Fantasia International Film Festival 2020

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…

Patrick is a simple story about a man coming to grips with his new normal and whether he even wants it to be his new normal. It is sweet and poignant, with a fantastic central performance and a hilarious fight scene.  Naked, of course. Link: https://awesomefriday.ca/2020/09/fantasia-review-patrick-is-a-sweet-story-of-coming-into-ones-own/

For all its excess, there are a few bright spots, including a mental health facility breakout scene that is both ridiculous and exciting, but even they succumb at least somewhat to the excess of it all.  Fried Barry tries to walk the line between bold and juvenile, and while it occasionally succeeds at being on…

Each scene is beautifully shot as well. Each shot is captured in a wide aspect ratio that lets you admire details from around the rooms where the scenes occur. I know it sounds weird to call tiny, dingy, northern Canadian bars beautiful, but between the neon Molson signs and cheesy wall decorations, the production…

Some B movies go nowhere, and others become cult classics. People love this latter category of film. People go out of their way to see them in special screenings and to collect memorabilia. What makes these films resonate is a question worth examining. Not only do they have to have a certain je ne sais…

The Block Island Sound is a gorgeously shot horror film. Almost every exterior shot is beautiful and takes full advantage of the location. The score and sound design are also top-notch, with much of the tension being ratcheted up by the auditory experience.  It is also well cast and –and I say this as someone…

A confident first feature from director Michael Venus, the film is anchored by a phenomenal central performance by Gro Swantje Kohlhof as Mona navigates her own trauma, her mother’s, and, in many ways, the trauma of the German people.  Schlaf is atmospheric, dark, moody, and unsettling, and one to add to your watch list. Link:…

The rape-revenge story is a well-worn film story. The bad man seems nice. The bad man gets the woman alone. The bad man reveals himself as bad man. Violence ensues.  Hunted attempts to take a supernatural twist on this story, following our victim deep into a forest that will eventually become her ally.  Or so the…

A Mermaid in Paris is, shockingly, from this last group. A man, Gaspar (Nicolas Duvauchelle), finds the wounded mermaid Lula (Marilyn Lima) on the banks of the Seine one night and proceeds to nurse her back to health. In the process, they fall in love.  It’s not exactly a new setup, but when you filter…

The film crosses back and forth over the lines, from some moments that ring incredibly true and honest to others that are effectively softcore porn. Each actor gives 100% to the material; Vack and Fox bare all for the camera.  The level of trust in the filmmaker must have been quite high for them…

Each lead actor is great, but Felix Kramer, as Markus, steals the show. He’s a brute, but he might be a bad man for good reasons. Does that work? I will let you decide for yourself, but it’s fascinating watching him portray that struggle and whether Markus will let his past define him.  Alvart…

It would be easy to write Survival Skills off as a cheap nostalgia bid or a wacky experiment, and it would have been easy just to be that. Still, writer and director Quinn Armstrong’s script takes the story to some uncomfortably dark places and pits Jim’s desire to help against our society and all the ways…

Opening with a gang of thieves storming a jewellery store only to be cornered by the police as they finish filling their bags, some quick thinking leads to the thieves escape but arrange in their wake. Then, three months later, a gang member is murdered, and the only witness to the crime is a…