Magnetosphere (2024) – Nicola Rose

Magnetosphere is a delightfully charming family-friendly feature that celebrates the pangs of first loves, the acceptance of one’s self, and living with a beautiful, but sometimes troubling condition, synesthesia, which causes her to see sounds, hear colours, and more. Maggie (Shayelin Martin) is thirteen, and she and her family are settling into Sault Ste. Marie….

The Hobby: Tales from the Tabletop (2024) – Simon Ennis

The Hobby rolls a D20 for charm! Filmmaker Simon Ennis shows us the connections, the obsessions, and the passions that have sprung up around modern board games, and the people who play them. Traveling across Canada and the United States The Hobby introduces a cross-section of society and the way they can be their best…

Disquiet (2023) – Michael Winnick

There are some fun and familiar ideas at work in Michael Winnick’s Disquiet which is getting a limited theatrical run, and VOD release tomorrow, but it just isn’t as strong as it could be. At just under an hour and a half I still felt the editing could have been tighter, and the characters could…

TAD 2018: The Dark (2018) – Justin P. Lange

Having had its Toronto premiere last week at Toronto After Dark, writer/director Justin P. Lange’s film, an Austrian-Canadian co-production hits VOD today. Despite its bloody and horrific trappings, The Dark is a gentle tale that sees a young girl, Mina (Nadia Alexander, best known for her work in The Sinner) become a monster because of…

Queen of Spades: The Dark Rite (2015) -Svyatoslav Podgayevskly

  It’s always interesting to see what genre films look like from other countries, and this Friday at select cities across the country, and on VOD on the 19th, we can have a look at Russia’s Queen of Spades. A riff on the Bloody Mary urban legend that is seemingly as old as mankind, the…

JeruZalem (2015) – Doron and Yoav Paz

  Opening today in Toronto at the Carlton Cinema, and also being released on VOD, is this could-have-been-great found footage (don’t we have enough of these yet?) from the Paz brothers. This time, the film’s camera is supposedly in the form of a pair of Smart Glasses. This ends up being a nice touch, because…

East Side Sushi (2014) – Anthony Lucero

  Starting a theatrical run in select cities State-side, is this perfect little concoction that delighted, entertained, and fired my appetite. Director Anthony Lucreo has whipped up a splendid little offering that is wonderfully cast, doesn’t cheat or talk down to its audience, and makes us feel for all of the characters involved. At the film’s…

Niagara Filmalicious – Little Big Master (2015) – Adrian Kwan

  My Filmalicious screening at the Niagara Integrated Film Festival, which took place at the gorgeous Peller Estates Winery (and allowed me to sample their smooth and delicious 2013 Baco Noir (which may in fact be my new favorite red)), was this entertaining film from Hong Kong. Based on a true story, the movie follows…

What We Do in the Shadows (2014) – Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi

  Debuting today on VOD and iTunes with a blu-ray and DVD release next week on the 26, is this laugh-filled fang-fest from New Zealand. Shot as a documentary, the film follows a group of vampires around modern-day Wellington as they struggle with divvying up chores, keeping blood off the couch, sweeping up spinal cords, finding the…