I feel so long past my days of taking in sixty-one films like I did during my first time at the festival as I was free and clear to watch movies twenty-four seven for the over two-week festival plus the prep time beforehand and now I sit at just ten movies total to wrap up …
It’s the greatest time of the year in the lower mainland and it definitely isn’t Christmas or at least for the non-movie-hungry public. Yes, it is the glory of the Vancouver International Film Festival, a place where I have had the most fun in my entire life but, sadly, I am unable to attend in …
Mogul Mowgli – Let’s just make it al clear at the get-go. If I see Riz Ahmed’s name attached to a film I immediately become very interested in it because he is one of the best emerging talents of this generation and the projects he picks are always so fascinating. This new film feels very closely …
Black Bear – Well, we finally got to the movie in the festival where once the credits rolled I had a confused look on my face and went “huh?” It was bound to happen but even though it looks like I’m throwing a bit of shade at this film I am really not as the direction …
Falling – Viggo Mortensen makes his directorial debut with this drama that he wrote and starred in as well and I know awards season is going to be weird this year but if both he and his other star Lance Henriksen aren’t even mentioned during it, well, that’s going to be a serious indictment on …
Servants – Another black and white film, my second of the festival, proving again that this format has such an immediate ominous tone that given the right circumstances makes you feel uneasy and on edge. This film puts you in that feeling right away, set in 1980, following Michal and Juraj, two students at a theological …
There Is No Evil – Well, I guess I wanted to start my festival off with something pretty heavy and I found it in this Iranian film, co-produced by Germany and the Czech Republic. Written and directed by Mohammad Rasoulof and the winner of the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival earlier this year, this …
The time is upon us to get all immersed in two weeks’ worth of movies as the Vancouver International Film Festival kicks off which will be my fifth year covering it. Obviously it’s very different this year with the COVID-19 pandemic still in effect so for the most part we’re going virtual with a few …
Boyz In The Wood -Nothing makes me happier than a horror-comedy out of the United Kingdom with chavs as the lead stars. For those who don’t know, chav is a derogatory term for teens who dress in Adidas or Nike gear, have a filthy mouth and terrible attitude and are always bumming smokes of people, so …
Paradise Hills – When this movie started out I was fully on board, a story following a girl played by Emma Roberts who wakes up on an island where girls are being reformed in a boarding school that looks more like a futuristic spa. What are they being prepared for and what happens to them …
Steve Stebbing 