! Exclaim.ca Reviews - Film

Fast & Furious 6 - Directed by Justin Lin

editorial@exclaim.ca (Robert Bell) — Thu, 23 May 2013 13:43:49 -0400

Having directed the latter four of the six Fast & Furious movies, Justin Lin has the formula down to a science. First, quickly establish a reason, plausible or not, for Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker) to hop back in their cars. Second, introduce a new vehicle in a kinetic action sequence. Third, have everyone regroup and then dole out some loose exposition and one-liners. And lastly, have this discussion lead to more action, regrouping, one-liners and, eventually, a ridiculously over-the-top half-hour climax. In this sense, Fast & Furious 6...Read More

The Hangover Part III - Directed by Todd Phillips

editorial@exclaim.ca (Kevin Scott) — Thu, 23 May 2013 13:42:46 -0400

After The Hangover 2 was universally dismissed as nothing more than a retreading of the original, by way of Bangkok, the question quickly became how would director Todd Phillips rebound for the conclusion of the trilogy? In sidestepping the formula of our heroes inadvertently ingesting drugs and attempting to piece together a crazy night, The Hangover 3 marginally improves upon the sequel in some ways while never matching the delirious fun of the first high. If the movie isn't ever consistently funny, it's because it compensates for the lack of its usual hook with such an...Read More

Epic - Directed by Chris Wedge

editorial@exclaim.ca (Robert Bell) — Thu, 23 May 2013 13:41:58 -0400

Before Epic dives into its story, which is a serviceable, if redundant, mishmash of all things familiar within the lexicon of fantastical family films, a gorgeous and compelling scene unfolds in the forest, detailing the geography and aesthetic of the world. Background and foreground share equal detail while crows and hummingbirds dart in and out of the natural green landscape, manoeuvring around trees and flying out of the screen in 3D, each carrying a good or evil character. The visual detail is as impeccable as the action is enthralling, leading us into the central story,...Read More

Picture Day - Directed by Kate Melville

editorial@exclaim.ca (Robert Bell) — Thu, 23 May 2013 13:40:44 -0400

Claire (Tatiana Maslany) is repeating her senior year of high school. Having failed Calculus and remedial Phys-Ed, mostly due to attendance issues, she expresses cool indifference to her Vice Principal (Catherine Fitch), citing the indignity and absurdity of doing "burpees" in a group and the lack of practical worldly applications for Calculus as her rationale. As portrayed by the always-mesmerizing Maslany, she's effortlessly likable; Claire is the sort of bemused smartass that says and does exactly what's on her mind without concern for social repercussions or imposed external...Read More

Love is All You Need - Directed by Susanne Bier

editorial@exclaim.ca (Robert Bell) — Thu, 23 May 2013 13:39:12 -0400

Departing substantially from her Oscar-winning conflict examination, In a Better World, in both style and tone, Susanne Bier's housewife-friendly follow-up, Love is All You Need, is ostensibly just a better-than-average, generic romantic comedy. It is, however, a romantic comedy with consistent pseudo-counter-cultural themes and moderately complex characterizations, which propel it ahead of anything featuring the likes of Kate Hudson or Katherine Heigl within the current lexicon. Mostly taking place in Italy, with a primarily Danish cast, this treatise on the dangers...Read More

Bruce Cockburn: Pacing The Cage - Directed by Joel Goldberg

editorial@exclaim.ca (Kevin Scott) — Thu, 23 May 2013 13:37:25 -0400

While he makes it clear he'd rather be known as the "Canadian Bob Dylan" than the "Canadian John Denver," Bruce Cockburn is very much a musician that defies comparisons. Though documentary Pacing The Cage may be padded with a few too many of his close friends singing his praises, it's wise enough to allow Cockburn to take centre stage, for the most part, and speak for himself in both words and song. Far from being a comprehensive overview of the various phases of Cockburn's illustrious career, the film instead follows the singer-songwriter on a short solo tour in support of a new...Read More

