SCREEN | Zack Snyder Reassembles His 'Justice League' Cut

"They said the age of heroes would never come again."

Warner Bros. Pictures / DC Films

Divisive "visionary" filmmaker Zack Snyder's long-gestating director's cut of his fabled Justice League superhero epic finally arrives, a whole two hours longer at double the length. Its original 2017 theatrical cut overseen, partially reshot, and heavily re-edited by the now-disgraced former fanboy favourite Joss Whedon, was at best a haphazardly thrown-together mishmash of its DC Comics source material.

GENRE | Ethan Hawke Forgives the 'First Reformed'

"Will God forgive us for destroying His creation?"

First Reformed, 71-year-old veteran filmmaker Paul Schrader's latest film, features a very contemporary crisis of faith story that Christian films really are neglecting. It's an utterly bleak yet stirring and measured depiction of the conflict of contemporary American Christianity amidst realities of corporatization and radical extremism.

GENRE | What If 'You Were Never Really Here'?

"I hear you can be brutal."

Scottish filmmaker Lynne Ramsay really knows to evoke mood and emotion through tormented characters and settings. Enigmatic actor Joaquin Phoenix stars in the lean, stripped-down adaptation of author Jonathan Ames' blood-soaked novella, the acerbically titled You Were Never Really Here. It's a brutal portrait of the consequences of violence and vengeance anchored by almost hidden, singular ideas and Phoenix's stirringly raw performance.

GENRE | 'Thoroughbreds' Has A Killer Pedigree

"Empathy isn't your strong suit."

Playwright turned first-time filmmaker Cory Finley impresses with a Hitchcock-tinged comic thriller (think Strangers on a Train meets Heathers) centred on two troubled, sociopathic teenage girls in affluent settings. Starring Anya Taylor-Joy and Olivia Cooke as Lily and Amanda, a pair of mismatched privileged Connecticut teens with an unusual, toxic friendship, Thoroughbreds is a coldly precise yet audacious film of detached emotions.

SCREEN | 'The Death of Stalin' Dictates Laughs x JFL NorthWest

"How can you run and plot at the same time?"

British satirist and Veep creator Armando Iannucci continues his sharp streak of bitingly vicious political commentary. This time, he tackles the thick of Soviet politics as the title would suggest in the immediate aftermath of The Death of Stalin. His use of situational comedy, based on the French graphic novel La Mort de Staline, to express complex historical machinations and the absurdity of power is unsurprisingly sublime as ever.

SCREEN | Zoey Deutch Gives Her 'Flower' x JFL NorthWest

"Smile, you're on candid camera, motherf*cker!"

Flower, director Max Winkler's indie comedy/thriller starring Zoey Deutch as a promiscuous, vigilante teen, cannot help but feel like typical film festival fare. It's a decently well-made and constructed story centred on a truly electric starring performance full of little quirks and a leering darkness from its offbeat but audacious subject matter.

REEL | 90th Annual Oscars x 2018 Ballot

Picture: The Shape of Water
Director: Guillermo del Toro, The Shape of Water
Actor: Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour
Actress: Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Supporting Actor: Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Supporting Actress: Allison Janney, I, Tonya
Original Screenplay: Jordan Peele, Get Out
Adapted Screenplay: James Ivory, Call Me by Your Name
Animated Feature: Coco

SCREEN | Take A Long Walk 'On the Beach at Night Alone'

"Die graciously!"

Acclaimed and prolific South Korean storyteller Hong Sang-soo continues his streak of personal humanist filmmaking in the very appropriately titled On the Beach at Night Alone. Once again starring his cinematic turned real-life muse Kim Min-hee, the hyper-naturalistic film is a ponderous but very personal journey of self-reflection put to screen.

SCREEN | 'Geek Girls' Documents Hidden Female Fandom

"That comes out of just being a hot-blooded girl in a boy's world."

Even with the explosion of geek culture going mainstream in recent years, there's no doubt the role of women and girls has been lost as an afterthought, despite their equally enthusiastic dedication to every corner of nerdy properties. This is the basic premise around Montreal-based, Canadian-Hungarian filmmaker Gina Hara's first feature-length documentary, Geek Girls, exploring the hidden side of female fandom.

REEL | Marmalade Dreams – Everybody Loves 'Paddington 2'

"If we're kind and polite, the world will be right."

