A Star is Born is a gassy giant, indeed
Movie review: A Star is Born
Bradley Cooper writes, directs and stars in this latest revamp of a seminal Hollywood yarn that proves the nexus of progressive America remains completely conservative when it comes to its own story. On the bright side, Cooper and Lady Gaga use their first-timer adrenaline to fuel this bumpy rocket ride, creating great spectacle -- if not deep drama.
Ant-Man and The Wasp Give a Nice Buzz
Movie Review: Ant-Man and the Wasp
The laws governing the very big and the very small are different, and this ant-hero story of a nice thief and outlaw physicists taking on big foes brings fragmented intimacy to the ever-expanding Marvel Comic Universe.
A Wrinkle in Time Offers Waking Daydream
Movie review: A Wrinkle in Time
Ava DuVernay’s big-budget Disney adaptation of Madeleine L’Engle’s teen classic takes an earnest route through fairyland and physics, making for a strangely static ride and a Mardi Gras parade of bejewelled movie stars.
Columbus Is Like Waltzing to Light
#VIFF17 Movie Review - Columbus
Director Kogonada creates an unassuming art film that frames the details of the human condition against a backdrop of midcentury architectural masterpieces
Mummy Mia!
Movie Review: The Mummy
Tom Cruise tosses himself across the screen as a treasure-hunting soldier who stumbles into a cursed sarcophagus carrying an ancient queen with a score to settle
Arthritis and Adamantium: Logan senses an ending
Movie Review: Logan movie review
James Mangold's latest instalment in the X-Men franchise takes a heroic look at mortality via Hugh Jackman's aging Wolverine and Patrick Stewart's supernaturally demented Professor Xavier
Lion has a big roar
Movie review: Lion
The true story of Saroo Brierley's quest for his ancestral home finds an epic scale through intimate, emotionally compelling scenes and standout performances from a top-notch ensemble
Tatiana Maslany, Tom Cullen fire up first-timer
Interview: Joey Klein on The Other Half
In a world full of malaise, misanthropy and unmitigated sorrow, first-time filmmaker Joey Klein says he wants to hold up a funhouse mirror to ambient pain
By Katherine Monk
(November 30, 2016) Joey Klein is what you’d call a ‘late bloomer.’
When he was a kid growing up in Montreal, he assumed he’d become a doctor like his father. He ended up in McGill management school instead, and hated it. So he headed to New York City at the age of 25 to study acting, a career he pursued with success, landing roles in American Gangster and 12 Monkeys -- to name a few.
Yet, he craved a bigger challenge still. He had a hankering to address the ambient angst of modern experience – without exploiting Hollywood trope – so he started writing. And now, just a year shy of his 40th birthday, he's making his directorial debut with the theatrical release of The Other Half.
“Originally, it was a story about grief… and about grief over time. ...
Life, death and Andrew Huculiak
People: Interview with Andrew Huculiak
Getting metaphysical with the first-time director of Violent means dipping a big toe into the cold, dark waters of existentialism and cozying up with Kierkegaard
By Katherine Monk
(October 19, 2016) VANCOUVER – A gentle drizzle falls outside, and the faint smell of woolly dampness mingles with the scent of fresh pie. It’s a typical fall day in Vancouver -- wet, dark, and cool -- the perfect backdrop for an interview with Andrew Huculiak.
Huculiak is the director behind Violent, easily one of the best first features in Canadian film history, but up until now, it was also one of the most difficult to access.
Shot two years ago in Norway with a unilingual Norwegian cast, Violent was invited to Cannes, picked up top prizes at The Vancouver International Film Festival and was shortlisted as Canada’s best foreign film Oscar submission. By all accounts and measures, it should have hit theatres nationwide.
Yet, it’s only now, two ...
Violent finds eerie beauty in the abyss
Movie review: Violent
Andrew Huculiak's debut feature is a stunning mediation on the meaning of life that owes as much to Alfred Hitchcock as it does to Terrence Malick in its bid to open our eyes to existence
