The Good Lie Review
Writer/director Shawn Linden's The Good Lie is a revenge thriller that should work, but it maddeningly wastes a strong, if somewhat simplified core idea on a thoroughly useless framing device that sinks the whole thing.
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Slaughter Nick for President and Skull World Reviews
This weekend brings a pair of documentaries about strange forms of notoriety to the Carlton Cinema in Toronto: Slaughter Nick for President and Skull World. Both films are hilarious and inspiring looks at people who love what they do and deeply appreciate the efforts of those around them. One of them just happens to be a down on his luck actor who finds out that a character he played on a crappy TV show has become a folk hero overseas, and the other is a Clutch loving metalhead who uses his creative side to create all out cardboard carnage.
The Great Gatsby Review
While still technically an alright movie overall and somewhat subdued by its director's usual flashy standards, Baz Luhrmann's big screen adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby still proves that there's something completely unfilmable about the source material in spite of some pitch perfect casting and stylistic choices.
The Manor Review
The Guelph, Ontario strip club set documentary The Manor is an alternately amusing and heartbreaking look at a barely functional family that could have only made by someone who truly loves and cares for his subjects.
Interview: Rob Stewart
We talk to Canadian actor, documentarian, and unlikely celebrity (in Serbia, anyway) Rob Stewart about his autobiographical Slaughter Nick for President. He talks about what it was like to be welcomed as folk hero to many people who had nothing for playing a character on a show he never liked doing that much to begin with, and how he would never, ever take that love for granted.
The Last Will and Testament of Rosalind Leigh Review
While it’s normally admirable for most horror films in this day in age to play out as slow burns that mete out minor details to the audience over time, The Last Will and Testament of Rosalind Leigh takes it to wholly dull, but undoubtedly good looking extremes.
I Declare War Review
The pitch-black coming of age comedy I Declare War is electrifying, terrifying, exciting, thoughtful, and undeniably entertaining to behold.
At Any Price Review
At Any Price is a gloomy parable that speaks to the woes of life in small town America. Director and co-writer Ramin Bahrani’s delivers a picturesque rendering of golden-glimmering wheat fields and comforts of country living. Yet, there is a general air of melancholy that floats through this film in which stories of lust, teenage angst and midlife crisis become implausibly intermittent.
Interview: Justin McConnell
We talk to filmmaker Justin McConnell about following around his buddy Greg Sommer, creator of the battle-tastic Box Wars for his documentary, Skull World, opening in Toronto this weekend.
Interview: Jason Lapeyre and Robert Wilson
We talk to the directorial team behind the Canadian film I Declare War about recapturing the essence of playing the most epic and out of hand game of capture the flag with 12 year olds and why psychological warfare is far more damaging to kids than any bullet is likely to be.
Interview: Jason Buxton
We talk with award winning first time feature filmmaker Jason Buxton about his drama Blackbird, his research into the lives of at risk youth, his struggles to make the film with his own vision in mind, and the sometimes frustrating casting process.
This (Past Month) in DVD
With about roughly one billion film festivals this past month, our film writers haven't been able to keep up with the DVD column. So here now is a mix of everything leading up to this current week with looks at Django Unchained, Silver Linings Playbook, John Dies at the End, Gangster Squad, Jack Reacher, Broken City, Mama, The Details, Promised Land, Revenge for Jolly!, The Oranges, and links back to a ton of other stuff we just didn't have room for.
Interview: Shawney Cohen
Hot Docs 2013 might have ended yesterday, but it's opening night film sees a theatrical release this coming Friday. Here's our talk with Shawney Cohen, director of The Manor to talk about his own personal experiences working with and documenting his family's ownership of a Guelph strip club.
Interview: Don Cheadle
Dork Shelf chats with Iron Man 3 actor Don Cheadle to talk about playing Tony Stark's best friend James "Rhodey" Rhodes, working with Shane Black and Robert Downey Jr., his own experiences with comics, and much more.
Interview: Justin Ludwig
Step into the pit as we talk to Canadian documentarian, punk rock frontman, and proud atheist Justin Ludwig about his film ChristCORE and how he learned to have a better understanding of the world of Christian punk and metal despite not being a believer himself. We also talk about the crossover success of Christian rock, how the bands politically believed a lot of the same things he did, and how to potentially really screw over Chik-Fil-A.
