Antisocial Review
The drab, lifeless, done to death and cheaply produced pseudo-zombie film, Antisocial is more interested in hitting stock horror movie beats than doing anything all that exciting or thrilling.
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This Week at The Bloor: 12/13/13
This week at The Bloor brings the dry Israeli history documentary The Prime Ministers: The Pioneers and the exceptional and heartbreaking Blood Brother.
Interview: Steve Hoover
We talk to Steve Hoover, the director of the documentary Blood Brother, about his relationship with his best friend has progressed as a result of filming him working with children suffering from AIDS and HIV in rural India, the two sides to his friend's personality, and the film’s gut punching opening sequence.
Saving Mr. Banks Review
It never takes a look at the making of Mary Poppins in any ways that could be seen as eye-opening or controversial, but Disney's Saving Mr. Banks is still a decent enough crowd pleaser with some good performances.
The Punk Syndrome Review
The Punk Syndrome looks at a special brand of punks that rise above disability to create universally identifiable songs about frustration and rage.
The Crash Reel Review
In former Academy Award nominee Lucy Walker's latest documentary, The Crash Reel, the sport of snowboarding gets its finest film: a thoughtful and often heartbreaking look at one athlete struggling to come back to his greatest love after a near life ending accident, but one devoid of standard sports movie cliches in favour of true human emotions and bigger questions about its subjects.
The Wagner Files Review
Buried within The Wagner Files is a somewhat decent documentary and talking heads look at how famed German composer Richard Wagner wasn't such a nice person, but it's brought down tremendously by frequently atrocious dramatic recreations of theoretical historic events that are laughably realized and awkwardly integrated.
The Pervert’s Guide to Ideology Review
Culture critic and psychoanalyst rock star Slavoj Zizek follows up his look at cinema with The Pervert's Guide to Ideology, a more disappointing and unnecessarily long winded look at how all ideologies are bad no matter who they come from. It can be summed up in a single sentence, but despite some good case studies, it's really for die hard Zizek fans only.
Interview: Mara Wilson
Dork Shelf talks to former child actress, current blogger/playwright/novelist/essayist, and star of the Danny DeVito directed Roald Dahl adaptation Matilda (now on Blu-Ray) about how the film has found a way to endure and grow in popularity over the years, how she’s able to look back on the film with fondness after years away from thinking about it very much, what irks her about young adult writing, and how busy her life has been now that’s she’s out working for herself.
Interview: Jesse Wente on Studio Ghibli
We talk to TIFF Bell Lightbox Head of Film Programming (and massive dork at heart) Jesse Wente about round 2 of the Lightbox's now comprehensive look at the films of Studio Ghibli. We also talk about what the films mean to him, the iconography behind My Neighbor Totoro and Grave of the Fireflies, hidden gems in the program people might not be aware of, how the films of Studio Ghibli encompass the very goals the TIFF Bell Lightbox strives towards as an organization, and why he’s honoured to be a part of this showcase of films by not only a great filmmaker, but one of the greatest artists the world has ever known.
A Beginner’s Guide to Studio Ghibli
With the return of TIFF's retrospective of the works of Studio Ghibli returning to the Lightbox starting this Thursday (and running to January 3rd), lets look back at our Beginner's Guide to the works of possibly the best animation studio operating today.
Packaged Goods’ Best of 2013
The TIFF Packaged Goods series once again returns to the Lightbox this Wednesday at 7:00pm for their annual year end round-up of the best in commercials and music videos, and this year’s final programme is definitely heavier on the latter than the former.
Home Entertainment Round-Up 10/10/13
This week on video store shelves we look at new releases Fast and Furious 6, Man of Steel, We're the Millers, Touchy Feely Frances Ha, Force of Execution, Jayne Mansfield's Car, Clear History, and Despicable Me 2, as well as classics Nashville, City Lights, and Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion.
Let the Fire Burn Review
Jason Osder's documentary Let the Fire Burn looks at a tragic 1985 incident in Philadelphia that caught everyday citizens in the crossfire of an increasingly agitated inner city political organization and a local government that wanted to stop the group by any means necessary.
This Week at The Bloor: 12/6/13
A trio of new films hit The Bloor this week: Jingle Bell Rock is a well made bit of holiday nostalgia. The Italian Character can never quite find an even handed way of showcasing one of the world's best orchestras. And InRealLife is a well made, but oddly fear mongering look at how teenagers approach the internet.
