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“Everything I learned I learned from the movies.” 
― Audrey Hepburn

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  • Paul Carlson
Escape Into Film
'Black Box' film review: Unsettling deep dive into identity and the subconscious
Oct 6

Oct 6 'Black Box' film review: Unsettling deep dive into identity and the subconscious

Paul Carlson
film reviews

If 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' and 'Inception' had a nightmarish child, it would be this sci-fi psychological horror flick.

'Kajillionaire' film review: Oddly, surreal charmer with a heart of gold
Sep 23

Sep 23 'Kajillionaire' film review: Oddly, surreal charmer with a heart of gold

Paul Carlson
film reviews

Everything about the weirdly-titled crime-dramedy is delightfully and refreshingly just this side of ‘normal.’

TIFF 2020 film review: 'American Utopia'
Sep 19

Sep 19 TIFF 2020 film review: 'American Utopia'

Paul Carlson
film festivals, film reviews

This theatrical concert film marries David Byrne's music with subversive performance art as it envisions a hopeful tomorrow.

TIFF 2020 film review: 'Passion Simple'
Sep 19

Sep 19 TIFF 2020 film review: 'Passion Simple'

Paul Carlson
film festivals, film reviews

A single mother keeps romantic love at arm's length, even if her ephemeral trysts slowly preoccupies more and more of her life.

TIFF 2020 film review: 'Another Round'
Sep 19

Sep 19 TIFF 2020 film review: 'Another Round'

Paul Carlson
film festivals, film reviews

The director and the star of the searing drama 'The Hunt' reunite for this alcohol-soaked Danish drama.

TIFF 2020 film review: 'The Way I See It'
Sep 18

Sep 18 TIFF 2020 film review: 'The Way I See It'

Paul Carlson
film festivals, film reviews

In creating the portrait of a statesman, this documentary informs what a statesman, leader and American president should look like.

TIFF 2020 film review: 'Shadow in the Cloud'
Sep 17

Sep 17 TIFF 2020 film review: 'Shadow in the Cloud'

Paul Carlson
film festivals, film reviews

This rollicking action-thriller combines the horror of "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" with the mayhem of a World War II-era dog fight gone wrong.

TIFF 2020 film review: 'Enemies of the State'
Sep 17

Sep 17 TIFF 2020 film review: 'Enemies of the State'

Paul Carlson
film festivals, film reviews

Unfolding like a crime mystery, this documentary takes bizarre turn after bizarre turn as it tells the story of man targeted by the U.S. government.

TIFF 2020 film review: 'Fireball: Visitors from Darker Worlds'
Sep 17

Sep 17 TIFF 2020 film review: 'Fireball: Visitors from Darker Worlds'

Paul Carlson
film festivals, film reviews

Werner Herzog’s latest explores how alien objects have shaped human culture, science and mythology for millions and billions of years.

TIFF 2020 film review: 'Underplayed'
Sep 17

Sep 17 TIFF 2020 film review: 'Underplayed'

Paul Carlson
film festivals, film reviews

Think fast: name the first 5 female electronic dance music artist that come to mind.

TIFF 2020 film review: 'City Hall'
Sep 16

Sep 16 TIFF 2020 film review: 'City Hall'

Paul Carlson
film reviews, film festivals

Save yourself 4 and a half hours and just watch your local city council meeting.

TIFF 2020 film review: 'Concrete Cowboy'
Sep 15

Sep 15 TIFF 2020 film review: 'Concrete Cowboy'

Paul Carlson
film festivals, film reviews

Part coming-of-age drama, part eye-opening look at an intriguing subculture and part urban gentrification critique, this film tries to wear a few too many hats when it should just wear a Stetson.

TIFF 2020 film review: 'Good Joe Bell'
Sep 15

Sep 15 TIFF 2020 film review: 'Good Joe Bell'

Paul Carlson
film festivals, film reviews

Mark Wahlberg gives a career-best performance as a father struggling with the intense guilt of failing his son in this biographical drama.

TIFF 2020 film review: 'New Order'
Sep 15

Sep 15 TIFF 2020 film review: 'New Order'

Paul Carlson
film reviews, film festivals

This is the one percent's worst nightmare.

TIFF 2020 film review: 'The Kid Detective'
Sep 15

Sep 15 TIFF 2020 film review: 'The Kid Detective'

Paul Carlson
film festivals, film reviews

In case you ever wondering what Encyclopedia Brown would look like as a weathered, embittered middle-aged man, it would look something like this dramedy, noir-mystery.

TIFF 2020 film review: '76 Days'
Sep 14

Sep 14 TIFF 2020 film review: '76 Days'

Paul Carlson
film festivals, film reviews

To watch this unprecedented and raw documentary is to relive the COVID-19 pandemic's traumatic, earliest days.

TIFF 2020 film review: 'Beans'
Sep 14

Sep 14 TIFF 2020 film review: 'Beans'

Paul Carlson
film festivals, film reviews

Set against a real-life conflict between Indigenous peoples and the Canadian government, this coming-of-age drama is a First Nations story told by First Nations storytellers.

TIFF 2020 film review: 'Monday'
Sep 13

Sep 13 TIFF 2020 film review: 'Monday'

Paul Carlson
film festivals, film reviews

If the conventional formula for romance is a meet-cute that leads to romance and ends with a kiss, this romantic drama flips the tried-and-true formula on its head.

TIFF 2020 film review: 'Pieces of a Woman'
Sep 13

Sep 13 TIFF 2020 film review: 'Pieces of a Woman'

Paul Carlson
film festivals, film reviews

This heartbreaking drama finds a couple reeling from an insurmountable tragedy.

TIFF 2020 film review: 'Inconvenient Indian'
Sep 12

Sep 12 TIFF 2020 film review: 'Inconvenient Indian'

Paul Carlson
film festivals, film reviews

Indigenous history is almost exclusively examined in the total past tense, as if extinct. But this clear-eyed documentary examines what it means to be an Indigenous person living in the modern world.

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““No subject is terrible if the story is true, if the prose is clean and honest, and if it affirms courage and grace under pressure.””
— "Midnight in Paris"

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