A Couch Potato’s Guide: Surviving a Movie Marathon

Tips and tricks to come out of your next screening victorious

By Claire Dufourd

(Andrea Piacquadio via Pexels)

Lights, camera, action! With finals about to be over and summer starting to show its timid face, it is once again time for the beloved – or dreaded – movie marathon season. So, whether you are embarking on your journey to Mount Doom or getting ready to gather all the Deathly Hallows, here is your official survival guide to avoid all the beginner’s mistakes of a movie marathon runner!

Preparation is Key

First things first, you cannot possibly throw yourself into an hours-long marathon before getting ready for all possible outcomes; practice is essential to your task. This is not just a casual movie night with friends, but a test of your endurance. So, take your time getting ready, and gather your essentials: 

Comfort above all else: ensure you install yourself on your most comfortable couch, seat or blanket. There is nothing worse in a marathon than having to reposition yourself every five minutes, breaking your concentration and making it easier for you to get sick of sitting down to complete your viewing competition. 

Hydration station: how many times have you heard “stay hydrated queen” during your hourly TikTok scroll? Well, the gods of social media have never been more right; keeping your favourite water bottle or a fun drink within reach is the best way to ensure you will not have to constantly pause your movie to go get a cool glass of water from the kitchen.

(Jeshoots via Pexels)

Snack stash: ah, the star of the show. Stock up on an army of sweets and chocolate to keep you fueled and focused. After all, who is Charlie without his chocolate factory? Depending on your preference, anything from the healthy favourite trail mix to the most obnoxiously sweet Maltesers will make your movie marathon the best experience you have ever had.                                                          

The Dangers of Sleep

Now, let’s address the elephant in the room – or should I say, the snore interrupting the movie. Falling asleep during a movie marathon is like dozing off in the middle of a rollercoaster ride: it is just not done. So, what can you do to avoid this crucial mistake?

Strategic seating: remember how you have to find the most comfortable seat you own? Well, this in itself can become the biggest trap of all. To avoid falling asleep in the middle of Harry finally figuring out he is a Horcrux, finding the optimal position is going to be essential. Anything too close to actually lying down will be perilous, so consider using a fluffy pillow or the eternally perfect Squishmallow to prop yourself up, making sure you won’t let yourself doze off. 

Intermissions: much like during a play, it is important to keep the audience entertained. So, do not hesitate to schedule breaks to keep yourself awake; taking a quick walk around your house, doing jumping jacks or simply discussing theories with your friends will do the trick!

(Nam Quan via Pexels)

Caffeine addiction: as with almost every situation in life, coffee will be your best friend during a movie marathon. Making yourself a nice cup of coffee with fancy latte art or a brand-new yummy syrup will be the best way to keep yourself awake for your whole movie marathon! And for our coffee-hater readers, do not fret; a Redbull or any other energy drink surely does the trick.

So, there you have it, fellow movie marathoners: this ultimate survival guide will lead to the best nights of your life watching movie classics and laughing at Adam Sandler comedies. You are now armed with comfy seating, sugary treats and a gallon of caffeine – admittedly not the healthiest guide, but one that will for sure make you win any cinematic endurance test. Now grab your remote, queue up your favourite films, and may the odds ever be in your favour. 

Visions of Care and Collaboration and how queer filmmakers translate this theme into eight fresh shorts #TQFF

Several queer and indigenous filmmakers submitted their shorts to this Torontonian festival that took place mid-March. The selection of the final eight shorts presented to the audience is exemplary of their experiences and this year’s theme: Visions of Care and Collaboration. 

By Eliana Aleman Reategui

The outside of the Tranzac Club (Eliana Aleman Reategui/CanCulture)

This year from  March 14 to 17, the Toronto Queer Film Festival hosted the seventh installment of their festival in the borough of the Annex. The theme for this year’s festival is Visions of Care and Collaboration.

All featured in the short film compilation titled Who Am I Growing Into?, the shorts-files touched upon themes of reliance on one another, one’s passion for their culture, and overall just an earnest portrayal of the queer and indigenous experience. Visuals were striking and captivating, and although there was a wide range of mastery over the medium, the sentiments that all eight filmmakers conveyed were present in the room.

Headdress (2022)

We started off the screening with the short Headdress directed by Tai LeClaire. It told the stylized story of a queer native person and his internal battle when faced with cultural appropriation. It was certainly technically impressive, with many different settings and props, but sometimes the comedy felt a little juvenile. Personally, it seemed too reminiscent of Smosh comedy or even a dragged-out SNL bit. Maybe I am chronically online and can’t appreciate short films on a budget anymore, but the writing reminded me of an Anna Akana YouTube video or a PAINT cover. Gave me the feel that it was quite dated, somewhere around 2015 to 2016, but made in 2022.

Hi, My Name is Lilliana (2020)

Hi, My Name is Lilliana directed by Liliana Rice, is a biographical short about her experience as an Indigenous filmmaker and her worries about entering the film industry. I am assuming this was an admission video for an animation program. It was cute, but also something I don’t think belonged in the lineup. The animation style is reminiscent of the “draw my life” trend on youtube several years ago, putting little doodles and moving words on top of old family pictures and memories. This is more of a vlog than a short film and although the message of the film is touching and important, the form is simply too distracting.

Bright Heart (2023)

Bright Heart, directed by Tarek Lakhrissi, was an intriguing odyssey that takes the audience on an immersive trip across the streets of Paris. I saw what the short was trying to do: immerse us in this Lynchian journey of self-discovery. However, the scenes go on for way too long and even though I know the point is to keep the audience at bay, it never lets you in enough to care about his extravagant encounters. Very French.

Shedding (2023)

Directed by Tziara Reyes, Shedding is a short, intimate documentary about a non-binary person finding their identity and how that ties their hair ties into this equation. One of my most disappointing watches in the repertoire. I sympathize with the weight of shaving your head, especially as a queer person, and how that can help you align with your gender identity. Still, there was a lack of emotionality to the actual action. It’s a very emotional process (and even the director put their two cents on what it meant for them to shave their head a couple months back), but there was not a major visual contrast in the subject’s before and after. This hindered the impact of the action greatly.

Punk Fish (2023)

Punk Fish, directed by Miguel Maldonado, follows transgender punk musicians and their new journey to find themselves in the British underground scene. It's pungent and true to its subject matter, but the protagonist feels swallowed at times. While undoubtedly eye-catching, loud and possessing a gripping presence, the protagonist was sometimes drowned by his eccentric environment. The introduction of his band members made me rapidly lose interest in his international student experience, and more invested in his backup band. How did that woman have two master's degrees already? Nevertheless, it served a good purpose, as it captured someone’s life during their youth.

Once in a Red Moon (2022)

Directed by Yi Shi, Once in a Red Moon is a lovely romance short that touches upon the immigrant experience and how that seeps into romantic and familial relationships. It felt very Toronto-esque and reminisced of summer walks through Dundas and Spadina. The delivery of the actresses didn’t quite do it for me every time— some lines just came off awkward or simply unnatural, but overall, it was a cute story with a satisfying ending that made me miss my relatives back home. Sweet treat. 

Lullaby (2023)

Lullaby directed by Irène-Kimberley Valin-Awashish was such a visually stunning portrait of the Indigenous experience in modern Canada. You can see that there was a lot of care put into the locations. The protagonist stares directly into the camera as life moves around her at a quick pace. Her stillness was a strong contrast to the craziness of present-day society. Sometimes, the voiceover would be too overpowering to the visuals, but the message was still heartfelt and came across clearly. Low shutter speed shots of the dance were breathtaking. I do wish there wasn’t the face of the protagonist in the introductory shot of the dances; they stood better on their own. Impressive film.

I AM HOME (2022)

I AM HOME, directed by Kymon Greyhorse (sick name btw), is a short film with jaw-dropping visuals and a moving and emotional voiceover narrating the evolution of Indigenous traditions and their way of living throughout centuries. The decision to majoritarily use slow motion and to opt for portrait shots really elevated the emotionality of the film. The most cohesive short of the collection. Sadl,y it was also rather brief, but I was moved by what it conveyed in its short runtime.

This lovely selection of shorts tied together into one cohesive whole: A desperate feeling to tell a story and for the audience to see life the way you experience it; a desire to share different worldviews and life experiences so we can empathize with each other, and an accolade for being collaborators in each other’s stories. 

Liv McNeil breaks out in behind-the-scenes work with new documentary, The Making of Priscilla

This young Canadian filmmaker shares the raw connection that she and many young females share with Priscilla Presley  

By: Nicole Soroka

In the fall of 2022, Priscilla Presley’s story was brought to life on set in Toronto, reimagining the days that the teenage girl lived out with the king of rock ‘n’ roll. However, the stories of young Presley were not the only presence of a young girl on set.

In June 2020, Etobicoke School of the Arts student Liv McNeil posted her short film on YouTube, Numb, highlighting a handful of emotions that high school students faced during the height of the COVID-19 lockdown and online learning. At this time, McNeil was only in the ninth grade and it did not take long for her film to reach a wide audience, quickly proving how much young talent there is to be discovered in Canada. 

McNeil’s immense talent gained the attention of many prominent people in the industry, including Canadian filmmaker Sarah Polley, who later cast McNeil in her 2022 Oscar-winning film, Women Talking. Shortly thereafter, McNeil was once again noticed by a leading female force in the industry, Sofia Coppola, who asked the young filmmaker to join her on her latest project, Priscilla. Coppola approached McNeil about shooting a behind-the-scenes documentary of the film, an opportunity that would continue to open doors for McNeil. 

During the live Q&A at the TIFF Next Wave Canadian premiere of her documentary, The Making of Priscilla, McNeil explained how Coppola brought her onto the project.

“John Buchan is friends with Sofia Coppola and he brought her to the TIFF screening of Women Talking,” said McNeil. “Then Sarah Polley introduces me on stage as Liv McNeil, a young filmmaker, and Sofia goes, ‘Who's that? I'm looking for a young girl to make a behind-the-scenes documentary.’ And then I'm meeting Jacob Elordi.”

The nearly 30-minute film invites viewers onto the set of Priscilla and features interviews with Coppola, Priscilla Presley and lead actress, Cailee Spaeny. They share insights into how Priscilla came to be, how Presley herself felt about the project and the labour of love that went into making the film. 

Additionally, McNeil also connects her own experiences to those of Presley. During the premiere, McNeil explained that she had little to no vision of the documentary’s focus going into her first day on set. She had originally planned to simply narrate what occurred during their 30-day shoot and dig deeper into the film’s evolution. However, seeing the story of Presley’s life unfold in front of her proved that their life experiences may be more intertwined than she realized, creating the perfect storyline for her film. 

“I'm a young girl shooting the behind-the-scenes of a story about another young girl,” said McNeil. “Obviously, very different lives, but there's something to be said about that.”

McNeil continued to elaborate on Spaeny’s thoughts about her title role and regardless of how elaborate her life became, Presley experienced what many women still go through to this day. 

“No matter how big or small the story, whatever Priscilla went through is what a lot of women go through,” said McNeil. “You leave your parents, you grow up, you get married, you have a child, it becomes really human. And you see a girl there instead of an object.”

Expanding on her experience working with Coppola, McNeil shared that the director was with her every step of the way. 

“Every so often she would check in and she would often say, ‘get in there, get in there, you're here for a reason, I want you to be here,’” said McNeil. “Coming from Sofia Coppola I was like, ‘okay, okay, okay, sure, I'll go in, I’ll go in, I'll do whatever you need me to do.’ Then I’d get right in the way and I’d step on people's toes. And it was difficult to do, but I knew I had to do it.”

However, Coppola wasn’t the only person on set who had McNeil’s back. She revealed that her father, who is also a filmmaker, accompanied her during the shooting process. While Coppola, who knows a thing or two about having a father in the industry, urged McNeil to use her own ideas and instincts, McNeil was grateful to have her father by her side.

“I think I would have died on set if it wasn't for him,” said McNeil. “He really really did save my life multiple times.”

McNeil also spoke to CanCulture in an interview and shared some behind-the-scenes secrets that weren’t included in the documentary. One of the key memories that stood out to McNeil occurred at the end of filming and included one adorable dog. 

“Jacob [Elordi’s] dog just took a dump on set,” said McNeil. “There was this piece of fake grass and it was at the end and we were popping champagne and the dog [got] loose and the dog [was] running around and having a good time. She was running around and she just like squats, sits on the fake grass and [Elordi] was like ‘don’t look, don’t look.’” 

McNeil also expanded on how having previous acting experience has helped shape her attitude behind the camera. She explained that she has more empathy for what the actors experience during a shoot, such as when they’re worried or in need of a break, and how she is able to form a meaningful connection with the actors on her projects. 

“All the actors that I work with on my short films are already my friends or they become my friends because I think that's really important to become close with the people that you're intimate with and vulnerable with and making art with,” said McNeil. 

The Making of Priscilla proved just how talented McNeil truly is, at such a young age nonetheless. The questions McNeil asked the cast and crew throughout her on-set interviews revealed her curiosity and eagerness to learn. The documentary also highlighted her tenacity and willingness to push outside her comfort zone. 

The connections that McNeil made between Presley’s young life and her own personal experiences are nothing short of genius. By taking a public figure and highlighting the parts of her life that many women may be able to relate to on some scale is humanizing and a fresh perspective to take in the film industry. I appreciated McNeil’s ability to take what I found to be the best scenes in Priscilla and dive into the emotional aspects the cast went through while filming them, as well as showcase some of the conversations that Coppola and Presley shared prior to/during the filmmaking process. 

