Showing posts with label canada. Show all posts
Showing posts with label canada. Show all posts
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15 January 2014
Watch The Hypnotic First Trailer For Jeff Barnaby's Rhymes For Young Ghouls
Rhymes For Young Ghouls is dark vexing film that tackles Canada's stance residential schools and the 'civilization' of Aboriginal children to be 'educated' in the white man's way of life. These kids where forcibly removed from their families subjecting them years of abuse and enforced to loose their own cultural identities. This issue may sound very familiar to some as it's the same plight that the Australian Aboriginals where subjected too and it now seems legally as well as morally many cases can be found in court.
Here's the film's synopsis from The Toronto Film Festival
Set against the backdrop of the residential schools tragedy -- when thousands of Aboriginal children were separated from their families, culture, and language -- his much-anticipated debut feature Rhymes for Young Ghouls resembles an S.E. Hinton novel re-imagined as a surreal, righteously furious thriller. At the tender age of 15, Aila (Kawennahere Devery Jacobs) has taken over the drug business of her father Joseph (Glen Gould) while he serves a stint in prison. Joseph's return signals an abrupt end to Aila's reign as the reservation's drug queen; it also piques the interest of Popper (Mark Antony Krupa), the reserve's corrupt and sadistic Indian agent. The bloody tragedy that unfolds becomes an angry and poetic howl for lost lives, lost opportunities and lost loved ones -- a fever dream whose terrifying fictions are grounded in even more terrible fact.
Rhymes For Young Ghouls has been named by Toronto Film Festival as on of Canada's top 10 films of 2013 which deliver's in a dark, gritty but humorous manner. It delivers a story that must be told but never forgotten, check out the trailer below and if your Canadian you can catch the film on it's limited cinema release from 31st January.
source:Twitch
17 August 2013
All-In Short goes 'All In' For action packed short
What happens when your true love needs rescued and she's been held by a ruthless crime boss, so what do you do? Fight your way in, kick every one's ass! In Tyler Williams All-In short film that's what happens but we didn't mention to you he's MMA fighter!
A struggling fighter faces long odds as he takes on a gambling den of criminals in an attempt to rescue his true love from the clutches of a ruthless crime boss.
After a fairly successful run on the festival circuit Williams 10 minute short film All-In is now available online to watch plenty of action, nice few camera shots to make it worthwile a look.
source:Twitch
18 April 2013
Teen In Trouble For Tiff Winning Blackbird Trailer
Alot of films win awards at film festivals but when its one of the big Festivals such as Toronto you have to take notice. Jason Buxton's Blackbird was that film winning Best Canadian film at last year's festival a joint win with Brandon Cronenberg's Antiviral and tonight before the film starts its tour of the American/Canadian cinemas a brand new trailer has been released.
Blackbird tells the story of an alienated teenager's online threat ignites fear in a small community, in this disturbing and perceptive look at how our media-fuelled, post-Columbine culture can transform typical teen angst into intimations of murder.
How ironic most of all relevant Blackbird plot line to whats happening with Social media right now and the dangers that occur using it. Let's be honest we've all experienced teen angst in our lives some of us suppressed others let it out but no technology has evolved and so are the way frustrated souls let out their anger too.
No word on a UK release but Blackbird will be released in Canada 10th May 2013. The film also stars Connor Jessup, Alexia Fast, Michael Buie, and Alex Ozerov.
source:Thefilmstage
6 December 2012
Not All Fairytale Ending In Short The Little Mermaid
When you mention The Little Mermaid you automatically think of The Disney animated film but like many literature classics they get adapted over and over again. In Nicholas Humpries short film he takes the classic Hans Christian Anderson fairytale twisted the imagery into something captivating,unsettling as the mermaid struggles for freedom.
The Little Mermaid is part Vancouver Film School’s “Compendium” series, enjoy the full short visually brilliant.
Deep in a barren, fantastical wasteland lays a dilapidated circus tent. Inside, an ominous ringmaster forces his prized act, a real live mermaid to perform for a group of grimy, working class spectators. The mermaid, though frightening, is but a lovesick, caged animal praying for release from her endless torture. Unwilling to surrender his meal ticket, the ringmaster rejects her pleas for compassion and continues to confine the mermaid to her stagnant holding tank. With nowhere to escape to, the mermaid must make the choice between holding on to the hope of freedom and putting an end to her abuse.source:Quietearth
Produced by Samantha Jewell, Lindsey Mann, Justin Simon and Aliya Tarmo through the VFS Compendium series and Directed by Nicholas Humphries (Riese: Kingdom Falling), The Little Mermaid is a twisted reimagining of the classic Hans Christian Anderson tale.
8 October 2012
Raindance 2012: Mon Ami Review
Smudged with the finger prints of the Coen brothers comes Canadian slacker-kidnapping caper Mon Ami, a darkly comic feature from writer/director Rob Grant. His first film Yesterday garnered widely favourable reviews, something he can expect to continue with this follow-up. Cal and Teddy are best friends unenthusiastically working at a Hardware superstore, undermined by customers and going nowhere fast. When these two long serving employees are overlooked for a promotion they concoct a plan and, like all good plans it involves kidnapping their boss’ daughter.
