Holiday Gift Guide 2017: How to Survive Another Insane Year Edition
The way is dark, but there’s always light, if you know where to look.
Author: Luke Sneyd
Luke Sneyd is a writer and musician. When he isn't doing film reviews for BiffBamPop, you can bet he's gaming, or following one of his many tech obsessions. The guitarist for Toronto electro-rockers Mountain Mama in the early 2000s, Luke went solo releasing All of Us Cities (2007) and Salvo (2009). His song "The Prisoner" earned him a finalist in the Great Canadian Band Challenge in 2007. He founded Charge of the Light Brigade in 2010, releasing The Defiant Ones the following year. As a writer, he's penned and produced several short films, and with Paul Thompson wrote a zombie TV-series called Grave New World. The unproduced pilot for GNW won first place from the Page International Screenwriting awards, as well as prizes from Slamdance and the Cloud Creek People's Pilot Competition. Then this other zombie show came along. You can find links to all Luke's projects at http://about.me/lukesneyd.
Takashi Miike’s ‘Blade of the Immortal’ slices and dices, but it could use a trim
Takashi Miike’s been one of the biggest shock jockeys of Japanese cinema for eons. Ichi the Killer (2001) was a high-splatter mark for lovers of extreme gore, and Miike’s output has … Continue reading Takashi Miike’s ‘Blade of the Immortal’ slices and dices, but it could use a trim
‘Mudbound’ is a fascinating, moving film
Mudbound is a fascinating, moving film from director Dee Rees. Set in the deep south during the forties, this adaptation of Hillary Jordan’s 2008 bestseller is deeply affecting but not … Continue reading ‘Mudbound’ is a fascinating, moving film
Tarkovsky’s Trance: TIFF Retro Explores the Work of an Austere Master
Just seven. Seven features over twenty-four years. That’s the sum of Andrei Tarkovsky’s output. Each one is a starkly entrancing masterpiece, evidencing a unique metaphysical vision. They’re about as far … Continue reading Tarkovsky’s Trance: TIFF Retro Explores the Work of an Austere Master
God’s Own Country
Francis Lee’s debut feature God’s Own Country finds its soul in the rugged English countryside, bleak and affecting. Getting raves on the indie circuit, it’s a stark romance about a … Continue reading God’s Own Country
The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)
Noah Baumbach knows families. Not feel-good crap or five-hankie manipulated drama. Baumbach families are a lot like the ones we share, with real awkwardness, back-handed affection and incidental trauma wound … Continue reading The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)
TIFF Leans Into Blade Runner 2049 Hype with High Concept: The Films of Denis Villeneuve
Next week, Blade Runner 2049 releases to immense hype, sans the original’s helmer Ridley Scott. That this is a good thing is almost undeniable, after Scott’s belaboured Alien sequels Prometheus and Alien: Covenant. Instead, fans … Continue reading TIFF Leans Into Blade Runner 2049 Hype with High Concept: The Films of Denis Villeneuve
‘Battle of the Sexes’: Game Comedy Can’t Find a Winning Formula
It’s incredible to think the real life Battle of the Sexes tennis match happened at all. Putting world number one woman tennis player Billie Jean King up against fifty-five-year-old former … Continue reading ‘Battle of the Sexes’: Game Comedy Can’t Find a Winning Formula
Frank’s Back, Baby: The Punisher Trailer Drops
Looks like somebody’s been watching John Wick. And taking notes. The trailer for Netflix’s The Punisher dropped yesterday, and it looks perfectly brutal. (The full mouthful is Netflix Original Series Marvel’s The … Continue reading Frank’s Back, Baby: The Punisher Trailer Drops
TIFF 2017: Beast
Beast wasn’t in my original TIFF plans. Extremely limited press screenings forced me to blow up my schedule twice, but I saw the main things I wanted. Beast was a pick-up, … Continue reading TIFF 2017: Beast
TIFF 2017: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Martin McDonagh’s likes his comedies like his coffee: black. Actually, I have no idea how McDonagh takes his coffee, if he takes it at all. But boy does he have … Continue reading TIFF 2017: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
TIFF 2017: The Shape of Water PLUS Red Band Trailer
The Shape of Water is, ah, shaping up to be the film of the year. Guillermo del Toro’s latest brilliant film just won the top prize, the Golden Lion, at … Continue reading TIFF 2017: The Shape of Water PLUS Red Band Trailer