Focus on Images Festival 2014
We take a look at some of the many highlights from this year's Toronto Images Festival, one of the most exciting times of the year for fine arts in Canada since the late 80s.
film
This Week at The Bloor: 4/10/14
This week at The Bloor brings the hilarious, heartbreaking, and touching anti-rock doc crowd pleaser Mistaken for Strangers and the somewhat disappointing and frustrating historical mystery The Galapagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden.
Algonquin Review
The Canadian indie drama Algonquin is a perfect example of a rare kind of film: the kind of idea that sounds terrible on paper or in a pitch, but one that works just fine in practice.
Dom Hemingway Review
Dom Hemingway contains plenty of thoughtful comedic performances and general ideas that are engaging enough to make one forget that the film itself isn’t all that great.
Interview: Gareth Evans
We talk to The Raid 2 director Gareth Evans about the greater ambitions of his ass kicking sequel, the pros and cons of having more time and locations to shoot in, what to expect from the conclusion to The Raid trilogy, and why you won’t find him hanging around any mud pits any time soon.
Interview: Tom Berninger
We talk to Tom Berninger, subject of and filmmaker behind the documentary Mistaken for Strangers about any potential fame he has seen as a result of appearing alongside his more famous and notable brother (lead singer of The National), how the film has the potential to bring new fans to The National’s music, why his brother has heavy metal tendencies despite not being a very metal guy, what he remembers about being on tour and his job, and why he really might not be all that different from his big brother.
TIFF Cinematheque’s Stacked Spring Line-Up
This spring, the TIFF Cinematheque brings out some big name restorations and special screenings of some of the greatest (and sometimes most under-appreciated) films ever made.
Interview: Jonathan Hayes
We talk to Jonathan Hayes, director of the Canadian drama Algonquin about the clashing egos within his film's characters, the concept of denial and distance within families, and how his film is now related directly to the work of Casablanca director Michael Curtiz.
Interview: John Mitchell
Back in 1987 the Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman comedy Ishtar became one of the most infamous box office disasters and critically reviled films of all time. But what if the movie itself was ahead of its time and not actually that bad? Filmmaker John Mitchell aims to answer that question with his documentary Waiting for Ishtar, which has recently started an IndieGoGo campaign to help with post-production. We chat with the filmmaker about the history of one of the most misunderstood moves of all time.
Focus on TIFF Kids 2014
Now that the teens and adults have had their run of the TIFF Bell Lightbox, we take a look at some of this year's best bets and special events happening at the 2014 TIFF Kids International Film Festival, which kicks off today.
Home Entertanment Round-Up: 4/7/14
We kick off this Home Entertainment round-up with two Martin Scorsese comedies - The King of Comedy and The Wolf of Wall Street - before looking at new releases for Sam Raimi's Darkman, Howard Hawks' El Dorado, Will Ferrell and Adam McKay's Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, and Paul Schrader's remake of Cat People. There's also some B-movie goodness with looks at Alec Baldwin in The Shadow, the 1980s horror flick Night of the Demons, and the made for TV 1973 thriller The Horror at 37,000 Feet
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.
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.
Interview: David Webb Peoples
David Webb Peoples had a hand in writing three of the greatest films of the latter half of the 20th Century: Ridley Scott's Blade Runner, Terry Gilliam's 12 Monkeys, and Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven. We talk with the writer (and his wife and sometimes collaborator Janet) as he prepares to visit the Toronto Screenwriting Conference this weekend.
