The story of Vivian Maier seems almost impossible to believe in the modern digital age, but in John Maloof and Charlie Siskel’s exceptionally researched labour of love documentary, Finding Vivian Maier, the concept of a person’s double life takes on a deeper emotional meaning than that of a simple, unsolved mystery.
A waste of lots of great Canadian talent, Three Days in Havana makes absolutely no sense narratively or tonally.
Jason Bateman's directorial debut Bad Words is a complete draw; as much of a missed opportunity as a win. Despite some very funny foul mouthed comedy, the uneasy direction of the film's central plot drags everything down around it. It's consistently funny, but it's a one-note premise that loses steam very fast.
We take a look at 8 of the features playing at this year's whopping 17th annual CineFranco French language film festival, kicking off this Friday at The Royal Cinema in Toronto.
Vandal After getting busted for stealing a car, 15 year old Chérif (Zinedine Benchenine) is remanded into the custody of his aunt and uncle when he gets bitten by the bug to (more productively) start creating street art with the help of his cousin Thomas and a band of fellow taggers and artists. Benchenine’s formidable […]
Wrestling Queens Rose (Marilou Berry), a supermarket cashier fresh out of prison, tries to reconnect with her estranged son through his love of wrestling by forming a band of grapplers with her co-workers. With the help of a wash-out former pro (Andre Dussollier), the group now faces three months of training before facing the dreaded […]
Hold Back There’s a great idea buried within Rachid Djaidani’s (probably purposefully) amateurish and underdeveloped look at love across religious barriers that never quite comes out thanks to a lack of real insight beyond surface level issues and a scattershot style that makes the film a chore to watch instead of conveying a vibrant and […]
On My Way Iconic actress Catherine Deneuve stars as a woman who when faced with a failed relationship and a struggling restaurant decides to head out on a road trip. What begins as a quick journey to clear her head turns into a bumpy ride filled with chance encounters, revisiting with old friends, the rekindling […]
Bright Days Ahead When a married, retired dentist Caroline (Fanny Ardant) attends a computer class, she falls for her significantly younger lecturer (Laurant Lafitte) and embarks on a passionate love affair, remaining pragmatic even when learning he has had a crush on her since before the class started. Everything goes well enough until her husband […]
The Informant (Gibraltar) An intense, character driven thriller, The Informant concerns a nearly lawless patch of land in a civilized world and the efforts of one man to stay alive while caught between people on both sides of the law who want to make names for themselves. Gilles Lellouche (Little White Lies, Tell No One) […]
The Scar Bullying and the scarring left behind is examined in this Quebecois miserabalist drama that’s told with a lot of emotion and good ideas, but sometimes misses the mark. Following a rec-league hockey game, Richard (Marc Beland) decides to give new player Paul (Patrick Goyette) a ride home. Unfortunately for Paul, he doesn’t realize […]
Moroccan Gigolos A trio of best friends of different ethnic backgrounds concoct a less than honourable and pleasant money making scheme so they can afford rent on their considerably more honourable money making scheme of running a snack bar in this year’s dreadfully confused and astoundingly unfunny opening night film. Following a car accident that […]
Kurtis Wiebe and Roc Upchurch’s Rat Queens is a fantasy adventure comic for those who enjoy a little crass with their questing.
The finale was a beautiful end to the best season of Girls so far. Along with Dunham, Judd Apatow has helped create the second chapter in his experimental analysis of generational distress. Whether you like it or not, this is the Freaks and Geeks of the twenty-something generation. This is Lindsay Weir and Neal Schweiber wearing skinny jeans instead of puffy vests. This is Kim Kelly and Daniel Desario trying coke instead of smoking pot.
“Takiawase” is as close as we will ever get to a Jimmy, Brian and Beverly episode. Because of that it is hilarious at times, but that doesn’t prevent it from being stomach churningly disturbing, perfectly thrilling, tearfully heartbreaking and as thematically tight as a well tuned pressure cooker.
