Mads Mikkelsen

Hannibal Episode 2.10 Recap

In addition to being Hannibal’s most self-reflexive hour, “Naka-Choko" features a really steamy sex scene that takes place in two separate rooms and involves four humans, a theremin, and a Manstag.

Hannibal Episode 2.9 Recap

In “Shiizakana” we are asked to forget the fast paced, twisty-turny, Will Graham-on-trial arc that velocitized our television watching appetites earlier this season, and to get used to the emotional and psychological contemplation of the now classic Hannibal as an episodic nightmare format.

Hannibal Episode 2.8 Recap

In “Su-Zakana” the cocoon constructed of mystery novel pages, fond pop-culture memories, Hollywood disappointments, and countless other symbols that once encased Hannibal has cracked open, and out of it has come a new and unpredictable kind of butterfly.

Hannibal Episode 2.7 Recap

The middle hour Hannibal's thirteen episode season, “Yakimono” is tasked with wiping the slate clean for a strong second half story arc. Hannibal Lecter is in complete control and no one, not even characters from the books, are safe from his voracious appetite.

Hannibal Episode 2.6 Recap

When Dr. Lecter is plucking the strings and writing the notes, Hannibal is thrilling, unpredictable and disgustingly beautiful to look at. In “Futamono” we get all of that, some meta humor, and the most disturbingly delicious looking human leg eaten on network TV. Also a fun dinner party.

Hannibal Episode 2.5 Recap

“Mukozuke” succeeds in providing the contemplative space that other serial killer centric shows don’t. It’s a case study in what we will let our icons get away with and what makes them different from us and the fictional people they prey on.

Hannibal Episode 2.4 Recap

“Takiawase” is as close as we will ever get to a Jimmy, Brian and Beverly episode. Because of that it is hilarious at times, but that doesn’t prevent it from being stomach churningly disturbing, perfectly thrilling, tearfully heartbreaking and as thematically tight as a well tuned pressure cooker.

Hannibal Episode 2.3 Recap

“Hassun” is perfectly distilled Hannibal. It takes the conventions of a well established television format - the courtroom procedural - and mutilates it into a nightmarish message about the kind of love that compels you do horrible, violent things.

Hannibal Episode 2.2 Recap

Where as last season, Hannibal was content with leaving our minds to do the job, this year we don’t get the ability to just shrug off the horror as CSI clowns Scott Thompson and Aaron Abrams describe it with practiced wit and perfect deadpan. Now, we see the stitches tear.

Hannibal Episode 2.1 Recap

The great mandala that is Bryan Fuller’s Hannibal is only just beginning to reveal itself. We know slightly more than the characters about the overall design, and this new territory will be adding a different nightmarish colour to our palate.

The Manstag in the Mirror: Hannibal Season One

Hannibal’s greatest strength, the one that produces the most gut-wrenching moments, is the most viscerally sterile: Hannibal Lecter and Will Graham in a room trying to destroy each other while falling irretrievably deeper into a mad sort of love.

Spotlight on: Nicolas Winding Refn

On the eve of a TIFF Bell Lightbox retrospective looking at the works of still up and coming Danish auteur Nicolas Winding Refn, our film writers look at their favourite films from the uncompromising filmmaker behind Drive, The Pusher trilogy, and Only God Forgives

The Hunt Review

Returning once again to the subject of pedophilia, Thomas Vinterberg's The Hunt features an incredible leading performance from Mads Mikkelsen and offers the audience no easy answers.

A Royal Affair Review

It's easy to see why A Royal Affair is up for a Best Foreign Film Academy Award. With three incredibly strong and well defined leads, this story not only engages us in a dark an relatively unknown chapter of a country’s history but into a complicatedly lush and vibrant love story.

TIFF 2012 Reviews: Part 3

With opening day of the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival now upon us, Dork Shelf's coverage rolls on with looks at Stories We Tell, On the Road, The Hunt, Peddlers, Tower, Lore, 90 Minutes, and Blackbird.