On the night of Sept. 21, the Arts West Wing hosted a National Film Board screening reminding tearful students of the hardships that Canada’s indigenous population continues to face today. As part of its 7th annual Indigenous Awareness Week, McGill’s Indigenous Student Alliance (ISA) screened The Road Forward (2017), a[Read More…]
Film and TV
“Dunkirk” is director Christopher Nolan’s most immersive work to date
Since his first film Following (1998), Christopher Nolan has proven himself to be one of the most ambitious directors of his generation. Many of Nolan’s films deal with complicated time structuring, turning his scripts into labyrinthine puzzles to be decoded, such as the amnesic haze of Memento (2000), Inception’s (2010) layered dreamscapes,[Read More…]
Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA live-scores classic kung fu film
At the Rialto Theatre, on Friday, Sept. 15, Wu-Tang Clan frontman RZA hovered over his computer, smiling and quietly conversing with the DJ beside him. The two were positioned almost offstage that afternoon, preparing to provide a live-scoring of the 1978 kung fu movie The 36th Chamber of Shaolin. The[Read More…]
“Kuso”: A film about bodily substances that has no substance
The magic of cinema lies in projected images’ power to profoundly move us. Everybody knows what it feels like to laugh at Ghostbusters (1984), or to cry at Marley & Me (2008). Kuso, the new film directed by the electronic musician Flying Lotus, demonstrates the power of movies to move[Read More…]
“It: Chapter One” tugs at the heartstrings but fails to terrify
It had been in “development hell” since 2009, cycling through a plethora of directors, writers, and stars. Based on the novel by Stephen King, and originally adapted into a 1990 miniseries, the feature film incarnation was finally released as the sophomore effort of director Andy Muschietti on Sept. 8. It[Read More…]
First Impressions: Safdie Brothers’ ‘Good Time’ not the best of times
Leo Stillinger: At the beginning of the Safdie brothers’ (Daddy Longlegs (2009), Heaven Knows What (2014)) new feature-length film Good Time, two brothers have just robbed a bank. One asks the other: “Are you feelin’ this?” Good Time is not a good movie, but perhaps it can be justified in[Read More…]
‘American Horror Story: Cult’ falls flat
Shock value has always been a specialty of American Horror Story (AHS) creators Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk. Continuously pushing the limits of cable television censorship, FX’s AHS has been a cult favourite for six seasons. Structured as an anthology, the series takes a different horror premise with each iteration,[Read More…]
‘Baby Driver’ keeps audiences on their toes
Edgar Wright has made a career out of directing stylish comedies with a uniquely vibrant soundtrack, including Shawn of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. This makes Baby Driver —a quirky action-comedy about a getaway driver who blasts music to drown out his tinnitus— the perfect[Read More…]
The Lost City of Z – Review
True historical epics have been lacking in recent years, as many of the latest film attempts have fallen flat (Ben Hur, King Arthur). Director James Gray’s breathtaking new film The Lost City of Z, however, proves that the genre still has much potential. The story, which spans more than 20[Read More…]
A roundtable discussion on the Girls finale
HBO’s Girls aired for the last time on April 16. The series finale, titled “Latching” which garnered a wide array of reactions from film and TV critics, featured main character Hannah Horvath (Lena Dunham) in the early stages of motherhood, assisted by her best friend Marnie Michaels (Allison Williams). In[Read More…]
