Hot Docs Review: 'The Chimney Swift' Shows Inhumane Labour from a Child's Perspective Directed by Frédéric Schuld

Published Jun 10, 2020

The Chimney Swift is simultaneously two different tales. The narration is a story gleaned from the actual accounts of adult chimney sweeps i...

Hot Docs Review: 'All Her Dying Lovers' Tells the Haunting Story of a Unique Form of Nazi Resistance Directed by Anna Benner and Eluned Zoe Aiano

Published Jun 10, 2020

Short film All Her Dying Lovers tells the story of an unnamed Czech nurse who put up a unique but tragic form of resistance against Nazi occ...

Hot Docs Review: 'Consuming Contemporary' Shows How Culture Is Safe-Guarded by the Upper Class Directed by Ana Aleksovska

Published Jun 10, 2020

On the face of it, Macedonian short documentary Consuming Contemporary is about an older woman, Sunchica, enriching herself through coordina...

CFF Review: Cringe-Inducing Documentary 'Shoot to Marry' Learns Nothing from Its Own Mistakes Directed by Steve Markle

Published Jun 05, 2020

Shoot to Marry is only about 70 minutes long, but it should be shorter. Ostensibly a comedic documentary about finding love, this film is di...

CFF Review: 'Hazy Little Thing' Exposes the Darkness Behind the Glamour of Social Media

Published Jun 03, 2020

We all know the repetitive cycle of social media — the way we scroll through Instagram, not because we're looking for something in particula...

Hannah Gadsby's 'Douglas' Is Hilarious, Even as It Gets Bogged Down by the Weight of Expectations

Published May 26, 2020

Hannah Gadsby's latest Netflix special, Douglas, is rigidly controlled, in a way diametrically opposed to the organic build and flow of her...

'Easy Land' Tenderly Explores the Canadian Immigrant Experience Directed by Sanja Zivkovic

Published May 20, 2020

Watching Easy Land, viewers will find themselves wanting to protect each character in it — but at the same time, there's something about it...

Netflix's 'Trial by Media' Puts Journalistic Bias Under the Microscope

Published May 15, 2020

"If it bleeds, it leads" is a saying drilled into you in journalism school. What it means is that death and fear-mongering tend to make the...

James Irwin Gets Back to His Cosmic Country Roots on 'Stars Blue Wheel'

Published May 15, 2020

James Irwin's fourth album, Stars Blue Wheel, is haunting and sombre, but fights tooth and nail to find the light. The multi-talented Tor...

'Saint Frances' Shows Real Life Through the Female Gaze Directed by Alex Thompson

Published May 08, 2020

We know we're not supposed to flush tampons down the toilet, but we also know exceptions in cases of emergency tend to be made. This is demo...

Indoor Voices Send Out 'Echoes' of Healing

Published May 06, 2020

Close your eyes and lean your head back against something soft and safe when you listen to Echoes, the latest release from Indoor Voices, th...

'A' Is a Harrowing, Beautiful Fever Dream of Loneliness Directed by Mitchell Stafiej

Published Apr 28, 2020

For a while after watching A, I was in a funk. It left me reeling as if from a fever dream and feeling on the brink of migraine for a few da...

Hazel English Gives Us the Pep Talk We Didn't Know We Needed on 'Wake UP!'

Published Apr 22, 2020

Hazel English's debut album, Wake UP!, is a delightful triumph that incites self-discovery and love — it's like a soothing, sunbaked day by...

Winnipeg Shoegazers Juniper Bush Are Delightfully Dark on 'Healing Through a Sonic Figure'

Published Apr 14, 2020

Juniper trees look like petrified clouds, shocks of green with branches all reaching towards the sky, but they're short and close to the gro...

'The Way Back' Has Too Much Ben Affleck, Not Enough Sports Directed by Gavin O'Connor

Published Mar 06, 2020

We like sports movies because they string a compelling narrative of triumph punctuated with melodramatic music through an already viscerally...

Nadjiwan The Dog Lake Sessions

Published Mar 03, 2020

The sound of Nadjiwan's latest release, The Dog Lake Sessions, is so big that it explodes through the confines of its title. It's a vibrant...

'The Invisible Man' Is a Masterful Horror of Domestic Abuse Directed by Leigh Whannell

Published Feb 27, 2020

Any film that lingers over Elisabeth Moss's face, that gives her time, is a good film and The Invisible Man is one.   Based loosely on an...

Indoor Voices Animal

Published Feb 12, 2020

Do you remember tinkering with a Casio keyboard? Holding down certain keys and moving down the row to each subsequent note? You might have b...

'Horse Girl' Hides Mental Health Trauma with Quirky Indie Vibe Directed by Jeff Baena

Published Feb 10, 2020

Despite what the synopsis offered on Netflix, and even its indie aesthetic, might have you believe, Horse Girl is not a hopeful film.   Ho...

Frances Quinlan Likewise

Published Jan 30, 2020

Frances Quinlan can do no wrong, but can this be a bad thing?   The Philadelphia-based singer-songwriter has been known for her work with...