On Screen

Smart reviews for the visually obsessed. On Screen features film reviews and festival coverage, spotlighting cinematic craft, storytelling and standout performances.

  • Review: ‘McFarland’ is strong from start to finish (Includes first-hand account)

    Underdog stories are always so appealing. Regardless of the sport or task, watching someone overcome various obstacles to prove wrong their peers and all the naysayers they’ve ever encountered can be quite inspiring. If the film is done right, the audience experiences every up and down with the character(s), and shares in their triumph when they’ve finally achieved their goal. McFarland (a.k.a. McFarland, USA) is done right.

  • Review: ‘What We Do in the Shadows’ is bloody clever (Includes first-hand account)

    The mockumentary is a wonderful way to shine a spotlight on important events or issues, but it also has the potential to be incredibly entertaining when applied to less serious or even unrealistic subjects. Giving an authentic quality to an absurd storyline can be very satisfying. In the case of What We Do in the Shadows, the film crew is chronicling the lives of a group of older vampires who share a flat in New Zealand.

  • Review: ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ focuses on one conventional tone (Includes first-hand account)

    Probably one of the most hotly anticipated Valentine’s weekend releases in history, just the presale tickets for Fifty Shades of Grey were enough to green light its two sequels and guarantee the trilogy would be completed on screen. Even the majority of early reviews had a positive slant, which undoubtedly gave Universal Pictures the confidence to commit to producing two more golden eggs. But the book had many critics — and for good reason — so how does the film improve on such a hot mess?

  • Review: ‘Seventh Son’ not a sign of superiority (Includes first-hand account)

    Medieval stories are filled with magic and monsters that only the most noble of men can defeat. Knights, legacies and/or those with a pure heart are called upon to fight the evil that haunts a land and — because as G.K. Chesterton said, “… Fairy tales tell children that dragons can be killed,” — they are almost always triumphant. This is the world in which Seventh Son exists.

  • Review: Hard-hitting documentary shorts make Oscar’s nominee list (Includes first-hand account)

    Documentaries are filmmakers’ opportunity to share a piece of history or personal journey with the world in a compelling and tangible manner. Some stories don’t require an hour or more to convey its significance, which is where the documentary short serves its purpose. It’s unfortunate this type of filmmaking is so often utilized to tell such grave stories, but all of this year’s Oscar nominees for the category skilfully deal with death, illness or hardship.

  • Review: Oscar-nominated Animated shorts are no small matter (Includes first-hand account)

    The Oscar-nominated animated short films range from light-hearted comedy to heartrending allegory. Some filmmakers tell tender tales that benefit from the shortened style, while others use it to deliver vital commentary on societal issues. Even the animation types vary from hand-drawn to computer-generated. But each is independently exceptional and deserving of the Academy’s recognition.

  • Review: ‘Wild Card’ is dreadfully undefined (Includes first-hand account)

    Las Vegas is a city full of people who have interesting stories of sorrow and success. Winners turn to losers and vice versa at the roll of the dice. And then there’s the seedier underbelly that preys on visitors who don’t know what to look for or know exactly what they want. In Wild Card the main character treads between worlds, running a legitimate protection business and getting his hands dirty when the situation calls for it.

  • Review: ‘Black or White’ has the uncomfortable conversations (Includes first-hand account)

    Preliminary judgement based on physical traits is virtually engrained in our psyche. When you look at someone, the first thing you notice is their physique, desirability and/or skin colour. No level of education can reverse this process, but as a character in this film suggests, “What matters is your second, third and fourth thought.” Race relations are at the centre of Black or White, but it earnestly explores covert prejudices that many are hesitant to admit and are difficult to eradicate.

  • Review: ‘A Most Violent Year’ is most excellent (Includes first-hand account)

    In 1981, violent crimes in New York reached an all-time high. Urban decay led to an increase in robberies and, consequently, violent crimes. It became dangerous to earn an honest living, but that didn’t stop people from trying. In A Most Violent Year, a business owner refuses to sink to the lows of his competitors even though his honour is slowly becoming his downfall.

  • Review: ‘A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night’ is a new kind of vampire story (Includes first-hand account)

    It would seem each generation grows up with a different type of vampire. For an older cohort, Bela Lugosi’s Dracula is the definitive model. A few decades later, the romantic and tormented immortals of Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles is the ultimate representation. Skip ahead to more recent depictions and the dominant bloodsuckers go to high school and sparkle in the sunlight, or manage fetish clubs while lusting after local waitresses. Inevitably these interpretations will inform the future versions of vampires. For now we can be thankful that the influences of recent years are not yet visible. In Ana Lily Amirpour’s A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, her inspiration can found in the more amorous variety of vampire.

  • Review: Jennifer Aniston’s ‘Oscar snub’ for ‘Cake’ may not be unwarranted (Includes first-hand account)

    When horrible things happen to some people, their chief coping mechanism is to shut down and shut everyone out. When that terrible thing is prolonged with no end in sight, that bitterness settles in and appears equally endless. In Cake, a venomous woman suffering from chronic pain finally sees the light at the end of the tunnel when someone she knows dies by suicide.