The New Old: Bond from 1962 to 1981
In honour of Global James Bond Day, we take a look at the first half of the Bond 50 Blu-ray box set and take a look at the UK's biggest cinematic export from Dr. No through For Your Eyes Only.
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The New Old: The Monster Mash
Just in time to kick off October, we sit down with the brand new Blu-ray release of the Universal Classic Monsters Essential Collection to look at Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy, The Invisible Man, The Bride of Frankenstein, The Wold Man, The Phantom of the Opera, and The Creature from the Black Lagoon
Winnie Review
Tedious, flat and sentimental, Winnie attempts to tell the life story of Winnie Mandela, but it misses the nuances of the historical context and the point entirely.
Samsara Review
A sort of sequel and kindred spirit to Ron Fricke's visual poem Baraka, Samsara is a pure and rewarding sensory experience about all that's beautiful and horrible about the world at the moment.
Detropia Review
Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing's documentary Detropia crafts a stunning portrait of the city of Detroit at its lowest point, but while the film is haunting, it isn't without hope or merely a document of a once great city now ravaged by poverty.
Interview: Martin Short & Catherine O’Hara
We talk to Canadian comedy icons and SCTV alums Martin Short and Catherine O'Hara about playing the parents of Victor Frankenstein in Tim Burton's stop motion animated Frankenweenie, what it's like doing voice work, some of their career highlights, and much more.
Dial M for Murder
It probably doesn’t need a review or a re-evaluation of any kind (which is why this isn’t really classified as a review), so consider this a message to all of you in Toronto that Alfred Hitchcock’s wonderful Dial M for Murder will be screening at the TIFF Bell Lightbox this week in its original 3D, albeit digitally projected with a pristine 4K restoration. For those of you who don’t live in Toronto or those who want to own it, you can buy the 3D Blu-ray on October 9th. But might we persuade you, though, to go see it on the big screen?
Interview: Heidi Ewing
With the Sundance and Hot Docs favourite documentary Detropia about to open at the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema, we got a chance to chat with co-director Heidi Ewing about the origins, production, challenges, and self-distribution process about what is sure to be one of the finest documentaries of the year.
This Week in DVD: 10/2/12
This week on video store shelves we take a look at Tim Burton's Dark Shadows, The Babymakers, Sean Bean in Cleanskin, and some indie film called The Avengers.
Zizek & Anderson: The Master and The Master
On the evening of his appearance at the TIFF Bell Lightbox to present the third part in his Pervert's Guide to Cinema series, we take a look at the work of psychoanalyst and philosopher Slavoj Zizek and how his theories can lead to deciphering what many believe to be one of the most obtuse films of the year: Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower Review
It took well over a decade for Stephen Chbosky’s seminal 1990s set young adult novel The Perks of Being a Wallflower to come to life on the big screen, and having the book’s author write and direct the finished version works quite well on an emotional level, but not entirely in terms of filmmaking. Those with fond memories of Chbosky’s high school set tale of music, depression, friendship, and alienation (like myself) will be more than happy to know that thematically and structurally the film stays true to the source material. The only real problem is that it’s apparent that Chbosky is a far more talented writer than he is a director.
Won’t Back Down Review
Taking place in a magical and conservative world where teacher's unions are the most evil threats to our children and ukelele improv sessions are equal to Oscar bait, leading actresses Maggie Gyllenhaal and Viola Davis work overtime to make the school based drama/polemic Won't Back Down not seem nearly as dreadful as it could have very easily been. That still doesn't make it good.
The New Old: Tricks & Treats
Our archival DVD column returns with a slate of seasonal offerings and oddities with Criterion editions of The Game, Eating Raoul, and Quadrophenia, special editions of Stuart Gordon's Re-animator, Halloween II and Halloween III: Season of the Witch, and the DVD and Blu-ray premiere of Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein
Vulgaria Review
Director Pang Ho-Cheung’s ode to bad taste and wall-to-wall shock humour, Vulgaria, is funny more often than it's merely nauseating and mercifully never gets as graphic visually as it does through dialogue. The ambitions aren’t high, but the filth is delightfully obscene and with this type of movie, what more can you really expect?
Arbitrage Review
Even when adding subplots involving a deadly cover-up, crooked cops, and a shaky marriage, it’s still hard to make a compelling film set against the backdrop of investment banking. Luckily, Arbitrage overcomes potentially dry material with some great performances and a solid cat and mouse story where the mouse is being chased by dozens of cats through several different houses.
