REVIEW: Meru [2015]

“The best alpinists are the ones with the worst memory” You have to be a little bit crazy to mountain climb. If I didn’t know from experience, Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi‘s documentary Meru definitely explains why. I draw the line at hiking, so while I’ve summited Mt. Algonquin and Mt. Adams, I’ll never have the confidence or desire to go for Denali or Everest where hand-over-hand scaling, ice picks, or carabiners are involved. I leave that to my friends and enjoy their photos from afar. So to see…

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TIFF15 REVIEW: Peripheria [2015]

A post-apocalyptic wasteland born from an abandoned council estate of mammoth cement structures covered in graffiti and devoid of life—human life— David Coquard-Dassault‘s Peripheria showcases an aftermath of the unusable imprint we’ve made on Earth. Without our species to use these homes for dwelling or canvases, they merely stand reflecting the sun as large shadow makers for the creatures still roaming below. The dogs are what’s left, feral and awake. They rule the land with teeth bared, claiming property and possession as the owners cooped up in 10,000-plus habitats piled…

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TIFF15 REVIEW: The Sky Trembles and the Earth Is Afraid and the Two Eyes Are Not Brothers [2016]

“It made him think that Satan was nearby” Writer/director Ben Rivers‘ The Sky Trembles and the Earth Is Afraid and the Two Eyes Are Not Brothers is a lot more than merely a movie. It is quite literally a work of art—and to say that doesn’t presuppose other movies aren’t. This film is the culmination of multiple installations, adaptations, and meta-narratives: a document of the full project that places its theme inside one of the most recognizable short stories of the twentieth century to play on the illusion of cinema.…

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