Ron Livingston

Blu-Ray Round Up: 11/4/13

This week brings looks at some leftover spooks, 'splosions, and some romance as we transition from Halloween in to the deeper recesses of fall. We look at Roland Emmerich's latest blockbuster White House Down, John Carpenter's underrated In the Mouth of Madness, James's Wan's surprise megahit The Conjuring, Richard Linklater's trilogy capping Before Midnight, and Neil Jordan's unjustly slept-on Byzantium.

Parkland Review

As a depiction of the events on the day of American President John F. Kennedy’s assassination on November 22nd 1963 – as well as the three days in the immediate wake of the killing – Parkland doesn’t cover any historical or narrative ground that hasn’t been touched on before, nor does it go out of its way to create melodrama.

Drinking Buddies Review

Although perhaps a little bit more commercially minded than his cheaply produced, almost verite, largely improvised mumblecore dramas, Joe Swanberg’s Drinking Buddies takes the same unforced and loose approach as the writer/director/editor/actor’s other creative endeavours and crafts a gentle, sweetly realized look at love and friendship.

TIFF 2013: Parkland Review

Parkland Gala Director: Peter Landesman As a depiction of the events on the day of American President John F. Kennedy’s assassination on November 22nd 1963 – as well as the three days in the wake of the killing – Parkland doesn’t cover any historical or narrative ground that hasn’t been touched on before, nor does […]

The Conjuring Review

Probably a third place behind The Exorcist and The Changeling in terms of stories that deal in hauntings and possessions (and ahead of even the best films with Amityville in the title), James Wan’s unnerving effort The Conjuring is nothing if not genuine when it comes to wringing tension and scares from the audience.

The Odd Life of Timothy Green Review

The Odd Life of Timothy Green is an odd duck of a film that’s trying so desperately to be inspirational that it turns out to be cheesy at best and downright creepy and off putting and worst.

The Nic Cage Project: Adaptation

To celebrate TIFF’s ongoing Bangkok Dangerous: The Cinema Of Nicolas Cage series, Alan Jones has resurrected his retrospective of the actor’s work entitled The Nic Cage Project. In this edition, Jones takes a look at Charlie and Donald Kaufman's brilliantly contrived Adaptation – playing tonight at the Lightbox.