Evangeline (Opening Night Film) A mishmash of halfbaked genre elements cribbed from other far better films and filmmakers and an almost inscrutable story, Karen Lam’s Evangeline is an unfortunate mess that never comes together and sets some genuinely good performances hopelessly adrift. Kat de Lieva stars as the titular protagonist, a shy young student just […]
Discopath Owing a lot to such 42nd Street sleazefests as Dario Argento’s Tenebre, Lucio Fulci’s New York Ripper, William Lustig’s Maniac, and Canon Film’s shit-tastic New Year’s Evil, Renaud Gauthier’s Quebecois genre send-up and period piece Discopath is a gory, and deliberately silly ode to late 70s/early 80s slashers. In 1976 New York City, Duane […]
Thanatomorphose If you’re looking for a repulsive, mean-spirited, body horror gore fest that quickly transforms into a morbid pornography of human decay, then look no further than Thanatomorphose. Writer/director Eric Falardeau (no doubt a fan of David Cronenberg’s The Fly borrowing liberally for his more grotesque moments, such as body parts in jars) has created […]
Clean Break Clean Break is an engaging, if mostly predictable genre effort with star Tianna Nori giving the film a much needed dash of sinister delight. The Toronto based thriller takes off when Scott (Sean Kaufmann), an out-of-work but likable everyman , accepts roommates Cam (Sam Osman) and Dan’s (Serge Plourde) invite to a work […]
Criminal Tales of revenge rarely have a happy ending, but Criminal leans on its influences a little too hard, as it tries to look all dark and gritty without having any genuine substance to it all. Innis (Ian Dyck) is an overstressed security guard who sees society crumbling around him while he tries to go […]
A mindful and mostly well refined look into the nature of moral and ethical contracts, Stephen Frears’ Philomena tackles issues of Catholic guilt and personal redemption quite nicely thanks to a sharp script from co-star and co-writer Steve Coogan and a perfectly cast Judi Dench in the lead.
A perfect bit of classic Disney magic, Frozen is the best feature produced directly by the Mouse House since Tarzan.
We catch up with actor Josh Gad to talk about his scene stealing voice work in Disney's Frozen as Olaf the Snowman, playing a character that’s only pure, unbridled joy, getting a chance to sing a song penned by some of his former Book of Mormon collaborators, and the happiness he gets from watching Olaf’s connection to children in the audience (including his own).
Black Nativity isn't high art, but it’s got a lot of things to like about it. It delivers a message of peace on Earth and good will towards men that hits the right sweet spot between cornball theatrics and sincerity.
While perfectly capable of being enjoyable on a brainless action movie level, Jason Statham’s latest badass extravaganza Homefront also comes with a surprising amount of depth and nuance for those willing to look beyond the bone crunching fights and backwoods cat and mouse games.
Alexander Payne's Nebraska is a film with a down home vibe that feels ripped straight from the pages of dog-eared Reader’s Digest that’s been read countless times by various patrons in a waiting room while their oil gets changed. And I mean that as a compliment. It’s downright charming, and devoid of condescension towards the dreamers, uneducated schemers, and old timers that move its protagonist's journey along.
This week at The Bloor, the chilling and balanced look at true believer missionaries in Africa God Loves Uganda is worthy, but stay as far, far away from GMO OMG.
Although the ending feels suspiciously forced, Quebecois auteur Denis Cote's Vic + Flo Saw a Bear boasts rich characters, great humor, well done suspense, excellent performances, and a hyper-realistic sense of emotion and setting
It's almost the exact same movie as Starbuck was two years ago, meaning it's largely okay and overstuffed, but this remake of Ken Scott's Quebecois hit gets a lot of mileage from Vince Vaughn's best performance in years.