Something in the Air - Directed by Olivier Assayas

editorial@exclaim.ca (Robert Bell) — Thu, 23 May 2013 13:35:42 -0400

Interpreting Olivier Assayas's recent filmography as an auteur vision beyond his usual attention to details, such as clothes, music and attitude of a depicted time or place, it's no surprise that his take on the French student protest movement of the early '70s, Something in the Air, is semi-autobiographical. With Carlos tackling the titular Marxist political terrorist for Palestinian liberation and films like Boarding Gate, Summer Hours and Demonlover using decidedly different set-ups to bitch about the evils of globalization, this latest preening,...Read More

Quality Balls - The David Steinberg Story - Directed by Barry Avrich

editorial@exclaim.ca (Robert Bell) — Thu, 23 May 2013 13:34:21 -0400

In a way, the works of director Barry Avrich reflect his background in advertising and marketing perfectly, playing as the sort of uninspired and banal, yet image conscious, fluff that keeps the populace placated and economically viable. His docs about Harvey Weinstein, Garth Drabinsky and other various industry acquaintances have been tenuous at best, taking a safe and formulaic approach to telling a very sanitized version of a story. They're like commercials for their subjects more than actual films, playing like an aesthetically crude assemblage of prefab publicity materials forced into...Read More

The ABC's of Death

editorial@exclaim.ca (Scott A. Gray) — Wed, 22 May 2013 00:05:00 -0400

Even the most thematically assured anthology films tend to be a mixed bag. The structural gimmick driving The ABC's of Death takes this tendency to the nth degree. Twenty-six directors (mostly from the horror and sci-fi world) were given a letter of the alphabet, a 5,000-dollar budget and tasked with coming up with a short film depicting a way to die based on a word of their choosing that starts with their assigned letter. They were also given carte blanche to indulge in their most grotesque whims, which to some contributors meant an excuse for sexually explicit and excessively...Read More

The Reluctant Fundamentalist - Directed by Mira Nair

editorial@exclaim.ca (Robert Bell) — Fri, 17 May 2013 14:51:27 -0400

Something consistent throughout the works of Mira Nair (a television-calibre director that stumbled into the art house world by tackling "issue" movies) is an indelicate handling of subtly. Save possibly Mississippi Masala, her works have been embarrassingly literal, spelling out any use of metaphor with a broad sensibility, reducing complex issues to single-minded idealism in an almost condescending manner. As such, it's no surprise that she's tackled Mohsin Hamid's incisive bit of cultural analysis, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, with the sort of speechifying blandness...Read More

Star Trek Into Darkness - Directed by J.J. Abrams

editorial@exclaim.ca (Scott A. Gray) — Thu, 16 May 2013 16:11:18 -0400

Afforded all the freedom in the 'verse to create their own take on the Star Trek mythos, thanks to the alternate timeline established by 2009's broad but reasonably clever reboot-quel, team Abrams almost immediately sets about squandering all of that potential on superficial, nostalgic fan-service thinly spread between layers of typical, mindless action entertainment. When Trekkies see where J.J. Abrams and company have taken their beloved franchise, they're likely to explode in fury over the lightweight comedy (ha, ha, Vulcans are different!) and illogical plot points (did you...Read More

Mud - Directed by Jeff Nichols

editorial@exclaim.ca (Robert Bell) — Thu, 16 May 2013 16:10:12 -0400

"A lot of junk comes down the river. Some of it can be worth of a lot of money after you clean it up, but a lot of it is just junk. You need to know what things aren't worth keeping." About halfway through Mud, Jeff Nichols' follow-up to the impressive and powerful character drama, Take Shelter, this observation is made to 14-year-old Ellis (Tye Sheridan) by his best friend's uncle (Michael Shannon). Much like most of the adult warnings floating around this touching and astute, but somewhat contrived, coming-of-age story, it's lost on Ellis who, unfortunately, has to learn...Read More

