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Film Review: Don’t be Scared of a Little “Smile”

Genre films have always lent themselves as an avenue to explore deep, human issues. The powers that be might always shove them to the back of the pack when it comes to considering the merit of a well devised horror film. More and more though, people are realizing just how cathartically powerful the themes horror…

“Don’t Worry Darling” : Review / The Story Doesn’t Add Up to the Production Values

Even before viewing “Don’t Worry Darling” — director/actor Olivia Wilde’s latest outing and sophomore effort — audiences were besieged by tabloid gossip reports of the behind-the-scenes drama which already served up the divorced paper on the center stage of what was about to happen on the screen.  Oftentimes, when a film’s lead actress — in this…

Netflix’s Blonde Spurs Mixed Feelings As It Attempts To Eviscerate Trauma

Endless works of art were inspired by the legendary platinum blonde bombshell. Marilyn Monroe, also known as Norma Jeane Baker, was homaged by artists like Andy Warhol and an incommensurable number of filmmakers who tried to tell her story through their craft. Netflix, just a few months ago released Emma Cooper’s documentary The Mystery of…

Toronto International Film Festival/ “Broker” Review: Hirokazu Koreeda’s first Korean language movie is a Tender and Bittersweet Portrait of an Unlikely Family of Outcasts

There is no doubt that the Japanese master filmmaker Hirokazu Koreeda is fascinated with family. Not necessary a nuclear family and family bound by blood. In his latest film “Broker”, as in his Golden Palm winner and Oscar nominated “Shoplifters”, he forms an unconventional family of a group of criminals. This time on an unusual…

Film Review – ‘Catherine Called Birdy’ is a Spirited and Fun Look at a 13th-Century Story from Lena Dunham

The late 13th century isn’t a time known for individualism and free-thinking personalities, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t exist. Whether or not they did live then, it’s a creative way to look back at a long-gone era with far too many aspects reminiscent in today’s patriarchal society. The 1994 novel Catherine Called Birdy by…

A Jazzman’s Blues, Is A Bona Fide Deep South Melodrama

Written, directed and produced by Academy Award honouree Tyler Perry, A Jazzman’s Blues, takes audiences on a four-decade journey of forbidden love in the American Southern states. The film, that premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, will be available on Netflix. The movie unspools the vicissitudes of Bayou (Joshua Boone) and Leanne (Solea Pfeiffer)…

Toronto International Film Festival / Review : Outstanding Performances in Sarah Polley’s Dense “Woman Talking”

At night they are drugged and raped. For years women wake up with pain and sheets soaked in blood, but no memory of what happened. Ghosts and demons did it, say the men in the ultraconservative remote religious colony. But these women know better. And they talk. Now it’s time to decide. Stay and fight,…

Toronto International Film Festival Review – ‘Raymond and Ray’ is an Entertaining and Worthwhile Brotherhood Story

A sibling is a relative with whom a person can have any number of different relationships. If children are close in age, they may grow up together and remain friendly and close in adulthood. Living in a home of discord or divorce can also create a strong bond, though it may also bring with it…

Toronto International Film Festival Review – A24’s ‘Causeway’ is a Poignant Tale of Pain and Healing

The experience of coming back from war is not an easy one. Returning after the resolution of a long-running conflict along with many others who have served is difficult enough, but when someone is forced to cut their tour short and feels like there is still more they could be doing on active duty, that…

Toronto International Film Festival Review – Germany’s ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ is a Harrowing Portrait of War

It’s staggering to think how futile war can be, with soldiers dying regularly in the pursuit of a conflict that will almost surely end in defeat for one side, meaning that all they have gained and accomplished in the process of their fighting may be undone. This isn’t specific to any one war, but in…

Toronto International Film Festival Review – ‘The Whale’ is an Excellent Character Study with Exceptional Performances

Society doesn’t tend to look kindly on those who are overweight, firstly by setting unrealistic standards for what being fit and attractive mean. People can be cruel and careless in how they treat others who, for whatever reason, are heavy, making comments under their breath or physically reacting to the sight or smell of somewhere…