This week at The Bloor, one of the most harrowing and unflinching documentaries of the year, Narco Cultura, takes a look at the lesser seen sides of the Mexican drug trade, while the much lighter, but still great Tokyo Waka: A City Poem examines how one city deals with a large number of pesky crows with equal parts admiration and annoyance.
Alex Gibney’s firsthand look into the rise and fall of cyclist Lance Armstrong, The Armstrong Lie, becomes even more increasingly interesting as a result of how flawed the film is overall. It’s not that Gibney’s points about the tarnished seven time Tour de France champion and cancer survivor’s deceptions and lies about doping allegations aren’t perceptive or valid, but with a bloated and unwarranted running time north of two hours it’s not only about its subject’s inability to come clean. In many ways it’s an almost overly emotional document of Gibney’s own inability to let go of his own film.
We take a look at several of the films playing this year's 7th annual Brazil Film Fest, kicking off tonight in Toronto at the TIFF Bell Lightbox and running through Sunday.
Dork Shelf runs down some of this year's offerings at the all Canadian horror movie festival Blood in the Snow, running from November 29th to December 1st at the Carlton Cinemas in Toronto.
Evangeline (Opening Night Film) A mishmash of halfbaked genre elements cribbed from other far better films and filmmakers and an almost inscrutable story, Karen Lam’s Evangeline is an unfortunate mess that never comes together and sets some genuinely good performances hopelessly adrift. Kat de Lieva stars as the titular protagonist, a shy young student just […]
Discopath Owing a lot to such 42nd Street sleazefests as Dario Argento’s Tenebre, Lucio Fulci’s New York Ripper, William Lustig’s Maniac, and Canon Film’s shit-tastic New Year’s Evil, Renaud Gauthier’s Quebecois genre send-up and period piece Discopath is a gory, and deliberately silly ode to late 70s/early 80s slashers. In 1976 New York City, Duane […]
Thanatomorphose If you’re looking for a repulsive, mean-spirited, body horror gore fest that quickly transforms into a morbid pornography of human decay, then look no further than Thanatomorphose. Writer/director Eric Falardeau (no doubt a fan of David Cronenberg’s The Fly borrowing liberally for his more grotesque moments, such as body parts in jars) has created […]
Clean Break Clean Break is an engaging, if mostly predictable genre effort with star Tianna Nori giving the film a much needed dash of sinister delight. The Toronto based thriller takes off when Scott (Sean Kaufmann), an out-of-work but likable everyman , accepts roommates Cam (Sam Osman) and Dan’s (Serge Plourde) invite to a work […]
Criminal Tales of revenge rarely have a happy ending, but Criminal leans on its influences a little too hard, as it tries to look all dark and gritty without having any genuine substance to it all. Innis (Ian Dyck) is an overstressed security guard who sees society crumbling around him while he tries to go […]
A mindful and mostly well refined look into the nature of moral and ethical contracts, Stephen Frears’ Philomena tackles issues of Catholic guilt and personal redemption quite nicely thanks to a sharp script from co-star and co-writer Steve Coogan and a perfectly cast Judi Dench in the lead.
A perfect bit of classic Disney magic, Frozen is the best feature produced directly by the Mouse House since Tarzan.
Super Mario 3D World is worth buying a Wii U for, all on its own. It’s a superlative platformer and might be the best Mario game to date.
PULP is a self-contained but fully realized one issue story with a killer ending that's worth more than it's meagre price of admission.
Black Nativity isn't high art, but it’s got a lot of things to like about it. It delivers a message of peace on Earth and good will towards men that hits the right sweet spot between cornball theatrics and sincerity.
