By Anne Brodie Threads – Mick Jackson’s excellent account of a fictional nuclear attack on Sheffield, England, and long-term effects of nuclear war on civilization. Contagion –Steven Soderbergh’s star-studded pandemic drama. Outbreak – Dustin Hoffman and Renee Russo battle a deadly virus carried from Africa to America by a monkey. Amerika – A television miniseries on the aftermath of… View Post
By Anne Brodie Michael Greyeyes is an imposing figure in film, television, and theatre. The Canadian actor, director, dancer, and founding artistic director of Signal Theatre is having a remarkable professional moment. Greyeyes appears in HBO’s I Know This Much is True and True Detective, Apple TV+’s Home Before Dark and as of April 28th on VOD, Jeff Barnaby’s highly… View Post
Kuessipan (“to you” in Innu) is a beautiful and heartbreaking story of childhood friends in Uashat May Mani-Utenam, Quebec, a remote Innu community. Myriam Verreault directs local first-timers/non-actors including Sharon Fontaine-Ishpatao and Yami Gregoire who play Mikuan and Shaniss. They’re weathering the storms of impending adulthood, their dreams for the future and pondering leaving or staying. Their divergent dreams bring friction… View Post
By Anne Brodie Sanctuary, based on a book about twin brothers, swaps gender in a Swedish TV series adaptation. Estranged female twins Siri and Helena haven’t seen each other in years, but Siri convinces her double to come to a facility in the Italian Alps where she’s recovering from an accident. Helen goes reluctantly and under pressure, agrees to swap… View Post
By Anne Brodie Isolation Mood: Intrigue. Here are my picks for you for the week, bound together by certain themes, mixed moods, growing claustrophobia and the weird, wild world of human nature. Let’s start with the Fargos. The original film: And the FX series currently shut down on production for Season 4 Twin Peaks original series and Twin Peaks reboot The Witch The Lighthouse Oscar… View Post
By Anne Brodie Australian Rose Byrne joined fellow Aussie Cate Blanchett to play leading American political icons of the seventies, respectively, women’s liberation leader and feminist Gloria Steinem and anti-women’s lib and anti-abortion provocateur Phyllis Schlafly in the excellent new series Mrs. America. They were fighting for the hearts and souls of Mrs. and Ms. America, epitomizing the battle between… View Post