Greetings from Tim Buckley - Directed by Daniel Algrant

editorial@exclaim.ca (Robert Bell) — Thu, 16 May 2013 16:08:53 -0400

Early in Daniel Algrant's conciliatory, deliberately earnest look at the days leading up to the 1991 tribute concert for Tim Buckley (Ben Rosenfield) at St. Ann's Church, his son, Jeff (Penn Badgley), is coerced into travelling from Los Angeles to Brooklyn to add a bit of publicity flare. Throwing him right into the jam session atmosphere after a bit of obligatory, thinly veiled ass-kissing, the musicians start mocking L.A., noting its superficiality and their inability to get laid there. While critical of the locale and its insincerity, none of the artists — all upholstered in...Read More

Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf's - Directed by Matthew Miele

editorial@exclaim.ca (Daniel Pratt) — Thu, 16 May 2013 16:07:29 -0400

"People who take fashion seriously are idiots," Joan Rivers confidently blurts out in the early moments of Matthew Miele's Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf's. Her comment is intended to be humorous, yet it ironically encapsulates the vulgarity of this 93-minute ode to consumer delusion quite succinctly. Miele's documentary chronicles the Bergdorf Goodman department store, the infamous NYC landmark that has held onto its coveted city block on Fifth Avenue since 1901, representing the epitome of luxury. It's known as the store that caters to the most "discerning" clientele (read:...Read More

Please Kill Mr. Know It All - Directed by Sandra Feldman & Colin Carter

editorial@exclaim.ca (Scott A. Gray) — Thu, 16 May 2013 16:06:13 -0400

Stunt performer turned filmmaker Sandra Feldman's second feature film is a romantic comedy of errors that toes the waters of slightly satirical, feminized film noir. Think The Truth About Cats and Dogs mixed with Mr. & Mrs. Smith, only minus the '90s angst, chemistry, action and production values, and you're in the right section of Netflix. Please Kill Mr. Know It All is a likeable enough film with a bit of wit, plenty of good intentions and a strong lead performance from Lara Jean Chorostecki; it's mostly just lacking in personality and consistency. The setup,...Read More

The Iceman - Directed by Ariel Vromen

editorial@exclaim.ca (Scott A. Gray) — Thu, 16 May 2013 16:03:28 -0400

The question, "do you have any regrets?" is put to real life contract killer Richard Kuklinski in the opening moments of selective biopic The Iceman. Were that same question turned on director/screenwriter Ariel Vromen (Danika), I wonder how he'd respond? Would he lament his pedestrian translation of Anthony Bruno's book? Would he wring his hands over the marginalized character motivations of Kuklinski's wife, Deborah (Winona Ryder), or the lackadaisical inspection of historical signifiers of a man devoid of empathy? Or would he stand by his convictions, proud to have acted...Read More

The We and the I - Directed by Michel Gondry

editorial@exclaim.ca (Robert Bell) — Thu, 16 May 2013 15:59:09 -0400

If Kid 'n Play were to have a guest appearance on an extra special episode of A Different World, where the In Living Color fly girls came out for a good time in full Salt-n-Pepa attire, it might look and feel something like Michel Gondry's contextually relevant homage to the early '90s hip-hop scene, The We and the I. All the visuals are hyper-realized and saturated with bright colours and a generic old school hip-hop beat is omnipresent for the duration of the film, which takes place almost entirely on a public bus-ride home on the last day of school for a group of...Read More

Fight Like Soldiers, Die Like Children - Directed by Patrick Reed

editorial@exclaim.ca (Robert Bell) — Thu, 16 May 2013 15:57:48 -0400

In 1993, the now-retired General, Roméo Dallaire, served as the force commander of UNAMIR, the U.N. peacekeeping force in Rwanda that tried to prevent Hutu extremists from committing genocide on the Tutsi populace. Having saved the lives of thousands through his efforts, working within the confines of the U.N.'s mission statement to thwart the efforts of the Rwandan Armed Forces, his hellish experience has touched many, inspiring the 2004 documentary Shake Hands with the Devil: The Journey of Roméo Dallaire (which was based on his book, Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of...Read More

The Angels' Share - Directed by Ken Loach

editorial@exclaim.ca (Kevin Scott) — Thu, 16 May 2013 15:56:09 -0400

It may take its time in getting there, but Ken Loach's The Angels' Share eventually develops into a sunny, goofy breed of heist picture. Rather than a specialized team attempting to lift precious jewels with an ingenious, elaborate scheme, this one finds a group of society's castoffs trying to make off with some extremely rare and valuable whiskey. It's an amusing, if somewhat trifling, film that should be considered a relatively minor work for one of England's most prolific filmmakers. Though the lengthy set-up does lend necessary weight to later events, it's still a little too...Read More

