Reviews Archives - Page 2 of 34

4 January 20228 January 2022

Review: ‘Don’t Look Up’ is angry at the right things, but lacks focus

Climate change is real. I can’t believe this is a thing that we still have to debate in the 2020s, but there is a not-insignificant portion of people –or at least people in positions of power– who seem content to let it happen in the name of high-profit margins, and have found a multitude of ways to distract the populace into either ignorance or obliviousness.

This is also the plot of Adam McKay’s new film Don’t Look Up, which presents a world not unlike our own that happens to have a planet-killing comet headed directly toward it and a and of scientists unable to convince the world to do anything about it. Subtle, this movie is not. Of course, subtly isn’t a requirement for a satire in the form of a pitch-black comedy, but you know what is? Humour. Unfortunately, this movie isn’t humorous either.

23 December 20218 January 2022

WFF ’21 Review: ‘Confessions of a Hitman’ paints a portrait of a man you’d never suspect

Every country has their extraordinary criminals, and Canada is no different. One key difference with notorious contract killer Gerald Gallant though, is just how ordinary he otherwise was. Living a mostly quiet suburban life, he carried out 27 hits (and attempted 12 more) in 25 years and went almost entirely unnoticed. Confessions of a Hitman chronicles that life and its absurd banality with Luc Picard in both the starring role and the director’s chair.

17 December 20218 January 2022

Review: ‘The Lost Daughter’ has three stellar performances in a drama about motherhood

Parenthood is both rewarding and demanding. It’s the most challenging and awesome responsibility you can take on as a person. This is not lost on any of the characters in The Lost Daughter.

16 December 20218 January 2022

WFF ’21 Review: ‘Run Woman Run’ is a lovely story of rediscovering self-worth

Grief affects everyone differently. Some of us find resolve, some not so much—some of us the latter, then the former. Run Woman Run is a story of grief about one woman’s journey to put herself back together after a loss.

15 December 20218 January 2022

Review: ‘Hell Hath No Fury’ is a Fun, Nasty, Scrappy B-Movie

You know the rest of the saying. The wrath of a wronged woman is a fabled thing, and in this film, Nina Bergman’s Marie is betrayed by just about everyone she has ever met. The lover of a nazi officer, betrayed by the resistance, branded as a collaborator by the townspeople, and rescued by a group of US soldiers who are only interested in the cache of nazi gold, she happens to know the location of. So yes, she’s royally pissed.

13 December 20218 January 2022

Review: ‘The Boathouse’ cribs from some classics to create an atmospheric horror story

There’s a scene in the middle of The Boathouse in which the characters discuss a case of plagiarism over dinner. One character, a professor, tells the story of a student who copied a work by Joyce and then feigned ignorance. “If you’re going to steal,” he says, “maybe steal from someone more obscure.” This leads into an entire discussion of theft vs influence and how all of that shapes art and literature.

It’s a startlingly relevant scene as well because The Boathouse either –depending on your point of view– borrows from or is influenced very heavily by some classics, most notably the work of Henry James and Alfred Hitchcock. Do you know why these influences are classics, though? Because they’re good.

10 December 20218 January 2022

Review: ‘The Witcher Season 2’ is a cool, confident continuation and improvement of the story that began in season one

Let me begin this by saying that I enjoyed the first season of The Witcher. Some were put off by the multiple timelines and Geralt’s absence from some of the stories, but I was not one of them. If you were, you will be happy to know that the entire second season takes place in a single timeframe and that Geralt’s story is the main plot of every episode. On the other hand, if you were like me, well, you already like the show, and you’ll continue enjoying it because it’s good.

9 December 20218 January 2022

Review: ‘West Side Story’ reinvents a classic with modern context

Steven Spielberg is about to turn 75 years old. Since his debut feature in 1971, a full fifty years ago, he has tackled all manner of genre and subject matter, but never a musical. It makes sense then that his trademark skills –an iconic eye for composition and blocking, perfectly deployed single takes, finding the best cast for the story, and impeccable detail at every level– now all feel like he might have been refining specifically to make a musical because his new version of West Side Story makes excellent use of all of them.

8 December 20218 January 2022

WFF ’21 Quick Review: ‘We’re All In This Together’ is a quirky family drama

Of all the most reliable subjects for drama, family is the most reliable. After all, unlike friends or coworkers, you don’t get to choose family, and that extra level of tether adds stakes to any situation. We’re All In This Together is a good example of this fact, bringing together a pair of estranged twins, an underaged sister in a relationship with an older man, and a mother who went over a waterfall in a barrel. Literally, not figuratively.

5 December 20218 January 2022

WFF ’21 Quick Review: ‘Moon Manor’ is a lovely story about a man going out on his own terms

Moon Manor feels like a film that is destined to be divisive. It follows an older man who has learned he has Alzheimer’s, and rather than waiting for it to erase him slowly, he throws a big party –a FUN-eral– to make sure he connects with the important people in his life before committing suicide.

4 December 20218 January 2022

WFF ’21 Review: ‘Drinkwater’ is a quirky, Canadian, familiar coming of age film

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: a teenager is hopelessly in love with a beautiful girl and signs up for some kind of feat to impress her. He trains for this event and trains some more. At least once, he loses faith, but along the way, he grows up a little, turns his bully into a friend, and in the end, gets with the girl who has been his friend the whole time.

If any of this sounds familiar, then Drinkwater won’t have that many surprises in store for you, at least when it comes to the plot. But, on the other hand, it has a good central performance, an incredibly Canadian take on the materials, and a delightful supporting performance from Eric McCormack.

3 December 20218 January 2022

Review: ‘The Power of the Dog’ features a powerhouse performance from Benedict Cumberbatch

It’s fair to say that Benedict Cumberbatch is perhaps a little over-exposed. Since his big break with Sherlock in 2010, he has appeared in all manner of films, not only in prestige dramas like Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and The Imitation Game, but also in major franchises like Star Trek, The Hobbit, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Despite their varied nature and differing challenges, it feels like all of these roles have blinded us to the simple fact that he is actually an outstanding actor. Not to say that he hasn’t done good work in the past ten years, but rather that we’ve forgotten exactly how good he can be.

Jane Campion is here to remind us of this and that she is one of the best directors working today.

3 December 20218 January 2022

WFF ’21 Quick Review: ‘Tzouhalem’ is a Fascinating local legend

Our history is littered with stories of great men and women, figures that are larger than life and did incredible things. Being Canadian, most of the stories feature people from either Great Britain or France, but there were many nations of indigenous peoples here well before any colonists showed up. Tzouhalem tells the story of a larger than life figure on what we now call Vancouver Island, a warrior chief who was both a great man and a monster.

1 December 20218 January 2022

Review: ‘The Souvenir, Part II’ explores loss through art

Grief is a complex emotion and one that requires time and energy to process properly. Yet, for many, there needs to be an outlet, some creative space or activity that allows one to examine their feelings in a removed but still direct manner. This is the premise of The Souvenir Part II. In a landscape of blockbuster franchises and a dwindling market for low and mid-budget dramas, this film already feels like a minor miracle: the sequel to a 2019 semi-autobiographical character study of a young woman in love with a toxic partner, Part II picks up immediately where The Souvenir left off and takes a deeper and more thoughtful dive into writer-director Joanna Hogg’s past.

29 November 20218 January 2022

Catch Up Reviews: ‘Last Night in Soho’ & ‘Spencer’

There have been so many films released this fall that I haven’t had time to see them all, but here are two that I have caught on demand that I’d like to say a few words about.

Awesome Friday!

Category: Reviews