Outer Range

 Oh boy, giddy up! This is one of best things to come along since "Channel Zero" packed it in; and I LOVED "Channel Zero." I loved this too. "Outer Range" - if it sounds like "The Outer Limits" goes to farm; well you wouldn't be wrong. Yes, this is a sci-fi Western (not normally something I would be drawn to). I tuned in because I'm a big fan of Josh Brolin. I didn't realize Lili Taylor was in it - love her too. The cast is really suburb - Will Patton as Wayne Tillerson was a standout for me. What's it all about? I don't want to give too much away; we have a long standing feud between neighbors, the Abbotts and the Tillersons and now Wayne Tillerson wants a piece of the Abbott's land, the West pasture. On this piece of land, there is a giant hole with a kind of floating fog in it - very mysterious. There is also a homicide and a detective (Tamara Podemski as Deputy Sheriff Joy - she is great!) trying to solve the case. Also there is a mysterious backpacker (Imogen Poots as Autumn) whose motives are unclear. That's all I'm going to tell you. Go watch it! It's so well made and it becomes so strange it feels like David Lynch is pulling the strings - there is some twisted singing! Go saddle up with this show on Amazon Prime.  

Scarborough

 "Scarborough" won the 2021 Canadian Screen Award for Best Picture; deservedly so. What's is all about? It revolves around the children of three families who attend a drop-in reading centre in, you guessed it, in Scarborough. This is Canada's version of "The Florida Project" - if you are unfamiliar with that movie, then let me describe it this way: It's a gritty realistic portrait about families living in poverty, specifically kids. In the hood of Scarborough, the film gives us snap-shots of drug addition, mental illness, racial biases, white privilege, and some undiagnosed autism. It also addresses the broken system of social services for those who have no power, money, or privilege. It's grim, and yet despite some horribly tragic events which take place, there is a kindness to the film, and dare I say, maybe even a little hope. The child actors are phenomenal - Anna Claire Beitel as Laura (the daughter of a meth-head mom and an impoverished neo-Nazi dad) was a standout for me. If you are looking for great Canadian cinema, the take a trip to "Scarborough." Catch it a your local rep cinema or on DVD or Streaming services. 

The Sadness & Virus-32

I don't normally combine reviews, however these felt so closely linked that I thought it just makes sense. 

If you are into Zombie movies, please continue. If not, you can skip this. So, let's talk zombies. I'm going to quote myself from my review of "The Dead Don't Die."- "Since George A. Romero's 'The Night of the Living Dead,' zombie has equaled social commentary about society's pressing issues - whether it be race relations in 'The Night of the Living Dead' or consumerism in 'Dawn of the Dead' - the zombie motif is usually a fun way to talk about all different aspects of humanity's cruelty and ignorance which we inflict upon one other and the Earth. Jim Jarmusch isn't traditional and we could certainly use a conversation about climate change. " I wrote that in 2019. It's now 2022. The world endured four years of Trump, two years of a pandemic, the environmental crisis is worse than ever, and inflation is at the highest point it's been in decades. Plus the Russian invasion of Ukraine. People, I think it's fair to say, are mad, like really really mad. What does that give us in terms of zombie films - it gives us fast and pissed offed zombies, and in the case of "The Sadness" violence and blood like I've never seen before. This Taiwanese film is actually written and directed by a Canadian,  Rob Jabbaz. McPherson's Movie Marquee is still hoping to hear back from Rob about his movie. Anyway, in "The Sadness" the virus which infects people, it doesn't just turn them into your standard zombie, no, this turns them into homicidal axe wielding maniacs (with a slight zombie head tilt). If you are into zombie films, blood and guts B-horror movies, then "The Sadness" is blood-curdling screaming for you. 

Then there is "Virus-32," a zombie film out of Argentina and Uruguay! This one isn't nearly as violent but it does have the same manic energy to it and the zombies are also running full tilt. There is the same sense of chaos, a society gone mad - a sign of the times I think. What's this one about? A woman and her daughter find themselves under undead siege in a sports complex. As far as B-zombie films go, this one has tasty brains.

If you are in Ottawa, catch "The Sadness" at the Mayfair Theatre this week and then soon on streaming and blu-ray. Catch "Virus-#2" streaming on Shudder.