TIFF21 REVIEW: Encounter [2021]

Everything I do is to protect you. A meteorite falling to Earth disintegrates into stardust that subsequently permeates everything it touches. It hits the soil, enters a bug, is consumed again, and then injected into human flesh by a mosquito while feeding on a microscopic tardigrade about to explode. This is the computer-generated prologue to Michael Pearce‘s Encounter that sets the table for its forthcoming struggle between man and neurological parasite. Has he and co-writer Joe Barton therefore shown that their protagonist has suddenly been infected while sleeping? Malik Khan…

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REVIEW: The Way Back [2020]

I don’t think I can help you. This isn’t a sports movie. While a lot of similar films (troubled adult is asked to coach a bunch of troubled kids en route to everyone finding an identity and purpose they couldn’t before) do try to distance themselves from that stigma, The Way Back seems intentionally built upon this separation. When all is said and done, there’s barely any basketball on-screen at all besides close-ups showing a full press defense and practices showing player strengths and weaknesses. The bulk of the games…

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REVIEW: Blindspotting [2018]

To stare is to see. Are we more than what others believe us to be? This question is unanswerable since perception is king and powerful enough to transform your identity. After all, how many times can you be blamed for something you didn’t or won’t do before you break and think you might as well? If you’re to be judged as that which others presume you to be, why not earn their ire? Why not lean into the stereotype or slander or racism? Being better and proving people wrong is…

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REVIEW: Satellite of Love [2013]

“This is about friendship … and drinking” Now this was a surprise. Knowing absolutely nothing about Satellite of Love before sitting down to watch it, an opening carnival scene with the trio of Samuel (Nathan Phillips), Blake (Zachary Knighton), and Catherine (Shannon Lucio) left me in a quizzical state of being. Spindrift‘s “Red Reflection” was playing its slow guitar against the camera’s snaking journey through an amusement park promenade towards the group converged at a One-Shot Wins basketball hoop. High on some form of illicit drugs, Cat hangs off Sam’s…

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