TIFF 2012 Reviews: Part 2
Day two of our TIFF 2012 coverage rolls on with looks at Anna Karenina , The Iceman , Antiviral , No , Amour , The Sapphires , Pusher , The Secret Disco Revolution , and What Richard Did .
TIFF 2012: Short Cuts Canada
We take an in depth look at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival's Short Cuts Canada programmes, which often showcase talent well worth keeping a close eye on.
TIFF 2012 Reviews: Part 1
With the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival kicking off this Thursday, That Shelf begins their coverage of the Festival of Festivals with our look at Dredd 3D , The Sessions , Krivina , Rust and Bone , I Declare War, The Perks of Being a Wallflower , and the huge opening night gala, Looper .
For a Good Time, Call… Review
Acting almost like the pottymouthed big sister of this year's Magic Mike , For a Good Time, Call... sends the summer out on a high note with witty banter, sly observations, and great performances.
In My Mother’s Arms Review
Compelling and emotionally devastating, the documentary In My Mother's Arms tells the stories of Iraqi war orphans and one person's uphill battle to help save them from crime and an inefficient government.
Sushi: The Global Catch Review
Sushi: The Global Catch is an equally mouth watering and socially conscious documentary that provides an insightful look at the dedication it takes to make a tasty raw fish dish.
The Possession Review
While not exactly full of new surprises for fans of the exorcism sub-genre, The Possession does offer dutiful, well crafted scares and an interesting change in religions.
Lawless Review
Lawless feels like a film compromised somewhere in the editing process with long passages awkwardly truncated and the director’s patented slow, thoughtful pacing replaced with a more action-centric aesthetic, but the film still works reasonably well as an entertaining gangster yarn filled with the performances you get as a prestigious director working with his pick of the top actors around.
This Week in DVD: 8/28/12
Another busy week at the video store as Battleship blasts its way onto home video, alongside Starship Troopers: Invasion , some Can-con with Edwin Boyd: Citizen Gangster and A Beginner's Guide to Endings , the documentary sequel Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory , the genuinely funny horror comedy A Little Bit Zombie , and the God awful "horror comedy" Jersey Shore Shark Attack .
The New Old: Sowing Season
This week, our archival DVD column looks at various stages of growing up with looks at Good Will Hunting, High Fidelity, and Adventures in Babysitting , and a look at the volatile nature of change in The Proposition .
Premium Rush Review
Named like an energy drink, directed like a cartoon, and performed in the style of poppy 90s blockbuster cheese that has sadly disappeared, if you have a bad time at Premium Rush , you’re either too cynical about movies to enjoy good trash or you had a heart attack in the theater from all the awesomeness. Those are really the only two options.
The Apparition Review
A film with a plot so convoluted it has to be explained to the audience at least five times and a scare count so low that the poster actually gives away the final moment of the film because no other image was strong enough to sell the film, there's nothing positive to say about The Apparition other than the fact that it’s less than 80 minutes long and even then you can expect the longest 80 minutes of your life. It should be avoided by anyone other than insomniacs in search of an alternative to sleeping pills.
Hell and Back Again Review
An apolitical look at one man’s struggle to readapt to civilian life following a harrowing, life altering experience in Afghanistan, director Danfung Dennis' documentary Hell and Back Again has an uncomfortable and visceral impact on the viewer that will leave them stunned and in awe of what they’ve just witnessed.
Hit and Run Review
Pitched somewhere between 70s exploitation lovers-on-the-run movies, Burt Reynold’s highway comedies, and a 90s wise-cracking crime movie, Hit and Run works largely thanks to the chemistry of writer-director-editor-star Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell, but its budgetary and technical limitations sometimes bring it down.
Robot & Frank Review
With a story of a grumpy old man learning life lessons and pulling off heists with the help of a robot sounds like a concept that Disney would have come up with circa 1998, Robot & Frank is an incredibly sweet, charming, funny and deeply enjoyable movie that avoids grating sentimentality and builds actual excitement and emotion.
