Best laid plans sometimes don’t go as intended. Though it’s clear here the filmmaker, screenwriter and cast all wanted A Perfect Plan to work, it just never comes together. In watching these smaller films, I try to remember budgetary constraints could be an issue, and it looks like they are here. Drab locations echo a…

The very first film to release theatrically in Halifax Regional Municipality post-COVID is one hell of a welcome back for aficionados. Three-arc story Target Number One follows a heroin addict jailed in a Thai prison after a bogus FBI bust, the brash investigative journalist covering his story, and the police investigation that got him there…

There’s a sickening feeling you’ll get in the pit of your stomach as you watch White Lie. To know central character Katie is faking her cancer diagnosis and raising money from unwitting fellow students and parents is absolutely appalling. And yet, somehow, we can’t completely write Katie off. She’s sympathetic, and we continue to root…

Hulu’s foray into comedy hits the jackpot with the breezy, hilarious Palm Springs. The story of a chance encounter at a wedding between Nyles and maid of honor Sarah leads to a romantic entanglement and complicated existence. But this is anything but your typical rom-com. Directed by Max Barbakow, this is an endlessly entertaining film…

A heartbreaking and timely film, a Working Man takes a look at the economics of factory work and how the closure affects a small town. Writer-director Robert Jury explores the weary life of Allery Parkes, an old-age factory worker who simply continues to go to work each day, refusing to break routine. He’s received his…

There was a time when a Tom Hanks movie was easily considered an event film. From Apollo 13 to Forrest Gump. From Saving Private Ryan to Cast Away and Road To Perdition, he always seemed to pull out classics. So perhaps it’s with some disappointment that I watched Greyhound — having counted Hanks as a…

This intense war film is the first movie of 2020 Richard Roeper says he wished he could have seen on the big screen. I have to say, I wholeheartedly agree. It entirely captures the hearts and minds of viewers, and will pull you in without remorse. This war film about U.S. soldiers defending their outpost…

It isn’t often these days you watch a film so full of charm and zest for life that it helps you escape the real world. From The Vine may very well be the movie frustrated cinephiles need right now. The story of a man going through a moral crisis is something we can all relate…

This well-to-do little flick was a hit in the U.K. last year, and already has a sequel in development. Now, North American audiences are getting their chance with it, and I see Maritimers in particular connecting with the trials, tribulations and songs of wayward seafarers. This story of 10 fisherman from Cornwall who get a…

This critically acclaimed sci-fi tilt is finally coming to mass audiences, and it’s one of the best genre takes in years. Winner of Best Picture at the Philip K. Dick Film Festival, this thriller about a clairvoyant man who tries to change the future after he sees his own death is defiantly original and sleek.…