Created by an Oscar-winning duo, Animal Behaviour is one of the finest animated short films that anyone will see in all of 2018. Writers-directors-animators Alison Snowden and David Fine won an Oscar for Bob’s Birthday back in 1995. This was also the last time the two filmmakers made any kind of theatrical short. They’re back over 20 years later with a film revolving around a group therapy session. What makes this therapy session so fun and…
"TIFF 2018: Animal Behaviour"Month: September 2018
Boy Erased is able to broach conversion therapy with such sincerity, emotional drama, and gripping performances from its cast. The film starts as Jared Eamons (Lucas Hedges) is sent for a 12-day assessment at Love in Action after a college counselor calls his parents. It’s not a choice he made in as much as his father, Baptist pastor Marshall Eamons (Russell Crowe), did. Russell Crowe is able to disappear into the role of the pastor to…
"TIFF 2018: Boy Erased Adds to the Conversation"
Where Hands Touch is a coming of age film that brings to light the little known stories about biracial children living in Germany during World War 2. Despite having a German-sounding name, Leyna (Amandla Stenberg) is not your typical German girl. The teenager is the daughter of a white German mom, Kerstin (Abbie Cornish), and a black African father. This came as a result of the French following World War 1. Because Leyna is biracial,…
"TIFF 2018: Where Hands Touch"
Carmine Street Guitars follows custom guitar-maker Rick Kelly and apprentice Cindy Hulej for a week in this Greenwich Village-set documentary. Kelly and Hulej have been building custom-made guitars by hand out of wood taken from New York buildings. Not just any New York buildings mind you but historic ones. To give you an idea of what Kelly means to the music industry, his clientele includes musicians like Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, Patti Smith, and more. Kelly is…
"TIFF 2018: Carmine Street Guitars"
A trio of recently widowed women in the city of Chicago follow in their husbands’ footsteps by coming together in Widows. The film has a few things going for it. It’s not just tackling the women coming together and forming a heist of their own a la Ocean’s Eight but there’s also some political commentary. The political commentary comes by way of how traditional Chicago politics are run. We see this in how the Mulligan family…
"TIFF 2018: Widows"
Ben is Back delivers with a strong focus on a family as they welcome back their drug-addicted son home for the holidays. There’s a strong emotional reaction to be had as one watches Holly Burns (Julia Roberts) as her eldest son, Ben (Lucas Hedges) comes home for the holidays. As much as she hopes for the best as he makes a surprise appearance, she requires some pre-conditions for his return. Even if it’s just for…
"TIFF 2018: Ben is Back"
The Oscar-winning pair of Alison Snowden and David Fine took time to talk to Solzy at the Movies about their newest theatrical short film, Animal Behaviour. Congrats on Animal Behaviour being selected for TIFF! How much of an honor is it to hold the North American premiere of the short film at the festival? David Fine: Well, it’s a huge honour. TIFF is one of the most prestigious film festivals and they don’t accept many animated shorts,…
"TIFF 2018: Alison Snowden and David Fine talk Animal Behaviour"
Freaks gets off an running thanks to a grounded story and standout performance from newcomer Lexy Kolker. Seven-year-old Chloe (Lexy Kolker) is ordered by her dad, Henry (Emile Hirsch) to remain locked in their decrepit home. Her dad thinks he is doing what’s best for her. The reality couldn’t be further from the truth. She’s not allowed outside. As for her dad, we don’t really know what’s going on with him. He tells Chloe that…
"TIFF 2018: Freaks – A Psychological Thriller"
Paying homage to The Greatest, Float Like A Butterfly is grounded through the relationship between a father and daughter living in a rural area in Ireland. At first glance, the Irish drama looks like it could be just another sports movie. Michael (Dara Devaney) is raising his daughter, Frances (Hazel Doupe as an adolescent), to be a fighter at a young age. Things changed when he arrested and sent away to prison for a good…
"TIFF 2018: Float Like A Butterfly"
Beautiful Boy is a wonderfully acted film showing that Timothée Chalomet’s Oscar-nominated performance from last year was not a fluke. As wonderfully acted as the Felix van Groeningen film may be, the story of father-and-son, David (Steve Carell) and Nic Sheff (Timothée Chalamet), is such a sad one. When we first meet David, he’s in some sort of office looking to learn more about crystal meth. This is because his son, Nick, is an alcoholic and…
"TIFF 2018: Beautiful Boy – A Wonderfully Acted Film"