Unsung Anniversaries #5: The Ref
This week in Unsung Anniversaries we look at one of the best holiday movies to not be released during the holidays as Denis Leary and Kevin Spacey star in 1994's The Ref
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Canada’s Night to Shine: The 2014 Canadian Screen Awards Preview
Tomorrow night the best and brightest in Canadian movies and television get celebrated with the Canadian Screen Awards (airing on CBC at 8:00pm, hosted by Martin Short). Our Film and Performing Arts editor looks at this year's nominees, makes a couple of predictions, and wonders aloud why only technically three of the Best Feature nominees have actually been released in theatres.
This Week at The Bloor: 3/7/14
This week at The Bloor brings the strangely charming, entertaining and informative look at the Hadron Super Collider Particle Fever and a sadly scattershot and uneven look at a pin-up icon in Bettie Page Reveals All.
Alan Partridge Review
It’s not necessary to have an intimate knowledge of actor and writer Steve Coogan’s most famous alter ego to enjoy Alan Partridge and the several British television series and specials the character has popped up in, but it does give a slight advantage to those who do.
300: Rise of an Empire Review
Although Zack Snyder might have moved on to only being a co-producer and co-writer to the Frank Miller inspired sequel 300: Rise of an Empire, the film delivers largely a carbon copy of the same material, slinging spears, swords, splatter, and splinters in slo-motion similarly, only this time it's incredibly boring to sit through.
Mr. Peabody & Sherman Review
It took the better part of 60 years, but finally the work of master animator Jay Ward has a proper big screen adaptation in Rob Minkoff’s Mr. Peabody & Sherman. It stays faithful to the tone of the original show, delivers all new jokes, enhances the characters without destroying them, and by just updating the material enough so it doesn’t feel like a forced attempt at being hip.
Pasolini and the Cinema of Contradiction
Starting this Saturday, the TIFF Bell Lightbox takes a look at one of the best, most contradictory, and controversial filmmakers in history by looking at the brief career of Pier Paolo Pasolini.
No Clue Review
It was only a matter of time before Canadian TV star and stand-up comic Brent Butt would make the jump to the big screen, but while the bumbling gumshoe comedy No Clue boasts a decent mystery and story, the comedy feels like Butt trying to create a new TV series instead of a big screen star vehicle for himself.
Like Father, Like Son Review
The winner of the Jury prize at Cannes last year, Hirokazu Kore-eda's family drama Like Father, Like Son is a thoughtful, methodical and serious examination of a concept usually played humorously.
Video Interview:
Brent Butt
We sit down with beloved Canadian stand-up and TV legend Brent Butt in this video interview about his first major big screen outing in the mystery/comedy No Clue.
Interview: Rob Minkoff
We talk to filmmaker Rob Minkoff, who returns to entirely animated feature filmmaking for the first time in 20 years (following his success with some obscure movie called The Lion KingMr. Peabody and Sherman this weekend. We talk about balancing the cartoon’s old school feel with new school storytelling techniques, what it’s like returning to animation, how long the film was in development, why he’s generally averse to overdoing pop culture references in films, and why Jay Ward’s work stands up so well on its own after so long.
This Week at The Bloor: 3/4/14
Thanks to some mid-week openings, the first of our two columns this week about what's playing at the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema looks at the love letter to street photography Everybody Street, the Doc Soup selection for March La Maison De La Radio (a misfire looking into the inner workings of public broadcaster Radio France), and a look at a one night only screening of the exceptional music documentary Our Vinyl Weighs a Ton: This is Stones Throw Records.
Unsung Anniversaries #4: The Chase
This week's Unsung Anniversaries takes a look at the Charlie Sheen and Kristy Swanson 1994 action comedy The Chase, a film that is actually better than our Film editor remembered it being.
Dork Shelf’s Picks for the 2014 Oscars
Our Film and Performing Arts Editor gives his picks for what he thinks will win big at tomorrow night's Oscar ceremony. Please note: he is still not an expert.
News Shelf: 3/1/14
To wrap up the week, we talk about some places in Toronto where you can get together to watch the Oscars tomorrow, we look ahead to next week's Canadian Screen Awards, we look at two TIFF Bell Lightbox series about books and food on film, and talk a little bit about how TIFF's Paul Verhoeven retrospective is just starting to get really good.