The Great Gatsby - Directed by Baz Luhrmann

editorial@exclaim.ca (Robert Bell) — Thu, 09 May 2013 17:10:38 -0400

As a text demonstrating the concepts of artifice and a metaphor for those under pupillage — one that deconstructs the Western mythology quite succinctly in nine short chapters — F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby is almost anecdotal in nature. The story, while functional and rich, is unimportant. This novel was Fitzgerald's attempt to be less facile; it was his foray into a world of deliberate form and pointed prose, savouring words and language as an extension of intent and meaning beyond his role as social historian, saying something incisive about the ornately...Read More

The Manor - Directed by Shawney Cohen

editorial@exclaim.ca (Daniel Pratt) — Thu, 09 May 2013 17:08:39 -0400

Guelph, Ontario's well-known strip club, "The Manor", is a place known for titillation, libations and sexually charged entertainment. For Canadian director Shawney Cohen it plays a very different role in his life; a role that is far from anything sexual or perverse. As an aspiring filmmaker, he examines how the business has changed the course of his family in his debut documentary The Manor. Cohen's family has owned "The Manor" since he was 6-years-old, which has afforded his family a comfortable lifestyle due to the financial gains a successful strip club has to offer. ...Read More

Peeples - Directed by Tina Gordon Chism

editorial@exclaim.ca (Robert Bell) — Thu, 09 May 2013 17:07:20 -0400

Often, the urban remake of a populist, ostensibly white comedy or genre film serves as an entertaining form of didacticism, commenting on the hypocritical relationship between racial presentations within the cultural lexicon while exploring different avenues of storytelling logic. Oddly, Caucasian Mormon Neil LaBute has been the cleverest in subverting this taboo topic, exposing double standards by doing something as simple as reversing the race of characters, making throwaway films like Death at a Funeral and Lakeview Terrace into a pedagogical, albeit playfully trashy...Read More

Slaughter Nick For President - Directed by Rob Stewart, Liza Vespi & Marc Vespi

editorial@exclaim.ca (Daniel Pratt) — Thu, 09 May 2013 17:06:53 -0400

Hollywood has long been known as an unforgiving place for Canadian actors, which is something Rob Stewart knows all too well. His biggest claim to fame was playing detective Nick Slaughter on the low-rated '90s U.S. cable series Sweating Bullets, which was later syndicated around the world as Tropical Heat. When the show was cancelled, Stewart was in his 40s, with nearly 20 years under his belt as an actor. Sporting a mostly lackluster resume, he was forced to move back home with his parents in Brampton, ON. Unbeknownst to Stewart, the fame and sense of importance...Read More

Skull World - Directed by Justin McConnell

editorial@exclaim.ca (Kevin Scott) — Thu, 09 May 2013 17:05:45 -0400

In many ways, we have little control over our passions once they take hold. Consider Greg Sommer, the ebullient man behind the Toronto chapter of Box Wars, a combat activity that sees competitors craft armour and weapons from cardboard before engaging in fierce battles to see who will be the last to have their boxes ripped from their bodies. Though he may be eccentric and some may find his efforts misguided, there/s something genuinely inspiring about his devotion to what he loves. Skull World (the documentary about Sommer and the world of Box Wars) could have benefitted from a...Read More

The Good Lie - Directed by Shawn Linden

editorial@exclaim.ca (Serena Whitney) — Thu, 09 May 2013 17:04:30 -0400

Typically, when one thinks of the term "Canadian indie," it induces excessive groaning. Although some are executed flawlessly, the majority of them feature prominent Canadian actors starring in either a melodramatic thriller or a quirky comedy that uses a "unique" framing device that merely just amplifies the awkward juxtapositions throughout the entire film. Sadly, The Good Lie falls into this latter category. Writer/director Shawn Linden's Montreal-shot drama follows a young, privileged University student named Cullen (Thomas Dekker). Six months after the tragic death of his...Read More

