Category Archive: Festivals

PVT Chat [Fantasia Fest]

Modern day addictions are an interesting topic of a film. If someone had a gambling or sex addiction, that person would have to get dressed and go to a casino, or a back-room poker game. Or find other variations of it. And they’d have to find an escort. All these things where sometimes to make those decisions aren’t as easy as clicking a button. In PVT Chat, we’re reminded how far we’ve come. With online poker hands, and private sex chat rooms (and even OnlyFans), it’s easy for someone to input their credit card number and just click subscribe from the comfort of their own bedroom.

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Clapboard Jungle [Fantasia Fest]

If you missed it last fall, we covered the Toronto After Dark Film Festival. It’s a great, quick and short festival that unfortunately got postponed this year. One of the programmers for the festival is Justin McConnell. In 2018, he had a film that premiered at Toronto After Dark, as well as Fantasia called Lifechanger. He’s back again for the Fantasia, and this time with a really great documentary.

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What I’m Looking Forward To Seeing [Fantasia Fest]

In a few days, I’ll be covering Fantasia Festival. This year is a bit different as most festivals have either been cancelled, postponed or adapted to fully digital (or drive-in’s). Fantasia Festival is another that tackled changing their festival to entirely digital. Now that all three waves have announced, I’m excited to talk about some of the films I’m looking forward to seeing the most.

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Paradise Hills [TADFF Review]

Fantasy films are some of my favourites but too often they focus on characters that I can’t connect to or even identify with. Too often the characters feel the same and never feel like I could be one of them. It’s not to say that I can’t enjoy fantasy or film of that genre but it’s not the same. That is why Alice Waddington’s Paradise Hills is such a breath of fresh air, a film that creates such a universe that you can forgive the flaws and story problem. In her directorial debut, Waddington creates a universe that feels complete, bringing a breath of fresh air in this genre that is too often dominated by men and their stories.

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James Vs. His Future Self [TADFF Review]

Movies that deal with the notion of time travel are either a success or a complete miss. Too often the story gets lost in the explanation of how it is possible. Luckily, James vs His Future Self is able to avoid this by playing smart and actually taking the time of making the time travel a device that drives not only the story forward but also the characters that the world is filled with. By mixing different genres, the film becomes more than just a time-travel film, it is able to create a story that might not be new but it has so much heart that it brings something fresh to the table.

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Extra Ordinary [TADFF Review]

I should’ve known what we were going to watch after the great (and funny) short film that played before our screening of Extra Ordinary. But nothing could have prepared me for the non-stop jokes and the total bunker film that it was. Coming from Mike Ahern and Enda Loughman, in their directorial feature debut, Extra Ordinary benefits from an all-star cast that makes the film what it is.

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Marriage Story [TIFF19 Review]

Noah Baumbach has created some amazing films, films that have cemented him as one of the great directors of his generation. I remember watching Frances Ha and thinking that this was his best film and that it would take a while for him to do better. Well, Marriage Story did that for me. It’s Baumbach at his best, his strongest. His steady hand is felt throughout and he never falters, navigating the film expertly and creating a devastating look at divorce and how it breaks everyone, even those with the best intention. Baumbach’s craft has never been this tight and it showcases how much he has grown as a filmmaker since his debut. Marriage Story is, in my opinion, his best work to date.

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