There’s a strange love-hate relationship with the rich, especially when it comes to the past. Perhaps it’s escapism, perhaps it’s a desire to live in presumably more affluent times, but the notion that one could live and live well —… Read More ›
English
A great documentary of one great filmmaker watching another, Les Blank’s “Burden of Dreams” gets a 4K re-release courtesy of The Criterion Collection.
In the rare event where game recognizes game or a filmmaker puts his camera on another filmmaker, there’s no telling what moments of unflinching honesty and remarkable ambition you will find. In his 1982 film Burden of Dreams, documentarian Les… Read More ›
Genre-mashing “Mr. K” joins the hallowed ranks of nightmare hotel feature films.
Mr. K has a lot going for it and most of that energy comes from the always-captivating Crispin Glover (Back to the Future). In one of his most fascinating performances to date, Glover embodies a spiraling character trying desperately to… Read More ›
The voices too loud in your head? Need some positive affirmation with surreal art and zany songs? “Lesbian Space Princess” to the rescue!
There’s nothing wrong with a safe space. There’s nothing wrong at all with wrapping yourself in the things that make you feel at peace and serene; unless, of course, the energy spent maintaining said serenity comes at the cost of… Read More ›
“Steal Away” with actors Mallori Johnson and Angourie Rice. [TIFF]
Clement Virgo (Brother) is back with another powerful drama while, again, pulling double duty as director and as part of the co-writing team with newcomer Tamara Berger. Steal Away balances a multitude of themes, ensuring that the film cannot get… Read More ›
The inherent whimsy of “Egghead Republic” overshadows the narrative within. [TIFF]
Egghead Republic, the newest movie from the pair of writer/directors Pella Kågerman (Aniara) and Hugo Lilja (Aniara), teases an interesting premise that is excelled by some terrific performance, but ultimately suffocates from its own ideas and on-the-nose reveal. While failing… Read More ›
“Wasteman” squanders nothing in its 90-minute run time. [TIFF]
First-time feature screenwriters Hunter Andrews (short Sunny Life Farms) and Eoin Doran (short Perched) along with first-time-ever director Cal McMau pull off maybe the definition of an impossible feat — they craft a perfect film. It’s something that doesn’t get… Read More ›
Avalon Fast’s coming-of-age tale “CAMP” is either a lucid dream or a waking nightmare. [Fantastic Fest]
“We are the weirdos, mister.” – Nancy (Fairuza Balk) in The Craft (1996) These five lines are iconic for a number of reasons, many of them quite personal to the individuals who recall and restate them nearly 30 years later;… Read More ›
Chandler Levack’s “Mile End Kicks” tangles with the struggles of early adulthood against the Montreal grunge scene of the 2010s. [TIFF]
Chandler Levack (I Like Movies) is back with her sophomore feature and Mile End Kicks makes one wonder what horrible tragedies and injustices Chandler went through herself or if there are a lot of creative liberties being taken in her… Read More ›
Sean Cisterna’s “Silver Screamers” is a charming, warm-hug of a film that highlights how we all have something to give back to our community. [Fantastic Fest]
There’s a school of thought that implies a person’s value only exists if they are a productive member of society. This, of course, correlates one’s existence to what they can produce versus what they can contribute, which are two drastically… Read More ›
Filmmakers Dusty Mancinelli and Madeleine Sims-Fewer invite audiences to experience psychotic drama “Honey Bunch.” [TIFF]
Writers and directors Dusty Mancinelli and Madeline Sims-Fewer are back with another movie entrenched in trauma and decision-making. After their last outing, Violation (2020), which is a much more difficult watch content-wise, they deliver Honey Bunch which focuses on the… Read More ›
Gail Maurice, Dana Solomon, and Derica Lafrance make their marks with “Blood Lines.” [TIFF]
Family dramas are always difficult subjects and can either be rewarding or miss the mark entirely. Thankfully, Gail Maurice (Rosie) pulls off quadruple duty as writer, director, producer, and actor well, and leads Dana Solomon and Derica Lafrance (in their… Read More ›
“Aztec Batman: Clash of Empires (Batman Azteca: Choque de imperios)” clings so tightly to its DC roots that it stifles the flair when it embraces its Mexican influence.
In 1991, DC Comics published Batman: Holy Terror, a tale featuring an alternate history for the United States in which it remained a Commonwealth of the United Kingdom. It shifts the origin story we know of Bruce Wayne into Batman… Read More ›
Glenn McQuaid’s “The Restoration at Grayson Manor” is an alchemical mixture of melodrama and body horror which asserts some rehabs are best treated with napalm. [Fantastic Fest]
Names mean something. They hold power. Names withheld can create mystery and names known can open doors. They are the things that can be passed down from generation to generation — be it a surname, a given name, a middle… Read More ›
Make it weird, make it big, make it bloody – make it “Deathstalker.” [Fantastic Fest]
Photosensitivity Warning: There is a brief flashback sequence near the start of the film and a longer sequence during the climax wherein lights flash quite frequently. There’s no strobing and it’s somewhat predictable, but may still be triggering for photosensitive… Read More ›
“The Man in My Basement” walks a delicate moral and ethical line. [TIFF]
Co-writer/director Nadia Latif takes on double duty in their first feature while adapting Walter Mosley’s novel The Man in My Basement. While Mosley’s material has yielded something interesting in an adaptation before (Devil in a Blue Dress) and this adaptation… Read More ›
“Sentimental Value (Affeksjonsverdi)” drops audiences into the middle of a complex daughters/father relationship complete with Hollywood drama. [TIFF]
Audiences connected with the last outing by Joachim Trier and Eskil Vogt as writers and Renate Reinsve (The Worst Person in the World) in a lead role in a meaningful way. Back again in the same roles, the trio brings… Read More ›
Psychological sports thriller “The Cut” takes the legs out from under otherwise well-executed mental and physical breakdowns.
Much like the horror or fantasy genres, sports films are often filled with metaphors. In most cases, the competition is about more than the event itself, it’s about something larger for the character(s) or the idea it represents. In modern… Read More ›
Vittorio De Sica’s first masterpiece “Shoeshine,” a devastating tale of innocence lost in postwar Italy, comes home in excellent restoration, courtesy of The Criterion Collection.
Before he directed one of the greatest films of all time, 1948’s Bicycle Thieves, Vittorio De Sica became the face of Italian Neorealism in 1946 with his first masterpiece Shoeshine. Italian Neorealism was a post-World War II film movement which… Read More ›
“Crown of Shadows” DVD Giveaway
On August 12th, High Flier Films released Richard Campbell’s fantasy actioner Crown of Shadows on DVD. Now, courtesy of Alliance Entertainment, EoM is giving away one (1) DVD edition of the film to one lucky winner. No battling with a dragon or… Read More ›