From the category archives:

SCREEN

FILM

Dystopia

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Detropia, dir Rachel Gray and Heidi Ewing

by Adam Bemma
09.05.2012

Detroit, Michigan, lends a dystopian rather than a utopian view of America. The American dream envisioned by the U.S. ‘Big Three’ automotive companies (GM, Ford, and Chrysler) back in the 1940-50s gave birth to the middle class, but has since done everything in their power to erode it.

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FILM

Just Breathe

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Rover interview: Oksana Cueva speaks with Guy Nattiv, director of The Flood, AMC Forum beginning May 4th

by Oksana Cueva
04.05.2012

Nearly four hundred eager spectators gathered on April 30th for the second screening of The Flood (Mabul), acclaimed picture by celebrated director Guy Nattiv, as part of Israel Film Festival’s 8th consecutive year. The film—a story about a family leading parallel lives where the main character Yoni struggles with lack of growth, his autistic brother’s presence, and being bullied at school—was emotional for many.

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FILM

Strength of Spirit

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Three films delve into the human psyche at the Montreal Israel Film Festival

by Shawn Stenhouse
29.04.2012

The Montreal Israel Film Festival is back for its 8th installment and boasts yet another impressive collection of films.  This year’s edition, which runs from April 29th to May 7th, covers a diverse array of genres and styles.  According to festival organizer Eran Bester, “There is no better place to see these cinematic offerings than [...]

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FILM

Too Good To Be True

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Guy Sprung hits the big screen

by Patrick Charron
28.04.2012

Voyeurism is a big part of film’s allure. Sitting in the dark watching others experience drama, adventure and revelation from the anonymity of a comfortable seat offers rare moments of mediation in a world of rapidly disappearing privacy. The effect is heightened when we perceive to be witnessing “reality.” Such is the power of the documentary and the creative liberties borrowed by the ensuing mockumentary and found-footage genres.

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BOOKS

Queer as Film

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Word is Out: A Queer Film Classic, by Greg Youmans, Arsenal Pulp Press

by Greg Youmans
16.04.2012

I just completed a book all about the groundbreaking 1977 gay and lesbian documentary film, Word Is Out: Stories of Some of Our Lives. The film more than warrants a book-length study. I should know because I still haven’t exhausted all the things I want to say about it. Although Word Is Out was not [...]

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FILM

Stoner vs. Stickler

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Two oddball brothers make for one unexpectedly moving film in Jeff Who Lives at Home

by Shawn Stenhouse
03.04.2012

Ah, the Hollywood advertising machine, you never cease to amaze. This movie’s not marketable you say? Well then, dress it up as something completely different. Or give away the entire plot in the trailer. Either way, the customer leaves the theatre unhappy and the producers get their money, so why should they care?

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FILM

Prizes and Pioneers

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Reviewing two FIFA films that put the "art" back in architecture

by Oksana Cueva
29.03.2012

This past weekend, FIFA’s 30th Anniversary edition came to a close, with the festival’s Grand Prize awarded to the film Opalka – One Life, One Oeuvre.  To the surprise of no one, Bone Wind Fire won in the category of Best Canadian Film for its vivid representations of Georgia O’Keffe, Frida Kahlo and Emily Carr…though [...]

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FILM

So Much To See

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A run-down of FIFA’s Canadian competition films and free events

by Oksana Cueva
19.03.2012

Attention arts enthusiasts: the ‘I couldn’t find a babysitter’ excuse won’t hold water.  This week, FIFA is unleashing a program of must-see films that promises to satisfy your eagerness for virtually every art denomination: architecture, animation, sculpture, dance, theater, painting, literature, and the list goes on.  With only six days left, though, definitely make a [...]

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FILM

Camera Rolling

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Picture Start, dir Harry Killas, at the FIFA Sunday 18 March

by Oksana Cueva
17.03.2012

In Picture Start, Harry Killas, Canadian director and producer, portrays an extraordinarily talented trio. The so called Vancouver School – Jeff Wall, Rodney Graham and Ian Wallace – are doubtless the biggest artists Canada produced in recent years and pioneers of conceptualism.

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SCREEN

Art Across Time

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Sampling three offerings from FIFA’s 30th Edition

by James Gartler
15.03.2012

For a festival that’s been around for three decades, it’s alarming how little street cred FIFA seems to have.  You just don’t hear people in coffee shops discussing their anticipation over it the way they do when Fantasia rolls around in the fall.  Perhaps to combat this, the International Festival of Films on Art has [...]

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FILM

Complicated Real Estate

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Talking with Eisha Marjara, director of House For Sale, screening at the AmerAsia Film Festival, March 11

by Matthew Hays
08.03.2012

“I’ve always been fascinated by the femme fatale archetype in cinema,” says Eisha Marjara, as she sits down to chat about her latest film, House for Sale. The short, which stars Montreal-based trans actor Atif Siddiqi, tells a complex story about a woman showing a gay man (Siddiqi) the house she wishes to sell, not realizing he’s had an on-again, off-again affair with her husband.

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FILM

Assorted Overseas Offerings

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A look at this year’s AmérAsia Film Festival

by James Gartler
03.03.2012

Who knew the first two weekends in March could make for such a wild ride?  For the third year running, the AmérAsia Film Festival is continuing its mission of taking audiences on a journey through the world of Asian cinema, and this year’s program offers several memorable trips sure to stay with you long after [...]

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FILM

Fantasy Falls Short

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Reviewing Studio Ghibli's latest animated oeuvre

by Shawn Stenhouse
29.02.2012

The Secret World of Arrietty delivers almost everything audiences have come to expect from Japan’s famed Studio Ghibli; a heart-warming coming-of-age tale with gorgeous animation and a superb score…yet it lacks that certain quality so unique to Ghibli films: the inimitable and imaginative storyline.

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TV

Never say Never

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Neverbloomers: The Search for Grownuphood, directed by Sharon Hyman, CBC documentary channel, Monday 27 February, 8pm

by Leila Marshy
26.02.2012

Over a decade ago I read Robert Bly’s The Sibling Society and thought, damn, I better grow up. Around that same time, Sharon Hyman put her camera on a tripod, stared into the lens, and asked the very legitimate question: What does it mean to grow up and why aren’t I doing it? Never married, childless, with no discernable career, still renting, she possessed none of the conventional “markers” of adulthood. She was the arrivist who never quite got there. As she says at one point to the camera, “There are early bloomers, there are late bloomers, and then there are the never bloomers.”

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TV

Much Ado about Downton Abbey

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Downton Abbey, Masterpiece Theatre

by Marianne Ackerman
25.02.2012

As Shakespeare demonstrated, historical fiction is always about the present. For a prime example of the genre’s paradox, look no further than Downton Abbey. Set in a Yorkshire castle before, during and after the First World War, this gorgeous upstairs-downstairs saga is really about social change, especially the fragility of the 1%.

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