Blackbird - Directed by Jason Buxton

editorial@exclaim.ca (Robert Bell) — Thu, 09 May 2013 17:03:09 -0400

Relying mostly on his performers and the story, Blackbird (Jason Buxton's surprisingly adept feature film debut) tackles the hot button issue of crime prevention versus overreacting, blending the topic with the inherent human dread of difference. It's something that could easily become pedagogical or sanctimonious in the wrong hands, but Buxton handles his story with restraint, letting it unfold with even plausibility. Exacerbated by its small-town setting, this social horror details the experiences of the intelligent, but alienated Sean Randall (Connor Jessup) in a high...Read More

I Declare War - Directed by Jason Lapeyre & Robert Wilson

editorial@exclaim.ca (Robert Bell) — Thu, 09 May 2013 17:00:52 -0400

The rules in war are simple: two teams set up camp with a respective flag that the opposing team needs to capture to win. If anyone is shot, that person has to count to ten before they can play again. If they're hit with a grenade (a balloon filled with red liquid), they have to go home. Each side has an established leader familiar with the strategies of the opposing side. There's PK (Gage Monroe), the confident perpetual winner and ersatz social nucleus of the schoolyard, and Quinn (Aiden Gouveia), his scrappy competition, hopeful to win this outing with the unlikely addition of Jess...Read More

Graceland - Directed by Ron Morales

editorial@exclaim.ca (Scott A. Gray) — Thu, 09 May 2013 16:58:26 -0400

The opening scene of Ron Morales' bleak, discomfiting kidnapping thriller lays its intentions bare. A little girl begs a man sleeping in a car for food money; he ignores her and answers the urgently bleating cellphone on the dash. Marlon Villar (Arnold Reyes) has a job to do and it's definitely not aiding children in need. As chauffer to congressman Chango (Menggie Cobarrubias), Marlon has the unsavory task of escorting home the under-aged girls his boss violates. The devout family man's sin of omission comes home to haunt him when a kidnapping targeting Chango's child results in the...Read More

At Any Price - Directed by Ramin Bahrani

editorial@exclaim.ca (Kevin Scott) — Thu, 09 May 2013 16:56:07 -0400

Using the world of farming and agriculture in Iowa as his backdrop, co-writer and director Ramin Bahrani (Chop Shop, Goodbye Solo) paints an observant picture of an America obsessed with the cutthroat business of competition, one where success is not only rewarded, but an absolute necessity for survival. Henry Whipple (Dennis Quaid) is one of the top seed salesmen at a reputable company where he is constantly vying to claim dominance over more counties than his fellow farmers. He has a wife (Kim Dickens), a mistress (Heather Graham) and a couple of kids – one of whom...Read More

Room 237 - Directed by Rodney Ascher

editorial@exclaim.ca (James Keast) — Thu, 09 May 2013 16:53:08 -0400

Film criticism and interpretation, like beauty, are in the eye of the beholder, and Room 237 looks at five different people who've gazed (way, way too many times) at Stanley Kubrick's 1980 film, The Shining, and found in it depths previously unseen, unheard of and potentially entirely untrue. But in the act of looking deeply — and finding, amongst other things, an allegory for the Holocaust (for the decimation of the American First Nations), an interpretation of Greek myth and a confession to one of the greatest cover-ups in American history — one discovers...Read More

The Last Will and Testament of Rosalind Leigh - Directed by Rodrigo Gudino

editorial@exclaim.ca (Scott A. Gray) — Wed, 08 May 2013 10:05:13 -0400

What this horror thriller lacks in tension, it also lacks in scares; however, writer/director Rodrigo Gudino confidently manages to infuse his film with an oppressive atmosphere of Catholic guilt. It's kind of refreshing to see imagery from that morbid faith used in the service of fear, even if that fear is rather toothless. Aaron Poole (Killing Zelda Sparks) largely has the screen to himself as Leon, the son of Rosalind Leigh (Vanessa Redgrave), a severe woman who lived as a devout member of a strict angel cult. We learn about Mrs. Leigh through the narration of what is...Read More

