Tag: Philosophy

Mali Elfman’s Haunting Next Exit is Ready to Be Found

Mali Elfman’s film Next Exit is headed to theatres after Halloween than during, and that’s okay for those who are not in a hurry to die.

Next Exit PosterOpening Nov 4, 2022 in theatres and VOD

“Do you believe in ghosts?”

Mali Elfman‘s search an afterlife gets answered in her haunting movie, Next Exit. It’s headed to select theatres and VOD after Halloween, and the timing is perhaps on purpose so that those people wanting scares can get just that in October, and more thoughtful discourses on the month following. After a successful run at Fantasia (review here), it’s been picked up by Magnet Releasing.

This filmmaker said, “My grandmother would ask me this before she passed away. She wanted to understand what would happen next. I used to tell her, ‘I don’t know what ghosts are, but I do know that there is more to life than what I know – and yes, I do believe that they are real in a way. I believe we make them real.’

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VFFOnline: Watching Paolo Head to the (Great) Big North (Il Grande Nord)

The only sad part of watching this film is that we can’t see the true majesty of the terrain as it was intended-on the big screen. Witnessing the glacial landscapes from a small screen perspective really doesn’t do this work justice.

Il Grande Nord [Italian Edition]By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Streaming Online
at the Victoria Film Festival
Get your pass here to view beginning Feb 5th, 2021

Note: Available to view for residents in British Columbia

Also available to purchase on DVD on Amazon USAII Grande Nord

British Columbia can’t look any more beautiful in the documentary, Big North (Il Grande Nord). This work looks at the life of Paolo Cognetti, an Italian and award winning author, on a pilgrimage through this province, the Yukon and Alaska as he explores the grandiose nature of the region, himself and what it all means. 

He’s following in the footsteps of those authors he admires–Jack London, Ernest Hemingway and many others–during his trek, and in what we all see are beautiful shots of the terrain with drone cameras, a cameraman or two, and thankfully no bear encounters! The goal is to have the same experience as they had, and it’ll no doubt translate into his next novel, when he’s ready to write it!

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To Wax Philosophy or Sociology in A Silent Voice, Where Forth Art Thou?

The motley crew in Ōima’s A Silent Voice manga gets greater study in the seven-volume series and the 130-minute film is just as impressive.

A Silent Voice The Movie PosterSpoiler Alert

A Silent Voice is coming to home video in North America on April 2nd courtesy of Shout! Factory. This movie based on Yoshitoki Ōima’s manga of the same name arrived at Japanese theatres back in late 2016, toured film festivals the subsequent year and took a rest period before getting a localized release. The extras in the region one issue are the same as the Japanese, meaning music videos and trailers (no directors commentary was made). I would love to hear about the challenges of adapting the longer printed material to film, and that can still be offered if a special edition release is being considered for later.

Life was tough for young Shōya Ishida. As he looks ready to commit suicide, other forces are at work to show life is not completely hopeless. He made mistakes. He realizes how they have affected the lives of others and himself. He seeks amends. Back in elementary school, he had a cadre of pals–Naoka Ueno, Miki Kawai, and Kazuki Shimada–but he never fully understood what friendship entailed. When his class gets a new student, Shōko Nishimiya, her disability made her a target for jokes, and he was amongst those who bullied her. They made her life difficult because she is deaf.

Continue reading “To Wax Philosophy or Sociology in A Silent Voice, Where Forth Art Thou?”

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