Change Your Image
llawlless
Reviews
Firecrackers (2018)
Not sanitized and not trying to be what it's not.
If you're looking for a "teen movie" this is not it. Having said that, it is about teens with respect to the 2 main characters. A few reviewers said there is nothing disturbing about it and that the 2 leads don't elicit any empathy/sympathy....that mirrors the attitudes of many of the males in the movie towards them. If you don't have any empathy for them, you may want to examine your own attitudes.....which is what the director is getting us to do. Hurt people hurt people. We're all familiar with this expression.
The relationships between the young women and between Lou and her brother do show their humanity and, it is through them, along with their circumstances, that we come to feel something for them.
The filming is well done and features a fair bit of hand-held camera, tight angles, but without being overly obvious for the most part. The way it was filmed and the lighting help to convey the atmospheres of the varying moods and moments.
Don't watch it expecting some highly produced masterpiece or Hallmark production but it is a film worth watching.
And the.
Sort Of (2021)
Sort Of...hope they make more seasons!
If you're watching this in hopes that it's a snort-your-beverage kind of comedy then look further. If, however, you enjoy a good dramedy this is a great one. I think some people may have missed one of the main tenets of the show.....that we're ALL flawed.
Overall this is an engaging watch and I looked forward to each season. Most of the best shows, regardless of the genre, have some aspect that's character-driven and feature characters who you come to know and that is true for Sort Of.
The one scene that I found lacking slightly was the one where Sabi gets the nanny job. I think they were trying to illustrate that they "see" one another beyond the first impressions but it could have been fleshed out a little bit to make it read more authentically.
The show illustrates the many layers that exist between friends, family, in relationships of all types. Some people might not directly relate to some of the gender stuff/pronouns/being the child of parents who emigrated/the characters' struggles- but we can all relate to the complexities of the world we live in today and how we are all trying to find our way and I think that is the point.
Being Canadian (2015)
Cameos by some Cndn. celebs made it watchable.....just.
The premise:
Robert Cohen sets out to learn more about his country of Canada and to show the world a bit about who we are by filming as he travels from one coast to the other on a whirlwind tour.
A fine idea if you actually took the time to go to every province and territory! He skips PEI, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, the ENTIRE NORTH, and for the provinces he does visit, I didn't learn a thing. I'm a proud Canadian and yes I too am irritated and dismayed by those moments we have all had with (ignorant) people from other continents who seem to think Canada looks like the area by the wall in Game of Thrones or like the Americans (inexcusably ignorant since they're our neighbours!) who ask us stupid stuff like the woman in the laundromat I met just across the US/Canada border on a camping trip once who found out I was from Canada and asked me "Do you hunt?" Me: "No, definitely not." Her looking shocked/confused: "Well how do you get your meat???" Me, resisting an eye roll:"If I ate meat, I would just go to Safeway or somewhere." Her, now really surprised, "Wow, y'all have supermarkets up there!" Me: ..... Polite smile.... "Yeah, but just 2."
Of course in touristy shops there are the usual culprits: beavers, moose, totem poles, Mounties, maple syrup & plaid fleece, but surely a movie that's supposed to show a wider view of our multicultural country that's more "mosaic" than "melting pot" should work a little harder not to reinforce some of the stereotypes he's supposed to dispel (and yes, it could be done through comedy!)
ZERO mention of the First Nations! NOTHING about our urban culture or musicians, artists, athletes, scientists, dancers (Royal Wpg. Ballet, Cirque du Soleil, or Spandy Andy :D)
And our history didn't start with Confederation.
Okay, on occasion, there's snow in May in some parts of the country but not in Ottawa in June!
True, he's right that we do seem to have a lot of comedians and it was great to see some of them (mostly why I kept watching until the end) and I did like the theories presented about why Canadian humour is unique and what makes us funny.
Another part when he talks about what is typical Canadian food he seems to disbelieve that the answer truly is a wonderful mixture of many flavours. Poutine is the pat answer for what's a typical dish since you now find it almost anywhere in Canada in some form (Merci, Quebec!) but even in smaller cities you can often find amazing curries, weird and wonderful fusions of several types of cuisine, or great hearty home-cooked meals served in humble locations that feature foods that rival the quality from the country they originated from. We Canadians like our food!
Ok, to be fair there are a couple of funny moments, some of the comments were a bit deeper (Geddy Lee & Kim Campbell) and I wanted to like this movie, I wanted to laugh (maybe self-deprecatingly!) but I was more irritated and indignant afterwards just like some of the other reviewers from Canada.
To sum it up if someone was to determine what ice cream flavour represents Canada based upon this film they would likely choose vanilla and that is probably what they'd have said BEFORE watching it too.