Tag: Vancouver International Film Festival

Full coverage of the Vancouver International Film Festival, from every year that we have covered it.

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Podcast: Inedia & It’s What’s Inside (& Transformers One)

Inedia & It's What's Inside

Greetings programs!  On this week’s show, we’re taking on two exciting films.  First up, a BC shot indie film that played as part of the 2024 Vancouver International Film Festival, Inedia.  Then we turn our attention to a new Netflix release, the single-location mystery movie It’s What’s Inside.  Both films are exciting for some of the same and some entirely different reasons, and we have a lot to say about each of them!  Additionally, we talk about Transformers One for a few solid minutes, which means this episode covers three films we both liked!  

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VIFF 2024: Lucky Star & Conclave

VIFF 2024: Lucky Star & Conclave

Greetings programs!  Our favourite time of year is back; the Vancouver International Film Festival is on now! The 2024 edition features a ton of great films, and we’re here to talk about two of them: Gillian McKercher’s family drama Lucky Star and Edward Berger’s All Quiet on the Western Front follow-up Conclave.  It’s a good discussion about two films we liked, so join us! 

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VIFF 2023: I’m Just Here for the Riot, Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe, & The Royal Hotel

VIFF 2023: I'm Just Here for the Riot, Mr Dressup: the Magic of Make-Believe, The Royal Hotel

The 2023 Vancouver International Film Festival has drawn to a close, and this week, we’re talking about three films we saw as part of the fest:

I’m Just Here for the Riot is a documentary about the 2011 Stanley Cup Riot in Vancouver, our hometown.

Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe is a documentary about a beloved children’s entertainer who helped shape generations of Canadians.

The Royal Hotel is a gripping thriller from director Kitty Green about two young women who take a job at a bar in rural Australia.

We have much to say about each of them, so join us!

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Podcast: Something in the Dirt & Emancipation (w/ Guest Host Rachel Ho)

Something in the Dirt & Emancipation

Greetings, programs, and welcome to a very special episode of the show.  This week (and next!) Simon is on holiday, so Matthew is joined once again by our friend Rachel Ho of Exclaim.ca, ThatShelf.com, POV Magazine, and The Globe and Mail!  

We’re diving into an indie darling and a big, oscar-bait action spectacle this week.  First, Benson & Moorhead’s Something in the Dirt, which is finally in release after premiering all the way back at Sundance at the beginning of 2022.  Then we move on to Emancipation, Will Smith’s first big release since “the slap”.  One of these is quite good, and the other not so much.  Listen to find out which!

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Podcast: Raymond & Ray & Decision to Leave

Raymond & Ray & Decision to Leave

Greetings Programs! This week on the podcast, Matt and Simon take a look at a pair of wayward bothers in the new AppleTV+ release Raymond & Ray and the Cannes Film Festival Best Director winning Decision to Leave from the great Park Chan-wook. Will there be hot takes? Only one way to find out! Find links to listen (and JustWatch powered streaming links for each movie) below.

Join us!

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Bonus Podcast: VIFF 2022 Top Fives w/ Dakota from Contra Zoom Pod!

VIFF Five Favourites w/ Contra Zoom

Greetings programs! We’re back after just a few days with a special bonus wrap-up episode for the 2022 Vancouver International Film Festival. This episode is also a joint episode with our friends Contra Zoom, Dakota from that show and Matthew are breaking down their five favourites from the festival together, and the episode will be going out on both of our feeds!

Surprisingly our top five lists only share one film in common, and you’ll have to listen to find out which! Below you’ll find JustWatch-powered streaming links for each movie and where to listen to both our show and Contra Zoom.

Join us!

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Podcast: VIFF 2022: Viking & Triangle of Sadness

Viff 2022: Viking & Triangle of Sadness

Greetings programs! This week on the podcast, we’re looking at two films that played as part of the 2022 Vancouver International Film Festival. First up is Canadian director Stéphane Lafleur’s new high-concept comedy Viking. Then we take a closer look at Ruben Östlund’s Palme d’Or winning satire of wealth and privilege Triangle of Sadness.

You’ll find a complete list of where you can listen to the show below and an embedded player if you prefer to listen right here on the site.

Join us!

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Podcast: Pinocchio & Saloum

Pinnochio & Saloum

Greetings programs! We’re back after a two-week break with two new movies, one hot off the presses from the largest media conglomerate in history and the other finally seeing wide release after a successful festival run last year. First up is Robert Zemeckis’ live-action remake of Disney’s Pinocchio, followed by the Senegalese action horror movie Saloum. One of these movies we really didn’t like, listen to find out which and then watch the other!

You’ll find JustWatch-powered streaming links below, as well as our ratings, how you can listen, how you can support us, and all of our other content. Join us!

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Home Video: The 2022 Canadian Screen Award Nominees and where to buy, rent, or stream them

For many, the Oscars are the last stop of awards season. Up here in Canada though, the highest awards that the Canadian Academy gives out are being awarded this coming Sunday, April 10th. Canada produces a ton of great movies each year, and 2021 was no different.

Presented here is a list of all the nominees for Best Original and Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor and Actress, Best Actor and Actress, Best Director, The John Dunning Best First Feature Award, and Best Picture, along with where you can buy, rent, or stream them.

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Review: ‘Portraits From A Fire’ comes of age through filmmaking

Portraits From a Fire

There are many fundamental truths in this world, and one of them is that creative people will create. Tyler (William Magnus Lulua), a boy growing up on northern BC’s Tsilhqotʼin reserve, makes films. He borrows household items from the community to use as props and screens them in a makeshift open-air cinema. When his latest film is only attended by a handful of people, many of whom then leave to go to bingo night, Tyler decides he needs to make something more personal.

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FNC ’21 Review: ‘Wildhood’ is a tender coming of age tale

No good comes from denying the self. If it seems like a thing easier said than done, that’s because it is. Living in a trailer park with his abusive father and staring down a road or petty crime and everything that follows, Wildhood is the story of a young man who is in so much self-denial that he is dying his hair blond in an effort to distance himself from his indigenous heritage, and that’s before he even begins to examine his sexuality.

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FNC ’21 Review: ‘The White Fortress’ sets young love among a divided city

The White Fortress

Young love set against a backdrop of crime is a tale as old as time. In The White Fortress, the story is set in modern-day Sarajevo and follows a young man called Faruk (Pavle Čemerikić) as he navigates the current realities of growing up poor in the politically divided city.

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VIFF ’21 Interview: Lauren Grant on her directorial debut short film ‘Things We Feel But Do Not Say’

Things We Feel But Do Not Say

Lauren Grant is a prolific producer of Canadian film and television, having worked on the series Killjoys as well as the films Riot Girls, Sugar Daddy and The Retreat just in the last two years. This year she also makes her debut as a director with her original short film Things We Feel But Do Not Say, which premiered as part of the shorts program at VIFF 2021. I had the pleasure of sitting down with Lauren on zoom to talk about the film.

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VIFF ’21 Wrap Up: Matthew joins Thomas from ForReel and Taylor from Drink in the Movies to talk festival favourites

2021 VIFF Wrap Up

Another edition of the Vancouver International Film Festival is come and gone, and it’s time to talk about the movies we loved. This year I once got to sit down with Thomas from ForReel Movie News & Reviews and Taylor from Drink in the Movies and since the border is open, and we’re all vaccinated, we got to do it in person! So join us as we each talk about our top three films from the fest.

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