TIFF15 REVIEW: High-Rise [2016]

“I think he’s lost his focus” As soon as the voice of Tom Hiddleston‘s Dr. Robert Laing was heard speaking narration above his weathered and crazed visage manically moving from cluttered, dirty room to darkened feverish corner, my mind started racing. Terry Gilliam‘s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas popped into my consciousness and then his Brazil after a quick title card shoves us back in time to watch as Laing enters his new concrete behemoth of a housing structure oppressively standing above a vast and still parking lot. Add…

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REVIEW: Blindness [2008]

“Like someone turned on all the lights” I truthfully don’t know what to think about Fernando Meirelles’ new film Blindness. Based on a novel and adapted by Don McKellar, (the thief in the film if you’re interested, and also Brad in the fantastic Waydowntown), the story actually left me a little cold. This thing is tense, don’t get me wrong, and edge of your seat in multiple moments, but by the end I was a tad surprised at how innocuous it all was. Maybe I am demeaning the story too…

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REVIEW: Waydowntown [2000]

“Sadly I’m Bradley” Waydowntown is Calgary, Alberta’s Gary Burns’ satiric look on the office workplace. While a film like Mike Judge’s Office Space goes for the laughs and absurdity of the daily grind, Burns gives us something more palpable with his take. We are looking in on a group of corporate ants roaming through their cage, seemingly free in their small existences. This film is a sociology project showing relationships between people and how their environments affect not only themselves, but also those they interact with. However, it is a…

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Top 25 Films of 2000

(short and sweet and to the point; culled from watching 67 releases. constantly updated as i catch up to those i missed. click poster for review if applicable) #25: The Emperor’sNew Groove directed by Mark Dindal #24: Pay It Forward directed by Mimi Leder. #23: Tully directed byHilary Birmingham #22: X-Men directed by Bryan Singer #21: Quills directed by Philip Kaufman #20: State and Main directed by David Mamet #19: Best in Show directed byChristopher Guest #18: Tigerland directed by Joel Schumacher. #17: Almost Famous directed by Cameron Crowe. #16:…

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