If you’ve watched the Oscars for any amount of time, you’ve probably noticed some trends: The Academy likes movies about real people, preferably historically significant ones. Four of the eight Best Picture nominees are based on true stories, and four of the five Best Actor nominees are playing real people, with the fifth, Michael Keaton, playing […]
Last week, the Toronto International Film Festival announced some of their big galas and premieres. There were some interesting films listed, but the real excitement came today, when they unveiled the Midnight Madness, Vanguard, Masters, and Documentary programmes. These are the films that are less likely to make headlines, but are some of the best, most interesting, […]
Obvious Child has a few interesting things to say about abortion, but says it with cardboard characters and a haphazard story.
Michael Keaton's been middle-of-the-road for so long, it's easy to forget he made some great dark comedies in the 80s - Night Shift and Beetlejuice in particular - and also did some solid dramatic work in Pacific Heights and Much Ado About Nothing.
The worst thing about Captain America: The Winter Soldier is that Captain America is in it. I can’t lie: I’ve never liked the star spangled avenger. Most of that can be attributed to me being Canadian, and being fairly disinterested in a superhero wrapped in someone else’s flag. (Lest you think it’s entirely about nationalism, I […]
American Hustle opens with a balding and pot-bellied Christian Bale performing the intricate ritual of arranging his combover. There’s some obvious symbolism in his character, Irving Rosenfeld, pretending to be someone he’s not: He’s a con man, leading desperate people on with the promise of loans that will never materialize in exchange for some very […]
New Year’s Resolution: Begin every day with Please Mr Kennedy, from Inside Llewyn Davis. It’s entirely delightful. (Note: Not an actual New year’s Resolution.)
There are two things you need to know about Midnight Madness, the Toronto Film Festival’s late-night celebration of pulp, schlock, and carnage: It can be one of the most amazing moviegoing experiences of your life; It can be terrible.
The Discovery programme is a place for taking chances at the festival. With its spotlight on new directors, you never quite know what to expect. Granted, that can go for anything you see, whether at the festival or elsewhere. With a few exceptions, there are few stars or big names in attendance. There are, however, some damn […]
I’ve been attending the Toronto International Film Festival, to some extent, for the past ten years. I started buying just a couple tickets at a time, then moved up to 10-ticket packages, and have spent the last few years seeing around 40 a week at the festival. If you love movies, there’s absolutely nothing better […]