Lindsay McCarney

Canadian documentarian Ian Connacher put a lot of effort into learning about plastic for the appropriately named Addicted to Plastic, and he wants us to know it. Why else would he start the film with a list of impressive-sounding figures? (“Five continents; 12 countries; 160,000 kilometres…49 interviews; nine factories; six landfills.”) Connacher’s quest to learn […]

Wendy and Lucy takes place entirely in one dead-end Oregon town, and in it, we only see cash-strapped Wendy (Michelle Williams)’s car move twice: once, when Wendy and a security guard struggle to manually propel the vehicle, which has broken down, out of a parking lot where it’s not allowed to be; and again, when […]

In theory, documentary reenactments exist to make stories lacking footage more vivid; in practice, they tend to be cheesy and distracting. (I still laugh at an E! True Hollywood Story that paired audio about a stormy night with nondescript footage of wet road and puddles, emblazoned with a “this is a reenactment” disclaimer.) But the […]

To become the successful winner of a student-council election at most high schools, all you need is a few signatures, a pile of semi-clever posters, a relatively coherent speech and god-given popularity. (And the promise of free pizza and more dances.) But at NYC’s elite Stuyvesant High School, politics are serious business—and public favour is […]

Loud, proud trailers say new Terminator, Transformers and Harry Potter installments are heading our way soon. But don’t let sequel-fatigue get you down—chase down those explosions with our summer picks. MAY The Limits of Control (directed by Jim Jarmusch) A mysterious, sexy criminal (Isaach De Bankolé) journeys across Spain, and through his own consciousness, meeting […]

Darling, do you find the word “darling” annoying? I imagine you will by the time you’re finished watching Marie and Bruce, darling. In fact, darling, you’ll probably want to circulate a petition in favour of having the word excised from the English language entirely. You see, before Marie and Bruce became an odd little movie, […]

“Ain’t life grand!” declares gambler Terry (Colin Farrell), enjoying a day on the lake with his brother Ian (Ewan McGregor), an aspiring businessman, early on in Woody Allen’s not very subtle, kinda pretentious Cassandra’s Dream. “You know what that’s from?” Terry continues. “Bonnie and Clyde…two Barrow Brothers are having a fine time, and Clyde says, […]

Lesson One in low-budget Spanish thriller Timecrimes (Los cronocrímenes): “Don’t be a creep.” It’s creepiness that leads married Héctor (Karra Elejalde) to peer around his neighbourhood with binoculars, thereby spotting a pair of bare breasts in a nearby thicket—and to go snooping through the woods in search of the boobs and their owner. Héctor finds […]

It’s kind of a blessing the Watchmen movie didn’t catch on more with people unfamiliar with the dense Alan Moore comic it’s based on. Think how much confusion the tie-in Watchmen: Tales of the Black Freighter/Under the Hood could have inspired—how many poor souls would’ve been driven to lament “Why the hell am I watching […]