Having its international premiere last night at the Lightbox, Irene Taylor Brodsky’s film is a slick looking, unnerving and surprisingly emotional look at the blurring of fiction and reality in the modern age, as two young girls, Anissa and Morgan succumb to the terrors and stories of the internet created character of the Slenderman,…
Tag: reality
Girls: Season 4
Releasing today from HBO on Blu-Ray and DVD is Lena Dunham’s captivating and entertaining series, that follows, Hannah (Dunham), Marnie (Allison Williams), Jessa (Jemima Kirke) and Shoshanna (Zosia Mamet) a group of twenty-somethings that are trying to get their lives not only sorted, but started. Thanks to HBO, I’ve been with the series since…
The Killing Circle (2008) – Andrew Pyper
I dove into another Andrew Pyper book, Lost Girls is still waiting for me, and I was a little unsure about this one to start. I mean, I like the idea, a widower, Patrick Rush, is raising his only son, Sam, his grief over his wife describing a personal pain, not unlike the protagonist in the…
Hot Docs 2015: The Nightmare – Rodney Ascher
Eschewing objectivity, or any real investigation into the phenomena and instead focussing on sharing the experience, The Nightmare is quite possibly the first true horror documentary. Director Rodney Ascher sits down and chats with 8 people, Jeff, Ana, Kate, Korinne, Stephen, Chris, Connie and Forrest, people who suffer from the terrifying phenomena of sleep paralysis. I’ve been…
Canadian Screen Awards 2015: Gala 1
Last night’s event, hosted by the very funny Darrin Rose, who was quite happy to take hilarious shots at any and everyone, and made sure things moved along smoothly as awards were delivered for News, Sports, Documentary, Lifestyle, Reality and Digital Media. Put another way, it was an evening of pretty damned good voices,…
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925) – Fred Niblo
The next film up on the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film list of recommendations following my screening of Intolerance is this tale of Ben Hur (Ramon Navarro), a young Jewish prince intent on vengeance for the ruin of his family at the hands of the Romans, interwoven around the tale of Christ…
Night Film (2013) – Marisha Pessl
This week’s book shelf brought me a book that was dark, troubling, steeped in film, murder, the occult, interactive elements, and evil. I loved it! It came to me via my sister at Christmas, and reading the inside of the jacket, I was duly interested. Who doesn’t like a good mystery, especially when it’s…
La Dolce Vita (1960) – Federico Fellini
The strong recommendations from my viewing of Rules of the Game for the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book continue with this beautifully made film. Marcello (Marcello Mastroianni) is a journalist who runs all over Rome from evening to dawn collecting tabloid stories alongside his sometimes photographer Paparazzo (Walter Santesso). He’s a…
Mr. Jones (2013) – Karl Mueller
Anchor Bay releases the latest effort from Karl Mueller, the writer of The Divide. Getting behind the camera this time, he provides a unique kind of found footage film that will leave some scratching their head once the second half of this short-running film hits. Penny (Sarah Jones from the sadly short-lived Alcatraz) and Scott…
Hot Docs 2014: Kung Fu Elliot (Matthew Bauckman & Jaret Belliveau)
Screening for the final time toady at the Scotiabank Theatre at 9:30 is this highly entertaining, often funny, film about no-budget movies, bad acting, ‘good’ kung fu, and lies. In Moncton, New Brunswick, we are introduced to Elliot Scott and his girlfriend Linda. Elliot’s only desire is to be Canada’s kung fu star, like his heroes…
The Mind Reels 