Reviews

VIFF 25 #5 (Oct 4)
Really gorgeous. I kind of regret not asking during the q+a about the decision to use anamorphic lenses with such a dramatic effect. The three pieces of media that come to mind that use such a strong anamorphic distortion are Poor Things, Dead Boy Detectives, and Shogun (the last of which I haven’t seen). At least for the first two, the lens effect adds a certain sense of fantasy and separation from reality. This doesn’t really have that vibe, and while I enjoyed the look, it left me wondering why it was chosen. Alas, I don’t think I could have worded a question about it in a way that made sense and didn’t sound critical, so it’s probably for the best that I didn’t ask anything.

Anyway, I really liked this, and the parts I didn’t like as much turned into something I appreciated after the q+a. This included the “twist” that initially felt like it was taking such a refreshing lesbian story (in which the conflict is never about being queer!) and throwing it back into tropes territory. But hearing Gail Maurice talk about the story behind this, and how much of her was put into this movie, all my concerns kind of flew away.

Also, it felt very special to be watching a movie with a very significant portion spoken in Michif.

(More casting directors in q+as!! It was so interesting to hear about the process!)

If you want to see an extremely sweaty Johnson, boy do I have a movie for you. In THE SMASHING MACHINE, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson stars as Mark Kerr, an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighter before UFC became the UFC it is today. He was a pioneer of the sport, but between 1997-2000, Kerr had a lot going on. Struggles with his conflicting relationship with Dawn (Emily Blunt) and with his personal demons. This movie is…fine, but I do have a few problems with it. It successfully avoids the typical tropes you usually see in sports movies, but it doesn’t replace that with anything of substance. The screenplay is flat, the characters feel like ideas of people instead of actual people (which they actually are). Don’t get me wrong, the acting performances here are impressive. Blunt is always great, but Johnson actually puts in the work here, much more than his signature smolder. Nothing pulled me in. I needed more feels. It’s shot like a documentary, keeping the audience at arms-length. They go for a more observational approach, going from life event to life event, not breaking the surface of anything. I wanted to be immersed in Mark’s world, but I never was. The music, while interesting, was overbearing at times. I like the duality between Mark the soft-spoken, kind-hearted guy, and Mark the smashing machine. The makeup is amazing, successfully transforming a rock into a smashing machine. Overall, THE SMASHING MACHINE is sadly underwhelming, but I love the acting. A24 took a swing with this, sport fans might enjoy this, but I found it only alright.

“Does the dog die in the end?” Upon the release of the new unique supernatural horror GOOD BOY, this is the question on everyone’s mind. No, I will not answer that question here. This is a haunted house movie in the perspective of a dog named Indy, and yes, he is a good boy. This is the feature film debut of cowriter and director Ben Leonberg, having filmed this for the past three years, using his own Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever. To be clear, this movie isn’t through the eyes of the dog, it’s just focused on him the entire time. This is more than just a gimmick. It’s about heart, friendship, and loyalty. The camera is always no higher than Indy, keeping the audience immersed and in tune with Indy’s emotional state. This dog puts in the best acting performance I’ve ever seen…from an animal. It might feel like a slow burn for some, but I was on edge the entire 73 minutes, and it pays off. This is very light on dialogue, which is refreshing for a horror movie, no exposition dumps explaining everything. Dogs have much keener senses, so the film relies more on what Indy can hear or smell. It makes sense then that the sound design is top-notch. It plays with light and shadow superbly. GOOD BOY is a very good movie made from what I can imagine is a very low budget. Oh yeah, stay through the credits, trust me!

What a unique film this is. I love the use of language and the conversation about understanding culture. The premise is fascinating. This story was so enjoyable even if it was tidily resolved and a bit ham fisted at times.

This is an astonishingly honest film: vulnerable, gritty, unexpected, fragile. I loved every minute of this film, even though it also had me holding my breath, awash with dread. The writer and director captured the authentic trauma as experienced through the children with children. This film earned its hope. I am so grateful I saw it.

"What l'm offering here is a chance to play roles with real meaning." -- Japan is so gorgeous. I want to go there someday. Brendan Fraser is just such a wonderful human being. He is such a comforting presence in this film.

Espera pelicula con muy buenas reseñas certificadas.

Challenging, anxious, gross... kind of like childbirth

A very specific type of humour, highly entertaining and a adventurous plot. It gives Kill Bill, Princess Bride and Parasite all in one

I had been avoiding news coverage about this man because I wanted to see the much buzzed about documentary for myself. I'm quite acquainted with Indigenous-helmed documentaries dealing with injustice in Canada. But I haven't seen that many similar films that are entirely US-based. This was a well-edited film, well-researched, and at a length of almost 2 hours, it gets more exciting towards the end.
I recommend everyone to stay seated until after the credits, as you will see a surprise.
--2025 Vancouver Int'l Fim Festival #3--

Interesting bio pic about a talented, driven artist. I was hoping to see some revealing episodes like in the film RIEFENSTAHL, which I watched last week, but no such thing. I'm sure the film will be enjoyed in Germany and with older music lovers but I didn't find it particulary exciting.
---2025 Vancouver Int'l Film Festival #2--

Oof, it sounds weird when I type it out but this anti-fascist essay (a movement I agree with) was unfortunately a disappointing film.

I really liked some of Raoul Peck's previous, so this was a stunner.

