Public Schooled is one of those micro budget films – it has the look and overall vibe of something that was produced for a Mars Bar and $7. However, the film proves to audiences that a low budget can’t bring down the quality of the film – because Public Schooled is an absolute riot. With […]
TIFF 2017: ‘A Worthy Companion’ Review
Imagine your worst anxiety in a relationship (intimate or otherwise), multiply it by 100 and you’ll have the tone that first-time filmmakers Carlos and Jason Sanchez create with A Worthy Companion – a film about two tortured souls that enter into an extremely unhealthy relationship. Seeing as the Sanchez brothers’ are fine art photographers, it’s no surprise that […]
TIFF 2017: ‘The Breadwinner’ Review
Based on Deborah Ellis’ award-winning children’s novel of the same name, The Breadwinner is about the story of Parvana, a young Afghan girl living in a Taliban-controlled Kabul, and her family. Females are not allowed to be outside without a male, so when her father is captured and imprisoned by the Taliban, she pretends to be […]
TIFF 2017: ‘The Cured’ Review
There is definitely a good film in David Freyne’s The Cured but I couldn’t find it. You’d think a movie about the cure to a zombie infection would be more visceral? Nope. When I wasn’t vacantly starring at the visually boring camera work, I was being hit over the head with the film’s abundantly clear “humans fear what […]
TIFF 2017: ‘Valley of Shadows’ (‘Skyggenes Dal’) Review
Lots of horror films (recently, in fact) have had a large focus on capitalizing fear through a device of sorts. And then here comes a film by Jonas Matzow Gulbrandsen. While it’s not what you’d call horror necessarily, the keen intent of capturing fear through the eyes of a child is also prominently featured here, […]
TIFF 2017: ‘Brad’s Status’ Review
Ben Stiller stars in Mike White’s Brad’s Status as a 47-year-old man who resents how little he’s accomplished in his life. He’s jealous of all of his college friends who he perceives as being more successful than him because of their fame and money. When Troy, Brad’s son, starts looking at colleges, Brad projects his own […]
TIFF 2017: ‘Soldiers. Story from Ferentari’ (‘Soldatii. Poveste din Ferentari’) Review
2017 has been a standout year for LGBT cinema, with the likes of Call Me By Your Name and God’s Own Country making waves with critics and audiences alike. But no film this year has approached the subject of same-sex relationships with the frank delicacy of Ivana Mladenovic’s narrative feature debut Soldiers. Story from Ferentari. […]
TIFF 2017: ‘The Children Act’ Review
The Children Act can only be summed up as “fine”. Emma Thompson and Stanley Tucci star in this drama about a British High Court Judge who’s final ruling is a matter of literal life and death for a 17-year-old boy with leukemia who requires a blood transfusion. It’s crafted really well, but the buck stops […]
TIFF 2017: ‘What Will People Say’ Review
As the title suggests, What Will People Say is about expectations, image and reputation. Even more than that though, Iram Haq’s second film is an honest but brutal portrayal of the second-generation immigrant struggle to both fit in and devote oneself to family. Nisha (Maria Mozhdah) lives a double life – at home, she follows the […]
TIFF 2017: ‘The Ritual’ Review
David Bruckner, of V/H/S fame, has a new film at TIFF this year and my excitement was endless. Amateur Night was a thrilling and disturbing short that shook me to my core, leading me to get no sleep that night. The thought of Bruckner creating a feature film that embodied even half of the horrifying moments […]