Eggers’ film drags you bodily into a world where zombie kings, eyeless witches, and the talking severed head of Willem Dafoe are as real to the characters as their windswept settlements.
Read MoreEven if you’re not the superstitious type, Eggers is able to make you believe that a violent encounter between Winslow and a one-eyed seagull is like Winslow signing his death warrant.
Read MoreBranagh himself directs and stars as Poirot, and from a production standpoint, the whole affair is visually rich and full of fine performances. But somehow, Branagh’s version still lacks a distinctive voice. The film experiments with camera angles and re-stages certain scenes, though they don’t illuminate the proceedings more than a traditional presentation would. The structure of the film also poses problems, moving the plot forward at a jerking pace that hints at some heavy re-editing after the initial test screenings. Murder on the Orient Express is never not watchable, but if Fox is hoping to spark a series of Poirot mysteries on the big screen, it may require a few more of Poirot’s “little grey cells”.
Read MoreThe Florida Project was one of the films I was looking forward to the most at VIFF, and it didn’t disappoint. The title is taken from EPCOT, which was a master-planned community envisioned by Walt Disney in the 1960s. Disney’s project was never fully completed, and the motels and attractions that surround it now serve as housing for those struggling to stay above the poverty line. Florida, by the way, has a higher than average poverty rate.
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