As McNeil continues her studies in film at Concordia University, audiences will have to wait and see what is next for this inspiring Canadian filmmaker. As a first year university student, McNeil has already had the opportunity to work on a film set for one of the most anticipated films from 2023. Even more, this filmmaker is bringing a great deal of pride to Canada by showcasing how much this country has to offer to the film industry. 

 The Making of Priscilla is currently available for viewing through Elevation Pictures on Youtube and in the United States through the A24 app. 

Experiments in Short Film #TQFF

Stills in Motion: Queer Life in Alternate Forms featured several short films pushing the boundaries of animation and visual effects.

By Tia Harish

Many films are available to view on the film festival’s website for a short time. The films cover a multitude of topics pertaining to the Queer community, with a wide range of filmmaking techniques not often seen in mainstream media (Tia Harish/CanCulture)

In a crowded room hidden in the eaves of the Annex, the Toronto Queer Film Festival (TQFF) hosted Stills in Motion: Queer Life in Alternate Forms. This collection of short films gave a platform for stories left untold by mainstream media and encouraged unity and empathy with its films. 

The festival is also a platform for experimental films. Alongside other features concerning taboo topics like pornography and religion, this selection of shorts discusses topics like pregnancy and self-reflection in a new light. 

Most of these shorts do not feature live-action video or standard frame rates. This gives the filmmakers much more freedom to do things that just wouldn’t fly in mainstream media. Artists get to take on wackier and more complicated visuals or on the flip side, incredibly simplistic art styles. 

A few stood out for their storytelling and visuals:

Hair to Stay by Pree Rehal (Toronto, ON)

The shortest short film by far, clocking in at under a minute, Hair to Stay was a brilliant start to the series. The biggest laughs of the night came from this claymation short about the social perception of facial hair. Filmmaker Pree Rehal didn’t have a conventional route to filmmaking.  “I didn’t go to school for art things, so I’m self-taught and community-arts-taught,” they said during the Q&A. Their inspiration behind the short film was how Rehal’s childhood bully and crush often made fun of their body hair, specifically their mustache. These days, as a trans person, their mustache is viewed much more positively. The bare-bones dialogue and two short scenes receiving so much laughter and applause only prove how universal this idea of turning something negative into positive, is. 

Boob by Lokchi Lam (Toronto, ON)

This love story between, well, boobs, was oddly heartwarming. The film follows left boob Rocky, as he navigates life on the chest of a trans man while looking for love. As he learns more about what it means to be a man, the audience is invited to question masculinity and its impact as a social construct on men, both cis and trans. On the film’s conception, Lam said “I didn’t set out to make an animation but I wrote a script about breasts and I had to figure out how to actually make it, and I used whatever tools I could.” Lam also takes this opportunity to display genitalia as more than something sexual, rather as something fun and . This is taken even further with a deity-like vagina appearing to give Rocky the Left Boob some advice. The art style is a fun blend of impressionist visuals at a lower frame rate, rounding out the lightheartedness of the film. 

Embrace the Moon by Katrina Pleasance (Vancouver, BC)

Embrace the Moon takes the reader on a sweet, wholesome journey with its storyline packed with symbolism. The playful relationship between a farmer and the Moon Goddess displays queer joy without queer pain. Its biggest appeal was the abundance of queer joy. There was no homophobic dragon to battle— simply the physical barrier between the moon and the Earth, which was freely broken. This left ample time for the main characters to bond and grow, both a tree and their relationship. The Moon Goddess in the story appears to be Chang'e from Chinese mythology. In the mythos, she is believed to be immortal and lives on the moon. Pleasance explained that the art style was “inspired by Chinese shadow puppetry.” The light and delicate music and blending of old and new art styles gave the film a timeless feel.

You are here by Sarah Hill (USA)

Blending stop motion with live action and archival footage, Hill’s You are here treads new ground with their take on pregnancy in trans couples. It flirts with the line between educational and graphic. The visual style is akin to a virtual scrapbook, with mixed media being at the forefront of the storytelling. The story is slightly difficult to follow, due to its nonlinear structure and blending of archival medical films with the present.  It excels in its ability to keep the audience captivated and invoke emotions of sympathy, fear or even discomfort. 

Many films in the collection could be argued as too experimental. This is where one falls into the rabbit hole of what art actually is. Some pieces, like You are here, may use the philosophy that art must make the viewer feel something. Whether that feeling is positive or negative is inconsequential. Other pieces fall into the trap of making people feel things they don’t understand. A number of films had extraordinary visuals that were difficult to comprehend without an explanation. Some pieces were highly personal, and perhaps utilized the philosophy of art for the creator’s sake, rather than the audience’s. The highlights stood out for their clear and entertaining stories. They struck a balance between visual brilliance and high-quality storytelling. The audience wasn’t left particularly confused, but rather left to ponder the concepts of gender, romance and family.

Experimentation can mean a lot of things in the realm of art. These shorts were less like films and more like multimedia explorations in audio-visual storytelling. Some felt like a fever dream, and others may well have been. TQFF as a platform is incredibly valuable for these films to see the light of day. It is with the support from the queer community and film enthusiasts that the festival can keep the lights off and the projectors on.  

Exploring what it means to be free in Freedom From Everything #TQFF

How do we build community when everyone is pitted against each other?

By Sarah Grishpul

Mike Hoolboom’s film Freedom From Everything screens online during the 2024 Toronto Queer Film Festival (Sarah Grishpul/CanCulture Magazine)

“... It has always seemed much easier to murder than to change.”

During an online screening at the 2024 Toronto Queer Film Festival, Canadian filmmaker Mike Hoolboom quotes James Baldwin, along with many other activists, artists and historical figures, in his film Freedom From Everything.

Such a line repeats twice to underscore its importance and connection to the story: The sacrifice of our more vulnerable population in favour of the privileged.

Freedom From Everything is an adaptation of German filmmaker Hito Steyerl’s essay by the same name. By pulling from her passages, splicing together footage from other movies, TV shows, historical recordings and images, computer-generated animations and personal memories, Hoolboom created an essay film jam-packed with philosophical ponderings and critical analyses.

A fair warning, this film is not the type of movie you can put on in the background while folding the laundry or completing other various chores. It’s not so much a typical narrative story but rather a string of musings against a backsplash of idyllic scenes and objects. Instead, Hoolboom invites you to meditate on his musings as his soft, resounding voice guides you through the film. 

Hoolboom compares the many similarities between the public’s behaviour towards the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s and the recent COVID-19 pandemic, of which we are only a few years shy. He points to the striking commonality in the translation of fear to anger. Those who did not understand the virus and the people affected by it turned to hate and accusation as a coping mechanism.

Yet, as he points out in the post-screening Q&A, what made COVID-19 different was the lack of solidarity and community.

The film raises the question: How do you build community when everyone is pitted against each other?

From that point forward, we are taken back in time to the late 1970s and early 1990s when the polarizing Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister of Britain. Her stance on society was that there was no such as society. But instead, human beings were responsible for their personal lives and outcomes.

To put it straight: If you’re poor or marginalized—it’s your own fault.

This so-called “freedom” removes blame from the dominant white society over issues of inequality. Because, according to Thatcher, society just doesn’t exist. 

Hoolboom shows how the “virus of neoliberalism” manifested in the so-called “freedom fighters” who staged large protests against COVID-19 vaccine mandates in Canada. The stance of “this disease doesn’t exist because it isn’t directly affecting me,” is a luxury in itself. 

Such individualistic mentalities were as prominent during COVID-19 as they were during the 

AIDS epidemic. As Hoolboom further points out in the Q&A:

“If I get sick, that’s my responsibility. But if you get sick, that's not just your responsibility, but it’s your fault somehow.”

He cites the urge to ignore the problem as a result of a digital, neoliberal form of capitalism. Communication during isolation became a profit for big tech companies. Remember ever using Zoom before the pandemic? Yeah, me neither.

Freelancers, side hustles and the gig economy are all products of capitalism. The “freedom” to not be represented by traditional institutions offers a negative freedom, which pulls people away from any semblance of community. 

Later on, the film dives into the history behind the word “freelancer,” which originates from the medieval ages. They were mercenaries who were not attached to any soldier or government but instead loyal to whoever paid them the most. Remove the horse, armour, and sword, and you’ll see that nothing much has changed since then.

Hoolboom references the role of the “homeless freelancer” in Japanese cinema, known as the “ronin.” One film he calls attention to is Yojimbo, a 1961 western, where a lone samurai ultimately initiates a gang war between two rival capitalist warlords in a small Japanese village.

The role of the freelancer is, at its core, one built on the foundation of independence. Yet, not all freelancers strive to serve the good of the people. Hoolboom interweaves clips of private soldiers in the Iraq occupation and the difficulties the United States military experienced in controlling these freelance mercenaries. Another example of this “negative freedom” is referenced several times throughout the film.

In the end, Freedom From Everything doesn’t serve as a beacon of hope, nor does it provide the answer to these systemic problems, but instead is a bleak reflection of a weakened society encased in selfish desires and governed by greed. I certainly emerged from this screening forced to reckon with my own pursuit of freedom from everything. If anything, the film opens up conversations on how we choose to determine our own future.

Sailor Moon Super Scandalous indeed #TQFF

 They’re revoking my baptismal certificate for this one

By Ella Miller

When the lights went down at the Tranzac theatre on March 15, 2024, the magical girl Sailor Moon underwent a real transformation (Ella Miller/CanCulture Magazine)

As the old saying goes “and on the third day, He rose again and ascended… into debaucherous hilarity.” 

Sailor Moon Super Scandalous: The Yassification of the Christ marks the third installment in Harjot Bal’s Sailor Moon parody series. Making its debut at the Toronto Queer Film Festival (TQFF), the film reworks the 1995 movie, Sailor Moon Super S. 

Instead of being about an alien queen kidnapping Earth’s children, the movie is now about the Sailor Scouts defeating warrior of God and “ba-bortion” protester, Sister Karen and her plot to bring about the rapture by turning “pansexual Wiccan from the future,” Sailor Mini Moon, into a Christian.  

After tackling queer relationships and womanhood in his previous two movies, Bal decided it was time to take on an underlying theme in both of those outings: religion, with the Catholic church providing forbidden fruit that was ripe and ready for picking. 

This was a bold choice for the TQFF both because of how inflammatory the subject matter inherently is and because it prompts the audience to do some serious pondering in dangerous waters: ‘Is my COVID-19 vaccine chip actually a good thing?’; ‘What is the Catholic Church’s stance on edging?’; and ‘How long until Doug Ford realizes that his government helped fund this?’ 

Sailor Moon Super Scandalous: The Yassification of the Christ is firmly rooted in internet culture and the kind of dark humour that was bred on early-noughts anime forums and YouTube. It combines this with post-pandemic memes and musical cues from TikTok’s Hot 100 into a chaotic symphony that would be struck down by the YouTube copyright gods in a millisecond. 

For me, though, the most obvious comparison was ADV’s notorious dub of Ghost Stories, wherein an innocent mystery show was turned into a filthy cult classic by the power of the greatest argument for dubs over subs of all time. 

In the post-screening Q&A, Bal admits to being heavily influenced by the abridged series, but surprisingly, had never seen the Ghost Stories dub until after the first movie came out. 

If you are aware of these properties and have gotten turned off by the comparison, that is understandable. Dark humour that relies on shock value and references to homophobia, dysfunctional relationships, drug use and extremism is not for everyone. 

During my viewing of this film, however, I found the usage of this type of humour to be reclamatory and transformative. 

So frequently we see ‘dark humour’ used as a Trojan horse for flat-out bigotry, but seeing a piece of media created by a queer person of colour at a grassroots 2SLGBTQAI+ event returns dark humour to a purer form: a tool to poke fun at power while confronting your own flaws. 

This is where I get a little “um… actually☝️🤓”, so bear with me. As a certified veteran of Catholic school, I do tend to be a little more persnickety about the representation of Catholicism than most. Forgive me, Father, I want those six years of religion classes to mean something. 

The Catholic Church does not actually use the “kiddie pool” style baptism the film repeatedly claims it does, among other factual inaccuracies (☝️🤓). However, anything about the sex scandals is accurate. Maddeningly accurate. 

Sailor Moon Super Scandalous: The Yassfication of the Christ’s parody of ‘Catholicism’ probably would have been more accurate had it been directed at American Evangelicals and charismatic Christianity. Marjorie Taylor Gre- I mean, Sister Karen is the Republican party’s next presidential nominee, mark my words.  

But, if my biggest complaint about your film is that the Catholic Church was not represented entirely accurately, which weakened the satire–uh… I guess I will take my rosary beads and cry myself to sleep in the confessional. 

Aside from the Catholic Church villainy, the film contains many heartwarming subplots and affecting character arcs. And that is not a joke. 

Tuxedo Mask comes to grips with the fact that he will never be the creatine-munching, crypto bro of Sailor Moon’s dreams. Tyler, the Content Creator, enters his drug experimentation era. Lesbian lovers Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune struggle with fertility treatments.  

All of these plots may seem like one-off gags, but they are actually layered and possess multi-1000-word-essays worth of concepts tackling masculinity, scapegoating and 2SLGBTQIA+ parenting. 

I would like to take a minute to boggle at the technical feats that this film accomplishes. This Sailor Moon parody series is just short of the most ambitious project in the realm of anime since the Rebuild of Evangelion while also being ten times more coherent (but somehow less gay). 