Iron Man 3 - Directed by Shane Black

editorial@exclaim.ca (Scott A. Gray) — Thu, 02 May 2013 14:39:01 -0400

Where every superhero franchise has failed before, Iron Man succeeds: no sharks were jumped in the making of Tony Stark's third solo adventure. Bringing in Shane Black (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and the writer of Lethal Weapon), a veteran of sarcastic action humour, was a shrewd move that has paid off handsomely. In the tradition of many comics, hiring a higher calibre of writer than absolutely necessary to sell adolescent power fantasies has paid large dividends, in the form of violent fun for the whole family, with enough snark and subtext to give the inevitable genre clichés...Read More

Kon-Tiki - Directed by Joachim Rønning & Epsen Sandberg

editorial@exclaim.ca (Robert Bell) — Thu, 02 May 2013 14:37:23 -0400

In the grand Western tradition of positing egocentric opportunists as heroes, Joachim Rønning and Epsen Sandberg's Kon-Tiki (the Norwegian biopic nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2012 Oscars) simplifies and adulates a reckless narcissist for having balls. Here, the subject of twee determination as metaphor is Thor Heyerdahl (Pål Sverre Hagen), the writer, explorer, documentarian and self-proclaimed scientist, who embarked upon an ethnographic study, trying to prove that Peruvians could have inhabited French Polynesia in pre-Colombian times. Throwing together a...Read More

Still Mine - Directed by Michael McGowan

editorial@exclaim.ca (Robert Bell) — Thu, 02 May 2013 14:37:04 -0400

Though his auteur trajectory treads dangerously close to twee Canadian Heritage propaganda, having a provincial vibe in its humble quest to tell (often true) stories of unlikely minor local heroes, director Michael McGowan isn't entirely removed from a practical presentation of national identity. Ignoring the clumsy assemblage of garish nationalistic clichés in Score: A Hockey Musical, his works have attempted to make accessible and clear the melancholic, oddly passive Canadian disposition in featuring characters that fight back when necessary, trying to establish control over...Read More

ChristCORE - Directed by Justin Ludwig

editorial@exclaim.ca (Bradley Zorgdrager ) — Thu, 02 May 2013 14:36:04 -0400

ChristCORE is a simple, yet effective title for a modest but somewhat successful documentary. As suggested by said title, the film focuses on the growing phenomenon of Christian hardcore and metalcore bands in aggressive music, which has traditionally been the domain of Satan and the God-less. Director Justin Ludwig comes at this subject from a unique perspective; he's an atheist punk who sees no place for religion in his favourite music. This is particularly important, as it establishes the film as a documentary, not a propaganda-esque piece. Well, sort of. At times,...Read More

Pain & Gain - Directed by Michael Bay

editorial@exclaim.ca (James Keast) — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 10:07:48 -0400

Pumped full of steroids, self-help mantras and a misguided sense of American dream entitlement, Pain & Gain is the true story of three meathead Floridian body-builders who jump into a ridiculous and poorly conceived kidnapping and extortion scheme because they're "do-ers" not "don't-ers." The all-too-true misadventures of fitness enthusiast Daniel Lugo (Mark Wahlberg), steroid abuser Adrian Doorbal (Anthony Mackie) and sober Christ fan and ex-con Paul Doyle (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson) are classic archetypes for one of America's most talented filmmaker teams, ones who truly...Read More

The Big Wedding - Directed by Justin Zackham

editorial@exclaim.ca (Kevin Scott) — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 00:02:00 -0400

Anyone who's been subjected to one of Garry Marshall's debacles, set against the backdrop of an inconsequential holiday, would be able to provide fair warning when it comes to Hollywood comedies rife with talented actors. That's why it's no surprise to find that The Big Wedding is a sub-standard sitcom masquerading as a feature film, a glorified excuse to have legends of the screen rub elbows with each other while yukking it up with some of the younger generation. Because a wedding is as good an excuse as Flag Day to bring together a group of broad, one-note characters, we meet...Read More

