Category archives: Movies
Oscars Gonna Oscar
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… continue reading »
TIFF 2014: A brief sampling
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… continue reading »
Obvious Child is 5% groundbreaking, 95% uninspired formula
Obvious Child has a few interesting things to say about abortion, but says it with cardboard characters and a haphazard story. continue reading
Michael Keaton Strikes Back
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. continue reading
Captain America: The Winter Soldier – the only problem is that Captain America & The Winter Soldier are in it
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… continue reading »
American Hustle has style, but can’t back up its ambition
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… continue reading »
How to start the year
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.)
TIFF Picks: Midnight Madness
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.
TIFF picks: Discovery
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… continue reading »
A Brief TIFF Survival Guide
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… continue reading »