Bal described his creative process during the Q&A as “a beast.” The film took him two months to write by himself. Writing the film involved Bal watching the original movie until his eyes bled (probably) and developing a story that both made sense and fit the lip flaps of the original Japanese. 

Bal then coordinated a team of 17 different people to voice act which took an additional two to three months. None of these people were professional voice actors and that required some serious innovation to make at-home voiceover studios using closets and pillows. 

So, while all credit for the animation remains with the talented artists at Toei Animation, every sound heard in the film, from the passionate magical girl cries to the farts, is a labour of love by the production team. 

All of whom have their names displayed in the credits, accompanied by a song that really had me saying: …hey Siri, what song is this?

‘According to Spotify, “Hit My Spot” by ur pretty is a gay sex anthem about being submissive and breedable, would you like to know more? 

Goddamn this movie.  

Sailor Moon Super Scandalous: The Yassification of the Christ is available in its entirety on Instagram @sailormoonparody.

Fitting In: Maddie Ziegler's best performance yet in a heartfelt story about body agency

Canadian writer-director Molly McGlynn’s  semi-autobiographical portrayal of MRKH syndrome is painful to watch yet necessary.

By Isabella Soares

Maddie Ziegler and Emily Hampshire as a mother and daughter duo in Fitting In. (Image via Elevation Pictures)

"The body is not a thing, it's a situation." This quote pinpoints the main question that Canadian writer-director Molly McGlynn poses with her second directorial feature Fitting In.

What is initially a coming-of-age story about Lindy (played by Maddie Ziegler), a teenage girl eagerly awaiting her first period and looking forward to losing her virginity to her high school crush, quickly turns into body horror.

When Lindy goes to the gynecologist for the first time, she expects to get out of her consultation with a birth control method in mind but learns instead that she has Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser (MRKH) syndrome, essentially meaning  that she doesn't have a vagina or a uterus. 

Startled by the realization that her dream of one day having two kids is no longer a possibility, and disappointed that she won't be able to have sex as soon as she hoped, Lindy finds out that the only way for her to be able to have a "normal girl life" is if she carves a vagina for herself with a dilator or has surgery. Although she initially sees this diagnosis as an automatic burden, it also opens her mind to what it means to be a girl and the question of her need to fit in.

Something magical happens when a filmmaker tells a story that is meaningful to them. They add even more nuance and details based on their own lived experience. McGlynn's work in Fitting In is personal, and that in itself, is a win. In a way, it seems like the film is a letter to McGlynn's younger self, giving her teenage version an inside glimpse of the hardships as well as the light at the end of the tunnel.

Casting Maddie Ziegler as the main character in this project is also a thumbs-up choice. After her riveting performance alongside Jenna Ortega in HBO's The Fallout in 2021, the actress and dancer's latest acting credit is arguably her best yet. 

Ziegler also has great onscreen chemistry with her character's mom Rita, played by Schitt's Creek alum and Canadian actress Emily Hampshire. Although both are going through different situations, they share the same concern for body image. While Lindy feels like an outsider for not having a vagina like her classmates, Rita is trying to get back into the dating world while still feeling insecure in her own skin as a breast cancer survivor who’s  unable to afford plastic surgery.

Although Fitting In is oftentimes a hard watch, it also sheds light on a much greater issue: body agency. No matter what your body looks like and whether it is conventionally perfect or not, it isn't anyone's business to dictate what you should do with it. From the beginning of the film, Lindy is treated by her male gynecologist as a problem needing to be fixed; it's only when she meets Jax (Ki Griffin), who is intersex and open about it, that she slowly comes out of her shell. 

Despite this coming-of-age tale striking a cord and bringing a fresh perspective about a rarely talked about syndrome, Fitting In does feel underwhelming at times. The pacing slows down towards the halfway mark when Lindy begins to make a series of insensitive decisions. Although Lindy's attitude stems from her urge to conform, the scenes play out like a repetition of many overplayed high school storylines. The film could've also benefited from more satirical song choices, as it does in a scene where "Barbie Girl" starts playing through Lindy’s headphones during a scan.

Overall, Fitting In isn't a total home run, but it is an incredibly important story worthy of attention. From tackling the pressures to fit into a certain mould as a girl to showcasing a diverse cast, the film's strengths are in its powerful storytelling that goes beyond the surface level.

The film does a great job of showcasing humanity over the medical examination, giving the characters heart, soul and personalities that are separate from their diagnosis. Even if the pacing loses its grip halfway through, the audience is still drawn to the characters until the very end. It is also refreshing to know that McGlynn was able to enlighten audiences with bits and pieces of her story. 

The film allows the viewer to sympathize with the hardships of having MRKH, such as not being able to have periods or get pregnant, and undergoing the pain of inserting medical dwindles daily in the hopes of getting sexually active. With so many of these struggles putting into question a girl’s identity, it is heartwarming when Lindy finally lets go of her insecurities and looks at her MRKH with pride. 

Fitting In is currently available on VOD. Click here to rent it through Prime Video.

Beyond the Silver Screen: The work of film archival and archivists

 Props, costumes and set pieces are the backbone for immersing us in the films we watch but what happens to this artwork after filming ends?

By Luis Ramirez-Liberato

Table with various props and molds from "Crimes of the Future"

(Luis Ramirez-Liberato/CanCulture)

Tucked away on the fourth floor of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) Lightbox is TIFF's very own film reference library tasked with collecting, preserving and providing access to a wide variety of film history. 

As a way of connecting the public to Canada's filmmaking heritage, TIFF presents "Archival Jolt!" An open invitation for the public to peer behind the curtain of film preservation and delve into the world of archival experts. Organized to celebrate TIFF's Canada's Top Ten programming, this event offers patrons an opportunity to witness firsthand the work of film archivists and explore the impressive collection of heritage items from Canadian moviemaking.

Fly head prop from "The Fly" in acid-free casing.

Fly head prop from The Fly (Luis Ramirez-Liberato/CanCulture)

Natania Sherman, Senior Manager at the TIFF Film Reference Library, shared insights into her job as an archivist.  Sherman says  a majority of their collections come from donations by production companies, like with their latest acquisition of props from David Cronenberg's Crimes of the Future.

"We're very lucky that TIFF has these relationships with different production companies and filmmakers. They've seen the work that we've been doing to preserve Canadian Heritage, so they trust us with their materials," said Sherman.

Archivist Natania Sherman holding a piece from the Sark

Piece of the Sark from Crimes of the Future (Luis Ramirez-Liberato/CanCulture)

The process of taking props from donation to display can be difficult. Often, donated film materials arrive in storage in a condition unsuitable for long-term preservation. Therefore, archivists must transfer them to acid-free casings and proper storage to ensure their longevity for future generations. Additionally, props used in films are often not built to stand the test of time.

"They're really made for the purpose of making the film," said Sherman. "So you might have these beautiful art pieces that are made to last for maybe three to six months of filming, but they're made out of materials that aren't necessarily fine art materials meant to last a long time."

Sark attachments before being moved into proper storage (Luis Ramirez-Liberato/CanCulture)

Preserving Cronenberg's work can be a difficult task due to the "unstable chemical makeups" and "jello-like texture" of the materials he uses, says Sherman. Many of his pieces are quite large, with some towering over attendees at the "Archival Jolt!" exhibit. Working with Cronenberg's material involves logistical challenges and requires specialized art handlers to bring them on-site.

The breakfaster prop from Crimes of the Future (Luis Ramirez-Liberato/CanCulture)

Along with preserving film, the work of an archivist is akin to solving a puzzle where each prop used in a film reveals new insights and secrets of its own. When donated, props may not come with labels or instructions, making it challenging for archivists to understand their mechanics and functionality. Therefore, film archivists must put together the pieces of the puzzle and decipher how each prop works. Often, this means analyzing every frame of a film to see where props are used in a scene. From the subtle placement of a vintage lamp to the grandeur of a larger-than-life set piece, every detail is meticulously documented, ensuring a comprehensive understanding of its contribution to Canadian cinema.

The Sark from Crimes of the Future (Luis Ramirez-Liberato/CanCulture)

Archivists, especially those working at film reference libraries, face the challenge of balancing preserving historical items and making them accessible to the public. Their primary goal is to safeguard these props for future generations. As an archivist, you must ensure that the items are handled with care, stored in climate-controlled environments and kept in storage for as long as possible to ensure their longevity. Still, they also strive to make them available to the public.

"But the problem is, sometimes that sort of puts you in this position. It's almost like being a gatekeeper," says Sherman. 

Sherman says that younger archivists emphasize facilitating public engagement with film material and exploring ways to increase access to these archives. The film reference library collaborates with programming colleagues at TIFF to change the displays in the Lightbox building periodically. This initiative aims to establish a connection between audiences and craftsmanship that goes on behind the scenes of the films they have just watched.

Ramona Flowers’ outfit from Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Luis Ramirez-Liberato/CanCulture)

Through initiatives like rotating displays and educational programs, they bridge the gap between preservation and engagement, ensuring that the magic of Canadian cinema remains within reach.

"It's very important that we're not just hiding things away for some unnamed time, the future, but we're also making sure that people can access things now," says Sherman.

In attempting to connect the public with Canada's film heritage, the Film Reference Library has recently updated its collecting mandate to better reflect Canadian diversity in cinema. With the library's collection being primarily donation-based, it faces the hurdle of over-representing white auteur male directors. The underrepresentation of marginalized communities is an aspect of the archival process that Sherman and her peers try to be mindful of. The Film Reference Library aims to preserve the "diverse faces in Canadian cinema" through acquisitions from underrepresented communities and reflect a "full spectrum," says Sherman.

For Sherman, it is connecting people with these moments in Canadian cinema that she finds most rewarding. The special feeling that people get from connecting with a piece of history that matters to them is what brought about the name "Archival Jolt!"

“There's this a-ha moment that you feel when you get to come across an object or an artifact [that] represents something important to you,” says Sherman. 

“I think whenever I get to show someone a piece from the collection, and they have that moment and I get to share in that, I think that's really special.”

Canadian nominees fall short at the 2024 Oscars

Looks like there was very little love for Canada at this year’s Oscars ceremony

The red carpet at the 1988 Academy Awards (Alan Light via Wikimedia Commons)

By Sarah Grishpul

Oh… Canada.

If you’ve been following along with the Academy Awards, you’ll notice a distinct lack of Canadian winners. Despite nine nominations, only one took home an award during this year’s ceremony.

Here are the nominees from Canada who just didn’t make the cut:

Canadian sweetheart Ryan Gosling ignites the “Ken-ergy” of the room with his performance of “I’m Just Ken”

Anywhere else he’d be a 10—just not at the Oscars. 

While “I’m Just Ken” of the Barbie (2023) soundtrack did not take home the award for Best Original Song, (an honour bestowed upon Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For?” from the same film), Gosling’s performance stole the show. 

Donned in a pink, bedazzled suit, oozing with what could only be described as Ken-ergy, Gosling was joined onstage by his fellow Kens, recreating the iconic dance sequence from Marilyn Monroe’s "Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend." He even had his Barbie co-stars and director, Greta Gerwig, Margot Robbie, and America Ferrara belting into the microphone. 

The production also featured a cameo from Slash—yes, the lead guitarist of Guns N’ Roses—who emerged on a platform below the stage to accompany Gosling in his big finale. 

It was clear the entire crowd of wealthy Hollywood talent and executives were enjoying the show. One in particular was critically acclaimed filmmaker, Martin Scorcese, who was shown to be smiling and clapping along during the performance in a video posted by his daughter.

Who needs a golden statue to determine the worth of a song? If Scorcese likes it, then that should be Kenough.

Killers of the Flower Moon snubbed by the Academy, while Canadian musician Robbie Robertson commemorated in a memoriam segment

One of the biggest surprises of the night was when Emma Stone beat Lily Gladstone for Best Actress, a clear shocker to both the audience and Stone herself.

It wasn’t just Gladstone’s performance that had been snubbed, but Killers of the Flower Moon had left the ceremony with zero wins under their belt, despite their many nominations.

Robbie Robertson’s work composing the film’s score lost to Academy-favourite Oppenheimer, which took home several awards including Best Actor, Best Director and Best Picture.

Aside from collaborating with Scorsese on many films, Robertson was well-known for his musical presence as lead guitarist and songwriter for The Band, backing Bob Dylan in the late sixties to mid-seventies. 

Robertson unfortunately passed away in August of 2023 and wasn’t able to witness his nomination nor his loss at this year’s Oscars. However, his legacy will continue to live on through his work, golden statue be damned.

Much like the film’s central themes, the love for Past Lives was unrequited

Much like Killers of the Flower Moon, Celine Song’s Past Lives was kicked to the curb at this year’s ceremony. The film lost Best Original Screenplay and Best Picture to Anatomy of a Fall and Oppenheimer, respectively.

Past Lives was Korean-Canadian director Celine Song’s debut feature film, which made its nominations all the more impressive. The film follows two childhood lovers who are pulled in and out of each other’s lives—some by choice, others by circumstance. 

In an interview for The Hollywood Reporter on the red carpet, Song spoke on the impact her film had on audiences, and how one in particular expressed how much they needed to see a story like that on screen.

“The fact that you get to make a movie that at least one person needs, to me I’m like ‘ah, what an amazing amazing dream,’ so that means a lot to me.”

