I appear on “CTV News at 6” with anchor Andria Case to talk about the biopic “Michael,” the action thriller “Fuze” and the grounded fairy tale “The Bearded Girl.”
Watch the whole thing HERE! (Starts at 35:48)
I join “CTV News Toronto at Five” with anchor Zuraidah Alman to talk about new movies in theatres including the biopic “Michael,” the grounded fairy tale “The Bearded Girl” and the action thriller “Fuze.”
Watch the whole thing HERE! (Starts at 12:39)
I join CTV Atlantic’s Todd Battis to talk about the east coast crime drama “Little Lorraine,” the biopic “Michael” and the grounded fairy tale “The Bearded Girl.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
I join CTV NewsChannel anchor Renee Rogers to talk about the new releases in theatres, including the biopic “Michael,” the grounded fairy tale “The Bearded Girl” and the action thriller “Fuze.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
I sit in on the CFRA Ottawa morning show with host Bill Carroll to talk about the new movies coming to theatres including the biopic “Michael,” the grounded fairy tale “The Bearded Girl” and the action thriller “Fuze.”
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
Fast reviews for busy people! Watch as I review three movies in less time than it takes to make your bed. Have a look as I race against the clock to tell you about the biopic “Michael,” the grounded fairy tale “The Bearded Girl” and the action thriller “Fuze.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
SYNOPSIS: The story of a young woman looking to make a break from family traditions, “The Bearded Girl” is a coming-of-age tale about rejecting conformity while finding a place in the world.
CAST: Anwen O’Driscoll, Jessica Paré, Skylar Radzion. Directed by Jody Wilson.
REVIEW: Charmingly off kilter, “The Bearded Girl” sees Anwen O’Driscoll as 88th-generation bearded woman Cleo Nightingale. Like her mother, the strong-willed Lady Andre (Jessica Paré), and all the women in her family, she’s destined to become a sword-swallowing circus performer and take over the reins of the family carnival.
“People need leaders,” Lady Andre tells her. “And like it or not, you’re the next one in line.”
Trouble is, Cleo feels lost. “I don’t feel right,” she says. Her mother isn’t interested in her ideas to modernize their show, and she’s tired of feeling like a “freak.” Rebelling against her family’s traditions, she shaves her beard, leaves the circus and her mother behind in search of a “normal” life.
“Do you think it’s going to be easier out there,” Lady Andre asks. “That you’ll be able to find yourself a new life?”
As Cleo navigates life outside the family and her first romance with a young guy named Blaze (Keenan Tracey), her absence puts the circus and everything her mother has worked for in jeopardy.
Set in a heightened world that feels separated from real life by 180 degrees, “The Bearded Girl” is a fairy tale that deals with real life issues of self-acceptance, legacy and rebellion in delightful, heartfelt ways. But, despite the unusual backdrop, it feels grounded because instead of playing up the absurdity of a community of bearded women living and working in their own carnival compound, it digs into relatable issues.
As Cleo attempts to make her mark in the world, she comes to realize that embracing who she really is will be the ticket to happiness. It’s a lovely message in a movie that accentuates living life on your own terms.
“The Bearded Girl” isn’t a movie for the whole family, there’s some language and Lady Andre smokes up a storm, but as young-adult-and-up entertainment, it has its own unique voice and low-key appeal.
“You Can Live Forever,” a new queer romance set against the backdrop of a Jehovah’s Witness community, is a restrained, poignant look at teenage love.
Set in the early 1990s, the story focusses on transplanted Thunder Bay teenager Jaime (Anwen O’Driscoll). She’s a typical teen of the time, with a taste for getting high, movies, Siouxie and the Banshees T-shirts and playing video games. She’s also gay, but hasn’t told anyone in her family.
Following her father’s sudden heart attack and her distraught mother’s subsequent nervous breakdown, she’s sent to live with her Aunt Beth (Liane Balaban) and Uncle Jean-Francois (Antoine Yared) at a Jehovah’s Witness community in Quebec’s Saguenay region.
Suffering claustrophobia within the tightly-knit community, Jamie feels repressed, like an outsider at the Kingdom Hall meetings she is forced to attend—”What am I supposed to do?” she asks. “Nobody wants me here.”—until she meets Marike (June Laporte).
There are several paths the low-key, deliberately-paced “You Can Live Forever” could have walked, but it chooses warmth and empathy over everything else. Co-directors Sarah Watts—who grew up in a Jehovah’s Witness community—and Mark Slutsky, take pains to paint a portrait of life inside the religious community, but from a thoughtful, not judgemental point of view. Ditto the relationship at the center of the movie. Their bond is taken seriously, not simply a high school fling.
It is not a complicated story but it is a delicate one, handled respectfully by Watts and Slutsky, who also wrote the script. The community’s beliefs are recognised in a story that sees Jamie disagree with her family’s dogmas, but still empathize with them as people. It is a tricky balance, and the way Jamie accepts Marike’s religious background is a tangible sign of the deep affection she has for her.
“You Can Live Forever” pays careful attention to the characters to avoid falling into stereotypes or hitting inauthentic notes. It is a little too methodical in its approach, but the emotional impact of this story of star-crossed lovers is hard to deny.