The Company You Keep - Directed by Robert Redford

editorial@exclaim.ca (Scott A. Gray) — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 00:01:00 -0400

Call it The Expendables of the self-righteous, forgettable drama set. Call it the dour, humourless, didactic cousin of RED. Outside of glib cinematic references, call it, "boring, hackneyed grandstanding" and you'll be right on the mark. Robert Redford directs, stars and assembles a cast that mixes creaky Hollywood royalty — Nick Nolte (who sounds like he's gargling a toad every time he speaks), Julie Christie (resembling Leatherface's aunt these days) and the director (looking unintentionally comical in jogging apparel) with aging character actors such as Sam Elliot,...Read More

Upside Down - Directed by Juan Solanas

editorial@exclaim.ca (Robert Bell) — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 12:43:27 -0400

Much like his little-seen directorial debut, Northeast, Juan Solanas's Upside Down is a scathing critique of capitalism and dictatorships, telling the story of two people from very different worlds coming together against all odds. It's a marked attempt to broaden and make accessible his ostensibly communist auteur assertion, using the universality of a love story set in a high concept sci-fi environment to substitute for the more literal machinations of Argentinean — Solanas' native country — polemics. The world of Upside Down is divided into equally...Read More

The Colony - Directed by Jeff Renfroe

editorial@exclaim.ca (Scott A. Gray) — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 12:40:10 -0400

2012 has come and gone with nary a whisper nor a bang, but our pessimistic preoccupation with doomsday scenarios born of annihilation anxiety is as strong as ever. It's doubtful that the flow of entertainment reflecting that mindset will ebb even after the glut of projects green-lit pre-commercialized destruction date have found their way out of the starting gates. The Colony, directed and co-written by Jeff Renfroe (best known for preachy, TV-movie quality racial paranoia flick Civic Duty) represents the most desultory, bottom-feeding example of films of this ilk. Devoid...Read More

Tai Chi Hero - Directed by Stephen Fung

editorial@exclaim.ca (Scott A. Gray) — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 12:39:00 -0400

After the zany videogame- and cartoon-influenced steampunk martial arts mania of Tai Chi Zero, Tai Chi Hero has certain expectations to surpass, or at least live up to. Basically: flinging-shit-at-the-walls insanity. But exuberant director Stephen Fung has gone in the opposite direction for this sequel to his consistently entertaining genre bender. Hero is the calmer, more composed older brother of Zero. Picking up right where the previous chapter left off (well, after a brief meta aside that doesn't pay off until the end of the film and a recap of the first...Read More

Becoming Redwood - Directed by Jesse James Miller

editorial@exclaim.ca (Robert Bell) — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 12:32:25 -0400

In trying to emulate the genre characteristics and stylistic whimsies of the idiosyncratic coming-of-age comedy, there's an inherent disconnect or affectation present that is nearly impossible to overcome. Implicitly having a divergent or unique voice or vision, like a Jared Hess or a Wes Anderson, for example, is a genre or style unto itself, working within the lexicon of personal priorities and capabilities, whether it's in the sense of humour (Hess) or visual composition (Anderson). Attempting to mirror, or liberally borrow from, an established voice adds a layer of contrivance or...Read More

The Disappeared - Directed by Shandi Mitchell

editorial@exclaim.ca (Scott A. Gray) — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 15:54:42 -0400

Not every lost at sea story needs a gimmick on the scale of Life of Pix, but even a smaller film like Open Water had a distinct tone and an adversary more specific than the indifference of Mother Nature. In a good drama, the chest-puffing bravado of men degenerating to a state of feral desperation as they struggle to hold onto a sliver of hope could easily be enough to keep a survival story compelling. However, The Disappeared lacks that strength of storytelling. Confined to two lifeboats, six men from Newfoundland are adrift in the North Atlantic. Their...Read More

Oblivion - Directed by Joseph Kosinski

editorial@exclaim.ca (Scott A. Gray) — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 18:34:01 -0400

