Film
CINEPHILIA: Life, Animated exposes the limitations of a Disney ending
August 2, 2016Life, Animated, based on the book of the same name, is about Owen, a young boy with regressive autism, who learns to communicate through Disney movies. With the precision of a calculator, Owen can recite every line from every animated Disney movie ever made. Far from being merely an obsession, Disney’s filmography is Owen’s vocabulary, how he understands the world, and the framework through which he filters his experience. These films are his language, his scripture, and his metaphysical reality. When Owen turns three and loses his ability to say coherent words, it isn’t until his father talks in the…
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CINEPHILIA: An off-the-leash look at man’s best friend
July 11, 2016The Secret Life of Pets is easily distracted and prone to tangents, like a dog that suddenly chases after a ball. Directed by Yarrow Cheney and Chris Renaud, The Secret Life of Pets imagines what your domesticated critters are doing…
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CINEPHILIA: Norm of the North’s weak attempt at satire falls flat
February 1, 2016The ineptly paced, written, and animated Norm of the North is a cinematic defecation left to be flushed in the month of January. It’s an evil film masquerading as liberal commentary, a cynical, post-modern grotesquery, devoid of any authentic feeling,…
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CINEPHILIA: TIFF’s Top 10 showcases the best in Canadian film
January 25, 2016Since 2000, the Toronto International Film Festival has selected the top 10 Canadian films of the year, touring them across the country and giving Canadians another chance to see our best cinematic offerings. These are the three best feature films…
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CINEPHILIA: Son of Saul captures daily life in Auschwitz-Birkenau
January 19, 2016Most films we view emotionally and cerebrally but Son Of Saul, the holocaust drama from first-time director Laszlo Nemes, is experienced physically: it hits like a truck, leaving bruises under your skin; it pulverizes like a wrecking ball, smashing the…
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CINEPHILIA: Anomalisa is relatable, funny, and poignant
January 4, 2016We uncomfortably identify with Michael Snow, our self-centered and predatory protagonist of Anomalisa: his neuroses, egoism, and disillusionment. Whether female or male, family or stranger, friend or foe, to Michael every face, voice, and personality is ubiquitous and indistinguishable. His…
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Cinephilia: Victor Frankenstein fails to breathe life into a classic tale
November 30, 2015Do you prefer your Franken-shteene or -shtine? I’m more a “shteener” than a “shtiner,” but Paul McGuigan’s confused Victor Frankenstein is neither Mel Brooks parody nor classic gothic horror. The film shifts between tones without satisfying either connotation of these…
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IF the Poet is a documentary tour de force
November 30, 2015IF the Poet follows Canadian slam poet IF (Ian French) on his journey to the 2014 Canadian Individual Poetry Slam Championship and through to the World Cup of Slam Poetry in Paris. This documentary is a unique portrait of an…
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Creed flies high and knocks down expectations
November 27, 2015As diehard Rocky fan, I couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable with the prospect of another film, even one focused on the son of Apollo Creed, Rocky’s perennial rival. A spinoff of the timeless six-movie series just seemed like an unnecessary…
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Cinephilia: James White showcases a different side of New York City
November 23, 2015If cities are character actors, New York usually plays one of two roles: the wingman for romances with cultured hipsters, or a desolate backdrop for loners who don’t fit the “New Yorker” label. The capitalist capitol of North America has…
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