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 dark comedy “The Christophers,” the east coast crime drama “Little Lorraine” and the Montreal coming-of-age “Mile End Kicks.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
I join CTV NewsChannel anchor Scott Hirsch to talk about the recently announced “Top Gun 3” and new releases in theatres, including the dark comedy “The Christophers,” the east coast crime drama “Little Lorraine,” the documentary “Lorne” and the Montreal coming-of-age “Mile End Kicks.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
SYNOPSIS: In “Mile End Kicks,” a new coming of age rom com now playing in theatres, Barbie Ferreira plays a music critic who moves to Montreal in search of inspiration to write a new book but finds much more than she bargained for.
CAST: Barbie Ferreira, Devon Bostick, Stanley Simons, Juliette Gariépy, Jay Baruchel, Robert Naylor, Emily Lê. Directed by Chandler Levack.
REVIEW: If “Almost Famous” was an indie-flavored rom com it might look something like “Mile End Kicks,” the newest film from “I Like Movies” director Chandler Lavack.
Barbie Ferreira is 22-year-old Grace, a Toronto music critic who moves to Montreal for inspiration as she works on her latest project, a 33 1/3 book about Alanis Morissette’s album “Jagged Little Pill.”
Working on the book takes a backseat to her interest in Quebec’s indie rock scene. Specifically, she’s interested in Bone Patrol, a quirky band fronted by the charismatic but insufferable Chevy (Stanley Simons). “Charles Manson’s solo material is a big influence on me,” he says.
Also in the band is the socially awkward Archie (Devon Bostick), a sweet-natured but celibate guitarist who has a crush on the self-involved Grace despite her attraction to the flashier Chevy.
Over the summer Grace navigates the chaos of love vs. lust and young adulthood all set to a banging soundtrack with new songs courtesy of the Montreal band TOPS and needle drops from Joanna Newsom, Alanis Morissette and Avril Lavigne.
“Mile End Kicks” is a romantic coming-of-age story that captures the messiness of the realities of growing up.
Ferreira, best known for her role as Kat Hernandez in the HBO series “Euphoria,” brings humor, charm and relatability to Grace, even when she’s being driven to selfishness by her own insecurities. It’s a career best performance that does something very difficult. It takes a character to the edge of unlikability but never allows her to topple over the edge.
Bostick also stands out, finding the sweet spot between charm and dorkiness. He’s the only character here you’ll root for, and, as the only character who treats Grace with respect, he’s a perfect foil for Simons’s narcissism.
“Mile End Kicks,” with nicely observed details of its characters and the scene they inhabit—like club goers snorting cocaine off a toilet seat in the club—is as funky and cool as the famous Montreal neighborhood that serves as its backdrop.
“Ghost Town Anthology” feels like an episode of “The Twilight Zone” that Rod Serling didn’t get to make. Set in the tiny fictional Quebecois town of Irenee-les-Neiges, it’s a story about a tragedy that mixes the physical and metaphysical.
Irenee-les-Neiges is a wind swept town of just 215 people. Austere and unwelcoming, the snow bound town has been hit hard by a souring economy. It’s the kind of place where everyone knows everyone’s business so when a popular 21-year-old hockey player Simon Dubé kills himself in a rather dramatic fashion, it is the talk of the town.
Most directly impacted are his older brother Jimmy (Robert Naylor) and parents Gisele (Josee Deschenes) and father Romuald (Jean-Michel Anctil). Jimmy skips through most of the five stages of grief, vacillating between two, anger and depression, while his devastated mother and father search (sometimes literally) for answers. Soon ghosts from the past, including Simon, appear in town as though they had never left. “If you think about it,” says Richard (Normand Carrière), “they’re like us, in a way.”
Written and directed by Denis Côte and based on a novel by Montrealer Laurence Olivier, “Ghost Town Anthology” (“Répertoire des villes disparues”) is not a horror film. There are unsettling moments but the tone is more mournful.
Côte does an admirable job of creating an atmosphere of unease, using handheld cameras and a grainy film stock that emphasizes the stark nature of life in Irenee-les-Neiges.
“Ghost Town Anthology,” in French with English subtitles, is a slow burn that builds to a disquieting climax. These ghosts are not malevolent; they are nostalgia, reminders of what once was. Simon and the others may or may not be real but this isn’t their story. This is a story of the people living in a forgotten place in a changing world thinking about what they have lost, of appraising their past and facing an uncertain future.