Tron: Legacy director Joseph Kosinski's pet project is an intimate science fiction story told on a grand scale. It's an admirable use of clout, disguising a quiet, introspective drama as a flashy spectacle piece. Aesthetically, Oblivion's show-stopping visuals echo the one thing Frances Lawrence got right in I Am Legend: the breath-taking emptiness of an abandoned planet. There's a sense of foreboding grandeur to the way Kosinski composes extremely wide shots of Tom Cruise's WALL-E-like repairman as he traverses the barren landscape of a post-war Earth,...Read More

It's a Disaster - Directed by Todd Berger

editorial@exclaim.ca (Robert Bell) — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 18:24:45 -0400

As suggested by the simple yet evocative title, It's a Disaster, the central, guiding gag of Todd Berger's apocalyptic comedy of manners links the absurdity of hyperbolized social silliness with the most dire of mortal anxieties: annihilation. Like a higher concept, less metaphorically rich variation on Carnage, with a healthy dose of Exterminating Angel satire, the set-up is that of a brunch — a ridiculously conceived and entirely unnecessary portmanteau in itself — where four couples confine themselves to a suburban home after learning of dirty bombs...Read More

Molly Maxwell - Directed by Sarah St. Onge

editorial@exclaim.ca (Robert Bell) — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 18:15:41 -0400

The titular Molly Maxwell (Lola Tash), the daughter of an affluent record company executive (Rob Stewart) and a culturally conscious artiste mother (Krista Bridges), is a standard artist creation and well-adjusted urban archetype. She has a genius I.Q. (yet, as written, does little to personify this), is overly precocious and really understands the arbitrary nature of it all, cracking jokes about each classmate being a snowflake. And, being a child of the artistically-inclined and worldly, the expectation is that she too find her niche and create works of art and express herself, even if...Read More

My Awkward Sexual Adventure - Directed by Sean Garrity

editorial@exclaim.ca (Robert Bell) — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 18:05:24 -0400

Something consistent throughout the lexicon of singular, exceedingly broad and banal male comedies is the bizarre dismissal and vilification of women. Men are often portrayed as well-intentioned victims of irrational female behaviour, controlled by shrill, one-note ciphers whose murky motivations are never acknowledged or even considered. This is likely why these solipsistic boy comedies are so dreadfully redundant and repetitive, being created by the sort of unknowingly megalomaniacal and emotionally simple men that perceive any difference in behaviour or worldview as "crazy." Such...Read More

To the Wonder - Directed by Terrence Malick

editorial@exclaim.ca (Robert Bell) — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 10:00:00 -0400

Life, like love and passion, is brief, frustrating, beautiful and filled with an abundance of lessons, contradictions and inner-ambivalence. What does it mean to take risks and fail or open up emotionally only to be hurt? Does it really teach us a valuable lesson that aids in personal complexity and understanding or does it just build up our defences while killing our ire? Terrence Malick's latest visually poetic take on the fleeting moments of life posits questions about the nature of love and connection, relating our quest for companionship to the concept of universal love and...Read More

Wrong - Directed by Quentin Dupieux

editorial@exclaim.ca (Robert Bell) — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 09:58:00 -0400

Having already established a propensity for the oblique and disarmingly literal with his killer tire allegory, Rubber, Quentin Dupieux' distain for normalcy and convention demonstrated in his follow-up, Wrong, is almost expected. It's as though a mid-movie comment about a second edition book working as a mature clarifier for the original implies intent in itself, suggesting that this tale of a man looking for his lost dog is, in its own way, a remake or qualifying indicator of a mass misinterpretation of Rubber. A strong sense of tone and structure is defined from...Read More

Upstream Color - Directed by Shane Carruth

editorial@exclaim.ca (Robert Bell) — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 19:47:25 -0400

Nine years ago, Shane Carruth's ambitious, wilfully oblique Primer (an oblique, tersely constructed assertion of mathematics and time travel as a projection of individual identity) puzzled and intrigued audiences, opening itself to intense scrutiny and analytical interpretation. Various metaphorical and scientific assertions were projected onto the speculative text — something exacerbated by the ascetic, emotionally detached formalism of Carruth's direction — making it an abstract work of cult status, a film used by convergent thinkers to encapsulate their sense of self. ...Read More