Tag: Movie

By Kendra Kusick

Profit and prophet go hand in hand according to the latest documentary to screen as part of the Movies that Matter series. Banking on Heaven tears the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints a new stigmata in this documentary expose of their practices along the border between Arizona and Utah. The film… Continue reading Heaven’s in the bank

By Peter Hemminger

German filmmaker Hans- Christian Schmid’s Requiem plays like The Exorcist without the demons and projectile vomit. Though inspired by the same events that prompted last year’s Exorcism of Emily Rose, Schmid shuns the Hollywood horror approach, aiming for realism instead, leaving the audience to determine just how much of the devil is in the details.… Continue reading Film-Fest Review: Requiem

By Rachel Betts-Wilmott

What director Garry Beitel wants to show you is that there’s more to Schwartz’s than a good lunch–the narrow, age old Montreal landmark is a hub of excitement. The film offers insight into the lives of the staff–some who’ve walked the linoleum tiles for more than 30 years–and patrons who’ll remember their first sandwich for… Continue reading Film-Fest Review: Chez Schwartz

By Peter Hemminger

Billed as a campy comedy for all audiences (the press material is oddly eager to point out you don’t have to be gay to like it), Wasabi Tuna is more like a train wreck. One where the train has careened off a cliff and onto an active minefield. And is leaking poison gas. And is… Continue reading Film-Fest Review: Wasabi Tuna

By Tara Daintoy

Adidas once designed a shoe specifically for drug dealers in Detroit. It came in dark blue, and featured a fur lining. From the dark alleyways of Detroit, to the bustling streets of Tokyo, shoes are a universal fashion essential, and now they are also the focus of a documentary by Femke Wolting, aptly named Sneakers.… Continue reading Film-Fest Preview: Sneakers

By Robin Ianson

Tragic Story with Happy Ending is an animated short from Portuguese filmmaker Regina Pessoa. The story centers on a girl who doesn’t fit into her small home town–tragically, she was born with a heart two sizes too small. Despite its outward similarities to a certain holiday favourite, the girl really does have the heart of… Continue reading Film-Fest Preview: Tragic Story with a Happy Ending

By Kate Kinsman

A simple, highly spiritual documentary about the world of native medicine, Spirit Doctors offers heartfelt insight into the nature of aboriginal healing. It’s a well thought-out story that brings together two completely opposite worlds: the modern hospital medicine of Vancouver and the vast expanse of native spiritual healing prevalent in the Similkameen Valley. It allows… Continue reading Film-Fest Preview: Spirit Doctors

By Patrick Rodrigues

Flyboys attempts to soar onto the silver screen, but it drops faster than a flaming Nieuport. The film takes place during the first world war, and follows the adventures of the Lafayette Escadrille, a squadron of American fighter pilots who volunteered to help the French before the U.S. officially became involved in the conflict. Based… Continue reading Problems with takeoff

By Kyle Francis

Five screens. Ten days. An assload of movies. Starting up at the end of the month, the Calgary International Film Festival roars proudly into it’s seventh year. Starting out in 1999 as a barely-notable blip on the scene for film nerds, the CIFF has since evolved into the fourth largest film fest in the country.… Continue reading Seven years of international film

By Hoang-Mai Hong

I’ve heard angels, and they sound like British children. Sweet, motherless British children with jam on their faces who dislodge their little sister’s dollies’ heads with their homemade guillotines. This is what you’ll witness when Nanny McPhee opens and you bloody well fall in love with it.The movie stars Emma Thompson–who also wrote the screen… Continue reading Movie Review: Nanny Mcphee gets by on British charm