In a radical departure (just kidding) from his usual subject matter, writer-director Philippe Garrel’s In the Shadow of Women tackles marital infidelity. Pierre (Stanislaus Merhar) and Manon (Clothilde, Princess of Venice and Piedmont) are a reasonably happy married couple who produce documentary films together when Pierre’s eye starts to wander to the young archivist Elizabeth […]
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TIFF15 Review: The Assassin is gorgeous but tiresome
Hou Hsiao-Hsien’s The Assassin (Best Director Winner, Cannes 2015) was certainly the most beautiful film to screen at Cannes this year, though that’s not the same as saying it was the best shot. The production design is impeccable, and the colours and compositions are gorgeous, but to what end? The film is about waiting for the […]
The Diary of a Teenage Girl is about more than sex
When you’re young, there’s a fine line between horseplay and sex. Horseplay is familiar and safe; sex is new and scary. And play fighting is the easiest way to get physically close enough to another person to even put sex on the table. It’s how Minnie’s (Bel Powley) sexual exploits begin in Marielle Heller’s wonderfully […]
A great conversation captivates in ‘The End of The Tour’
In the winter of 1996, Rolling Stone journalist and fledgling author David Lipsky spent four days with the renowned novelist David Foster Wallace on the last leg of his “Infinite Jest” book tour. Lipsky had just published a novel that didn’t get much attention, and he was both impressed with and intimidated by Wallace’s talent […]
Sundance Review: The Shaun the Sheep film is winning and witty
In the first film of Aardman Animation’s character Shaun the Sheep, Shaun the Sheep: The Movie, the wit is in the details as Shaun finds his way to London and shenanigans ensue.
Deafening silence: Phoenix and The Look of Silence
Christian Petzold’s film Phoenix and Joshua Oppenheimer’s The Look of Silence are both about the need to face and make peace with the painful past that would seemingly be easier to ignore. Earlier this year, the Art Gallery of Ontario held an exhibit of Henryk Ross’s photos from the Lodz Ghetto. It was hidden in […]