Blending the experimental filmmaking with a degree of detail oriented accuracy that Frederick Wiseman would appreciate, the black and white docudrama Public Hearing (screening for free this Thursday at 9:15pm at Toronto’s Revue Cinema as part of the ReFocus screening series) is exactly what it says on the tin and so much more bubbling under the surface.
We chat with director Marisa Stotter about She Makes Comics, a documentary film about the untold history of women in comic books, celebrating female creators and fans alike.
We talk with former Degrassi: The Next Generation actress Annie Clark about her first starring role on the big screen in the Canadian thriller Solo and about her thoughts on modern thrillers, why she chose filming over a vacation, why she never became a camp counsellor herself, and the freedom of being able to get a little down and dirty for the sake of the character.
For this week's Unsung Anniversaries, we go with a pretty deep cut to celebrate the 25th anniversary of American Ninja 3: Blood Hunt, and in the process talk a little bit about the history of 1980s movie making powerhouse Cannon Films, what happens when a franchise has to recast its lead, and why the film has two standout performances from cult acting icons that almost make it worth watching.
Alarmingly misguided, horribly directed, astoundingly racist, and insanely incomprehensible, the McG/Luc Besson/Kevin Costner team-up 3 Days to Kill best's last week's previous low water mark set by Winter's Tale as the worst major studio release of 2013 so far, leading us further down one of the worst starts to any year in film history.
It would be easy to pithily dismiss a documentary like Tim’s Vermeer, the feature directorial debut of Teller from noted magician and pundit duo Penn and Teller, as something akin of a Mythbusters-styled lark, or even worse as a filming of a forgery. But as with the great work of art the film’s protagonist is trying to understand, there’s a far deeper meaning on scientific, emotional, and artistic levels coming into play.
Dark, twisted, and emotionally disturbed in ways almost too delightful and clever to spoil, the coal black comedy Cheap Thrills certainly lives up to its name and then some thanks to clever writing and solid performances.
The dull, repetitive, student film feelng, and drab looking AKP: Job 27 certainly wears its influences on its sleeve, but it’s the perfect example of someone who can show a fundamental understanding of the filming techniques of vastly better iconic filmmakers while missing the point entirely of how they can connect to an audience or tell a story.
We review the one new film at The Bloor this week, a look inside the US Federal Reserve in Money for Nothing, and look ahead to a slew of events over the next two weeks, including return engagements of all of this years Oscar nominated documentary features, the Oscars themselves, several returning series, and an appearance from famed stand-up comedy icon Paul Mooney.
Part Titanic styled doomed romance, part Gladiator styled revenge flick, and part late 90s volcano disaster film, Paul W.S. Anderson’s liberally not-ripped-from-the-history-books take on the destruction of the Italian city of Pompeii in 72 A.D. is clichéd to the hilt and unabashedly cornball, but you can’t say it isn’t hitting all of the high notes perfectly.
While time will only tell if Hayao Miyazaki’s latest film, the World War II era period piece The Wind Rises, will be the animation auteur’s final feature, if it turns out to be true he’s certainly ending his career on a high note.
Blending interviews, archival news footage, animation, and staged recreations, Fly Colt Fly look at one of the biggest folk hero criminals in American history does a fine job explaining how one teenager who posed a concern to many could become an icon to others.
While essentially nothing more than a made for TV puff piece designed to make its main subject look as human as possible while participating in one of the world’s greatest bloodsports, Takedown: The DNA of GSP looks at Montreal Mixed Martial Arts maven Georges St-Pierre in an entertaining and informative light.
We talk to former UFC welterweight champion (and Montreal's own) Georges St-Pierre about the documentary Takedown: The DNA of GSP, an inside look into the fighter's process and comeback from a potentially career ending ACL tear. We also talk about revealing more of his personal life for the camera, his battles with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, the main reason why he stepped away from MMA for a while, why a $5 plate of spaghetti helps remind him of where he came from, how it’s boring to be a normal person, how he learned the hard way to not let his anger and arrogance get the best of him in the ring, and his upcoming appearance in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
We talk to E.L. Katz, director of the black comedy Cheap Thrills about why he made this is first film as a director, how he second guesses himself more as a writer, why the opening of the film is almost purposefully slow, the art of escalation, how his two leads essentially became method actors, why the set was physically uncomfortable to be on, and what it’s like trying to create “a human cockfight.”