I have no better words than the review written by Christopher Campbell in the "Nonfics" newsletter:

"As for Orwell: 2 + 2 = 5, Raoul Peck’s latest takes the approach of a biography on George Orwell that relates his writings to what’s going on in the world now, 75 years since the author’s death. I think he’s rolling in his grave again (see the 2003 film Orwell Rolls in His Grave, which is heavily sampled in this one). I liken this documentary to a simple school project where Peck has made a collage of cut-outs from all the things he could find to illustrate Orwell’s work, including clips of various adaptations, footage of world events, and excerpts from other, better docs and movies. There isn’t a lot of context for all those bits, and I feel that if you are familiar with any of them, you’re already paying enough attention to get the point of the documentary five seconds in (or before even starting it). I do like Damian Lewis’s voiceover readings of Orwell’s personal writings and other biographical material, but the rest of the film is so obvious that it becomes an overstatement." -By Christopher Campbell

---2025 Vancouver Int'l Film Festival #1--

(Pulling over my VIFF 2025 reviews from Letterboxd)
VIFF 25 #3 (Short Forum 1, Film 7 of 7)
As mentioned in my other reviews, I went into this short forum completely blind. Every time a new short started, it's title, genre, length, and plot were entirely unknown to me. This short was WILD. I was taken completely by surprise. While definitely still thematically linked to many of the other shorts, it was certainly different. Weird in the kind of wonderful way, in which it's filled with this unbridled creativity. It was more violent/gruesome than I was perhaps ready for, but overall, I was pleasantly surprised.

(Pulling over my VIFF 2025 reviews from Letterboxd)
VIFF 25 #3 (Short Forum 1, Film 4 of 7)
I was a bit surprised to see something about Sarajevo, having been at the screening of The Track earlier (about Sarajevo's luge track and young luge racers). Couldn't help but compare the two and how they contend with the city as a character. The Track takes a future facing, youth-centered approach, Paradaïz does the opposite, grappling with nostalgia and memory, and it deals in history, rather than the future. As I went into the short forum completely blind, this was a welcome surprise in the mix, as I love animated shorts. In my adventures into watching lots of the Oscar-nominated animated shorts, the NFB logo has become a bit of a Pavlov thing for me. I know I'm in for some weird styles and hopefully some poignant storylines. This delivered.

(Pulling over my VIFF 2025 reviews from Letterboxd)
VIFF 25 #3 (Short Forum 1, Film 3 of 7)
Definitely made me want to call my grandmothers. A really touching short doc with some cool animated elements.

(Pulling over my VIFF 2025 reviews from Letterboxd)
VIFF 25 #3 (Short Forum 1, Film 2 of 7)
This one got me a bit teary. I really appreciated every little bit of this short, there's a couple moments in particular that hit really hard. Really happy I got to see this, and that I got to hear the director talk about it a bit during the q+a.

(Pulling over my VIFF 2025 reviews from Letterboxd)
VIFF 25 #2
Literally couldn’t have picked a better movie to watch at the time/moment I did. The way that the boys’ stories interweave with each other and history and the future is so fascinating and I will now be highly anticipating luge at the 2026 Winter Olympics.

(Pulling over my VIFF 2025 reviews from Letterboxd)
VIFF 25 #1
What a way to kick off the festival! Starting with a 3 hour movie was certainly a choice. But wow. Kokuho is epic. There’s tons of these super cool kabuki scenes, which are so emotional, colorful, and really magical. I think structurally this might have a hard time doing well with Western audiences, but damn. Once you get hooked, you’re in it for the long haul. I was crying by the end. gorgeous.

VIFF 2025 #2
Oct 3 – Rio Theatre – 9:00pm

I mean...

For what it is, it literally could NOT be any better.

Perhaps the most competently made B-movie of all time? A homerun of an effort in every sense. A beautiful reminder that you can just do whatever the fuck you want with a movie and it will work as long as you put in the elbow grease.

The movie plays into its limitations and makes them part of the gag. There's one great example in a fight sequence featuring an assassin (who throws a rotating saw blade at the end of a chain) is filmed in a way where the two characters fighting are never on screen at the same time. It's so hilariously deliberate. They just keep cutting back to the same reaction shot from the assassin.

The practical effects are out of this world. Heads being sawn in half! Arms being ripped off! Hearts being ripped out! Bog monsters. Two-headed trolls. Stone Golems. Flying Banshees! Cyclops Bats! Everything is so PAINSTAKINGLY practical.

They go out of their way to not use CG for basically anything I think other than maybe a green screen or two, and I'm not kidding. It all LOOKS like costumes and props, but it doesn't matter because it's TANGIBLE. They're not trying to make it LOOK real — they're just making it real. And because they did it for real, it LOOKS better than real — you following me? It's straight out of the GWAR universe.

The script is so cheesy and self-aware — it's borderline satire if not outright. It's making fun of all those goofy sword and sorcery b-movies of yesteryear while also paying homage, and becoming a damn good one of them in its own right. And it doesn't deliver gags by winking at the audience — it plays everything with utmost sincerity. Every moment is let linger just as long as it needs to.

If you like cheesy fantasy action, goofy comedy, ridiculously over-the-top gore, heavy metal, sweaty dudes with big muscles and massive unwieldly swords, Deathstalker is a feast for the ages.

VIFF 2025 #1
Oct 3 – Rio Theatre – 6:00pm

This was honestly such a riot.

Truth be told, I've only seen the first two episodes of the show as of this week as a brief acclimation before diving right into the movie.

Will absolutely be taking a binge of the web series and tv series before the film gets a proper wide release. I'll be watching it again first chance I get. I'm only leaving this at a 9/10 right now because I'm sure I'll appreciate it even more the next time around.

I hear they've already shot Season 3 of the show, and are currently awaiting distribution and release. Considering the success the movie has found in the festival circuit, I doubt we'll be waiting long before an official release date is set.

What a way to start the festival.