It’s a delicate and wounding film that makes it one of the quieter entries into this year’s awards race. Yet, it still deserves recognition and your attention. 

To Kill a Tiger loses “Best Doc” but wins Netflix streaming distribution

One of the bigger awards Canada was betting on winning was for Best Feature Documentary, with Indian-born Canadian filmmaker Nisha Pahuja’s film, To Kill a Tiger. 
You’ve likely seen the posters for this documentary plastered on the walls of the subway stations in downtown Toronto. The film documents the story of a father in India fighting to protect his 13-year-old daughter after she is raped by several men in their village. 

Pahuja spoke on the importance of spreading awareness about sexual violence and rape, not just in India, but on a global scale. The film supports the #StandWithHer campaign in challenging gender roles and helping survivors speak out and seek justice. 

According to producer Cornelia Principe, it took eight years for Pahuja to make this documentary. 

“I think only Nisha could have survived eight years in making a film because she’s so determined and doesn’t give up,” she said in a red-carpet interview with Etalk.

Despite losing the Oscars to 20 Days in Mariupol, a film documenting the horrors of the war in Ukraine, To Kill a Tiger is now available to watch on Netflix for all audiences to engross themselves in. 

Godzilla crushes Canadian nominees in “Best Visual Effects” category

“A living nuclear weapon destined to walk the Earth forever. Indestructible.”

Secret agents and Marvel superheroes are no match for the VFX behemoth that is Godzilla Minus One. The visual effects team behind this latest, and one of the best, Godzilla films even brought along mini figurines of the monster himself onstage to accept their award.

“The moment we were nominated, we thought that, like Rocky Balboa, we were welcomed into the ring being equals by our biggest rivals which was already a miracle. But here we stand,” said filmmaker and visual effects supervisor, Takashi Yamazaki. “To all the VFX artists outside Hollywood, Hollywood was listening and this, all of this, is proof that everyone has a chance.”

They even thanked their former producer, Shuji Abe, who had passed away a couple of months before the ceremony and was renowned for his work in the Japanese film industry.

While it was disappointing to see Canadian nominees Jeff Sutherland (Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One) and Stephane Ceretti (Guardians of the Galaxy 3) lose in this category, Yamazaki and his team were definitely deserving of this win.

In a category alongside Wes Anderson, the cards were firmly stacked against this Canadian short film

Montreal filmmaker Vincent René-Lortie was inspired by the passing of his friend to create Invincible, a story following the last 48 hours of a boy before his death. 

In an interview with CityNews, René-Lortie spoke about how he hoped to spread the word about mental health and humanizing people who died by suicide through his work.

“For me, the film wasn’t about [the death] it was about the character itself, it was about what he was going through,” he said. “It wasn’t about how he passed away and how tragic that event was.”

The short was bested by Wes Anderson’s The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, a tough one to beat given the director’s revered status in Hollywood.

Ah well, there’s always the Canadian Screen Awards, where Invincible is nominated for both Best Live-Action Short Drama and Best Performance in a Live-Action Short Drama.

Until then, the film is currently available to watch in its entirety over on Vimeo.

Nimona remains the underdog in the awards race

It was no surprise to anyone that Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron claimed the Oscar win for Best Animated Feature. As the writer and producer of Across the Spiderverse, Chris Miller tweeted: “Well, if you’re gonna lose, might as well lose to the GOAT.”

But, honestly, I wish there was a little more love for Nimona.

Following the corporate acquisition of Blue Sky Studios in 2021, the adaptation of ND Stevenson’s queer-coded graphic novel was seemingly cancelled. Luckily for us, the film was picked up by Annapurna and Netflix, who revived the project and gave us the delightfully demonic movie that is Nimona. 

As a fan of the comic, I must admit that I was a tad biased in my desire to see this film take home an Oscar. Its messaging around gender identity hit close to home, and the themes surrounding questioning authority are important to instill among viewers of any age.

In an interview for Little Black Book with Canadian-born co-director, Troy Quane, he called their Oscar nomination the comeback story of the decade.

“The nomination hopefully just means more people will hear about the film and watch it. I also hope it sends a message to the studios that audiences are not only ready for but demanding unique, original, diverse and inclusive stories.”

Netflix even released the film in its entirety on YouTube before the award show, a particularly daring move for a streaming service that relies on paid subscriptions. Yet, it helped ensure that anyone, regardless of monetary constraints, was able to access and appreciate this movie.

Couldn’t be prouder of this Halifax filmmaker!

No one was as delighted to walk up to that Oscars stage as Porche Brinker. 

The 12-year-old musician and one of the stars of Ben Proudfoot and Kris Bowers’ short film, The Last Repair Shop, received a standing ovation as the three walked down the aisle.

“The Last Repair Shop is about the heroes in our schools who often go unsung, unthanked and unseen,” said Bowers during his speech. “Tonight, you are sung, you are thanked, you are seen.

This is Ben Proudfoot’s second Oscar win (and only win for Canada this year). The film tells the tale of how a group of people in LA worked to provide public school children with free repair services for their musical instruments.

The Last Repair Shop took home the award for Best Documentary Short, and the entirety is currently available to watch on YouTube.

The Film Industry’s Ins and Outs for 2024

2023 changed a lot for the industry, but how much of it will stick?

By Tia Harish

New year's resolutions have had their time in the spotlight. With a new year comes a promise to do better, to grow and to ultimately do something different. The past year has encouraged casual viewers to think a little harder about an industry that may not often cross their minds. The film and TV industry is far from perfect. Just like the content it creates, it is a mirror of our world’s merits and flaws. Coming into this new year, nearly two years post-pandemic and roughly 3 months after the SAG-AFTRA strikes ended, and 5 months after the WGA strike came to an end, this industry has a lot of rebuilding to do. So what's in and what's out for this new year in film?

Out: Objectifying Celebrities

Heartthrob of the season Jacob Elordi’s infamous bathtub scene in Saltburn inspired a scented “bath water” candle that his co-stars were asked to sniff on a red carpet. The Bear actress Ayo Edibiri was asked about co-star Jeremy Allen White’s very suggestive Calvin Klein campaign. It's easy to forget that actors are real people with real feelings, especially since it's challenging to connect with them in a non-parasocial way. Recently, Elordi has also been accused of assault after a radio producer joked about the aforementioned scene, a classic example of not being able to separate the character from the actor. Actors should be given enough respect and not be treated like objects for sexual gratification or degrading sexual humour. This should have always been an "out,” but I think we'll still be  talking about this for a few years to come.

In: Intimacy Coordinators

Intimacy coordinators (ICs) are effectively stunt coordinators for scenes that involve nudity or simulated sex. ICs often work closely with the cast and crew to effectively choreograph sex scenes. In The Idol, the first episode features a plotline where the IC is ridiculed and locked in a bathroom so a model can be more exposed during her photoshoot. This is not the kind of energy we need in the new year. ICs were not compulsory until the SAG-AFTRA strikes concluded. This mandate will hopefully reduce sexual assault cases on set, power imbalances between cast and crew and create a better environment for everyone involved in film and TV production.

@intimacycoordinator Account Introduction!! On this page, we talk about all things spicy tv (and theatre). I love what I do and sharing with others about how it works! While you’re here, there are three things you should know: 1) I don’t talk about projects I’ve worked on for privacy reasons. All of my breakdowns are just guesses from what I see on screen and all my skits are made up! 2) This is a new discipline, so I only speak for myself and welcome differing viewpoints. 3) My goal is to approach this work from a place of joy, normalizing conversations about intimacy filmmaking. De-stigmatizing the process is one of the first steps towards safer and better artistry. Feel free to ask questions, introduce yourself, or leave a comment ❤️ Thank you!! #intimacycoordinator #filmtok #behindthescenes #netflix #hulu #queencharlotte #bridgerton #outlander #euphoria #365 #hbomax #actor ♬ Blue Blood - Heinz Kiessling

Out: Movie & TV Reboots for the sake of Cash Grabs 

There's been a disappointing amount of lacklustre reboots released in the past few years. Off the top of my head are How I Met Your Father, Velma and Gossip Girl. None of them stand up to the legacies of the originals. Velma, in particular, was an offence to the gift that is Scooby-Doo and the Mystery Inc. And that's putting it lightly. These reboots were all marketed towards fans of the original. They made waves despite their poor reception and with no clear value added to the narrative, it is clear they were made to bank off the profit of the originals. 

In: Reboots & Sequels that can stand alone

In the past few years, we've seen some reboots & sequels that have rivalled the originals. Scott Pilgrim Takes Off came out during my Scott Pilgrim hyperfixation, so perhaps I am biased. The reboot included everything the original movie lacked, particularly character development and lore. It was also definitely fleshed out enough to stand on its own. Similarly, the Bridgerton prequel, Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, could have functioned as its own story, independent of the primary series. These shows exhibit the kind of creativity we the audience still crave, and will hopefully continue to get.

Out: So. Many. Streaming Services

If the goal of creating a streaming service like Netflix or Amazon Prime was to move people away from the inconvenience of cable, it has failed spectacularly. These days, bundles of streaming services with small discounts are growing more common. Frankly, it’s annoying. Cable TV today is genuinely better, with more channels and shows available, sometimes at a lower price. And you can usually set certain shows to be recorded, so you can watch them even if you miss them live. Streaming services seem overrated these days, especially when there are so many better alternatives.

In: Actively Supporting the (big and small) Film Industry

This past year, we have seen the industry strike for better wages, job security and labour rights. The creative industry will always be a volatile one and profit will always be at the forefront of large media outlets.  By making donations to companies that fight for these rights, or going to the local theatre to watch a movie instead of waiting for it to come out online, you can show your support for an industry that is far more essential than people give it credit for. Perhaps you want to attend a film night at a park or help crowdfund an indie movie. If you don’t have any cash to spare, consider learning more about the issues in the film industry and what you can do to help.

Don’t burn the CD: How these two stores challenge the disappearance of physical media

Show love to physical movies, music and video games when possible to disrupt the seeming end of CDs and physical copies of your favourite shows and artists.

By Julia Lawrence

Big box stores such as Best Buy are phasing out their DVD and Blu-ray sales, and in 2020, streaming services reached over one billion subscriptions, according to Motion Picture Associations. It leaves independent stores dedicated to the art of physical media with a decision to either follow with the times or adapt and live on.

Toronto’s Bay Street Video and Iceman Video Games’ Peterborough, Ont. location are two examples of how sellers have had to adapt to the ever-changing consumer viewing habits while never losing sight of their goals to share new and nostalgic materials.

Bay Street Video - 1172 Bay Street, Toronto

Bay Street Video recently had its 30th anniversary this past August, celebrating being one of the largest physical media collections in Toronto with DVDs, Blu-rays and more available to the public.

Manager Brendan Whelton said they have almost over 40,000 titles across DVDs, Blu-rays and 4K open to rent and roughly 15,000 titles in stock for sale across those formats.

“We have the entire history of film going back to the 1890s with 10 to 50 new releases every week,” Whelton explained. “We constantly joke about where we're gonna put it all, but we make it work. We've been a fixture of the Toronto film scene for a while.”

Bay Street Video gets a range of customers — from Toronto Metropolitan University and University of Toronto students who come for the student rental discount to clientele who are resistant to adapting to streaming or want to see a title that's not available online.

“Those people who don't have the patience to adapt to streaming because it's so complicated now. You need to get eight different services to have access to everything, which isn't everything,” Whelton said.

The store saw a big influx of rental memberships in June 2020, partially due to the pandemic, but Whelton shared that it he noticed a direct impact from Mad Men’s license expiring with Netflix.

“There was a bunch of people stuck at home who got into Mad Men during the pandemic and it wasn’t there anymore,” he said. “We got a bunch of people like, ‘What is the rental membership? How does that work? What do I need to do?’”

The feeling of your favourite show being discontinued and removed from streaming sites is not a pleasant experience. Whelton says a reason people have stuck and continue to revisit physical media is the nostalgia factor.

“People remember liking something and they want to be able to have a copy, to be able to show people is a very intimate thing to show something that you care about and to know that it'll always be there is very important,” he said.

Since taking over the manager role last year, Whelton hopes to push the store to make it more community-focused.

He wants to make it a “pride of place for local people,” as the store’s clientele has supported them through thick and thin.

“When no big new movies were coming out, rentals kept us going and when rentals have been down, sales have been up, that has been a cornerstone of our success.”

Iceman Video Games - 390 George St N, Peterborough, Ont.

Iceman Video Games has been around since 1992 having their start in Toronto. They now have moved to two physical locations in Lindsay, Ont. and Peterborough, Ont. where they sell new, used and retro video games and other memorabilia.

Peterborough manager Holly Butler says there has been a mixed increase and decrease of visitors that are marked before and after COVID-19.

“We would have midnight launches…for big releases, we’d have lineups out the door type for preorder events. Now we still have quite a few people that preorder, not nearly as it was 10 years ago,” Butler said.

With that, there was also a surge of people missing physical indoor shopping.

Butler added, “Once everything was opened up, we had so many people rushing in that missed just talking to another human being [while] doing their shopping. It wasn't like going to Amazon, one-click, add to cart, very impersonal.”

Butler noted that with the lack of consumers buying physical copies, developers have to rely on fair rights and ownership of their work.

“We're already seeing issues with that (losing games) because there are certain games where all of a sudden, there'll be a rights issue, either within the game itself or from the publishers and then the game gets pulled and you can't even play it anymore.”

