain, directed by Julia Dahr, is a Kenyan […]
January
05
La La Land
posted by Jess Rogers
Every few years a movie comes along that tries to reinvent something in Hollywood. The last big reinvention was The Artist, which tried to revive silent films, or at least the concept of silent films and old Hollywood. These novelty films are often lauded for simply that, their novelty. While I HUGELY value originality, I […]
October
21
The People vs. Fritz Bauer
posted by Jess Rogers
There’s often a higher bar that films in foreign languages have to reach than a film in your native tongue. They have to be compelling enough visually to keep you from just reading the subtitles, interesting enough dialogue that you want to keep reading, and riveting enough to make you want to put in the […]
September
13
TIFF 2016: HAND.LINE.COD.
posted by Jess Rogers
If you’re like most people, you don’t think a lot about where your food comes from. Hopefully you think about its nutritional value, and maybe its social/environmental implications (e.g. how much oil was needed to produce it, what kinds of pesticides were required to make it grow beautifully). These are things I teach about, so […]
June
23
Finding Dory
posted by Jess Rogers
The longer a sequel takes to be made, the higher the stakes become (see the budget for the upcoming Independence Day: Resurgence). Also, focusing a sequel on a supporting character (Minions, Evan Almighty) doesn’t always pay off as well as the original. However, when you have the star power of Ellen DeGeneres, and bring back […]
May
03
Hot Docs 2016: Half-Life in Fukushima
posted by Jess Rogers
It’s just over five years since the earthquake and subsequent tsunami in the Pacific Ocean that led to the nuclear disaster in Fukushima, Japan. It’s almost become a catchphrase, like Chernobyl. We know something nuclear happened, but the details are beginning to fade, as is our interest in what came next. What directors Mark Olexa […]
May
02
Hot Docs 2016: How to Let Go of the World
posted by Jess Rogers
Though you may not have noticed, Earth Day 2016 was pretty momentous as the final version of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change was opened for signatures, and 177 countries signed the agreement and 15 have already ratified it. This should have been a moment for excitement; a celebration that the world has come together […]
March
12
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot
posted by Jess Rogers
One of my biggest pet peeves is when a good movie is sold and/or publicized as something it is not. You can’t help but be a little disappointed when you discover that the movie is nothing like what you were promised. While this type of bait and switch might help to bring in audiences, it […]
February
07
TBFF16: Ayanda and the Mechanics
posted by Jess Rogers
Many of the great universal truths revolve around family or grieving. Often it is a combination of the two. It doesn’t matter what kind of parent you have, your relationship with them doesn’t end with death. They stay with us via the ideal vision of them formulated by our memories once they have passed. This […]
November
25
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2
posted by Jess Rogers
I’m a huge fan of the current movement of having strong female protagonists in films – from Juno’s pregnant teen to Insurgent’s Tris to True Grit’s Mattie Ross and of course, the best of them all, The Hunger Games’ Katniss Everdeen. Katniss has had to travel a long road but, throughout her trials, she has […]
September
13
TIFF 2015: Dégradé
posted by Jess Rogers
The idea of being trapped somewhere waiting has never sat well with me. I don’t like the idea of being confined and limited in what I can do and where I can go. I’d like to think that it’s a universal trait as there are many around the world who are limited by their circumstances. […]
September
10
TIFF 2015: The People vs. Fritz Bauer
posted by Jess Rogers
There’s often a higher bar that films in foreign languages have to reach than a film in your native tongue. They have to be compelling enough visually to keep you from just reading the subtitles, interesting enough dialogue that you want to keep reading, and riveting enough to make you want to put in the […]
June
24
Inside Out
posted by Jess Rogers
Pixar’s newest entry into the canon of childhood exploration, Inside Out, plunges into the depths of the emotions that drive our lives, and how out of control they can sometimes seem. Most importantly it aims to show us that it’s okay to feel all of the feelings that make us whole. Riley – the body […]
May
02
Hot Docs 2015: Last of the Elephant Men
posted by Jess Rogers
One of the greatest strengths of religion is the lack of proof required to be a believer. If you truly believe, you’ll see elements of truth all around you – whether elephant spirits, miracles, or myths coming true. However, if those same beliefs give you and your community a set of mutually agreed values to […]
April
27
Hot Docs 2015: Elephant’s Dream
posted by Jess Rogers
“The greatest gift life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing” – T. Roosevelt. While Roosevelt was on to something, he has clearly never had to rebuild a country. Unlike the former US President, the people of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), after a decade long civil war, […]
April
26
Hot Docs 2015: Milk
posted by Jess Rogers
The most fundamental thing we all still have in common is that at some moment in time we were born. In fact, we celebrate it every year. That being said, there might not be a more controversial topic, with no correct answer, than giving birth and breastfeeding. Noemi Weis’ Milk, a clear labor of love […]
April
06
Get Hard
posted by Jess Rogers
Will Ferrell usually needs a partner to make his comedy work, however, not all of his previous partners have made for great comedies. Thankfully he found Kevin Hart. Get Hard has a really weak premise that basically hinges on the idea that rich white men assume all black men have been to prison. James King […]
January
07
Into the Woods
posted by Jess Rogers
Into the Woods has a pretty long history on the road to the big screen. The closest they have come was a 1991 televised version of the stage version on PBS (with Bernadette Peters as the witch). Who would have guessed it would take Disney to create the film version of a messed up series […]
