The death of a young boy hits a community like a tidal wave in the riveting film Waru. While the audience is not provided with much detail about the deceased child, the picture slowly begins to form when observing how eight vastly different women react to the news. All linked to the child in some […]
Category Archives: Reactions
October
16
imagineNATIVE 2017: Holy Angels
posted by rmpixie
Most of us have heard about the terrible treatment of First Nations children when they were sent to residential schools. However, it’s only when we get a firsthand account of the harsh memories from a survivor do we realize exactly how much strength these children needed to get by in their day-to-day lives. The Holy […]
October
16
TADFF 2017: Defective
posted by Courtney Small
Imagine a world where respect law and order was priority above all else. One where those who enforced the law did so as they saw fit without constantly being judge by those they were charged to protect. Some might argue that such order would make countries “great again.” However, what if the cost for such […]
October
15
TADFF 2017: Eat Locals
posted by rmpixie
What happens when a vampire meeting gets ambushed by a military detail hell-bent on destroying the ancient undead? You get Eat Locals, well-known actor and now first-time director Jason Flemyng’s feature film. Eight vampires from different walks of life come together to discuss the rules and regulations of their existence. When they reveal one of […]
October
15
TADFF 2017: The Drop In
posted by Sean
I enjoy short films because they are their own genre with their own rules. Unlike feature-length film, there’s no standard runtime, only an upper limit of 40 minutes (including credits) in order to qualify for Oscar consideration. The fact that shorts usually jump right into the action makes the genre feel freer and less predictable […]
October
14
TADFF 2017: Rabbit
posted by rmpixie
Director and writer Luke Shanahan’s first feature film Rabbit is an ambitious blend of genres exploring the mysterious connection twins have that will leave audiences chilled, uneasy and slightly confused. Maude (Adelaide Clemens) is a med student in Germany, many miles from her native Australia. She has escaped family drama that ignited after her sister […]
October
14
TADFF 2017: The Villainess
posted by rmpixie
With more action than you can take and a many-layered story, Jung Byung-gil’s The Villainess is full of love, betrayal and definitely no honour among thieves. Sook-hee (Kim Ok-bin) is a woman with a mission. After witnessing her father’s murder as a young girl, she is kidnapped with the hopes of revealing where her father […]
October
13
Goodbye Christopher Robin
posted by Francis McKay
London playwright Alan A. Milne (Domhnall Gleeson) suffered from a serious case of shell-shock, known today as PSTD, when he returned to England from The Great War. Loud noises, corks popping, bright lights and especially bees would bring him back to horrors of the trenches on the Western Front. During one of his episodes, his […]
October
13
TADFF 2017: Sixty Minutes to Midnight
posted by Courtney Small
Neil Mackay’s latest action film Sixty Minutes to Midnight finds him once again reteaming with character actor Robert Nolan. This time around Nolan stars as Jack Darcy, a former soldier-turned-construction work who is filled with Y2K paranoia. Living a quiet life in East Texas, his only friend is his co-worker Markus (Arnold Sidney), he wants […]
October
12
TADFF 2017: Cult of Chucky
posted by Courtney Small
The Cult of Chucky is the seventh film in the Child’s Play franchise. Let that skin in for a moment. As a fan of the original film, I have always been a little conflicted at the various paths that this lengthy series has taken. What started out as a taut slasher film that had subtle, […]
October
12
TADFF 2017: My Friend Dahmer
posted by rmpixie
High school can be a difficult place, especially for those who don’t fit in, but what was it like for infamous serial killer Jeffery Dahmer? We get some insight from the film My Friend Dahmer, adapted from a graphic novel written by Dahmer’s former classmate, artist Derf Backderf. The film takes us through Dahmer‘s (Ross […]
October
11
Blade Runner 2049
posted by Courtney Small
We live in an age where it is becoming increasingly common to dismiss sequels from the moment they are announced. More often the than not there is good reason for the distain. Time and time again studios assume that they can recapture the magic of an existing property by repackaging the same item they sold […]
October
10
Professor Marston & the Wonder Women
posted by Courtney Small
In a stroke of serendipitous timing, Angela Robinson’s film about the inspiration behind the Wonder Woman comic book drops the same year as Patty Jenkin’s adaptation of the superhero set the box office ablaze. Fortunately for Robinson, her film Professor Marston & the Wonder Women will only help to keep the collective passion for the […]
October
06
Unarmed Verses
posted by Courtney Small
The Toronto Community Housing’s Villaways neighbourhood is viewed as a slum by some, but for 12-year-old Francine Valentine it is home. However, it may not be her home for much longer. With the area about to go through a massive redevelopment, one that will bring shiny new condos that most of the current residents will […]
October
03
New to Blu-ray: The Wizard of Lies
posted by Courtney Small
Bernard “Bernie” Madoff defrauded thousands of people out of an estimated 65 billion dollars in one of the largest Ponzi schemes in U.S. history. Instead of simply focusing on the rise and fall of Madoff, director Barry Levinson’s The Wizard of Lies takes a Shakespearian tragedy approach to the impact that Madoff’s actions had on […]
September
29
mother!
posted by Courtney Small
How does one discuss Darren Aronofsky’s mother! without spoiling the dizzying experience that is so crucial to the film? This is the problem I faced recently when trying to share my thoughts on the film with someone who had not seen it. I had to gingerly choose my words as if I was walking over […]
September
27
Do Donkeys Act?
posted by Jay
Did you ever have existential questions about donkeys? No? Well, move on. Or not. The truth is, you haven’t seen anything like Do Donkeys Act? It’s a documentary about donkeys, made reputedly by humans (Ashley Sabin and David Redmon), for the enjoyment of – donkeys? There are no talking head interviews in the film, very […]
September
24
TIFF 2017: Mary Goes Round
posted by Courtney Small
The idea of a substance abuse counsellor who is an alcoholic herself is a premise ripe for comedy. In the hands of Molly McGlynn, the writer-director of Mary Goes Round, the jokes, as sly has they might be, take a backseat to the intricate drama on display. Prior to her DUI arrested, Mary (Aya Cash) […]
September
24
TIFF 2017: AVA
posted by Courtney Small
There is something undeniably universal about the teenage experience. While it can be argued that no two teens are exactly alike, the curiosities about the opposite sex and the questions about their own place in the world are identifiable regardless of where this coming-of-age ritual takes place. This is one of the reasons why Sadaf […]
September
23
TIFF 2017: A Season in France
posted by Courtney Small
Mahamat-Saleh Haroun has an uncanny ability of exploring the impacts of war in a poetic way. He displayed this in both A Screaming Man and the documentary Hissein Habré, A Chadian Tragedy, and he does so again with his latest work A Season in France. The story follows Abbas (Eriq Ebouaney), a refugee who is […]
