I Like Movies follows 17-year-old Lawrence Kweller (Isaiah Lehtinen), who dreams of attending film school in New York but currently resides with his single mother in Burlington, Ontario in the early 2000s.
Chandler Levack’s debut feature film is an engaging and contemplative little indie that explores both childhood trauma and film culture in an unassuming manner.
The Story
An dystopian future Detroit introduces a new breed of crime fighters. To test their mettle, an evil corporation known as Omni Consumer Products takes upon itself the task of modernizing Detroit’s police department by sending its cybernetic agents in disguise to make changes unthinkable.
Like Movies was produced by Lindsay Blair Goeldner (There’s No Place Like This Place), along with Evan Dubinsky, Isaiah Levack, and Simone Smith as co-producers. It is currently screening at TIFF Bell Lightbox, and will be distributed across Canada by Mongrel Media.
The Characters
When watching movies, certain characters often stand out. While not necessarily bad characters themselves, these annoying figures often serve to derail otherwise amazing films. One such irritating character type is often depicted as the 'mad scientist,” with his or her common traits that represent universal patterns across many movies – brilliant minds eager to push human knowledge further than ever before; often embodying fears and hopes shared by many people such as eliminating death and disease altogether or developing into something better adapted to its environment.
Character descriptions in film scripts are crucial in awakening an audience’s senses and drawing them deeper into the story. Such descriptions should include details such as name, age range and brief physical description for each character.
The Setting
Setting is a vital element of film and can dramatically affect its effectiveness. This is due to the setting influencing how actors are portrayed and perceived by an audience; reflecting genre, such as Christmas-themed movies that don’t work well during summer; as well as direct influence mood and tone of stories set during certain time periods (i.e medieval stories should never take place in contemporary New York or Los Angeles!). Furthermore, considering time period plays a part as well – for instance if set during medieval times then shooting it there would likely make more believable; would it not work as easily?!
The Director
Quentin Tarantino is an avid moviegoer in every sense of the word, from blaxploitation movies and samurai epics, to modern mainstream teen romance films (see Top Gun: Maverick), his filmography is testament to his devotion. Now, with I Like Movies by Canadian writer-director Chandler Levack’s, featuring 17-year old socially awkward Lawrence who forms an unlikely bond with its older female manager at his local video store, Tarantino pays a poignant tribute to cinema once more with Lawrence’s story.