Historic ‘Parasite’ Oscars win salvages a bland awards season
‘Parasite’ and Joaquin Phoenix topped headlines during Hollywood’s biggest night. The 92nd Academy Awards recognized (and snubbed) the best film achievements of the year on Sunday.
Film Review: ‘Cats’ is a lewd monstrosity that needs to be spayed
Director Tom Hooper’s adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s hit Broadway musical is a litter box full of nightmares. ‘Cats’ is the ravaged corpse of a backyard critter that Hollywood fat cats dragged in theatres. Nobel Peace Prize winner Albert Schweitzer once said, “There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and…
Film Review: ‘Parasite’ is a true cinematic masterwork
South Korean director Bong Joon-ho satirizes class warfare in his Cannes Film Festival-winning black comedy. ‘Parasite’ is set to sweep the Best Foreign Language Picture category in the upcoming awards season. Bong Joon-ho writes and directs his films similarly to how an architect blueprints a building—with devotion to structure and precision. Among film industry circles,…
Film Review: Ad Astra (2019)
Buckle up. It’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for—Brad Pitt is going to space. Ad Astra finds Major Roy McBride (Brad Pitt) thrust into most distant family dispute ever, spanning light years across the planetary system. McBride gets pulled from his Space Command job to pursue a lost project (called the Lima Project) that…
Red Sparrow: Review
Red Sparrow weaves the tale of a ballerina turned Russian spy (Jennifer Lawrence, The Hunger Games) who falls in love in with an American agent (Joel Edgerton, Bright) and considers becoming a double agent. This film holds nothing back in showing how far Dominika, Lawrence’s character, will go to complete a mission as a Sparrow,…
Netflix’s “3%”: Review
3% is Netflix’s first venture into a Portuguese-language original series, and the second non-English show to grace their platform. The dystopian series enters a future where there is a strict separation between elite (those on the Offshore) and those who live in poverty (on the Inland). Every year, all 20 year olds from the Inland…
The Post: Review
The Post is a film that places a spotlight on the journalists of the Washington Post and New York Times who published the Pentagon Papers, a top-secret study on the United States involvement in Vietnam during the Vietnam War. The historical drama follows the first female newspaper publisher, played by Meryl Streep, alongside her trusted…
Shape of Water: Review
My friend is a huge fan of Guillermo del Toro’s work, especially with the classic Pan’s Labyrinth. So she naturally had really high expectations. I just wanted to see a unique creepy film. Both of us left more than a little bit disappointed. If anything, we actually left laughing; shocked and amused by just how…
VIFF 2017: Interview with Christopher Auchter
The Mountain of SGaana, an award-winning short film based on a Haida story, weaves a magical tale of a woman who goes on an adventure to save her loved one who was captured by a killer whale and taken to the supernatural world. Christopher Auchter, director of The Mountain of SGaana, gave an insightful interview…
VIFF 2017: Interview with Sam Voutas
Author: Selenna Ho What is your personal connection with the plot of the film? It’s a very personal film, really. First off, I was becoming a dad when I was writing the screenplay, which is something the film explores a lot, and second it’s about things I went through in my own childhood. Living…
VIFF 2017: Never Steady, Never Still
Thank you to the 2017 Vancouver International Film Festival for inviting LINK magazine writers out to see this year’s films Never Steady, Never Still dir. Kathleen Hepburn The constant throughout the film is honesty, in every aspect. Kathleen Hepburn’s Never Steady, Never Still is a film about isolation, feeling isolated from the environment, and from…
VIFF 2017: Borg vs. McEnroe
Review by Laura Johnston Borg vs. McEnroe dir. Janus Metz Pedersen Borg vs. McEnroe is the perfect sports film for people who may not usually gravitate towards sports films, and its value all comes down to the cinematography of the final tennis match. Janus Metz’ film Borg vs. McEnroe features a talented cast including Shia…