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Review of Close To You (2023)

Close to You is a film about transgender adulthood, about the hometown you’ve grown out of, and about the people that grew up without you. Co-writers Elliott Page and Dominic Savage share a heart-wrenchingly honest and personal story following Sam, a trans man who returns to his childhood home for the first time in five years. I was struck by how Close to You tells a queer story that is familiar but less heard. The film explores the experience of having a family that is accepting but doesn’t quite understand, one that is still learning and going to make mistakes.

Author: 
Zoë Larson
  • Posted on: 10 October 2023
  • By: Zoë Larson
Parallel Mothers Film Review: A continuing cycle of losing and finding

Parallel Mothers is a Spanish-language drama by famed writer-director Pedro Almodóvar, who continues his streak of engaging female leads with his frequent collaborator, Penelope Cruz. Cruz shines as a single mother named Janis. While sharing a hospital room with another unexpectedly single mother, Ana, played by Milena Smit, the two women share a connection that would have lasting consequences for years to come.

Author: 
Craig Allan
  • Posted on: 8 February 2022
  • By: arts and entert...
Review: Along Came Wanda

Jan Miller Corran’s film, Along Came Wanda, is about Mary Beth and Wanda, two women with distinctly different personalities. Mary Beth is shown to have more of a feminine side, while Wanda acts more like a tomboy. Considering most romantic comedies that feature hetero-normative relationships, and often fall victim to patriarichal values, it was refreshing to watch a movie that depicts the relationship of two strong female leads, breaking with convention.

Author: 
Richa Sharma
  • Posted on: 8 February 2022
  • By: arts and entert...
Love, Bravery, and Belief: Salt in My Soul Review

Salt in My Soul documents the life of Mallory Smith, who is diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at age three. Throughout her 25 years of life, Mallory journaled every step of her experience with cystic fibrosis, right up until her last breath, resulting in the memoir on which this documentary is based.

Author: 
Gabriel Alegbeleye
  • Posted on: 8 February 2022
  • By: arts and entert...
Stretch Marks: Film Review

Contributor Erika Assabayeva reviews Gregory Rocco's 2018 film, Stretch Marks.

Author: 
Erika Assabayeva
  • Posted on: 17 November 2020
  • By: arts and entert...
The Wolf House: Film Review

Samridh Chawla gives an in-depth review of The Wolf House, a 2018 film by Cristobal Leon & Joaquin Cocina.

Author: 
Samridh Chawla
  • Posted on: 17 November 2020
  • By: arts and entert...
CJSF at the 2019 Vancouver International Film Festival

Once again, CJSF made it's way to the 2019 Vancouver International Film Festival. Check out some of the film reviews from our contributors:

Human Nature by Sam Miller

Human Nature was a personal top pick out of all the movies featured in VIFF 2019. As a Molecular Biology & Biochemistry major at SFU, I have read published papers in journals like Nature about the potential and endless benefits that the newly discovered CRISPR-Cas9 system has for the future. 

Author: 
Various
  • Posted on: 22 October 2019
  • By: arts and entert...
Woman At War (Kona fer í stríð) / Dir. Benedikt Erlingsson

What does it mean to be a conspirator in times of ecological terror? For Benedikt Erlingsson’s Woman at War, the answer doesn't arrive easily, but almost certainly involves the participation of a Greek chorus. A Greek-ish chorus, in this case: a live band and a trio of a capella Ukrainian singers follow fifty-something Halla (Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir) as she roams the Icelandic countryside, fighting—quite literally—for environmental justice.

Author: 
Jade Qiu
  • Posted on: 6 March 2019
  • By: arts and entert...
Roads in February

In short, Roads in February is quite realistic. Seemingly, nothing much happens. However, it captures subtle but crucial moment in life.

Author: 
Naoko Sugiyama
  • Posted on: 28 January 2019
  • By: arts and entert...
VIFF 2018 - Dovlatov

Now is the autumn of our discontent. It is 1971, seven years into the reign of Leonid Brezhnev, and the thaw of the 60's has once again crystallized into stagnation. In the days leading up to the annual October Revolution celebrations in the USSR, Sergei Dovlatov (Milan Marić) is lost: between surreal dreams and even more surreal reality. Dovlatov takes place within a single week in November, and chronicles a fine seven days in the life of Sergei —Seryozha to his friends and family— before he became one of the most popular counterculture writers of the 20th century.

Author: 
Jade Qiu
  • Posted on: 6 January 2019
  • By: arts and entert...

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