A recent case of this was with the video game publishing platform Unity, which was going to backdate all games and input fees for downloads. Butler mentioned that it got to a point where small indie developers could not afford to have their games that were already published still available for sale. Unity has since backtracked this announcement after developers revolted against the letter.

As online gaming culture changes depending on publishers and developers, so does physical gaming. Butler shared that the culture of video game stores has shifted over the last several years, and people are unaware of what a person can come into the store for.

“People don't know you can buy and trade games anymore. A lot of people will be like, ‘Well, what's the point of buying a physical game?’ Well, you can trade it in when you're done with it. That's like the whole culture of a game store. You trade your games.”

She also stressed that some people don’t realize they carry new games.

“Because independent game stores are kind of niche, a lot of people if they think of game stores, they think maybe like EB Games, or getting their games on Amazon, and they don't realize that we as an independent can get new release games,” Butler said. “That's a big part of our businesses carrying new release games, and people assume that we were a used store and we don't have them.”

Iceman Video Games started its online store once the first COVID-19 lockdown hit Ontario, and the store had time on its hands. Butler said that they were in a “pickle” to figure out how to continue sales, and it gave them the time to finally open an online store, which they had been dreaming about for years but put off as it’s a lot of work.

She said, “We have like 1000s of games for our website, and it was going to take a lot of work. It pretty much took the entirety of the first lockdown for us to make a product listing for every single game that we have.”

As they are an independent store, Butler manages the site, and all the work is done in-house.

She adds new games which come out every month but mentioned that while it is a lot of work to maintain, it’s been great for the store.

“Maybe a game that we have a lot of in Peterborough, there's demand for it in Montreal, and so we might have been stuck with those copies here, but now since we have the website, we can cater to a different market,” she said. “It's been able to help us branch out into markets that we weren't able to reach before.”

Iceman Video Games and Bay Street Video are two cases of how physical media will never die as long as the clientele is there and so are the dedicated staff.

Celebrating young talent and community in the suburbs: The evolution of Eric’s Backyard Film Festival

Look out TIFF, there’s a new GTA film festival on the rise...

By Sarah Grishpul

A packed audience stares at the projector screen as host Eric Génier kicks off the Winter Film Festival with a hilarious short flick. (Sarah Grishpul/CanCulture)

Eric Génier is a long-time Oakville resident and recent graduate of Sheridan’s Film and Television program. He also happens to be the founder of the “coolest thing to happen in Oakville,” Eric’s Backyard Film Festival.

“I started doing a film festival in my backyard just because I wanted to show off a short film I made during that weird area of COVID where restrictions were going on and off, and there were no places to show my film,” said Génier. 

“So, I thought we could all mask up and do it in my backyard, and then I had my friends also bring in their own films as well. And once it happened, the ideas just kept coming and coming. I kept having more ideas for decorations and how we could make it better. And it's been evolving like that ever since.”

The first Eric’s Backyard Film Festival in 2021 showcased over 16 short films from Oakville youth and brought in an estimated audience of 80 people. Since then, attendance has spiked into the hundreds. Génier claims positive audience reception to be a driving factor. 

“Word of mouth is crazy,” said Génier. “If you have something that people like, build a stadium, and people will come.”

By 2022, the festival premiered over 90 minutes of short films and included a live performance from the band, CONNIE. 

In the summer of 2023, Génier says he and his team received around 22 film submissions, many from people outside of his social circle.

“I feel like when I started programming for the September one, that's when it started feeling like this isn't just something me and my friends are doing, this is on its way to becoming something bigger than all of us.”

In December, Génier announced that Eric’s Backyard Film Festival would be returning for a special, elevated fourth installment: Eric’s Winter Film Festival. 

Génier welcomes the audience to the Winter Film Festival decked out in holiday attire (Sarah Grishpul/CanCulture)

What set this festival apart from the typical Eric’s Backyard events (apart from the obvious lack of a backyard setting) was the size. According to Génier, they’re painting the same picture, just on a bigger canvas. 

The Winter Film Festival took place indoors at Sheridan College in the school’s on-campus pub, The Marquee. Upon entry, attendees were invited to peruse around vendors selling homemade goods from local, small businesses and official merchandise for Eric’s Backyard Film Festival. 

Attendees explore the vendor tables and vintage clothing racks at Eric’s Winter Film Festival (Sarah Grishpul/CanCulture)

There was even a live band performance from Moss Lawn and BROTHER, inviting people to listen and dance along before the screening. 

And, of course, you simply had to check out the bathrooms.

The bathrooms at Eric’s Winter Film Festival are covered in slightly intimidating posters of Génier covered in… blood? Oh dear (Sarah Grishpul/CanCulture)

The event premiered an eclectic selection of 13 short films from young local filmmakers, spanning from one-minute visually experimental thrillers to endearing documentaries about Oakville’s local “Bark Bus” and a dynamic music video accompanied by the first-ever live performance of SEVI EAST. Many of the directors were in attendance to address audience questions in a lively Q&A. 

A group of local filmmakers answer questions from the audience after the first half of the screenings while Génier dons a festive Santa Claus costume (Sarah Grishpul/CanCulture)

For Génier, having community-oriented events that bring people together is important to cultivate, particularly in an area where socialization is often discouraged.

“Community is really important and we don't have it here in Oakville,” he said. “One of the biggest things I learned: it's really hard to make community in the suburbs. I'm hoping this is starting something to change that. Maybe this can eventually lead to something that can benefit not just my circle, but also Oakville.”

With the continued growth in attendance, Génier and his team are on the hunt for a new venue space for next year’s festival.

“I can't do it in my backyard again, unfortunately,” he said. “There's no way we can fit everyone into my backyard and it's not the best viewing experience either cause there's trees and a pergola in the way of the screen.”

Increasing the frequency of local film screenings is another goal of his. Génier hopes to utilize local movie theatres like Film.ca to build a bigger film presence in Oakville.

The festivals usually attract applicants around the age range of 18-25, but he would like to see more submissions from younger filmmakers in high school, particularly those who don’t typically create films as a way to promote amateurism.

“I'm more in the bank of ‘anyone can make a movie,’ and we have the tools that anyone can make a movie. So, I want to just see more of that.”

Génier hopes to continue to run and develop Eric’s Backyard Film Festival well into the future, but while this idea began as a fun way to reunite with friends and neighbours, he admits he can’t keep doing this for free forever.

“Hopefully you’ll see Eric’s Backyard incorporated, and I have 500 interns,” he jokes.

What is going on with the MCU? A review of The Marvels

Marvel's latest cinematic instalment bombed at the box office, and considering the size of the franchise, there's a lot we need to talk about

By Mariana Schuetze

The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) recently had a new addition, its 33rd film, The Marvels, released in November and directed by Nia DaCosta. The film stars two “Marvels,” Captain Marvel, or Carol Danvers (played by Brie Larson, Ms. Marvel, or Kamala Khan(played by Canadian superstar Iman Vellani) and Monica Rambeau, played by Teyonah Parris. In The Marvels, the superpowers of these three superheroes get jumbled together, so every time one of them uses their power, they switch places.

The premise, to me at least, was great. I was sold when I heard the idea. I’m a sucker for platonic relationships and, besides having their powers tangled, they all also have complicated emotional relationships with each other. Kamala is a super fan of Captain Marvel and Carol and Monica are family since Carol and Monica's mom, Maria Rambeau, were together in the United States Air Force.

So, yes, I was quite excited about the film. Yet, the execution of this interesting premise left a lot to to be desired. The film’s strongest moments are when the three super-powered women team up, especially the few times they take a minute to talk about their feelings. Larson continues to portray Danvers as this closed-off strong-willed woman, now with a touch of feelings when she’s forced to interact with her best friend’s daughter who she hasn’t seen in 30 years. Parris’ character adds that touch of emotion to Danvers and gives more life to the character we first saw in WandaVision. Rounding out the trio, Vellani brings an incredibly fresh take to the MCU, playing the super-fan-turned-superhero to perfection (if I had superpowers and got to save the world with my favourite superhero, I’d be acting just like her).

The bad guy in the film, Dar-Benn (played by Zawe Ashton), is going after Kamala’s bangle, so she can have enough power to save her planet. The Marvels continue to touch on the history and future of alien races, Kree and the Skrulls. They have been displaced from their planet since 1995 in Captain Marvel (2019) when Danvers promised to protect them. She is also connected to the reason why Dar-Benn's Skrull planet was destroyed, so more reason for them to be involved. 

With so much happening in the MCU by this point, the beginning of the film suffers from over-exposition. To keep the audience in the loop, they have to give context and background to all these new characters, who have all appeared in different projects of the franchise so far, including films and Disney+ shows. Once the plot starts picking up, with some training montage moments and adventures through space, we begin to get a bit more excited about what's going on. Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) is also present in the film and brings some funny one-liners alongside Kamala’s family (who gets stuck in a spaceship at one point). 

However, once we got to the final act, everything seemed rushed. The stakes, once again, are incredibly high and this trio of superheroes that have never worked together before, manage to save the day in probably 15 minutes. The emotional conflicts throughout the film, especially between Carol and Monica; and Kamala and her family, are quickly resolved in a way that makes you feel like you’ve missed something, even if you didn’t leave the theatre room once.

In the end, what I like the most about The Marvels and what gives it rewatch value is how the film made me feel. The three superheroes are loud, fierce and know what they want. As an anxious, insecure people-pleaser, it was so strange yet incredibly valuable to see the three of them never question their own decisions or each others’. They all knew exactly what they wanted to say and do and everyone respected their decisions, recognizing each others’ value. In a world where women a lot of the time don’t even have a space to talk, this felt pretty powerful.

But yet, since the terrible reception of Captain Marvel back in 2019 where bots and men flooded the internet with misogynistic comments and reviews, I don’t think anyone expected this film to do too well (it has three leading women, after all). And, well, guess what? It didn’t. The Marvels just became the MCU's lowest-grossing film at the box office, making a whopping 198 thousand dollars at the global box office. This is six times less than what Captain Marvel made in 2019. This time around, however, The Marvels, didn’t get review-bombed, having received a fresh rating of 61 per cent from critics and an 82 per cent audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes. 

Considering all of that, I’d say we can't disregard misogyny in the calculation of the MCU's downfall. As the franchise's audience has grown, it's fair to assume so has its female audience. So, in an attempt to captivate more of this audience (and just follow the times, I guess), the MCU has given a bit more space to its female heroes with movies like Black Widow (2021), Captain Marvel, Eternals (2021), Thor: Love and Thunder (2022) and now, The Marvels, plus giving many of them their own TV shows.  Still, even though watching these films makes me feel incredibly badass, they're not the most popular with the fans; why?

Is it a lack of good writing? No, these films have had incredible filmmakers attached to them (see: Eternals, helmed by Oscar-award-winning director, Chloe Zhao)

Is it a lack of stellar performances? No, a lot of these actors are incredibly talented (see: Brie Larson, Natalie Portman, Tatiana Maslany…)

Is it a lack of funding? No, these films are all part of the MCU franchise, they get access to the same resources (see: compare budgets/spending of two MCU films, one male-centred the other female-centred)

Yet, every single female-forward project of the MCU has suffered with setbacks in one way or another. Black Widow didn’t get the theatre release it deserved, Eternals was harshly trashed by the critics, She-Hulk and Ms. Marvel got the same treatment and now, The Marvels’s disastrous box office. So, what does the future of the MCU look like? I fear that with all these female-led superhero films being so trashed by a majority of male fans, we won’t get to see these stories on screen anymore.

However, the MCU is suffering from more than just misogyny and the fear of “what’s woke”. Many of Marvel’s recent projects have been quite off, and certainly not as fiscally successful as we’ve come to expect. In some way or another, I think the MCU is just getting too big. Much like the comic books, all the stories now are deeply connected. To watch one instalment in the theatre and enjoy that collective experience we all long for, you have to come prepared with about 10-20 hours of extra bonus content (and a Disney+ subscription). That can be too much for the majority of audiences. 

By the end of 2023, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has come out with 33 films and 11 Disney+ shows, having announced another five shows 12 new movies for their end of  Phase 5 and the upcoming  Phase 6. But unlike Captain America: Civil War (2016) and the Infinity Saga (2018-2019), this time we’ll have to watch over 40 projects to be able to have the best experience in the theatres, instead of the 18 that were out by 2018 when Infinity War first came out. But who has the time to be up to date with all of that today? Is that even sustainable for audiences? 

In the end, I think we are all looking for that feeling of sitting down in a movie theatre on opening night surrounded by friends and fellow MCU fans, collectively experiencing the final battle of Endgame, and seeing, one by one, all the characters we’ve grown to love in the past 10 years come out of magic portals. Being there, together, all sharing an experience, all with the same level of understatement, attachment and connection to these characters (because, after all, we all had watched the same films), is something we're all longing for. And so are the studio executives, longing for the big buck these films made. I believe that experience is hard to replicate, and it’s what we’re all looking for. Anything that is that, will do greatly (see: Spider-Man: No Way Home). Anything that is not, will just feel disappointing…

American Fiction: Jeffrey Wright gives a standout performance in Cord Jefferson’s debut feature film #TIFF23

The TIFF People’s Choice Award winner delivers uncompromising commentary on the pressures and expectations placed on Black artists while maintaining a story full of humour and heart

Jeffrey Wright plays Thelonious "Monk" Ellison, a dynamic character who is at once both cynical and filled with humanity (Courtesy of TIFF)

By Caelan Monkman

Satire is a notoriously challenging genre to execute well. It requires an intimate understanding — and often appreciation — of the subject being satirized, while simultaneously a recognition of the flaws and dissonances that exist within that very subject.

