Operation Avalanche (2016)

2016 | Canada / USA | Matt Johnson | ★★★

Matt Johnson's Operation Avalanche is a sporadically amusing realisation of a well-known conspiracy theory, buoyed by technical excellence, entirely convincing period detail, and likeable performances, but hamstrung by the ridiculousness of its found-footage narrative core.

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"1967: the height of the Cold War. The CIA suspects there is a Russian mole inside of NASA, sabotaging the Apollo program. They send two young agents on a mission to go undercover, posing as documentary filmmakers, there to capture NASA's race to the moon. The real mission - use their access and technology to hunt down the leak. But what they discover is far more shocking than soviet spies... Their government may be hiding a secret about Apollo that could define the decade, and the White House will stop at nothing to silence anyone who learns it." Lionsgate

Crème de Menthe (2017)

2017 | Canada | Philippe David Gagné & Jean-Marc E. Roy | ★★★

Starring Charlotte Aubin, Philippe David Gagné & Jean-Marc E. Roy's Crème de Menthe is a mildly diverting, quietly funny short film, comprised of small, low-key comic set-pieces, brought to life by its charismatic star, Charlotte Aubin.

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"Following the death of her father, Renée goes back home to Saguenay for the funeral. Forced to empty her late father's house, she finds a gigantic mess, the result of years of hoarding. In the following six days, Renée will seek her significance, a trace of herself, in the clutter." Festival de Cannes

February (2015)

The Blackcoat's Daughter

2015 | USA / Canada | Osgood Perkins | ★★★★★

Osgood Perkins's majestically directed February is a creepy and oft terrifying yet strangely and, indeed, decidedly moving horror film, featuring deceptive plotting, discomfortingly beautiful visuals, and uniformly excellent performances.

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"In the dead of winter, Kat and Rose, two very different girls, find themselves spending winter break at their prestigious prep school. What they don't know is that Kat is being stalked by an evil entity, and their lives are about to change forever. Meanwhile, Joan, a young, troubled woman, makes her way across a frozen landscape towards the school. But why?" TMDb

See also:

Stotty's 2010s Favourites

Owning Mahowny (2003)

2003 | Canada | Richard Kwietniowski | ★★★

Starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Minnie Driver, and John Hurt, English film-maker Richard Kwietniowski's Owning Mahowny is a low-key and well-observed but only sporadically compelling drama that benefits greatly from its well-assembled cast.

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"Dan Mahowney [Philip Seymour Hoffman] has a secret life. At his work in the bank he is known as a quiet employee with a modest lifestyle and a sweet but plain girlfriend called Belinda [Minnie Driver]. But Dan is a compulsive gambler, who has plunged himself into debt with no way out. When he is promoted to assistant manager his new responsibilities give him the authority to transfer funds in and out of the bank. As Dan is struggling to cover his debts, he starts to abuse his position and move huge sums of money to non-existent accounts and into his own casino account. When his debts hit seven figures his deception is hard to hide - from the authorities and from Belinda. 'Owning Mahowney' is based on a true story." Momentum Pictures

memento mori (2012)

2012 | Canada | Dan Browne | ★★★★★

Canadian experimental film-maker and artist Dan Browne’s utterly wonderful memento mori is a thrillingly kinetic, seductively painterly short film that masterfully breathes vibrant new life into a tired, old metaphor.

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"A meditation on (im)mortality, mediated by a lifetime of images." Dan Browne

See also:

Stotty's 2010s Favourites