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“Burning” and the Art of Captivating Storytelling | ForReel
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Storytelling has been a part of the human experience since the dawn of time. From cave paintings to campfire stories to novels to film, at our core, we want and need to tell stories, and our memory is key to the process. What we write is informed by our remembered experiences, as is how…
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Foreigner Review: A Slick, Bubblegum Horror About Immigrant Experiences | That Shelf
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Starting a new life in a new city is difficult. Moving takes time, money, and effort. You leave your support circle behind, and start fresh in a new place with few—if any—friends. It is a challenge, to say the least. Then consider that younger people also have to go to a new school in a new…
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Lurker Review: Théodore Pellerin and Archie Madekwe Shine in an Exploration of Obsession | Awesome Friday!
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Obsession is one of the great literary themes. One person in a position of power, another aspiring to attain it, a relationship between them evolving from fascination to camaraderie and into something else. Alex Russell, writer on such series as The Bear, Interior Chinatown, and Beef, takes on this classic setup in his first feature film, Lurker. …
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‘Buffet Infinity’ Review – A Mildly Chaotic But Unique and Singular Film | Movies We Texted About
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There are movies, and there are movies, and then there are the wild and experimental films that use the cinematic form to tell a story in a way that only filmmaking can. Buffet Infinity is one of this third type. Set in a small town in Alberta, Canada, Buffet Infinity plays out as a series of local news…
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A Familiar Narrative Holds “The Bearded Girl” Back | ForReel
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There was a time when we regarded circuses with awe. – when we’d file into circus grounds to see trapeze acts and contortionists, and wonders from far-off lands. But those days are largely in the past now. The Bearded Girl is a coming-of-age story set among the remnants of those days. Centred on a…
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Dog of God Review: A Beautifully Animated Nightmare | That Shelf
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The wonderful thing about animation is that it can be used to tell any kind of story. Too often, we deem animated films as somehow lesser than or relegate them to being just for kids even some of the most creative and inspiring films of late are animated. Into the Spider-Verse, Flee, Mad God, and last year’s Flow, to…
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Redux Redux Review: A Satisfying Twist on the Multiverse | That Shelf
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How far would you go for revenge? If someone were taken from you, what would you do to the person who took them? What would exacting that revenge do to you? How much of your humanity would you sacrifice? These are the kind of questions that no one will know the answer to until…
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“The Well” Walks a Well Worn Path Through an Intriguing World | ForReel
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Post-apocalyptic stories tend to serve as warnings that come in many forms; sometimes they are about how the apocalypse might unfold, or about the resources we will fight over, or the people who will be doing the fighting. Whether the future is filled with robots or devoid of resources, there’s always human drama and…
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Fantasia Festival 2025 Begins This Week! | Awesome Friday!
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You know, Fantasia is one of my favourite film festivals. Good news, everyone! The Fantasia Film Festival is back for another year. One of Canada’s premier film festivals, and one of the biggest genre film festivals on the continent. This year’s lineup looks great, but here are five films I’m looking forward to. Link:…
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The 2023 Fantasia Film Festival | Awesome Friday Podcast
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Greetings programs! This week, we dive head first into the 2023 Fantasia Film Festival. We’ve each seen a number of films, and we’re going to talk about a number of them, including Hundreds of Beavers, Birth/Rebirth, Satan Wants You, A Disturbance in the Force, With Love and a Major Organ, Aporia, Sympathy for the…
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2021 Fantasia Festival Wrap-Up! | Awesome Friday Podcast
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This years festival was a great one, and it was hard to narrow our favourites to just five in total, so that’s why we chose seven (but even that was difficult!). You can check out all of our festival coverage by clicking the banner above, and you’ll find where to stream each of the…
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Free Guy & The Night House | Awesome Friday Podcast
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This week Matt and Simon are talking about the summer movie sensation Free Guy, starring Vancouver Local Ryan Reynolds, and the new horror movie release The Night House starring Rebecca Hall, which had it’s Canadian premiere at Fantasia Festival last week and is in theatres now. One of these films we think is excellent and the other…
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Interview: Sera-Lys McArthur on her films “Kwêskosîw” & “Don’t Say Its Name” | Awesome Friday!
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2021 is turning out to be a big year for Sera-Lys McArthur. The alum of series such as Arctic Air and Burden of Truth is starring in two films at Fantasia Fest this year, a short (which she also produced) called Kwêskosîw (She Whistles) and the feature film Don’t Say Its Name, a horror film which had its…
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Interview: Thirza Cuthand on their film “Kwêskosîw (She Whistles)” | Awesome Friday!
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Earlier this week I was able to watch and review a number of short films, including Kwêskosîw (She Whistles), a story with a supernatural twist from Indigenous filmmaker Thirza Cuthand. I was able to speak with Thirza about the film as well, and here is the conversation I had with them. I Full Interview at…
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Fantasia 2020: ‘You Cannot Kill David Arquette’ is a sweet, silly, and entertaining documentary | Awesome Friday!
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Each step in his journey is eye-opening and engaging, from the backyard wrestling show he takes part in (and gets decimated) to the Mexican street wrestling he takes part in to prove he has what it takes to earn his own Lucha libre mask to his final redemption has he joins the independent wrestling…