I return to the Vertical Viewing Podcast (available on iTunes) for Episode 155 to review the universally acclaimed Paddington 2 and talk about the latest in film alongside regular co-hosts Scott Willson and Michael Lynd. (1h19)

VIFF 2017 | Must See BC – Teaching 'Adventures in Public School'

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VIFF 2017—Adventures in Public School (formerly titled Public Schooled) is an endearing, if highly unconventional, Canadian teen comedy about a very awkward boy and his way-too-close relationship with his young mother. Co-writer/director Kyle Rideout deftly tells a small story of fitting in and navigating the perils of high school after a life of shelter and homeschooling in a touchingly humorous manner.

REEL | Daniel Day-Lewis Weaves A 'Phantom Thread'

"Maybe you have no taste."

Auteur filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson takes all of his finely-tuned cinematic tools to craft his latest picture into an immersive period romantic drama. Set in glamorous mid-century London in the world of high fashion, the acerbically titled Phantom Thread stars Daniel Day-Lewis—in his reportedly last film role ever—as a revered bachelor couturier, Reynolds Woodcock, who embarks on a troubling obsession of a whirlwind romance.

WANDER | Native Shoes x Store Opening x Gastown

Gastown—Local footwear brand Native Shoes just opened its very first branded retail storefront located right on Water Street near the tail end of last year. The brick-and-mortar shop features its trademark minimalist yet sustainable aesthetic packaged in an interactive and design-driven space.

SCREEN | Noël Wells Remembers 'Mr. Roosevelt'

Performer Noël Wells (an SNL alum) writes, directs, and stars in her directorial debut, a familiar yet plenty original enough indie comedy about coming home and facing your past all during one awkward weekend, in the poorly titled Mr. Roosevelt—named after her cat in the film. Wells proves her muscle as not only a physical comedian but also a talented filmmaker, fully embracing her idiosyncrasies in very self-aware and specific ways on screen.

REEL | Top 10 Films of 2017

Each film reviewed where linked below:

1) Lady Bird * (dir. Greta Gerwig)

2) Phantom Thread (dir. Paul Thomas Anderson)

3) Get Out (dir. Jordan Peele)

4) Dunkirk (dir. Christopher Nolan)

5) The Florida Project * (dir. Sean Baker)

6) Columbus * (dir. Kogonada)

7) The Big Sick (dir. Michael Showalter)

8) The Square * (dir. Ruben Östlund)

9) I, Tonya (dir. Craig Gillespie)

10) Brigsby Bear (dir. Dave McCary)

REEL | Spielberg, Streep, and Hanks Publish 'The Post'

"We can't hold them accountable if we don't have a newspaper."

Famed director Steven Spielberg makes his best case for journalism and freedom of the press in the face of government overreach. The simply titled The Post is a rather straightforward yet stirring story of The Washington Post's efforts to publish the controversial leaked Pentagon Papers detailing several different White House administrations' well-documented lies about the Vietnam War during Nixon's second term (think of it as a sort of prequel to All the President's Men) all stylishly told in pure Spielberg-ian fashion with some extra timely urgency.

FEAST | Italiano x Spade Coffee x Commercial Drive

Commercial Drive—(December 13, 2017) The still-new and very heavily Italian-flavoured Spade Coffee & Spirits eatery concept from Prado Cafe owner Sammy Piccolo—with the original Prado just down the street serving 49th Parallel Coffee—opened up to some healthy buzz just a short while ago.

REEL | Margot Robbie Skates Hard – 'I, Tonya'

"I don't have a wholesome American family."

Australian actress Margot Robbie (also a producer) stars as the infamous American figure skating icon Tonya Harding in a surreal biopic portrait—think The Big Short meets Goodfellas with ice skating—of the disgraced (but possibly misunderstood) celebrity figure. I, Tonya starts off as a sympathetic yet scathing tragicomedy, mixing melodrama and docudrama, of growing up dirt poor in small-town America while dreaming of using talent and hard work to escape a life of poverty and domestic abuse.

REEL | Aaron Sorkin Bets on 'Molly's Game'

"I like destroying lives."

A-list screenwriter Aaron Sorkin makes his highly anticipated directorial debut, dramatizing the unbelievable true story of amateur skier turned infamous "poker princess" Molly Bloom. Based on her memoir of the same name and the rest of her highly publicized escapades, Molly's Game stars Jessica Chastain in a firecracker of an unconventional biopic about one woman's dominance of powerful men.

FEAST | Aburi Prime x Miku Restaurant x Waterfront

Waterfront—(November 23, 2017) Vancouver's Miku Restaurant, the flagship dining establishment of Aburi Restaurants, officially launched its new, innovative Aburi Prime sushi dining experience earlier this month to much anticipation.