Zombeavers While Jordan Rubin’s film about flesh craving furballs does exactly what it says it’s going to do in the title, Zombeavers surprisingly sets itself apart from the recent wealth of goofball high concept movies by playing itself just straight enough to be hilarious, but never too goofy as to be insufferably unfunny and forced. […]
The documentary The Green Prince moves at the pace of a great thriller.
Sleeping Beauty (Clyde Geronimi, 1959) – Sleeping Beauty slipped out of the magic kingdom animation in the midst of a strange period for Disney. The company had started spreading its resources into television and live action feature production, while much of uncle Walt’s attention was focused on launching a certain theme park that would go […]
Live, Die, Repeat (or, Edge Of Tomorrow) (Doug Liman, 2014) – It’s been a while since there’s been reason to get excited about a Tom Cruise movie. Though his last decade included the underrated War of the Worlds and the wonderfully goofy Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, good Tom Cruise movies have become the exception and not […]
A Million Ways to Die in the West (Seth MacFarlane, 2014) – The weird thing about Seth MacFarlane is that even though he’s been at the center of pop culture comedy for about a decade, the guy has really old fashion tastes. If it were somehow possible to bring back vaudeville, I’m sure he would […]
Godzilla (Gareth Edwards, 2014) – When Roland Emmerich’s god-awful Godzilla hit screens in 1998, it was preceded by an ad campaign hinged entirely around size and scale. The movie itself featured a silly square faced cartoon that seemed to have no weight beyond that of failed expectations (zing!). Gareth Edwards’ drastically better Godzilla hit screens […]
Neighbors (Nick Stoller, 2014) – If nothing else, you’ve gotta give Seth Rogen credit for acknowledging his age. Sure, in his latest movie he plays a stoner with a heart of gold who feuds with frat kids, but at least this time he’s playing a thirty-something stoner with a heart of gold feuding with frat kids. […]
Million Dollar Arm (Craig Gillespie, 2014) – Million Dollar Arm is one of those gently racist inspirational Hollywood stories that pop up every few years. One that mines laughter out of how ridiculous, silly, and different other cultures are before proving that folks from those fantastical foreign lands can get on just fine in America […]
All That Jazz (Bob Fosse, 1979) – It’s seems ridiculous to use the word “underrated” to describe a groundbreaking, show business legend like Bob Fosse, yet as a filmmaker that’s sadly true. As a choreographer and Broadway director, Fosse’s name is practically a brand. Yet, a filmmaker he never quite gets the respect he deserves. […]
MacBeth (Roman Polanski, 1971) – Roman Polanski’s cinematic adaptation of Macbeth is a fascinating movie for a number of reasons beyond its actual content. It was (along with the Monty Python greatest hits project And Now For Something Completely Different) the first film produced by Playboy despite a complete lack of eroticism. It’s also the […]
We talk to director Adam Wingard, writer Simon Barrett, and actors Dan Stevens and Maika Monroe about their work together on The Guest.
We take a look at some of the offerings for this year's second annual musically minded Reel Indie Film Festival, running at The Royal in Toronto this week.
It’s hard to imagine what it’s like to have a stroke without knowing someone who’s been through one. The human brain is a tricky beast on the best of days, and it’s hard to put into words much less into visuals on a screen. But directors Edward Lovelace and James Hall get closer than anyone […]
A Curious Life A different sort of musical oral history, Dunstan Bruce’s A Curious Life charts the rising success of British folk-punk act The Levellers mainly through the eyes of a specific band member, dreadlocked and upbeat bassist Jeremy Cunningham, who will act as a host of sorts. Famous for producing a string of seven […]
Born to Ruin This behind-the-scenes look at Toronto indie rock act Wildlife as they produce their make-or-break sophomore album in Connecticut and Brooklyn opens with band members confronting their keyboard player about a drinking problem about halfway through the recording process. It’s necessary to start with this because without the conflict, the film itself from […]
