Northern Reel

Sports are one of the prime frameworks upon which to build a cinematic story.  Sports, at their core, are pure expressions of the human struggle to improve oneself and overcome struggles born from both within and without.  They’re simple to understand but complicated to master, but just as often, the true answer is for…

It starts with a language class.  Journeys of self-discovery often start with small steps.  In the case of Feng Xia (Joan Chen), it begins when her daughter Joy (Pei Yao Xu), about to graduate high school and leave the nest, points out that she won’t be around to translate forever.  Feng Xia has been…

Canada is a land of extremes.  Our whole nation offers rugged outdoor adventure, but there are many places where merely existing can be a struggle against nature.  Eastern Manitoba, in the dead of winter, is one of those places.  A stark, beautiful, frozen landscape where knowing how to work with the elements is mandatory just to sustain…

Each of us only gets to be a teenager once.  Our bodies coursing with hormones and our minds rapidly filling with new information, this is a time that can be chaotic emotionally as we navigate the world while developing into the people we’re going to be.  This chaos, which is formative, is obviously difficult…

In Cold Light’s best scene is a confrontation between Maika Monroe’s Ava and her father, Troy Kotsur’s Will.  She, fresh out of prison and on the run from a crooked cop chasing her for a crime she didn’t commit, and he, bitter and resentful at his family being torn asunder, have the conversation that…

A staple of filmmaking, the coming-of-age story works because, regardless of circumstances, we can all relate to the story being told.  Whether we’re young and needing affirmation, or old and needing reminding, a story of a young person going on a quest and finding themselves in the process is one we can all see…

Comedy is hard, and not all comedy is for everyone.  Everyone has their own sensibilities, and these don’t always jibe with the sensibilities of those writing and delivering the jokes.  A film like this one, Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie, attempts to thread the needle between being incredibly specific and incredibly broad,…