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Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie: No, This Film Is Not About Teen Spirit

Time-hopping musicians, a DeLorean-style RV, and a desperate quest for a discontinued drink fuel this proudly Canadian mockumentary. Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie thrives on balancing between nostalgia and improvisation to make it a must-see.

Elevation Pictures

Once a certain word drops in any summary about where the time travel device is housed in
Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie, this film instantly reveals itself as the perfect tribute to an old pop sound. Part The Beatles, part loving nod to a certain Robert Zemeckis classic from decades past, there’s a lot to like.

If you don’t want to know too much, here’s the abridged take: This Canadian mockumentary, directed by Matt Johnson,
delivers plenty of fun-filled moments and wears its cinematic tribute proudly. The script was co-written by Jay McCarrol, and together they play fictionalized versions of themselves as two musicians trying to land a bar gig despite never having recorded anything together. It’s a concept fuelled by nostalgia and awkward, self-aware laughs.

Rather than riffing on The Blues Brothers, what’s presented here is Canadiana through and through. Shot around Toronto, Ontario, the locations are real, the energy is grounded, and the familiarity adds to the charm. It is best not to know more before the spoiler wall, so consider this your courteous pause point.

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You Better Promise Me, Arco, Take Me Back In Time

A gentle French animated time-travel tale, Arco blends soft sci-fi adventure with heartfelt friendship. Drawing subtle inspiration from Ghibli and Moebius, the film favours wonder, warmth, and quiet environmental themes over spectacle, delivering a thoughtful story about being lost in time and finding connection.

Arco Movie Poster Elevation Pictures

As much as I sometimes use the idiom “tripping the light fantastic,” it applies doubly to a French animated film titled Arco. This is also the name of a young boy (Oscar Tresanini and Juliano Krue Valdi in the English version) who accidentally finds himself in the past after misusing a time-travel device in a post-modern future.

All he wanted was to go play with dinosaurs. Instead, things go sideways, and he lands in an unfamiliar era where he meets Iris (Margot Ringard Oldra; Romy Fay in the English version). She’s about his age, ten, and together they must avoid a group of conspiracy theorists convinced the boy is proof of alien visitation.

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Surviving The Night of the Zoopocalypse Can Be Completely Easy–Not!

Not only is The Night of the Zoopocalypse a crazy homage to George Romero films but also, its love for B-movie cinema is perfect!

Elevation Pictures
Spoiler Alert

The Night of the Zoopocalypse is ready to hit theatres! And all I can say is that the action is as gonzo as the first Jurassic Park movie and the team up which must happen must be as solid as that team from the Ice Age movies. That’s most likely because the directors Ricardo Curtis and Rodrigo Perez-Castro have an IMDB credit of having worked on that franchise prior.

As the name of the film implies, all hell breaks loose when a meteorite crash lands inside the confines of Colepepper Zoo! After one critter finds it and gets turned into a mutant like zombie, things get hopping madcap! When this film is hard to review without giving away some spoilers, a second warning is required if you don’t want to know too much.

Here, Gracie (Gabbi Kosmidis) is a wolf who sort of knows what’s going on. But as how she can survive means learning how to be a leader of the pack herself. There’s a great message hidden between the lines, and when she eventually teams up with a few other creatures, namely a mountain lion named Dan (David Harbour), that’s when the story gets good. This pair figures out what’s going on. Also, I find this mighty beast very similar to Diego (Ice Age) and performance wise, it’s perhaps one of this actor’s best voice over work.

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The Bonds Found in the “Spirit in the Blood” Are Far Stronger Than One May Think

When help is needed, perhaps it is best to turn to the Spirit in the Blood rather than relying on those “in the sky” for help.

Elevation Pictures
Coming to select theatres beginning Nov 1

Being a tween can be rough, and for Emerson (Summer H. Howell) to change schools, to go live in a rural community looks problematical if she’s not careful. When the movie is titled Spirit in the Blood and marketing suggests this film may be like Stephen King’s Carrie, I’m ready to see what can happen. That’s because the early moments of this film suggets she has precognitive abilities. As for whether than ca help save her, that’s a question I hope will get answered by the finale.

When not everyone in the small town of St. Belvedere do not take a liking to this new family moving in, I have to wonder what their problem is. Thankfully, attitudes change when the body of a lost child turns up, but is that enough? The idea developed and directed by Carly May Borgstrom suggests there’s a lot going on not only for this young girl, but also the family. However, when the mystery concerning why her parents want to relocate here isn’t fully answered, even I’m curious by the end of act one.

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Door Mouse. Is She Squeaky Clean in this Whodunit?

When this Door Mouse (Hayley Law) is a comic book illustrator whose second job is that of a burlesque performer, she better learn another occupation fast!

Available in select theatres and
digitally starting on January 13th

Elevation Pictures

Door Mouse has plenty of Quinten Tarantino and punk rock vibes in its story about Mouse (Hayley Law), a comic book illustrator whose only real paying job is that of a burlesque performer. But when her colleagues get kidnapped, she becomes a gumshoe with a mission–to protect her sisters from the hood. They either wind up dead or much worse. As a result, the cops dismiss the problem as not worth investigating. Instead of waiting to be a victim, she’d rather be a victor in this quirky indie film smartly written and well directed by Avan Jogia.

This movie’s greatest strength lies in how perfect the neo-noir atmosphere is realised. Not only is it coloured in pastel lights, but also we get an appropriate sound design to make the world feel grungy. Additionally, the illustrations are animated to recognize how this lead looks at the world. This approach works to explain why she’s drawing from her life experience to create her comic book. The grittiness that’s visualised makes me wonder if we’ll ever see a sampler as a booklet when the home video release is ready. The sketches I see makes me think this artist is inspired by Robert Crumb.

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Crossing the Streams is Easier with Everything Everywhere All At Once Going Digital Today!

Michelle Yeoh’s Everything Everywhere All At Once is on VOD! The home release will arrive a month later to really spread the love for this well-made martial arts sci-fi comedy.

Available on Apple, Google Play and Amazon Prime
Home Video Release July 5th, 2022

Infinity may feel finite temporarily, but Michelle Yeoh’s Everything Everywhere All At Once is on VOD! The home release will arrive a month later to really spread the love for this well-made martial arts sci-fi comedy, and our movie review can be found here.

But for who can’t wait, this treat is looking like it’s best viewed on the Apple TV service. There’s a blooper reel that’s as hilarious as the hijinks that went on in the film. We have a well meaning tale about family togetherness that’s combined with multi-verse mayhem. A lot of comparisons have been said already concering a Marvel product, but in terms of which multiverse makes more sense, I’d say this work has an edge.