My Friend Dahmer is disturbing from the beginning, probably because we already know the subject’s destiny. The film is based on a graphic novel of the same name, in which John “Derf” Backderf (played by Alex Wolff in the adaptation) recounts his high school friendship with soon-to-be rapist, serial killer and cannibal Jeffrey Dahmer. Former […]
Film + TV
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Sexual assault allegations at Atlantic Filmmakers Co-operative
The Atlantic Filmmakers Co-operative posted a statement on its Facebook page Tuesday, in part addressing the claims made public this week by a woman that she was sexually assaulted by a current staff member several years ago while working on a film. In light of that incident—about which the organization determined “no further action was […]
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Review: Dina
There’s an uneasiness to the set-up of Dina, the documentary from Antonio Santini and Dan Sickles that won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance this year. It’s presenting Dina, a late-40s Philadelphia woman with Asperger’s Syndrome, in the months leading up to her wedding with Scott, a similarly aged, autistic man who has never moved […]
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Hopeless Romantic wants to subvert the romcom
A wedding is taking place on a golden fall afternoon at The Waegwoltic’s clubhouse in the south end. Well-dressed attendees laugh, dine and celebrate the union of a young couple—all beneath the intimate glow of heavy lighting equipment and high-definition cameras. Overlooking this showbiz ceremony isn’t a justice of the peace, but producer Latonia Hartery. […]
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Lady Bird‘s feather touch
The actor Greta Gerwig has consistently pushed her way into public consciousness for the past decade, in indie favourites like Frances Ha, Maggie’s Plan and 20th Century Women, and a handful of Hollywood things like Jackie, Greenberg and The Mindy Project. Her style is disarmingly naturalistic, appearing to lack all form, but displaying and evoking […]
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Movie review: Thor: Ragnarok
It’s one thing to cast Robert Redford or Michael Keaton as unorthodox villains in superhero films—veterans playing against type, a bit of capital-A acting in with all the Chrises and women just collecting paycheques. It’s quite another to make the Big Bad Cate Blanchett, who is more awesome—in real-life talent and here in Thor: Ragnarok—than […]
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Film review: The Killing of a Sacred Deer
Yorgos Lanthimos’ delightfully bizarre satire The Lobster—a world in which being single was a crime punishable by being turned into an animal of one’s choice—was a highlight of 2015, winning multiple awards at Cannes and pulling an Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay. Anticipation is high for the follow-up, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, which […]
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Holding space for BIPOC artists in the Halifax art world
Nocturne applications will now include a series of optional self-identification questions about race, gender and religion, as a direct result of discourse about the gap in representation and visibility of Black, Indigenous and Persons of Colour within the local visual arts community. Kelly Markovich, the programming director for October 14’s Nocturne festival, says this year […]
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The Florida Project’s sunny outlook
The Florida Project Opens Friday, October 27 Cineplex Cinemas Park Lane 5657 Spring Garden Road “I’ve been very influenced and inspired by The Little Rascals,” says Sean Baker. “And that’s no joke—in every one of my films is a link to The Little Rascals.” The writer-director is on the phone between sold-out screenings at The […]
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A Spooky Night at the Movies offers a Monster mash-up
A Spooky Night at the Movies Friday, October 27, 7:30pm Bethany United Church, 7171 Clinton Avenue $5-$30 For tickets: 902-445-0521 A Spooky Night at the Movies, an annual silent horror film screening hosted by Bethany United Church, is back for its sixth installment—this year it serves up 1925’s horror classic The Monster. Organist Shawn Whynot, […]
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Movie Review: Una
Rooney Mara seeks revenge—or something like it—against her rapist in Una, a spare and beautifully photographed exploration of the complexities of trauma. When Una was 13 (played at that age by Ruby Stokes), her neighbour Peter (Ben Mendelsohn) began paying inappropriate attention to her, culminating in a sexual relationship. He ran, was kept from her […]
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Movie Review: Professor Marston and the Wonder Women
There’s precious little comic book content in this origin story of Wonder Woman, thankfully. Luke Evans, one of the generic male movie stars currently all the rage—part of the Fast and the Furious family, he also played Gaston in Beauty and the Beast with the even more boring Dan Stevens—is William Moulton Marston, a psychologist at Harvard. […]
