A hero of the indie circuit with a legitimate knack for homing in on the current American spirit, filmmaker Kelly Reichardt has become recognized by many as tragically overlooked by many, many others. Well look over no longer, Toronto, as this week the TIFF Bell Lightbox begins a retrospective on the filmmaker, screening her catalog of films from the past two decades, including Wendy and Lucy, Rivers of Grass and her latest, Meek's Cutoff.
I love mothers; you love mothers. Perhaps not as much as Andy Samberg and Justin Timberlake, but certainly enough to celebrate all the moms out there by assembling a list of some of the most memorable matriarchs in film history
In Superheroes, director Michael Barnett introduces to a gallery of men and women who take it upon themselves to don masks and capes, lurking the streets for criminals to thwart. But in a subculture that is so much more showmanship than substance, Barnett's film begins to stumble on almost identical faults.
I realize I'm about a week late for the start of the month, but I just bought a baby bulldog, so when you have your own poop factory to take care of, feel free to criticize. Lots to like this month: a summer tentpole, a B movie starring Roy Batty; even a Terrence Malick sighting. Perhaps even more incredible is that someone hired Mel Gibson for something.
The National Parks Project documentary is about two hours long. Two things will result from this: 1) If you see it in a theatre, your ass and legs will hurt by the time it’s over; and 2) If you see it in a city, you will emerge from the film incredibly restless after seeing thirteen of this country’s prettiest places.
It’s been about six months since Conan O’Brien took back the night with his talk show on TBS, but any fan of his or at least anyone still interested in what happened while he was off the air will want to see this documentary.
I should preface this review with one caveat: I've never read or watched — or heard of Thor at all, really — before seeing the film. As you can probably guess from the preceding sentence, I don't even know what format of text or media from which its story originates. Colour me uneducated and largely incurious. Instead of attempting to hide this gaping hole in my nerd credentials, I'm sure that highlighting my lack of Thor knowledge will make for a pretty interesting review.
I didn’t know it until I saw it, but I have been waiting for a summer movie like Thor for a long time. It is fun, far more fun than any comic adaptation I have seen in years. Its director brings to it a distantiation that allows for investment in the fun of it all: the outrageous narration, exaggerated and impossible action sequences, and actors who can just let go and enjoy the ride without any pressure while still maintaining their integrity and talent. This, my friends, is what a summer movie should be: exciting, clever, comedic, and a joyride.
This year’s Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival kicks off today and runs through May 8. Featuring over 200 films in total, picking which films are worth seeing is a tall order for even the most seasoned fest-vet. With that in mind, allow us to present the second part of our Hot Docs coverage – A selection of documentaries that may just pique your interest.
The 2011 Hot Docs Film Festival is bigger than ever this year with over 200 movies being screened of the course of 11 days. I understand that the choices are overwhelming this year, but here I am to briefly give all you fine Dork Shelf readers my top five picks of the festival and five other films that are in smaller categories of competition that you shouldn't overlook.
This year's Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival kicks off tomorrow and runs through May 8. Featuring over 200 films in total, picking which films are worth seeing is a tall order for even the most seasoned fest-vet. With that in mind, allow us to present the first part of our Hot Docs coverage - A selection of documentaries that may just pique your interest.
Coming after not only a ten year hiatus, but also after the rise of torture porn, remakes, and reboots, Scream 4 is almost a breath of fresh air. Series creators Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson (who's absence from the third film in the series was wholly apparent) are back with another entry in the lucrative yet entertaining franchise, with a bit more material to chew on this time around.
I'll admit, I've never been a great fan of the Planet of the Apes series, beyond the original film. And certainly it's getting quite tiresome to see remakes, reboots and the like coming out of Hollywood rather than more original material. But the first trailer for Rise of the Planet of the Apes looks rather promising.
Hanna is about a young girl being raised by her father in a log cabin in the sub-arctic. But as you might guess, this eponymous girl is unique: she is being trained as an assassin. Too often movies try to be more than they are - to impress with such intensity as to send them over the top - but Hanna is content to be a little piece of something elegant.
I didn’t walk into Your Highness with high expectations, that would have been silly, but I was looking forward to it in a way that defies my general like of good taste. A stoner-fantasy genre hybrid suddenly felt like exactly the nosh I was hungry for. But there isn’t a formula for this sort of subgenre as much as there is a vibe, and I’m sad to say no matter how much you tint your eyes rose coloured before entering the theatre, Your Highness doesn’t do a great job flowing with it.
