As a film reviewer with a mandate to serve Oakville and its neighbouring citizens, I’ve become more and more frustrated by a lack of variety in our local theatres. Movie programming is determined by studio accountants and corporate projections, loading the high-profile, big-budget movies into more theatres to pump box office numbers. Outside of the big cities, this practice freezes out “smaller” pictures that don’t always have large distribution budgets. They may not necessarily be better, but they definitely add diversity, and some are genuinely deserving of larger audiences. I really don’t want to sound like a film snob, but surely a 10-theatre Oakville multiplex has room for more options than running Thor: The Dark World in 4 of its halls.
I caught one such “smaller” movie recently, and if you have the opportunity to get into the city, it’s worth the trouble to seek it out. All is Lost is a riveting survival tale, as much notable for what it portrays as for what it doesn’t.
Read the rest of my review at Oakville.com – click the title link.