film
This week at the video store we look at the winning animated adventure ParaNorman, the action blockbuster The Expendables 2, the dance-stravaganza Step Up Revolution, the crap-stravaganza The Apparition, and a pair of films that missed theatrical releases despite being directed by Joe Dante and Amy Heckerling.
Interview: Jolene Van Vugt
We spoke with Nitro Circus stunt performer Jolene Van Vugt about her time in the famed TV (and now big screen) daredevil collective, the inevitable injuries, sympathizing with teammate Tommy Passemante, doubling for Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises, and her recent entry into the Guinness Book Of World Records on a toilet.
Contest: See Bones Brigade: An Autobiography in TORONTO
Enter to win one of five pairs of passes to see Bones Brigade: An Autobiography on Friday, November 30th at 6:30pm at the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema in Toronto with skaters Lance Mountain and Rodney Mullen in attendance!
Contest: Win a Step Up Revolution DVD Prize Pack!
Enter for a chance to win one of five Step Up Revolution DVD prize packs from eOne and Dork Shelf!
Hitchcock Review
While it was inevitable that someone would make a big screen biopic about one of the world's most prominent directors, Hichcock is only a mildly entertaining and watchable film with a complete and utter disregard for the history of the man at the centre of it so the filmmakers can create drama that wasn't there originally.
The New Old:
Nothing But Classics
Just in time for your Black Friday holiday shopping sprees, Phil Brown takes a look at some of the biggest classics for film buffs and genre buffs that are currently on Blu-ray retailer shelves: Lawrence of Arabia, E.T., They Live, Dark Star, Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, Sunset Boulevard, and Rosemary's Baby,
Inch’Allah Review
Former documentary filmmaker Anais Barbeau-Lavalette's fictional feature Inch'Allah might refuse to take a side in the Israeli-Palestine conflict, but its a lot stronger for doing so. It's even handed, fair, tragic, and ultimately extremely effective.
Ecstasy Review
An admirable. low-budget labour of love, the Canadian produced adaptation of Irvine Welsh's Ecstasy trots out every single last cliche from the late 90s drug parable playbook for a thoroughly unsurprising, but decently acted experience.
The Fruit Hunters Review
In Canadian documentarian Yung Chang's latest excellent film The Fruit Hunters, the audience is asked to give fruit - especially the kind you can find in your own backyard - a second chance.
Where Are the Films of Nicolas Pereda?
We take a look at the upcoming TIFF Bell Lightbox retrospective dedicated to the work of Mexican filmmaker and York University graduate Nicolas Pereda.
Life of Pi Review
Life Of Pi is an undeniably impressive film-going experience that delivers both the visceral thrills and subtler joys to be found in any great movie. To pretend it’s perfect would be unfair though. As grounded as diretctor Ang Lee and his cast try make the story, there’s no denying that this is a stylized allegorical fantasy with all of the potential audience alienation that implies.
Silver Linings Playbook Review
While he continues to court the mainstream following the success of The Fighter, director David O. Russell and Bradley Cooper in the best performance of his career help make Silver Linings Playbook one of the best Hollywood portrayals of mental illness to date, even if the film's final third is a really standard sort of romantic comedy.
Red Dawn Review
By the already low standards that a Red Dawn remake would have, it's not very good, but not as flat out awful as one would secretly suspect. It's stupid, has a small handful of good action scenes, is unevenly acted, and is still pretty xenophobic despite it being more ridiculous this time out.
The New Old: 20 Years of Tarantino
We take a look back on the career of Quentin Tarantino as Reservoir Dogs celebrates it's 20th anniversary with a blu-ray box set including almost all of the feature films he's been a part of.
Interview: The Silver Linings Playbook Crew
Dork Shelf sits down with director David O. Russell, former sexiest man alive Bradley Cooper, and rising superstar Jennifer Lawrence about their work on Silver Linings Playbook and creating a film about mental illness that keeps it as real as humanly possible.