film

Stranger by the Lake Review

A cerebral character study that looks into the incredibly screwed up and often contradictory nature of sexual desire, Alain Guiraudie’s Stranger by the Lake has a lot to say about how people can throw their own sense of personal preservation to the wind for a chance at love.

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit Review

It’s tough to tell if hardcore fans of Jack Ryan will be delighted or disgusted when it comes to Kenneth Branagh’s reboot of Tom Clancy’s beloved spy. Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit has some decent moments or action and a solid lead in Chris Pine, but it’s far too inconsistent and formulaic to be a good film.

This Week at The Bloor: 1/17/14

A positively stacked week at The Bloor brings the harrowing and rightfully Academy Award nominated look at the Egyptian revolution, The Square, the poignant look at "Eskimo culture," Arctic Defenders, and a slew of special screenings worth consideration, including classic documentary On the Bowery and the fun look at creativity From Nothing, Something. It's such a good week, we decided to run the column a day early for a change.

Ride Along Review

Forget that Ride Along is so cliched there are no surprises or that buddy cop movies are already too cliched to begin with. Despite the best efforts of Ice Cube and Kevin Hart, Tim Story's sanitized take on the genre is just too genial to be much fun.

The Rare Case of Cocksucker Blues

This weekend, a free retrospective of films by American photographer Robert Frank at the TIFF Bell Lightbox brings a screening of one of the rarest and most controversial rock and roll documentaries of all time: the 1972 look into the touring life of The Rolling Stones, Cocksucker Blues, a film so rare it might not be seen on the big screen (legally) in the city every again.

Interview: Louise Archambault

We talk to Louise Archambault, the Quebecois director of the Canadian Screen Award Best Picture nominee Gabrielle about avoiding misery and melodrama, her documentary-style approach to filmmaking, how coming of age stories can happen at any point in life, how her cast never felt pressured, and the relationship between her two award nominated leads.

Films in Brief: 1/10/14

Due to our Film Editor being down for the count this week (tearing tendons in his foot and having the flu at the same time), there will sadly be a few reviews missing this week, including the Bloor Cinema column, but he did want to pass along these thoughts for the films he saw but couldn’t write about: I am Divine, Persistence of Vision, Gabrielle, and Ms. 45.

August: Osage County Review

Although it could use a more accomplished director at the helm, August: Osage County is a gleefully misanthropic, exceptionally acted dark family comedy from the same crazy writer who brought you Killer Joe and Bug.

Lone Survivor Review

As far as wartime sagas go, Peter Berg’s Lone Survivor is certainly a technical marvel and it’s nothing if not genuine at heart, but as a film it’s far too underdeveloped and misguided to really have any impact.