It’s here that American Fiction writer and director Cord Jefferson truly prevails. Jefferson is accomplishing a doubly challenging task, tackling satire and adapting the film’s screenplay from a book — Percival Everett’s 2001 novel Erasure — another famously difficult feat. This accomplishment is all the more impressive given this is Jefferson’s first feature film.

The film follows Thelonious "Monk" Ellison (Jeffrey Wright), a struggling author who keeps finding himself pigeonholed as a “Black writer” while simultaneously being told by editors that his works “aren’t Black enough.”

Dealing with various personal and family problems, including the death of his sister and an aging mother who is succumbing to Alzheimer's, Monk is feeling the pressure to succeed as a writer to support his family. But with white editors and audiences continuously deciding on his behalf what is and isn’t “Black enough,” Monk can’t seem to catch a break.

This is until, in an act of frustration, he submits a draft to his editor titled ‘My Pafology’ — an over-the-top story filled with clichés about Black communities — under the pseudonym Stagg R. Leigh. To his surprise, it is loved by his editor, and he’s offered the largest book deal of his career.

What follows is a whirlwind series of events that results in Monk finding anonymous success for his work while simultaneously disagreeing with the very art he is now forcing himself to create.

In a Q&A with Jefferson following the film’s world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, he explained that he didn’t want the film to feel like a lecture. The film succeeds in doing this, managing to walk the tightrope of satirizing without spoonfeeding the audience, trusting them to understand the messaging in the film, but without pandering to them either.

Jefferson, whose writing credits include the award-winning HBO shows Watchmen and Succession, was a journalist before making the transition to writing for TV — and now film. As a Black journalist, Jefferson was often asked to cover what he calls the ‘racism beat,’ a “revolving door of misery and tragedy” that focused on stories of tragedy and racism befalling communities of colour rather than stories that uplift them.

Here, Jefferson experienced firsthand the same things Monk does in American Fiction. Grappling with the commercialization and fetishization of the “true Black experience”, the film explores how, as stated in one of the more poignant lines of the film, “White people think they want the truth, but they don’t. They just want to feel absolved.”

The resulting film is one that is both bitingly funny and depressingly real. With exceptional performances across the board, and worth mentioning a delightfully lush and jazzy score from Laura Karpman, American Fiction is a terrific start to the hopefully long list of feature films to come from Cord Jefferson.

The Boy and the Heron: Miyazaki’s triumphant (last?) film #TIFF23

Hayao Miyazaki’s directorial return presented to the audiences at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) the auteur’s love letter to his previous works.

By John Vo

(Courtesy of TIFF)

When Studio Ghibli comes to mind, the image of the man who sought to create more than films, but the most magical and immersive worlds, is formed. We think of the countless films created since the studio first came to fruition four decades ago. Yet before he solidified himself as one of the most prolific auteurs in not solely animation, but also cinema itself, Hayao Miyazaki was once a Japanese boy who longed to bring bold artworks and imaginative concepts to life. When 2013’s The Wind Rises came out, and Miyazaki himself claimed he would be retiring (although he already said that four times prior), many, including myself, truly believed that we wouldn’t be seeing more works from the movie legend. Until he finally shared the triumphant news in 2021 that we would be getting another film from him. That film would be the now-released The Boy and the Heron (or Kimitachi wa Dō Ikiru ka).

Very loosely based on his connection to the Japanese novel How Do You Live? by Genzaburo Yoshino, Miyazaki’s film is comprised of an original story and new characters. During the Second World War, 12-year-old Mahito loses his mother after a bombing that causes the hospital where she resides to burn down. His father soon remarries his late wife’s sister and the two move to another city in the country. As he struggles to adapt to the continuing grief of losing his mother and being in a completely new setting, Mahito meets a talking heron who tells him that his mother is still alive. Eager to discover what this strange and magical heron means, he follows him into a nearby abandoned tower and is transferred into a new world. Mahito then sets on a journey full of fantastical creatures and dangerous obstacles to find out what truly happened to his mother.

Although this synopsis sounds very straightforward, Studio Ghibli films have the innate ability to turn a simple concept and expand it beyond the scope of what anyone could’ve imagined; Miyazaki is not like any other artist. Before becoming an auteur, he was once just a boy in Japan during the bombings and remembers the brutality of war. His family and he would also face hardships, like when his mother got spinal tuberculosis. These key moments of his life are translated into the motifs in the projects he has helmed for Studio Ghibli. From his anti-war stances in The Wind Rises and Howl’s Moving Castle to how humans deal with illness and grief in films like My Neighbour Totoro, Miyazaki infuses the experiences of his youth into relatable and honest coming-of-age stories that portray adolescence as both the wondrous and arduous. The core belief that art can be used as a means of dissecting and understanding one’s emotional and personal turmoils is beliefs is ever so evident in Miyazaki’s body of work.

The Boy and the Heron is the amalgamation of everything you could imagine for a Hayao Miyazaki film and more. Cute creatures that would make adorable stuffed animals? Check. A fantastical world with its own set of physics and features? You got it. Another score produced by the mind behind the music of Ghibli, Joe Hasaishi? The closest thing one can get to an out-of-body experience. The animation? Oh, there are no words worthy enough to describe how vividly immaculate this film is to look at. The lush colours Ghibli loves to use in all of its films are present and paired with the iconic stylized designs of the characters and settings. When viewing the film, you’ll catch what will go down as one of the studio’s visually striking scenes, the animation becomes eerie and akin to how one might see a nightmare play out. It shocks you to the core but adds a whole new dimension to the film and the potential of 2-D animation. In our current climate where the only animated films you can catch in cinemas feature 3-D anthropomorphic animals just for the sake of a cash grab, Studio Ghibli and the Japanese animation industry as a whole are a firm reminder that 2-D animation is anything but a relic of the past.

At the heart of our story is a young adolescent struggling to adapt to the newfound changes in his livelihood and familial relationships. The character of Mahito acts as our eyes and ears into the countryside and the world he and we are about to experience. The dynamic between him and the other characters, especially between his father and former aunt now step-mother, are some of the most nuanced and complex relationships in the Ghibli canon. Yet, no character is written to be a two-dimensional caricature but are all provided glimpses into their viewpoints and what motivates their actions. We can’t mention a film called The Boy and the Heron without mentioning the titular heron. Although I only screened the Japanese version at TIFF — meaning no commentary from me on Robert Pattinson’s voice acting — the heron in the film remains one of the studio’s oddest secondary characters. His motives are shrouded in mystery for a good portion of the film and it is not until later we discover his true purpose within the narrative. The heron does lead to another point that the Japanese voice actors did an exceptional job with the script. Voice acting in animated film is nothing like acting for the cameras and the ability to express the character's words without being over-the-top is crucial. Like every past Miyazaki film, the voice acting is top-notch with moments of the subtle and dramatic interspersed.

Beyond the surface level and aesthetics, the consistent themes and storytelling of Miyazaki’s work are displayed at possibly an all-time best. Through the hero’s journey, the concepts of grief, violence and coming-of-age are explored in an allegorical manner akin to films like Spirited Away and KiKi’s Delivery Service. Although the film is set in 1940s post-WWII Japan, the themes of war and self-discovery are meticulously written to retain timelessness and relevancy to our current society. Now more than ever, Miyazaki’s clear stance on how war can affect countries as a whole and the youth affected mirrors current events today.

When fans of films, especially Canadians, discovered that the film would be premiering as the opening film for the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), it solidified Studio Ghibli and Miyazaki’s place in cinema as a trailblazer. His work has gone on to be referenced in games, and live-action works and is a key influence for other esteemed film professionals. It was so obvious even walking alongside King St. W where all the magic was happening at TIFF. The film became the first ever animated and international film to open for the festival, Torotonians lined up hours early for the special merch pop-up and for the small possibility of snagging last-minute tickets to see the film. Suffice it to say that the videography of Studio Ghibli means a lot to general audiences and film as a whole.

A swan song (pun half-intended) to the works of Studio Ghibli’s past, Hayao Miyazaki blends all the things audiences love about his work and creates a film that pays homage to the classics while standing on its own as a formidable film. The Boy and the Heron is a love letter to all the fans who look towards his films and animation as a source of inspiration and solace. Although the story will not be the easiest to understand once you exit the theatre, you leave with the same breathtaking awe and wonder that comes after watching a film of such calibre and raw passion.

The subtitled and dubbed versions of The Boy and the Heron are in theatres now. For more information or to buy tickets, check the link here.

Images courtesy of TIFF

Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person: Ariane Louis-Seize’s feature debut contains lots of blood, and even more heart #TIFF23

Although not wholly original, the horror-comedy presents some unique ideas and follows through with a solid execution full of humanity (and vampiranity)

A dark-haired teenage girl (Sara Montpetit) examines her vampire fangs with her hand

Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person delights audiences with its use of humour and compassionate handling of sensitive subjects (Courtesy of TIFF)

By Caelan Monkman

Would you compromise your morals, even at the expense of alienating yourself from your family — or worse — your own death?

That is the question that Canadian director Ariane Louis-Seize attempts to answer in her debut feature film, the horror-comedy Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person.

The film follows Sasha (Sara Montpetit), a “teenage” vampire (she’s 68, which is like 17 in vampire years) who, according to a vampire pediatrician — yes, you read that correctly — possesses a neurological condition which makes her feel compassion towards her human victims, rather than hunger. As a result, Sasha can’t bring herself to kill humans for food, electing instead to drink blood from IV bags as though they were hemoglobin-filled Kool-Aid Jammers.

Out of frustration and a desire to cure her condition, Sasha’s family elects to send her away to live with her cousin Denise (Noémie O’Farrell), hoping that some time away from home will set Sasha straight.

Feeling isolated from her family and unable to express her extremely-vampire-specific dilemma with others, Sasha struggles with how to move forward, ultimately electing to attend a depression support group. There, she meets Paul (Félix-Antoine Bénard), a suicidal teenager who — after putting two and two together about Sasha’s bloodthirsty predicament — offers his life to her as a guilt-free blood sacrifice.

What follows is an unlikely friendship between the two misunderstood minors, who, through each other, discover there’s perhaps more to life than just survival.

The film wears its influences on its sleeve, sharing similarities with black comedies like The End of the F***ing World and The Addams Family while still creating a distinctly original end product. It also doesn’t take itself too seriously, being aware of the absurdities that can arise from the modern-day lives of vampires, à la What We Do In The Shadows.

Additionally, the film has a distinctly Canadian feel to it — and not just because of the multiple utterances of tabarnak and a creative and humorous scene involving poutine. The unique, independent spirit of the film is reminiscent of the (admittedly more abstract) absurdist films of Guy Maddin, or of Jason Reitman’s TIFF-premiering classic, Juno.

Billed as a horror-comedy, the film leans into horror tropes primarily as aesthetic choices, often subverting them for comedic effect. Much of the film is presented matter-of-factly and with a deadpan delivery, allowing the absurdity of the situation to carry the humour.

Despite the film’s humorous subject matter, it also contains its fair share of surprisingly profound moments. Dealing with topics such as depression and suicide, the film approaches these themes head-on, facing them with equal parts compassion and humour, without ever trivializing them.

At times the film could do to sit on these emotional beats a bit longer, but regardless, they still work well and provide some lovely tender moments amongst the deadpan of the rest of the film.

The end result is a film that leans heavily on common horror and coming-of-age tropes but still gives audiences an original end result and has them feeling good as the credits roll.

Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person is now available for digital rental and is playing at the TIFF Bell Lightbox on January 27.



Love Actually did Brexit (not really)

Christmas movies give us all the warm fuzzies but beneath all the mistletoe and caroling, Ho-Ho-Hollywood may have some tricks up its sleeve

By Ella Miller

Even when you’re on the threshold of holiday hell, Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye (and the Hollywood propaganda machine) will always be there for you. (via Wikimedia Commons) 

In 1898, hypnotist George Albert Smith created the first Christmas movie. Smith’s Santa Claus is just over a minute long, and through the crackling celluloid, a story unfolds that has remained unchanged since the 19th century. 

Santa Claus’ Victorian-era predecessors–literary works like A Christmas Carol–did much to influence how we celebrate the holiday. 

“Prior to the nineteenth century Christmas was a far more public holiday, typified by rowdy festivities, misrule, and community celebration,” Melodie Roschman outlines in her article, “‘Now I Have a Machine Gun, Ho-Ho-Ho’: Masculinity, Family, and Redemptive Violence in Home Alone and Die Hard,” published in 2023 in the Comparative American Studies An International Journal.

She continues that during this period, “governments and institutions sought to recreate Christmas as a genteel, civilized celebration of home and family,” with whimsical, good-natured media being a tool used in this transformation. 

Christmas movies, in this way, are the successors to the regularly scheduled ye olde government-sanctioned holiday literature. They serve as protectors of the status quo and tools to inform viewers on how to uniformly construct a ‘perfect’ Christmas.  

Following Santa Claus, theatres, rather fittingly, saw a slew of Christmas Carol adaptations as the go-to festive story on screen: Scrooge, or Marley’s Ghost (1901), A Christmas Carol (1908), A Christmas Carol (1910), Scrooge (1913), yet another Christmas Carol in 1923 and 1938 and three more movies simply titled Scrooge in 1922, 1928 and 1935. 

