Wetlands November 28, 10:50pm Museum of Natural History 1747 Summer Street If you can imagine Amelie with an anti-hygiene fixation, or Trainspotting where Renton is more inclined toward bodily functions than heroin, you may have a sense of Wetlands. Helen (Carla Juri) is a skateboarder with a healthy sex drive suffering from an anal […]
Film + TV
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A guide to the short films of Outlier Film Festival
To celebrate the first night of the magical, sci-fi, horror, experimental and straight up strange film festival in Halifax, Outlier Film Festival, (Nov 27 to 29) we decided to go micro and put together all the info you’d care to know about the shorts—those tiny gems that’ll screen before select Outlier features—straight from the mouths […]
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Whiplash
If jazz drums are Birdman’s major flaw—it’s a short list, and they 100 percent are—the opposite applies to Whiplash, a thrilling drama about a jazz drum student (Miles Teller) under the thumb of a masochistic instructor (JK Simmons). Written and directed by Damien Chazelle, who is all of 29, Whiplash is essentially a two-hander about […]
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Heartbeat
Remember mumblecore, the film movement that combined lots of earnest conversations, verité shooting style, indie rock and naturalistic performances? Launched the careers of Greta Gerwig and Mark Duplass? Andrea Dorfman was doing mumblecore back in the ’90s, before anyone thought to name it something dumb, with defiantly sincere films that culminated in her debut feature […]
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Get your tuchas to AJFF
Shalom movie lovers! The Atlantic Jewish Film Festival is bringing international cinema with a Jewish bent to a big screen near you. Peggy Walt volunteers with the AJFF committee and handles promotions and publicity. Walt says the Atlantic Jewish Council noticed a lack of representation in our region’s film screenings and realized if they wanted […]
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St. Vincent
St. Vincent takes place in a world where Naomi Watts is funnier than Melissa McCarthy, which should be enough of a warning that this dramatic comedy doesn’t quite have all its issues worked out. Bill Murray (not on that train, sorry) cribs from Bad Santa-era Billy Bob Thornton and sands the edges off like Bad […]
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“They shot me in the face with an arrow!”
Michael Rowe plays the villainous sniper Deadshot on Arrow, but before that he played drums in Bucket Truck, the Newfoundland hard-rock band that was based in Halifax for the first half of the ’00s. When did you start acting? My goal has always been to do something creative for a living, and prove that it […]
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Heart to heartbeat
A few years ago, it looked like Andrea Dorfman might never make another feature film. She had plenty to keep her busy. She made a documentary called Sluts, Emmy-nominated animations (Flawed) and collaborated with her friend, poet and musician Tanya Davis. Their video How To Be Alone from 2010—now approaching seven million views on YouTube—is […]
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AFF by day
Thursday, Sept 11 Elephant Song features an intense psychological power struggle. This year’s Atlantic Film Festival opening night movie is a moody thriller set in a psychiatric hospital in 1966. Director Charles Biname pits Xavier Dolan against veteran Bruce Greenwood in a memorable exchange. It screens at 7pm in the Rebecca Cohn Auditorium for a […]
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TIFF Days 4-6
Due to last year’s Meryl Streep Incident, in which she did not show up for the press conference to August: Osage County (I am reasonably sure, based on her zero promotion for it, she hated that movie), I kept my expecations low for This Is Where I Leave You, an OKfamily drama starring some of […]
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TIFF Day 3
My alarm goes off way too early for a heat-exhausted Saturday. I know I want to see Men, Women & Children because it’s the new Jason Reitman, but I don’t know anything else. (I made a list of 37 movies I wanted to see before I left, based on directors, actors, Halifax availability and This […]
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TIFF Day Two
“It’s supposed to be the hottest it’s been since 1943 today,” says my courteous host as I’m packing my bag for the day. I sigh, throw a second shirt in and trudge out the door. My first doc of the week is Maura Strauch’s Sunshine Superman, which gathers amazing footage from the ’70s and ’80s […]