Apparently unaware that ‘the best laid plans of mice and men oft do go astray’ this soon becomes plainly evident for our protagonists as, despite a meticulously prepared set-up theirs becomes a lesson in how not to conduct a kidnapping. From the offset the path is far from smooth as the practicalities of capturing the bait prove trickier than expected, quickly establishing our leads as truly inept hostage-takers. That (unlucky in more ways than one) hostage; Crystal, soon proves to be equally less reliable in her role as obliging victim than they had envisaged and when an attempted breakout goes unnoticed the stakes are invariably raised. Out of their depth and forced to alter their plan the two aren’t aided by the constant interruptions of Teddy’s wife Liz whose interspersed phone calls serve as effective tension breakers as well as to annoy the increasingly irritated Cal. The tension within the three is a running theme of the film and asks questions about male friendship and where they go if one’s life-plan differs to the other. Here, the perception is that they turn to crime to re-connect their bromance and there’s a felling that Cal is largely doing this simply to spend some time with his best friend away from his ‘nagging wife’ – that is very much the image of Liz in a role that won’t endear itself to many a female.
The graphically bloodstained moments of the film are reminiscent of Tarintino or American Psycho and well balanced with the comic elements of the film with the overall effect coming across as something far more akin to Fargo. It’s to Grant’s credit that the comparisons don’t feel far overstretched, taking care to establish these believable characters in unbelievable situations as well as crafting neat stylistic touches.
Yesterday was unfairly but inevitably compared to Shaun of the Dead but alongside his sophomore effort he can rightly claim to be carving out a niche very much of his own. By establishing his own set of rules, language and narrative his is a tone destined for cult following.
Matthew Walsh
Rating:18
UK Release Date: 2nd October 2012 (Raindance Film Festival)
Directed By: Rob Grant
Cast: Mike Kovac, Scott Wallis, Bradley Duffy,
29 September 2012
Raindance 2012 : Familiar Ground Review
Stephane Lafleur’s meandering, minimalist slice of Canadian life, Familiar Grounds, revels in the mundane, while simultaneously peppering its story with splashes of the remarkable.
Brother and Sister, Benoit and Maryse are living lives of utter monotony (and I do mean monotony) through a bleak Quebec winter. Living with his elderly father, Benoit despairs that everything he touches “turns to shit”. His budding romance with a single mother is scuppered by her son, his relationship with his father fractured, his inability to competently work the family Skid-doo a constant bone of contention. Following an accident at her work, Maryse begins to evaluate her life of domesticity, married to a tedious cycling enthusiast. The snow-blown boredom for these two is broken by the arrival of a used-car dealer claiming to be from the future. His words of warning to Benoit point to an impending disaster for his sister, should she go ahead with a planned roadtrip.
Lafleur’s story of disaffected siblings moves at an absolute snail’s pace, allowing the director to revel in the crushing bleakness of the unforgiving Canadian winter. The daily routine is broken only by the odd moment of sudden randomness, categorised as a serious of “accidents”. The rare moments of drama, as and when they do appear, throw into stark contrast the dullness of the daily grind. Family dinners become ruined monuments to the dead, trips to the garage grim portents of looming tragedy.
The end result is a movie which, with its excruciating study of the unremarkable, has a sort of dead-eyed charm. Glimpses of affection can be gleaned through the cold exteriors of the characters, the positively ice-age backdrop may seem half a world away, but the people are recognisably human.
The only trouble with all this is, a film which takes so much effort to revel in so much overwhelming tedium, can get a little, well tedious.
Chris Banks (@Chris_in_2D)
Rating: NA
Directed By: Stéphane Lafleur
Cast: Francis La Haye, Fanny Mallette, Michel Daigle, Sylvain Marcel
21 August 2012
Watch The Children's Dark Fantasy Short Lost For Words
The world can be a magical place to a child but it's also be a dangerous one which was a theme that kids fantasy films used to play however things ave changed. Every seems to be a little dull too squeeky clean, over stylised predictable however Canadian filmmaker Sean Wainsteim remembers when we embraced the dark elements in his superb 10 minute short Lost For Words, a short film love-letter to the libraries I grew up in and the stories and illustrations that found me there. An unusual girl leads a naive lost little boy through an eerie fairy-tale land filled with fantastic creatures and powerful words.
enjoy....
Lost For Words from Sean Wainsteim on Vimeo.
source: Twitch6 July 2012
UK trailer For TAKE THIS WALTZ
Recently just opened to a limited release (today more general release) in USA is Sarah Polley's TAKE THIS WALTZ starring Michelle Williams,Seth Rogen. Thanks to Studio Canal the film will get a cinema run in UK&Ireland and this afternoon we received the film's UK trailer and official poster.
Take This Waltz tells the story of a young couple (Williams & Rogen) Margot & Lou who struggle with monogamy and fidelity with Margot torn apart as he has to choose from a new mystery man. Luke Kirby plays that mystery man with Sarah Silverman (showing off her acting chops for a change) and Aaron Abrams making up the rest of the cast.
The film debuted at last years Toronto Film Festival drawing some excellent reviews and at times it was one of those films that I was curious about but couldn't why I was attracted to it. Possibly it's the indie Lost In Translation feel to it that did it for as that's one of my favourite films or it's not blockbuster comic book film so you do feel a little bit grounded giving the brain time to recoup.
Check out the UK trailer and poster (in the traditional UK quad style) for TAKE THIS WALTZ and give your brain some comicbook blockbuster rest with a charming little bittersweet summer tale on August 17th.
From Sarah Polley, the director of the Sundance award-winning AWAY FROM HER, comes this summer's must-see romantic drama TAKE THIS WALTZ (in cinemas August 17th) . A funny, powerful and beautifully bittersweet story that follows Margot (Michelle Williams BLUE VALENTINE, MY WEEK WITH MARILYN), as she struggles to choose between two different types of love. As her mind and heart battle against each other, and caught in the swealtering heat of a hot Toronto summer, Margot uncovers and ignites a side to herself that she never knew existed. TAKE THIS WALTZ also features standout performances from Seth Rogen (50/50, SUPERBAD), Sarah Silverman (SCHOOL OF ROCK) and Luke Kirby (SHATTERED GLASS).
28 December 2011
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