It wasn’t until the 1940s that people finally got tired of watching remakes of a one-hundred-year-old Charles Dickens book and forced Hollywood to come up with something original. 

This did not stop at least 15 more A Christmas Carols from being made (though one of those has Muppets in it), two more Scrooge’s and one past tense Scrooged that thought it was doing something there. 

The modern Christmas movie emerged around the advent of the Second World War with Holiday Inn (1942), Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), Christmas in Connecticut (1945), It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) and Miracle on 34th Street (1947). 

“The sentimental images and customs associated with Christmas represented ideals most threatened by war—peace, family, abundance, tradition—and the retail and entertainment industries were quick to recognize and deploy Christmas as both a narrative and a marketing strategy [...]” writes Carolyn Sigler in the article “‘I'll Be Home for Christmas’: Misrule and the Paradox of Gender in World War II-Era Christmas Films,” published in 2005 in the Journal of American Culture.

The soundtracks packaged with such films were so impactful that they became the soundtracks to Christmas itself. Particularly Holiday Inn, which features Irving Berlin’s immensely popular “White Christmas” and “Happy Holiday” and Meet Me in St. Louis’ “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas.” 

These movies are now shorthand for what a perfect Christmas is, and their popularity would eventually signal the integration of reverence for the past as a requirement of the Christmas mood. 

“Each of these holiday-themed films offers not so much a journey into the past as a self-conscious, celebratory journey into invented tradition, as the characters travel to and experience the rural, quaintly old-fashioned scenes depicted in Victorian Christmas cards,” Sigler adds.  

The next big wave of now-classic Christmas movies began in the 1980s with A Christmas Story (1983) and, within a period lasting until the mid-90s, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989), Home Alone (1990), The Santa Clause (1994) and Jingle All the Way (1996) would debut. 

It is in these movies that the John Hughes-ification of Christmas takes hold. Hughes wrote Christmas Vacation and Home Alone, injecting those movies with his white upper-class Reaganomic sensibilities; the families live in cushy all-American homes and have the resources to lavish their children with Turbo-Man action figures and Red Ryder Carbine Action 200-shot Range Model air rifles.   

Incorporated into this Hughes-ification, is an increased conservatism and loyalty to a past constructed through the films that came before. 

“Christmas movies are designed to activate emotional resonance through nostalgia,” writes Pam Rutledge in “Why Christmas Movies Make Us Feel Good.” “They rely on our desire to visit the ‘good old days’ with images, stories, and music that stimulate our sentimental and wistful associations from the past.” 

Christmas Vacation is an example of this, weaponizing It’s A Wonderful Life as a way of conveying how wrong compared to the silver screen perfection of Zuzu exclaiming “Every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings,” the Griswold family Christmas is about to get. 

Except it never quite goes entirely wrong, does it? Despite everything–kidnapping the man responsible for your Jelly of the Month Club membership, viciously maiming two burglars, murdering Santa Claus–these stories have happy endings of happy families experiencing the happ-happ-happiest magic of Christmas. 

But despite this textbook Hollywood un-realism, people just can’t stop watching the movies that trigger all the warm fuzzies. And studios and advertising firms know this. Christmas movies and their characters are now also a part of the marketing machine that has all but devoured the season. 

While researching this article, an ad for OpenTable parodying Love Actually (2003) popped up before a YouTube video. There was also the Google Home ad featuring Macaulay Culkin that went viral a few years ago, those cursed Grinch x Wonderful Pistachio billboards and yet another Love Actually parody that may have made Brexit happen. 

At the opposite end of this palatable marketability lies Female Trouble (1974) by beloved purveyor of trash, John Waters. It is, for reasons known only to the sweet baby Jesus himself, included on Wikipedia’s list of Christmas films. Becoming another entry into the ‘there on a technicality’ phenomenon, alongside other alternative films like Gremlins (1984), Edward Scissorhands (1990) and… Die Hard (1988). 

The inclusion of horror and action movies on a Christmas movies list is, in this writer’s opinion, somewhat of a desperate cry for a more diverse selection in the media people feel as though they are allowed to watch at Christmas. 

Upper-class, upper case-White suburbia is not relatable to many. And, the continuous pressure to only consume movies that reinforce the narrative that this is the most wonderful time of the year can be downright miserable for some. 

“Some viewers are looking at the wealth and all the gifts and identifying, and others are looking at the wealth and the gifts and are being made anxious as are their parents in terms of not ‘keeping up with the Joneses’,” says Graeme Metcalf, a sociology professor at Toronto Metropolitan University.  

This is not to mention those legitimately absent from holiday movies, like people of colour, LGBTQ folks and practitioners of non-Christian religions. While there are exceptions to these categories, they are few and far between. 

And no, slotting a diversity hire into the filmed-in-rural-Ontario Hallmark format does not count. 

“The perpetual joy of the season coming down through this Hollywood mechanism is one in which the joy is a white joy and then we see the tokenism of [...] the Black character who may arrive as one of the star’s best friends or colleagues,” says Metcalf. 

The Preacher’s Wife (1996), The Best Man Holiday (2013) and A Madea Christmas (2013) showcase the few times Black actors are at the forefront of Christmas stories; Tokyo Godfathers (2003), Carol (2015), Tangerine (2015) and Happiest Season (2020) offer some gay and trans representation; and Jewish people are gifted Eight Crazy Nights (2002) as one of the most mainstream tellings of the Hanukkah story. How lovely. 

This all comes back to the status quo. As was the case in the Victorian era and as is the case now, Christmas is simplest when it is packaged for one demographic to enjoy and everyone else to fight for. Scrooges need and deserve to get got by those ghosts. Hollywood needs to change that attitude.  

“In order to do that, they’ll have to address social class and poverty and disenfranchisement and marginalization and differing ways family units operate in terms of class and race and gender and sexuality,” says Metcalf. “And so what they would have to do is actually make Christmas movies about people rather than Christmas movies about consumerism.”    

The current narrow reality of the holidays peddled through Hollywood propaganda works hand in hand with commercialism to obscure the real reason for the season: 

I don’t know… whatever you want it to be. 

The whole thing is probably just a farcical diversion made to compete with pagan Yule celebrations. So, attend Midnight Mass, buy a bunch of stuff online, make a billion cookies, sacrifice your neighbour to Krampus, spread goodwill towards men, do nothing at all, or even, watch Die Hard. 

In desperate need of holiday cheer? Check out these 10 festive movies!

As exam season is upon us, explore these holiday films to remove your inner Grinch!

By Aliya Karimjee

Are you or a classmate struggling to feel the holiday cheer? Take a break from exams and discover CanCulture’s festive movie recommendations! 

Black Christmas

If Halloween passed by too fast for you, then a must-watch movie for you is Black Christmas (1974)! This beloved Canadian slasher film invites you into a murder mystery where a killer preys upon a college sorority. Being one of the first cited slasher films, it’s interesting to know the real-life Westmount murders inspired this movie in Montréal. If you have ever seen the Scream franchise, you might like this film as it inspired the targeted phone calls concept. Black Christmas will ironically be a dark feature during this festive holiday season. Watch it for free with an Amazon Prime subscription. 

Have you dealt with relatives trying to set you up in the festive season? The movie Holidate demonstrates precisely that and the main character Sloane's way of defeating it. She fakes a romantic connection with someone for the festivities, otherwise known as her "holidate," until those feelings might not be so fake. The plot is captivating, and you get to celebrate two Canadian actors. Andrew Bachelor, comedian and actor, played the role of Neil, Jackson's misguided best friend (Sloane's love interest). You might have also seen him rise to fame on Vine. The second Canadian actor, Jake Manley, plays Sloane's younger brother York. You might have seen him in iZombie, A Dog's Journey or The Order. Overall, if you're a bit "anti-love" this holiday season, see if this movie changes your mind! Check it out on Netflix.

Lovehard

Have you ever been catfished? Lovehard is based on a journalist writing about her experiences with dating apps. When she thinks she has met her perfect match, she flies almost 5000 km to meet him, and discovers he isn't everything he advertised… Later, she meets the man whose picture was used, but who will she choose? This Christmas-themed rom-com was filmed in Metro Vancouver with Canadian star Nina Dobrev, known for her leading role in The Vampire Diaries. Suppose you want to support a majorly Canadian film and relate to some funny dating experiences. In that case, this Netflix movie is for you! 

Happiest Season

This movie is so endearing, considering there aren’t many holiday rom-com starring LGBTQ2S+ couples—especially ones backed by big Hollywood studios. Many queer audiences can resonate with this story in terms of the main character’s coming out journey. The plot revolves around Canadian actress Mackenzie Davis, playing the role of Harper, as she's conflicted between coming out to her “traditional” family versus getting engaged with her partner, Abby (Kristen Stewart). Dan Levy, a Canadian actor playing Abby’s best friend, John, is also a very funny and supportive character in this film. Watch this movie on Netflix. 

The Holiday Calendar

Do you enjoy counting down the days till Christmas? An advent calendar-inspired film is the perfect way to do so. This movie, filmed in Niagara-On-The-Lake, shows the adventures a photographer experiences after she inherits an antique holiday advent calendar that can predict the future. Will this calendar lead to the love of her life? See for yourself on Netflix. 

Christmas Wedding Planner

Planning weddings can always be chaotic. However, how weird is it if a private investigator tries to shut down a wedding planner's biggest wedding yet? The bride’s ex, Connor, shows up as a secret private unvestigator at the engagement party to find something to expose the groom. What if this private investigator distracts the wedding planner? What if he catches her eye and turns her world upside down? Will she get her love story, cancel another's, or end up in tears? Watch this Canadian movie on Netflix. 

Elf

The movie Elf is a funny Christmas-comedy guaranteed to lift your spirits! Filmed in Vancouver, the production team persevered in building the large sets for Santa’s village by utilizing public-use hockey rinks. Raised as an oversized elf, Buddy travels from the North Pole to New York City, hoping to meet his dad. Unfortunately, his dad does not know he exists and is not exactly in the Christmas spirit. Watch this movie on Amazon Prime. 

The Christmas Chronicles 

Were you in Toronto in 2018? Some city residents were lucky enough to find Kurt Russell dressed in a Santa Claus suit. The Christmas Chronicles revolves around two kids celebrating their first Christmas since their dad passed away. However, they end up stuck in Chicago (AKA Toronto) on an adventure with Santa's sleigh on Christmas Eve. Watch out for some spots you might recognize in the GTA! St. James Gate in Etobicoke, Tiffany & Co. or Louis Vuitton in Yorkville, and other spots in Leslieville or downtown. Check it out on Netflix. 

Falling for Christmas/A Snow Capped Christmas

Broadcasted as "Falling for Christmas" in the United States, the Canadian version, A Snow Capped Christmas, is a movie about an injured skater's experience in rehab in the weeks leading up to Christmas. While resting, she meets a former Canadian hockey player who now runs a local ice fishing shop. As he teaches her how to fall in love with winter without skating, she might find herself in her own love story. Filmed in British Columbia, we see pretty views as we uncover the skater and an ice fisherman's love story. Watch the Canadian version on Amazon Prime and the American version, differing slightly through skiing, on Netflix. 

The Knight Before Christmas

The final movie on our list was filmed in Orillia, Ont. and Bracebridge, Ont., two Canadian cities over 150 km from Toronto. As the name suggests, you should watch The Knight Before Christmas the night before Christmas. A 14th-century knight is given an unknown quest before midnight or he will never be a proper knight. On that same day, in 2019, he discovers the quest was to find love as he meets a science teacher. Discover this love story across centuries as a 14th-century night falls in love with a 21st-century science teacher. Available on Netflix.

Now remove your resting Grinch face and watch these tree-mendously funny or romantic Christmas movies! 

CanCulture's executive team look back on the Toronto International Film Festival #TIFF23

Spanning from the 7th to the 17th of September, Mariana, Caelan and John reflect on their experience attending the prestigious film festival

By Mariana Schuetze, Caelan Monkman, John Vo

One of the most fun and enriching experiences for us was to be on the red carpet, next to other media outlets and talking to incredible filmmakers (Mariana Schuetze/CanCulture)

Mariana Schuetze: I have always had this dream of watching many films in one day. A "double-feature" at the movies. But not even during “Barbenheimer,” I did that. So it's not an exaggeration when I say covering the 48th annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) for CanCulture this year was a dream come true.

Back in June this year, I and the other two members of this term's executive team, Caelan Monkman and John Vo, decided to apply to press at TIFF in 2023. Very hopeful and unsure of what would happen, we quickly filled out an application and submitted it. A couple of weeks later, we got it: Press Accreditation at the Toronto International Film Festival.

What does Press Accreditation give you?

Mariana Schuetze: Getting Media Accreditation at TIFF offers you a few tickets to public screenings, some networking events and countless opportunities to catch Press & Industry events. This includes P&I screenings of films, which are held on a first-come-first-serve basis. Another exciting opportunity we had access to were the red carpets! As press, we get to ask for red carpet placement and interview or photograph our favourite artists.

John Vo: When we got sent our emails proudly saying that CanCulture Magazine would be granted press access to the festival, it felt like a hazy dream. I usually err on the side of optimism, but my mind droned with the loud thoughts that we would be rejected and turned away. Would it be truly surprising since I’m sure thousands in Canada and across the world apply each year for the chance to cover TIFF? Receiving that email felt like finding the coveted holy grail. Not only because we could see tons of films but also the confirmation that rising publications like ours would be given the chance to participate in one of the most anticipated events Toronto offers.

