review

TAD 2012: Grabbers Review

With the 7th annual Toronto After Dark Film Festival kicking off tonight and showcasing some of the best independent genre films from around the world, we take a look at the opening night film, the Irish monster movie import comedy Grabbers.

Paranormal Activity 4 Review

Stepping away a bit from elements that made the previous entry in the franchise an entertaining one, the strain really begins to show in Paranormal Activity 4.

Alex Cross Review

Every now and then a movie comes along that is so misconceived on every conceivable level that it becomes ludicrously entertaining in the ways that the filmmakers never intended. Alex Cross is one of those very special disasters.

The Paperboy Review

Fleetingly campy and sleazy at the opening and closing, The Paperboy is ultimately too boring during the middle hour of the film to leave any sort of lasting impression outside of the film's most bizarre moments.

Sinister Review

Have you seen every horror film made in the past 30 years? You've already seen all of Sinister.

The Imposter Review

Ingeniously mixing fact and fiction in both form and content, Bart Layton’s The Imposter is easily one of the most gripping films of the year that just happens to be a documentary.

Keep the Lights On Review

In Ira Sach's first film since 2007, Keep the Lights On he crafts a harrowing and expertly acted queer multiyear romance between a needy filmmaker and a crack addicted lawyer that fits perfectly into the new cinematic trend of depressing love stories.

Seven Psychopaths Review

While In Bruges was tightly wound and focused, Martin McDonagh’s sophomore effort, Seven Psychopaths is more of a spiralling series of darkly comic episodes that only gets thoughtful in the climax and even then it's never really meant to be taken seriously. It’s his crack at creating a violent cult comedy and thankfully he’s got the skills (and the cast) to pull off that trick.

Argo Review

In Argo, the exciting and fast paced third feature for actor Ben Affleck as a director, a silver screen scam job comes to actual theatres with the filmmaker starring as Mendez, whose best plan to rescue the trapped diplomats comes in the form of bringing them together as a fake movie crew under the guise of being location scouts for a big budget sci-fi epic.

Antiviral Review

With his debut feature Antiviral, writer and director Brandon Cronenberg might be accused of following in his famous father David’s footsteps, and while he finds himself unquestionably influenced by his old man in terms of plot structure, pacing, and leaning towards the use of body horror as a metaphor for something greater, the young filmmaker hits enough original notes of his own to create a slightly off kilter, but very well directed bit of low key creepiness.

Stories We Tell Review

Everyone has a story, but not everyone can tell them. But with Stories We Tell Sarah Polley proves to be a masterful storyteller in what’s unquestionably one of the best films of the year.

Nobody Walks Review

Olivia Thirlby is making out with a guy in an airport parking lot as they walk to his car. They met on the plane. They're wearing skinny jeans. He drives her to Silverlake. There's a vintage camera on her lap. Light-saturated shots of the passing streetscapes are interspersed. If you're not already thinking “This is some hipster shit” by the time she arrives at John Krasinski and Rosemarie DeWitt's lovely house surrounded by trees, this movie is for you.

The New Old: Bond from 1982 to 2012

We finish up our in-depth look at the BOND 50 Blu-ray box set this Thanksgiving with a look at the British super spy from 1982's Octopussy through to 2008's Quantum of Solace. Our film and arts editor ranks his films from best to worst at the end, and so do you with a list of our Dork Shelf readers' favourites ranked in terms of votes as to which was the best.

Taken 2 Review

While the first Taken was a dirty revenge movie with a moral compass skewed beyond anything expected from Hollywood, Taken 2 is a more sanitized action feature that’s pleasures appeal primarily to those who love laughing themselves silly at the most ridiculous action fluff. Both are guilty pleasures, but this one is a little more difficult to defend. It’s not really a good movie in a traditional sense, yet it is far from boring and without trying has become the funniest action movie of the year.

Frankenweenie Review

Frankenweenie might be Tim Burton's best film since Edward Scissorhands and his most assuredly made since Big Fish. It's an absolute winner and a really seasonal treat from a director out to give his audience exactly what they want and expect from him.