October 30, 2009
Amreeka (2009) dir Cherian Dabis
Starring: Nisreen Faour, Melkar Muallem, Hiam Abbass, Alia Shawkat
**1/2
A Sundance and Cannes success, this multi-pronged international co-production indie has seen great success in a very competitive market. The title which means, simply America in Arabic, reflects the real life internal and external conflicts of writer/director Cherian Dabis, who as a second generation American in her youth, felt lost with a national identity split between her American home and her Arabic roots. Dabis’ makes up for manipulative and contrived conflict with a palpable emotional honesty and cinematic integrity. Read the rest of this entry »
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2009, Arabic, Drama, English | 
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Posted by Alan Bacchus
June 23, 2009
Next Floor (2008) dir. Denis Villeneuve
Starring: Jean Marchand, Mathieu Handfield, Emmanuel Schwartz, Sébastien René
****
Though only 11mins, Denis Villeneuve’s ‘Next Floor’ stands tall as a magnificent visually stunning allegory to class struggle told with a wickedly dark sense of humour. Villeneuve channels the absurd and surreal metaphors of Luis Bunuel with the visually grandness of Terry Gilliam to create a unique artistic masterpiece.”Next Floor” has been gathering awards at various festivals since last year’s Cannes Film Festival, and this week opened the Worldwide Short Film Festival in Toronto. Read the rest of this entry »
1 Comment | 2008, Comedy, Denis Villeneuve, Drama, Experimental, Shorts, WSFF 2009 | Permalink
Posted by Alan Bacchus
May 22, 2009
Adoration (2009) dir. Atom Egoyan
Starring: Devon Bostick, Scott Speedman, Arsinee Khanjian
**
I am a big Atom Egoyan fan, which extends even beyond flag waving patriotism. Even his recent lesser-regarded films, “Where the Truth Lies”, “Felicia’s Journey” dug into me and struck a chord. With “Adoration” it’s Egoyan again, his trademark multi-layered elliptical style with a peculiar story about a teenager’s conflicts reconciling the death of his parents. If this were another filmmaker’s film, I’d might call it a triumph of tonal control and metaphorical storytelling, but with Egoyan, it’s something we’ve seen before, but with more preciousness and with lesser emotional punch. Read the rest of this entry »
1 Comment | 2009, Atom Egoyan, Drama, English | Permalink
Posted by Alan Bacchus
April 23, 2009
Only (2009) dir. Ingrid Veninger and Simon Reynolds
Starring: Jacob Switzer, Elena Hudgins Lyle
***
From TIFF to Slamdance to Rome and more, “Only’s” been racking up mondo air miles on the film festival circuit and now it finally lands back home for it’s Toronto release. Less is more is the filmmaking mantra behind this latest low budget 73mins entry in the genre of 12-year-olds coming of age on film. A tender friendship between a girl and a boy amongst the snowcapped environment of Northern Ontario anchors this sparse but tender Canadian DIY indie. Read the rest of this entry »
1 Comment | 2009, Comedy, Drama, English, Ingrid Veninger, Simon Reynolds | Permalink
Posted by Alan Bacchus
March 27, 2009
Polytechnique (2009) dir. Denis Villenueve
Starring: Maxim Gaudette, Karine Vanasse, Sébastien Huberdeau
***
Almost everyone in Canada of a certain age remembers where he or she was when they first heard about the Montreal Massacre. That day, Dec 6, 1989, a disgruntled and unstable young man, with hateful misogynistic fervour, took a gun into Montreal Polytechnique University and killed 14 female engineer students and injuring 14 more, before killing himself. It was an event not unlike the Columbine tragedy, or 9/11, which brought the nation together as every year since, on its anniversary, Dec 6 is commemorated as the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. Read the rest of this entry »
Leave a Comment » | 2009, Denis Villeneuve, Drama, English, French | Permalink
Posted by Alan Bacchus
March 9, 2009
One Week (2009) dir. Michael McGowan
Starring: Joshua Jackson, Liane Balaban
**1/2
The Canadian theatrical release of the week, is “One Week”, a domestic production given a rare ‘wide’ release in most major cities up here. Writer/director Michael McGowan puts his character through the Canadian rite of passage, the cross-country road trip from Toronto to Victoria, with its glorious landscape, a few celebs and all the down home hoser quirkiness in between. But it’s really a somber tale of a man dying of cancer and his journey of self-discovery at the end of his life told with ample doses of sentimentality and often excessive profoundness. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted by Alan Bacchus
February 19, 2009
Down to the Dirt (2008) dir. Justin Simms
Starring: Joel Hynes, Mylene Savoie, Robert Joy
**1/2
Justin Simms’ low budget feature debut is true to its title; it’s a dirty little romantic ode to the armpit of Newfoundland. Keith (Joel Hynes) and Natasha (Mylene Savoie) are a couple of unemployment cheque-cashing shit disturbers and rebellious lost souls. A few glances early on spark a raucous romance — think Newfoundland’s version of Kurt and Courtney. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted by Alan Bacchus
December 5, 2008
C.R.A.Z.Y (2005) dir. Jean-Marc Vallee
Starring: Marc-André Grondin, Michel Côté, Danielle Proulx, Émile Vallée, Pierre-Luc Brillant
****
One of the best films you’ve may not have seen is Jean-Marc Vallee’s phenomenal French-Canadian hit film “C.R.A.Z.Y.” The acronym title refers to the first letters of five siblings whom we see grow up and come of age in the late 60’s and 70’s. “C.R.A.Z.Y.” became one of the highest grossing films in Canada and won virtually every possible award in the country. Read the rest of this entry »
1 Comment | 2000's, Comedy, Drama, French, Jean-Marc Vallee | Permalink
Posted by Alan Bacchus
September 23, 2008
The Stone Angel (2008) dir. Kari Skogland
Starring: Ellen Burstyn, Christine Horne, Cole Hauser, Kevin Zegers, Ellen Page, Dylan Baker
**
Many 30-somethings, like myself, grew up despising Margaret Lawrence’s 1964 book “The Stone Angel”. It’s been a staple in the Canadian high school curriculum for years. And for many of the kids my age being forced to read the book at then was torture. The story of a dying old woman reminiscing about the good and the bad throughout the 91 years of her life just wasn’t the kind of literature I wanted to read at age 15. Read the rest of this entry »
Leave a Comment » | 2008, Drama, English, Kari Skogland | Permalink
Posted by Alan Bacchus
