So I was at the Atlantic International Film Festival (TIFF's loser little brother) and saw some films. I unfortunately missed Wrong Husband and Mile End Kicks for reasons but they'll be out somewhere at some point (at least the latter).
A Canadian film about a pair of Mi'kmaq brothers who have to handle family trauma. I was really looking forward to seeing some films that highlight indigenous culture, but unfortunately this wasn't good. The plot was disjointed yet predictable, and the acting and cinematography weren't very good. Some good costume design.
A ~3 hour cinematic essay (you know, like on YouTube) about video stores and their portrayal in films and television. All the footage is directly from films/TV. I'm fairly young so I have only been to the video store a handful of times, but I thought it was good and was thought provoking at times.
Made me reflect on: modern consumption of movies, the extinction of third places and physical common places in general in the modern world and the way places are portrayed in real life as opposed to film (especially contemporary vs retroactive depiction). Also, bit ironic to have a film in a dead genre (cinematic essays) about a dead place (don't you think?).
Watched a bunch of these, the best was probably Le Huard, a French-Canadian short about a friend who gets jealous when her friend crushes on someone.
I saw people writing that they saw the mystery resolution coming from miles away, but I thought it was not that expected (you can see it coming but only a bit before). Plot-wise it was a bit lacking (a few logical jumps and things that don't quite make sense) but the acting and the mood were very good. Couple of hearty laughs too.
I don't know shit about the New Wave but I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was unexpectedly lighthearted and it took a bit of time to wrap my head around who's who (the film throws a bunch of characters that don't really matter for the film at the beginning then quickly tosses them away) but it gets going quickly and it is quite fun.
Though I would have liked it to say something about why Godard's films were good. Also Zoey Deutch's American accent (as Jean Seberg) was very annoying (probably on purpose but nevertheless).
A film by Matt Johnson (Blackberry, The Dirties) and a continuation of Nirvanna the Band the Show the TV series (and the web-series before it).
Now, I'm biased because I loved the show and it's the main reason I came to the festival - but it was pretty great. Probably the most I've ever heard a crowd laughing in cinemas (was wishing for subtitles at points because it was so loud), and I laughed quite a bit myself (including one scene I won't spoil that is probably the funniest thing I've ever seen in cinemas).
The film is shot mostly outside with real people, and they become a big part of the film as is the knowledge in that they are pulling all of this off in the real world (kinda like Borat, only wholesome). The plot is as thin as you'd expect but still has pathos and makes sense, though I kinda missed the asides they would often have on the show (though they do have a few).
As reviews mentioned, the film is very Canadian (and specifically Torontonian - some references definitely went over my head), but I don't think that takes anything away from the viewing experience of a non-Canadian.
In all, very happy I saw it - and as Matt's character says in the film (paraphrasing) "this is a copyright nightmare, if you're seeing this in cinemas count your lucky stars because this isn't going to be released anywhere".