TIFF13 REVIEW: The F Word [2014]

“Love is stupid monkeys dancing in a slapstick hurricane” I’m officially a sucker for romantic comedies where guy meets girl by engaging in sarcastically cynical conversation consisting more of glib quips than substantive information. It’s more than likely because that’s exactly what my girlfriend and I do even to this day and most definitely because I’m a hopeless romantic just like the male leads generally are. There is something absolutely relatable to the awkwardly genuine smiles of two introverts connecting with an acquired humor made funnier by the fact everyone…

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TIFF13 REVIEW: Jimi: All Is by My Side [All Is by My Side] [2014]

“The rest is just painted with a little science fiction” On paper a biopic of Jimi Hendrix without the rights to his music seems like a complete waste of time. Even with John Ridley‘s All Is by My Side detailing the guitarist’s two years prior to the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967, the thought of not using an iconic track for the credits is a daunting one to overcome. Thankfully, with a bit of ingenious sound design and multiple sensory collages of images and music, we’re able to experience the…

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TIFF13 REVIEW: Bad Turn Worse [We Gotta Get Out of This Place] [2014]

“And that’s how you play What’s Your Price” Life for Sue (Mackenzie Davis) and Bobby (Jeremy Allen White) in their sleepy blue collar Texas town is at an end. They’ve been accepted to college and can’t wait for the transition in hopes it’s the first step towards never returning. But while neither is sad about leaving families behind, there is one person they can’t help feel conflicted about deserting. BJ (Logan Huffman) is her boyfriend, his best friend, and the kind of guy whose heart is always in the right…

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TIFF13 REVIEW: Gravity [2013]

“You should see the sun on the Ganges. It’s amazing.” Remember back in the 90s at the advent of IMAX technology how certain amusement parks would have a screen with some “experience” putting you “into the action”? Well Alfonso Cuarón has made one of those for the twenty-first century in Gravity. While I admit such a description may seem like I’m putting the film in a bad light—simplifying it to its basest aesthetic trait—I honestly mean it as a compliment. Space has always been one place to which only a…

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TIFF13 REVIEW: Dallas Buyers Club [2013]

“I prefer to die with my boots on” How do you stretch having thirty days left to live into seven years? You put in the work. Ron Woodroff (Matthew McConaughey) didn’t journey towards opening up the Dallas Buyers Club in order to stage a revolution against the FDA—he simply sought to prolong his own life. Director Jean-Marc Vallée’s film depicts this evolution as Woodruff’s homophobic cowboy becomes a champion of the LGBT community and a leader in the fight against government AIDS profiteering. It’s a story twenty years in the…

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TIFF13 REVIEW: Parkland [2013]

“It’s my story too” We all know the story of President John F Kennedy’s assassination. It’s an event that has been ingrained into our culture, spawned a myriad of conspiracy theories, and remains a hotly contested moment in time that changed the fabric of an entire nation. But what about the people this tragedy affected on a personal level beyond victim and perpetrator? What about the trauma surgeons and nurses who watched as the president’s heartbeat flat-lined? What about the giddy business owner excitedly filming the motorcade on his lunch…

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TIFF13 REVIEW: Abus de faiblesse [Abuse of Weakness] [2014]

“Nothing will ever be the same” The draw of Catherine Breillat‘s autobiographical film Abus de faiblesse [Abuse of Weakness] is ultimately to watch how someone so desperately in need can be preyed upon no matter intelligence, wealth, or stature. When tragedy strikes unannounced by means of a debilitating stroke, the fear of death and paralysis eventually makes its way to newfound tenacity and strength. But what no one who isn’t absolutely indebted to the help of others for even menial tasks like opening a door can know is that the…

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TIFF13 REVIEW: All Cheerleaders Die [2014]

“It’s supposed to be cold, right?” Oh those silly amateur Wiccans trying to play God. Haven’t they learned it never ends well? You bring one cat back to life and you think you can change the course of nature all because you’re in love. It’s a sweet thought sure, but as anyone who has ever seen a horror film knows, there are always consequences. That whole “one life for another” stuff does its best to balance out the universe without fail. Thankfully Lucky McKee and Chris Sivertson know how to…

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TIFF13 REVIEW: The Art of the Steal [2013]

“Oh. So you’re a wizard now.” When you’re looking to create a successful heist flick it’s usually a good idea to keep things simple. Make everything as airtight as possible, don’t try for too many twists and turns, and maybe throw in a double cross to add a bit of intrigue. This is something that the underrated television show “Leverage” excelled at, allowing its stellar cast to shine above its crime of the week formula. When the theft itself is a foregone conclusion and you know it will all end…

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TIFF13 REVIEW: Qissa: The Ghost is a Lonely Traveller [2014]

“How many times must I live this tale again?” Whoa. I honestly have no words to help gain my footing because this film exists on a level beyond my comprehension. I don’t know if that is good or bad—probably alternatingly both—but the result is definitely something uniquely its own. A tale of rebirth, honor, fidelity to family, and the loss of identity, Anup Singh‘s Qissa tackles an insane subject matter so realistically tragic that its head-scratching shift to fantastical and spiritual allegory can’t help but take you aback. Right when…

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TIFF13 REVIEW: Oktober November [October November] [2014]

“Would you have believed it?” The image of a drowning fish—gasping and jumping atop a rock too far from salvation—is what has stuck with me most after watching writer/director Götz Spielmann’s new dramatic study of two sisters worlds apart in life and the dying father binding them together. Each character is like that fish, struggling to stay relevant within disparate identities none can truly admit are bringing happiness. They seek solace in that which they cannot have, going through the motions of existences teetering towards futility. The sisters’ transgressions begin…

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