Caelan Monkman: I remember being so excited when I opened my email and read that CanCulture had gotten press accreditation approval. The press accreditation meant that we could cover red carpets and industry events, as well as attend film screenings specifically for press and industry passholders. More than that, though, press accreditation was validation that all our work as student journalists and members of CanCulture Magazine had paid off, and we were well on our way to being professional film journalists.

What was the experience like?

M: In 10 days I got to glimpse into at least 15 people's minds. I got to know 15 unique stories. In the 10 days of the festival this year, I watched 15 films. Running from theatre to theatre was a nerve-racking experience of its own, but the best part of it all was living through so many different experiences. At the end of the festival, I genuinely felt like at least a whole month had gone by.

As a press member with the opportunity to basically watch as many films as I wanted (or could), I was really excited to just sit down, watch a movie and exercise my critical thinking. During most films, I had a small notebook and a pen and I sneakily tried to take some notes during the screenings. They are a bit all over the place but turned out to be really useful for me to separate what happened in what film, after watching four movies in a day.

J: Toronto streets are a familiar picture: bustling people with unique dreams trying to make it to their destinations, cars blaring their horns in all their road rage and the streets lined with restaurants and boutiques. The only time the city becomes still is during the witching hour. Toronto couldn’t be any more busier, right? Wrong!

As I headed towards my last film for the 48th Toronto International Film Festival on a Saturday afternoon, I scanned the streets. I became overwhelmed by packs of people eagerly looking for the next celebrity to spot or waiting in the rush line to potentially see a movie. When people talk about sensory overload, TIFF should come to mind.

Scanning through all the moments I experienced, I smiled fondly and sighed in relief that it was over. What can I say that isn’t obvious? To start, seeing actors and directors in front of you can be weirdly anticlimactic. Like “Wow, you’re a human being just like the rest of us but with money and status.” Still, I definitely had my moments where it struck me that these famous and talented folks came up to the bustling and smelly streets of Toronto all in the name of celebrating film. The art of being in films, making films, conversing about films.

C: The first thing that comes to mind is the sheer scale of the festival. There are hundreds of films screening at the festival, each with their own casts (well, some with their own casts, thanks to the SAG-AFTRA strike), crews, production and distribution teams, etc. The festival takes place in various locations near the TIFF Bell Lightbox in downtown Toronto, so when you’re surrounded by so many other festival-goers milling from one venue to the next, it can definitely be a bit of a sensory overload.

Although at times overwhelming, the experience was immensely positive. You can tell that everyone at the festival — from the volunteers to the press to the fans to the celebrities — are all in attendance because of their shared passion and love for cinema. Getting to see so many films while surrounded by those sorts of people is incredible.

Despite the SAG-AFTRA strike, there were still plenty of big stars on the TIFF red carpets! One of my favourite moments was getting to interview legendary New Zealand filmmaker Taika Waititi, who was at the festival for his latest film, Next Goal Wins.

The downside

M: As you would imagine, the biggest downside at a film festival like TIFF is not having enough time to watch everything you want to. In talking to my fellow friends and journalists covering the festival, I came across so many interesting and new stories to watch, but I just didn't have the time, opportunity or energy to watch them.

Also, when choosing what films to watch from the hundreds of options being offered at the festival, I was drawn to stories similar to mine. At least for this first-time experience, I don't believe I went too far out of my comfort zone with my choices, and I can say I thoroughly enjoyed everything I watched. However, my goal for next year is to certainly watch some pieces I normally wouldn't at the theatre.

J: After the first day and the adrenaline wore off, the exhaustion finally started to kick in. Ten days of attending events and films never sounded like an easy feat to start but pairing that with balancing school work and eating regular meals was more challenging than defeating the Roman empire. I like to joke that they should change placing TIFF in September so that student journalists won’t pull their hair out but I suppose if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

C: The festival is an all-day affair for 11 straight days. That means that it’s easy to tell yourself you should be doing more — seeing more films, attending more red carpets, writing more articles — even when, in reality, that may not actually be feasible. As students, we were all balancing schoolwork and personal responsibilities on top of our festival coverage, something that most of the festival’s journalists didn’t have to do. Ultimately, I just had to remind myself that I’m human and that as much as I would like to see every film that’s screening, I also needed to make time for my personal wellbeing and school responsibilities.

Our favourite films

J: We obviously can’t talk about actors and writers in films without addressing the elephant in the room. All I can say is that CanCulture will always believe in paying artists fair wages. If you did not already have that mindset, this festival cemented that belief. All the films curated for the schedule were made with the love and passion that comes from humans. The lived journeys and intricate thought processes translated onto the big screen are something no robot or studio executive could replicate. This was prevalent, especially during the Q&As post-film where the cast and directors of the film would come out and describe in grand detail why they continue to do what they love. Cinema, from international films to documentaries to wacky comedies, should come from the hands and minds of artists who are paid fairly for their work. Out of all the lovely films at TIFF available to see, my top three would definitely be The Boy and the Heron, Concrete Utopia and Dicks: The Musical.

M: The majority of the films I watched told women or queer people's stories, and were mostly directed by women or non-binary people. This specific way of looking at life certainly shaped my experience at the festival. In the end, though it's hard to choose, my favourite film I watched was Toll (or Pedágio, in its original language, Brazilian Portuguese), directed by Brazilian director Carolina Marcowickz. CanCulture had the incredible opportunity to interview the director and the star of the film, Meave Jenkins.

C: There were a lot of excellent films that I got the chance to see at the festival. While hard to choose, my favourite film was Cord Jefferson’s American Fiction, which also happened to be the winner of TIFF’s People’s Choice Award. It was funny, heartfelt and conveyed an important and necessary message without feeling preachy or pretentious. Other films I really enjoyed include Ariane Louis-Seize’s horror-comedy Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person, Viggo Mortensen’s Western drama The Dead Don’t Hurt, and Weston Razooli’s charming and mystical adventure film Riddle of Fire. And of course, I would be remiss not to mention the newly remastered iconic concert film Stop Making Sense, which, although I had seen it before, was incredibly fun to see on the big screen and had me and the rest of the TIFF audience dancing along in our seats to every single song.

Checkout our Film section for some exciting reviews.

Overall: our takeaways

M: I think the biggest takeaway from this experience, for me, is that I want to do this. I want to be surrounded by film in any way I can, be that as an entertainment journalist or someone who works in film. Movie magic is real and TIFF was full of it. "For the love of film!"

J: In our pursuit of attending one of the world's biggest and most renowned film festivals internationally, I obtained something grander than I ever imagined. Being at TIFF could have been so daunting if I had done it alone, but with my fellow masthead members and the other students who attended with different outlets, I felt secure knowing I could lean on them for support. We got to bond over films, dissect them to the nth degree and applaud in packed theatres. This is a longwinded form of saying “Maybe the real treasure was the friends we made along the way” but less corny.

C: TIFF was an incredibly rewarding experience, and I’m incredibly grateful I got to be a part of it. The films I saw were excellent, and although by the end of the festival, I was a bit ‘film-ed out’ and in need of a good long nap, I left feeling like I’d experienced something truly special. It was also validating to be surrounded by, and working alongside, other industry professionals. Looking down the red carpet and realizing you were standing a few metres away from CTV and Letterboxd — not to mention literal celebrities — definitely created some “pinch me” moments.

Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Adaptation: A review of Scott Pilgrim Takes Off

Is it a bad adaptation of the source material? Yes. Was it the best decision Bryan Lee O’Malley could have possibly made? YES.

By Caleb Jackson

Male with brown hair and eyes, wearing glasses in a black and white graphic collared shirt pogs at the screen laying down with three volumes of the Scott Pilgrim comic book

Caleb Jackson’s mouth falling agape at the sheer splendour that is Scott Pilgrim (Caleb Jackson/CanCulture)

MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD! GO WATCH THE ANIME BEFORE GOING ANY FURTHER. I'M BEING SO SERIOUS RIGHT NOW IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN IT ALREADY DO NOT READ THIS REVIEW. YOU WILL THANK ME LATER 

Scott Pilgrim is a franchise that has always been a huge part of my life. Ever since Scott Pilgrim vs The World came out way back in 2010, I have been an avid fan. I’ve seen the movie countless times, played the game to completion and own both the black and white original releases and the collector’s edition colour copies of the original comic series (which I read regularly). 

So, believe me when I say this anime ROCKED. MY. SHIT. It is simply phenomenal. From the gorgeous animation by Science SARU to the soundtrack by Joseph Trapanese and series staple Anamanaguchi. With the movie’s director Edgar Wright returning as an executive producer and the entire cast reprising their film roles, and the script written by none other than the creator of Scott Pilgrim himself, Bryan Lee O’Malley, it’s unsurprising that the show is as good as it is. 

That being said, there’s an elephant in the room that needs to be addressed before I can go into any further detail about it. This anime lied to everyone through its teeth and it can barely be considered an adaptation of the source material. 

The premise of this show can be boiled down to a relatively simple one: What if Scott (played by local Brampton-ite Michael Cera) were to… well, take off? What happens if we remove Scott Pilgrim from his own story? The entire first episode is almost a one-to-one recreation of the first book, with some things omitted for time constraints. It adds and changes stuff here and there like the replacement of the iconic Amazon.ca joke with a Netflix one, and the introduction to the League of Evil Exes immediately. But where it really goes off the rails is when Scott dies in his very first fight with Matthew Patel (Satya Bhabha).

This move floored me. I was sitting on my couch with my jaw scraping the living room carpet. It was so abrupt, so sudden, and the show doesn’t give you any time to process what has just occurred by cutting to credits shortly after. The very next episode opens with Scott Pilgrim’s funeral. All of the promotional material led everyone to believe this was just another retelling of Scott’s battle against the League and his life but instead, we got something so much greater. 

The real plot revolves around Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) going on a who-dun-it? mystery adventure investigating Scott’s death and figuring out if he could possibly be alive. Because of this, the show gives a lot of the limelight to Ramona and the rest of the cast, most notably the villains themselves. The Exes get so much more time to grow and develop, and it is spectacular. 

Matthew Patel usurps Gideon Graves’ (Jason Schwartzman) job as the “G-Man” and leader of the League, and for the first time since Gideon was introduced back in 2004, we get a backstory for him. Apparently, his real name is Gordon Goose and he is some nobody from North Bay, Ontario. Go figure. 

All of the Exes are confronted by Ramona as potential suspects for Scott’s kidnapping/death, and in the end, they are all innocent. Beyond that, Ramona even reconciles with most of them and the Exes put their lives in the League behind them and grow as people. Something that they never got a chance to do with Scott around. 

The show takes this new premise and runs with it. Characters that have never previously interacted now have entire arcs together, and you get to see a lot more depth in Ramona than ever before. Due to Scott being an entirely unreliable narrator, Ramona remains a mystery for most of the entire book series and the movie. She certainly gets development and attention too, but with Scott in the picture, she never could truly flourish. 

What about our titular protagonist though? Where is that lovable douche? Well as it turns out, he is the big villain. Kind of. Scott of the future, labelled Older Scott (Will Forte) has kidnapped Scott to make sure he never has a relationship with Ramona due to her breaking his heart later on in their life. He doesn’t succeed however, and in the grand finale, he attempts to kill everyone in the cast to ensure his romance never occurs to spare his heart. This is by far one of the most interesting moves of the show, as it allows our protagonist to truly see the extent of his own flaws, and reflect on his actions in a way he never could before. 

It’s quite poetic really, the books and movie focus on Scott coming to terms with and owning up to his past mistakes. Now, Scott has to wrestle with what he could become. The show really pushes what the core of Scott Pilgrim’s story is about, flawed people confronting the worst parts of themselves to be better people towards others. 

The anime doesn’t hesitate to show you that Scott and Ramona’s actions are objectionable, but that doesn’t make them any less as people. It completely makes sense that this version of the story is written by O’Malley in his 40s when the OG was made when he was just as much of a confused 20-something as Scott himself. 

The show isn’t without some problems.With the relatively short runtime of 8 episodes, it tackles a lot of material that I feel could have benefitted from more time to explore. There are a lot of things missing here, like Stephen Stills’ (Mark Webber) coming-out arc and a few characters that are touched on loosely but not fully explored like the Katayanagi Twins (both voiced by Julian Cihi).

I also found the plot itself to move a bit too quickly, as Ramona’s “investigation” only really ends up as four of the eight episodes present. On top of all of this, I can see it being incredibly inaccessible to a new audience, as the entire plot and premise hinges on familiarity with the property to really engage with its themes and presentation.

Despite this, the anime is clearly a love letter for fans of Scott Pilgrim. Each episode is simply eye candy, with popping visuals and clean animation. The soundtrack is nothing but bangers, with the cast even lending vocals and instruments to all soundtrack versions of the songs Sex Bob-Omb plays just like in the original film. The voice cast has to be commended too, because everyone absolutely kills it. Especially Young Neil (Johnny Simmons), his whispery dream-like line delivery is consistently hilarious.

The writing is as witty and sharp as ever, and the quality on display is simply something to marvel at. If you’re a fan and can get behind the complete rug pull that is the first episode, it will take you on an unexpected and unforgettable journey that makes the world of Scott Pilgrim feel as if it has come full circle. 

If you aren’t, then what are you waiting for? Go consume some of the best media you will probably ever experience in your lifetime. 

9/10. Scott, you are the salt of the earth. Whoops, did I say salt? I meant scum. Slip of the tongue.