This Week in DVD: 7/10/12

In a busy week for little seen movies coming to DVD and Blu-ray, we take a look at Nicolas Cage in Seeking Justice, Willem Dafoe in The Hunter, director Morgan Spurlock’s look at the San Diego Comic-Con, the offbeat comedy Jesus Henry Christ, Jon Voight in Beyond, and the aptly titled dark comedy Some Guy Who Kills People.

The Newsroom Episode 1.1 Recap

Pilot episodes are notoriously hard to pull off. The writer must introduce characters, themes, and settings, all while telling a very specific type of “jumping off” story likely bearing little resemblance to the episodes that will follow. Such is the case with “We Just Decided To,” the first episode of super-creator Aaron Sorkin’s new show The Newsroom.

Moonrise Kingdom Review

Director Wes Anderson delivers one of his best felt films to date with the funny, sweet, and deeply personal feeling Moonrise Kingdom.

Sony PlayStation Spring Showcase Impressions

Sony showed off its best wares for the upcoming summer season, including its front-line exclusive games leading up to next month’s E3. First, we’re taking a look at three of Sony’s marquee titles for the next quarter of 2012: Starhawk, Sorcery and Resistance: Burning Skies.

Game of Thrones Episode 2.5 Review

It’s hard to believe the season is already half over, but HBO’s Game of Thrones continues to go strong in its fifth episode, entitled “The Ghost of Harrenhal.” Gruesome deaths, political schemes, hard truths, and revenge are par for the course in this series and nowhere is that more evident than in this episode.

This Week in DVD: 4/17/12

This week, action and misery seem to be the themes as takes on Shame and Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, while Noah Taylor looks at The Divide, and Phil Brown watches Contraband

Interview: Remake/Remodel Curator John Semley

Few things make filmgoers shudder more than the word “remake.” For years, audiences have been treated to reheated, recast, and reimagined versions of past films, both classics and otherwise. John Semley, Chief Editor for the Onion AV Club’s Toronto branch, aims to create a broader dialogue and discussion surrounding remakes with a new screening series at the Toronto Underground Cinema titled “Remake/Remodel,” where local film writers will present two sides of the same cinematic coin.

The Divide Review

The Divide is a psychological thriller about post-apocalyptic survival that is often horrifying and all around nightmarish. From claustrophobia to torture, radiation sickness and murder, this movie is intentionally void of anything that makes an audience feel comfortable or at ease for longer than one or two brief moments. On this level it’s an achievement, but ultimately the story suffers from a shapeless script.

TADFF 2011
The Divide Review

The Divide is a psychological thriller about post-apocalyptic survival that is often horrifying and all around nightmarish. From claustrophobia to torture, radiation sickness and murder, the only thing comfortable about this movie was how snugly it fit into the middle of Toronto After Dark’s line-up.

Best of 2010: Music

2010 was, by all accounts, a pretty rad year in music. The Canadian indie scene continued to thrive, all while established Canuck bands like Caribou and Arcade Fire wowed us with new albums. Didn’t the music establishment declare electronica and rock n’ roll dead nigh a decade ago? And yet here we are, still rocking out. Hip-hop, too, (or rap music as the kids call it) continued its rebirth of sorts; a vibrant new sound that is still hard to pin down, but one that is devoid of unironic autotuning and top 40 aspirations. Since summing up a year in music is proving quite difficult in less than 100 words, I’ll leave that task to the musical experts of the Shelf: Jess and Zack.

August Monthly Music

Since when was summer this close to being over? I guess in the literal mist of this disgusting humidity, time has actually been passing. August will be a bit of a slower month for music here in Toronto, but that’s perfectly fine with me as I’m going to need my rest before the concert madness […]

May Monthly Music

We’re kicking off this music month mid-way this time, as I’ve unfortunately been sick with a cold. Sorry readers! But, it’s here now, and we will celebrate by taking these recommendations in stride and soaking them all up before June kicks some new ones your way (in fact, North by Northeast is coming up next […]

10 Spore Creations That Would Make Great Movie Monsters

Until recently, I was always impressed with the diversity and ferocity of movie monsters.  Monster movies, action, horror – these genres spawned some pretty out-of-this-world and hungry creatures, including xenomorphs from Aliens, colossal crab-praying mantis’ from Cloverfield, and, of course, the giant St. Bernard from The Sandlot. Go back even further and you’ve got classics […]