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VIFF 2014: Maps to the Stars | Awesome Friday!
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Strangely, it feels like there could have been a legitimately great film here. If it has just been the story of Havana Segrand going insane working on a remake of her mother’s film, or if it has just been the story of a young girl with a troubled past trying to reconnect with her…
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VIFF 2014: 1987 | Awesome Friday!
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It’s a funny movie, but as with many comedies, the laughs slow down considerably when the third act rolls around and needs to teach us something. That’s not a bad thing per se, but there’s not that much it’s going to teach you if you’ve seen other teen comedies. The nice thing is that…
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VIFF 2014: Mr Turner | Awesome Friday!
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I’ve said before that one of the things I love about movies is those few occasions when I get to witness one of the great performances of our time, when an actor disappears into a role completely, and I can forget even the most familiar of faces as belonging to an actor I’ve seen…
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The Best Films of 2013 | Awesome Friday!
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2013 was a good year for the movies. It had its ups and downs, but in the end there was a pretty good crop of films and more than a few great ones. I’ve already revisited the films I was most looking forward to, and now it is time to look at the films I…
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Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters | Awesome Friday!
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Previous fairy tale re-imaginings I’ve seen that try to make sure you know they’re serious films end up boring. This movie doesn’t want you to be anything other than entertained, so the plot is kept to a minimum and the action to a maximum, and despite its predictability, it works. When things are revealed,…
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Les Misérables, Argo, and Silver Linings Playbook | Awesome Friday!
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Because I’m on vacation though I have seen a boatload of movies and thought I’d briefly talk about some of the ones I have seen, specifically the three I watched which are nominated for best picture at this year’s Oscars. Link: https://awesomefriday.ca/2013/01/quick-thoughts-on-les-miserables-argo-and-silver-linings-playbook/
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Zero Dark Thirty | Awesome Friday!
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Everything in this film is utterly compelling. When we finally get to the final act of the raid on bin Laden’s compound by Navy Seals, the idea that realistic military tactics and execution thereof aren’t filmable in a meaningful way is shown to be false. In fact, any time anyone says this to you…
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On Frame Rates | Awesome Friday!
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There are two noticeable side effects of HFR. The first is that things seem to move faster. This is because your brain isn’t filling in so many gaps like I mentioned above, but honestly, this one goes away quickly. It took me maybe 10 minutes to get used to how things appeared in HFR,…