Move over Stallone, there’s an even older, buffer action star on-screen this summer, and this one’s connected enough to get Steven Seagal in his movie. At 66, Danny Trejo has two years on Sly and has appeared in almost four times as many films. Despite having one of the most recognizable faces in Hollywood, this […]
The fifth annual Toronto After Dark Film Festival wrapped up another successful run at the Bloor Cinema this past weekend. The fest featured the Canadian and world premieres of some of the craziest, funniest, most insane and gory films of the year. Yesterday, the festival announced the award winners from this year’s lineup; some 4300 […]
Classics do a lot of good, but that good is typically exhausted in one fell swoop. Plus that bit of good is usually exclusive to the classic itself. This reigns especially true in horror, where one good thing leads to endless, terrible others. The Exorcist is regarded as one of the most effective and poignant […]
British artist Philip Ridley has only directed three feature films in his career. I must confess that I am not familiar with his first two films, The Reflecting Skin and The Passion of Darkly Noon , but everyone I’ve talked to says they are strange and disturbing experiences. With that in mind, I went into […]
I was ecstatic when I found out a year ago that Quentin Dupieux (aka Mr. Oizo) was going to be making a film. His history as an electro artist and music video director from an era of bar none the greatest music videos, which at the time had stations to play on, opened up a […]
Can I just start by saying how metal that title is? What a rockin’ black metal name for a film. I know, I know, it’s just a synonym for one of history’s most infamous plagues, one which only make our excessive paranoia over swine flu and SARS seem like meagre whining (not to mention that […]
When a new film is being made by the same group who gave us the camp hits Tokyo Gore Police and Machine Girl , the purchase of your ticket is like an informal contract that you are basically down with whatever is about to happen for the next feature-length amount of time. No matter what. […]
When British director Neil Marshall isn’t making excellent horror films like Dog Soldiers and The Descent , he is making action movies. Fairly mediocre action movies. His last attempt at the action genre, the post-apocalyptic Doomsday , was both a critical and financial failure. Which was why I was skeptical about Marshall’s next crack at […]
How often does a film truly deliver on its premise? The very title of Alien vs. Ninja makes a promise to the audience that aliens and ninjas will go head-to-head in the film. Now I know what you’re thinking: this is a Japanese b-movie, surely there is a musical number or some boring melodrama getting […]
Toronto After Dark is always full of pleasant surprises. Having only seen this rather enigmatic trailer for HIGH School , I really had no idea what to expect. I was vaguely aware that the movie had been well received at Sundance earlier this year, but beyond that I knew nothing. That’s probably the best way […]
Midnight Madness has always been a favourite refuge for dorks at the Toronto International Film Festival . Free from the stuffy attitude that plagues the rest of the festival, Midnight Madness is just about the movies. Awesome, weird and insane movies. The programme is a showcase for the best in sci-fi, fantasy, action, horror, animation […]
Thus far this month That Shelf has featured several reviews of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World –you can check them out here . And here . These are excellent reviews, from the non-biased perspectives of writers who were not steeped in the books before watching the movie. This review is the opposite of that. I’ve […]
Thanks to Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis, the action film reached its height in the late 80’s and early 90’s. It was a world where a man could battle an army of terrorists single-handedly and not only survive, but slaughter them all; where a man could fire forty rounds from his hand gun—while […]
The 2010 Toronto After Dark Film Festival has just announced their lineup of films for this year. The fest runs from August 13 – 20 and features the best horror, sci-fi, action and cult films from around the world. They have some truly awesome, strange and ridiculous films playing this year, so don’t miss it! […]
Fantasia 2010 Review Last night I dared to say on Twitter that, after seeing Scott Pilgrim vs. The World , director Edgar Wright is on his way to gaining status as an auteur. This sparked a lively debate among friends on whether this was true, or even what the definition is of an auteur. To […]
