If this year’s pair of doppelgänger films, Enemy and The Double, are any indication, there’s an inherent problem with the concept. Because it requires that a personality be split into two people — two extremes — neither character can be a full person, which means you’re ultimately watching a film about two one-note characters: two sides […]
Essays
SFIFF57 ends as it began with Alex of Venice, another mediocre film from a first-time director
Chris Messina’s mediocre directorial debut, Alex of Venice, boasts strong performances but is a low point in an otherwise excellent year at SFIFF. Well, SFIFF has come to a close after a great last couple of weeks full of some wonderful films from around the world. From the fantastic, biting satire, Dear White People, which […]
SFIFF Reviews: Bad Hair and Night Moves
Two of the highlights of this year’s SFIFF were the LGBTQ coming-of-ager Bad Hair and Kelly Reichardt’s environmental terrorism thriller, Night Moves.
SFIFF Film Review: Yossi Aviram’s La Dune is a story of two broken men
Yossi Aviram’s directorial debut, which he also penned, is a quiet story of two broken men — a father and his estranged son — who are always shot as lonely figures against a vast, beautiful landscape.
Review: Of Horses and Men and Club Sandwich
Two of my SFIFF favourites, Of Horses and Men and Club Sandwich, have not been picked up for US distribution, but will screen once more at the festival. Catch them on the big screen while you can.
Review: Locke takes the road less travelled
When Ivan Locke (Tom Hardy) gets into his BMW and drives away, at the beginning of Locke, he puts his personal and professional lives into crisis. His destination is a hospital in London, about ninety minutes from his construction site, for a personal errand. Going there means taking the road less travelled, a righteous path, […]