29th Atlantic Film Festival

[29th Atlantic Film Festival]

An immigrant's story of a Palestinian single mom and her teenage son arrive in rural Illinois to escape a life of oppression, only to face the fallout from America's war on Iraq.

Wow, as heavy as the synopsis sounds, this is one of the most uplifting movies I've seen all year. Mona and her family all face hardships adjusting to life and prejudice in America, from schoolyard bullying to prejudicial patients. Through all the negatives, they manage to pull through and persevere as a family.

Walking into Amreeka, it sounded like a movie I'd seen plenty of times. What makes it succeed is Nisreen Faour in the starring role as Mona - she's bursting with so much energy, innocence, and sincerity that it is impossible not to like her. Highly recommended and a lot of fun to watch

[29th Atlantic Film Festival]

A ski vacation turns horrific for a group of teenagers, as they find themselves confronted by an unimaginable menace: Nazi zombies.

Wow, I haven't laughed this hard at a film in ages. Destined to be a cult classic in the vein of Army of Darkness - Dead Snow is every bit as good as that film. This was the late night show at the Oxford in Halifax and the entire theatre was laughing and cheering for the entire 90 minutes. Highly recommended.

[29th Atlantic Film Festival]

It's the year 2019, vampires have taken over the world, and are now starving due to culling the human population. Vampire civilization is racing against the clock to find safe, synthesized blood, while a small group of humans is racing to discover something else: a cure for vampirism.

Firmly entrenched in the "so bad its good" category of films. Vampire hearts must be filled with kerosene, since they explode on contact with a stake. Many absolutely ridiculous and cliche scenes at play, but it works; thanks in large part to the incredible imagination at work in crafting the vampire civilization, and a strong performance by Ethan Hawke.

[29th Atlantic Film Festival]

Heath Ledger's final film. Dr. Parnassus made a deal with the devil to be immortal. Now he must beat the devil to winning 5 souls in order to save his daughter, through the use of his mirror that transports to a user's imagination.

This might be a case of overly lofty expectations. No joke, the film completely shifts plot lines every 15 minutes. Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, and Jude Law fill in for Heath Ledger in the Imaginarium scenes, due to Ledger's untimely death. Unfortunately, each actor gives their own spin to the character and it all turns into a mess. I'm sure there was a much better film at work here before Heath died, and it's unfortunate that it turned out as it did. I must point out, the CGI in the Imaginarium is just atrocious.

On the plus side, the circus troupe is an entertaining bunch, and the first half hour leads you to believe you're in for a fun film. I just wish it could deliver.

[29th Atlantic Film Festival]

A documentary on the pollution caused my collection oil from the tar sands in Alberta. Informative but dry.

[29th Atlantic Film Festival]

What was enjoyable about this was the historical aspect of the film; specifically the costumes and learning about Keats' life. Cornish and Schneider also did an excellent job as the love interest Fanny Brawne and the poet Charles Brown.

Alas, Ben Whishaw is pretty underwhelming in the starring role as John Keats. Also, this rewrites the book on "methodical film making". Prepare for many, many scenes involving poetry reading, and Keats sitting by himself (or with Fanny) for three minutes on end. I understand that is what Campion was going for, but it certainly doesn't make for an enthralling film. Clocks in at a very long two hours.

[29th Atlantic Film Festival]

A look at the cult popularity of the "worst film of all time", Troll 2, and what happened to all of the film's actors.

Starts out fun, but just ends up depressing. Clocks in at 93 minutes and I will not lie, it ends up being a very long 93 minutes. Needed to be 20-30 minutes shorter. Watching the past actors ham it up at sold out screenings was entertaining. Watching them get humiliated and ignored at conventions, was not. Basically - when the actors are in on the joke, it's a lot of fun. When they're the butt of the joke, not so much.

I have a bone to pick with director Michael Stephenson, who blatantly exploits Margo Prey's personal issues/ psychological condition for kicks during a visit to her home. It was completely unnecessary and left a foul taste in my mouth. He had no business showing that footage.