When Dr. Lecter is plucking the strings and writing the notes, Hannibal is thrilling, unpredictable and disgustingly beautiful to look at. In “Futamono” we get all of that, some meta humor, and the most disturbingly delicious looking human leg eaten on network TV. Also a fun dinner party.
Community Episode 5.11 Recap
“G.I. Jeff” constantly delivers nostalgic 80’s animated fan service, but Community has set a strong precedent for making these fun departures into character exploration exercises, so there is an implied mystery afoot as well: Who is imagining this? Why? And does it matter?
Diablo III: Reaper of Souls: I am renewed
Much of the discussion surrounding Diablo 3's expansion pack is about changes to the systems: loot drops, experience points, item variety. But Act V also adds more incidental events, characters and dialogues that flesh out Westmarch better than any of the locations we've seen before.
Afflicted Review
Afflicted can be easily dismissed as simply being a more supernatural-than-superhero take on the found footage origin story that Chronicle attempted, but it’s still a fun and innovative low budget bit of meta-horror.
This Week at The Bloor: 4/4/14
After a few weeks away, our Bloor Cinema column returns with new looks at Errol Morris' look at Donald Rumsfeld in The Unknown Known and the gorgeous experimental documentary The Great Flood.
Thought Bubble:
On not watching
Game of Thrones
HBO's landmark series is one of the best things on television. Even for those who don't watch television.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier Review
Delivering a good stand alone story and not getting too far bogged down in Avengers mythology, Captain America: The Winter Soldier is a great follow-up to one of the best films Marvel Studios has produced to date.
Hannibal Episode 2.5 Recap
“Mukozuke” succeeds in providing the contemplative space that other serial killer centric shows don’t. It’s a case study in what we will let our icons get away with and what makes them different from us and the fictional people they prey on.
Noah Review
Definitely not a straight-faced biblical epic, the first 90 minutes or so of Darren Aronofsky's Noah is a highly entertaining fantasy epic with scope and grandeur. The remaining 40 minutes is exactly the same kind of sour and dour film Aronofsky has made throughout his career thus far. It's okay overall, but wildly uneven.
The Returned Review
The Spanish-Canadian co-production The Returned offers an interesting spin on the zombie film, even if it does play a bit like a fourth sequel to Danny Boyle’s take on the genre that skips over “months” and simply goes to 28 YEARS Later.
Cas & Dylan Review
An unpretentious road comedy with a cosmically aligned odd couple, Cas & Dylan gets incredible mileage thanks to great leading performances from veteran actor Richard Dreyfuss and rising star Tatiana Maslany.
Finding Vivian Maier Review
The story of Vivian Maier seems almost impossible to believe in the modern digital age, but in John Maloof and Charlie Siskel’s exceptionally researched labour of love documentary, Finding Vivian Maier, the concept of a person’s double life takes on a deeper emotional meaning than that of a simple, unsolved mystery.
Three Days in Havana Review
A waste of lots of great Canadian talent, Three Days in Havana makes absolutely no sense narratively or tonally.
Bad Words Review
Jason Bateman's directorial debut Bad Words is a complete draw; as much of a missed opportunity as a win. Despite some very funny foul mouthed comedy, the uneasy direction of the film's central plot drags everything down around it. It's consistently funny, but it's a one-note premise that loses steam very fast.
The Dork Shelf Guide to CineFranco 2014
We take a look at 8 of the features playing at this year's whopping 17th annual CineFranco French language film festival, kicking off this Friday at The Royal Cinema in Toronto.