Ted Evans wrote and directed this engaging thriller that takes us inside the lives of Eva (Anne Zander) and Matt (James Joseph Boyle) when Eva joins Matt and a collection of deaf people living at a residence they know as Chilmark. Under the watchful eye, and guidance of Mia (Sophie Stone), the residents are establishing…
Tag: lies
TIFF25: Sentimental Value dir. Joachim Trier
Sentimental Value was recommended by my classmate Betsy, who got a look at it last week at the Telluride Film Festival. She told me to run, don’t walk to see this one. So I changed my viewing schedule for the first day of the festival to start with this. And wow. A beautiful and poignant…
TIFF24: The Seed of the Sacred Fig dir. Mohammad Rasoulof
Rasoulof examines the patriarchy and religious law in the microcosm of the family in The Seed of the Sacred Fig. For some it can be a tough watch, as it incorporates actual footage from the 2022 protests in Iran following the death Masha Amini who died while in police custody, charged with improperly wearing her…
TIFF ’23: Concrete Utopia
Concrete Utopia from South Korea has its North American premiere here at TIFF, and this one is definitely a must-see. While arguably a little heavy-handed in its messaging, the film is a captivating two-hour exploration of the human condition, our faults, and our hopes. An apocalyptic event has struck Seoul, and it seems the only…
The Equalizer (1988) – The Mystery of Manon: Part 2, and No Place Like Home
McCall (Edward Woodward) deals with the now-public reveal that Yvette (Melissa Sue Anderson) is his daughter and that whoever abducted and abused Manon (Anne Heywood) is going to use her to destroy McCall, his son Scott (William Zabka) and Control (Robert Lansing). The second part of The Mystery of Manon was written by Coleman Luck…
Tropic Thunder (2008) – Ben Stiller
Ben Stiller directed the ultimate Hollywood satire with Tropic Thunder. He developed the story with Justin Theroux, and the pair wrote a script with Ethan Cohen. It’s sharp, pointed, and under its endlessly quotable dialogue and performances is a skewering look at Tinsel Town. Everything seems to be a lie, from promotions to images to…
Lord Edgware Dies (1933) – Agatha Christie
Murder most foul! Three of them in point of fact, but don’t be fooled by the image on the cover of the book, none of them are committed with a pistol! It’s been awhile since I read an Agatha Christie mystery, other books came along, and I knew her library of work would wait patiently…
The Lone Gunmen (2001) – The Lying Game, and The ‘Cap’n Toby’ Show
Director Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) shows up in The Lying Game, written by Nandi Bowe. This episode first debuted on 4 May, 2001. Frohike (Tom Braidwood), Byers (Bruce Harwood), and Langly (Dean Haglund) get pulled into a murder case, immersed in secrets, a government investigation and lies. And at the heart of it, Walter Skinner…
The Witch (2015) – Richard Eggers
Eggers’ atmospheric The Witch, is always an enjoyable Halloween watch, it’s beautifully executed, wonderfully scripted, and has everything you would expect in a classical telling of an 17th century new world fairy tale. A devout family in New England, whose father, Will (Ralph Ineson) has been deemed by the local village to be too extreme…
TIFF 2021: Dear Evan Hansen dir. Stephen Chbosky
Mental health. Suicide. Depression. Loss. Grief. Loneliness. These issues are usually trapped in the individual, and though a number of us share in these things, it’s never a shared experience. We are held in the prison of our issues, in a society where social media presentation, the illusion of life being better than it is…
The Mind Reels 