Vera Farmiga

The Judge Review

The Judge feels as if it were created by robots in a laboratory that were programmed to exactly pin-point the kind of legal drama that would slay in the sticks.

TIFF 2014: The Judge Review

The Judge Gala (Opening Night Film) It’s not that the Robert Downey Jr./Robert Duvall familial, courtroom face to face is patently unwatchable, but it feels as if it were created by robots in a laboratory that were programmed to exactly pin-point the kind of legal drama that would slay in the sticks. Hotshot big city […]

More Movies in Brief: 2/3/14

Playing catch up from last week (still), here are looks at two great Canadian films (Rhymes for Young Ghouls and Three Night Stand), a great documentary (12 O'Clock Boys), and a pair of middling romantic dramadeys (At Middleton and Brightest Star).

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.

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.

Safe House Review

Ever since Paul Greengrass’ Bourne Identity sequels, espionage movies have been about terrorism and government cover-ups, set in third world countries and filmed with shaky handheld cameras and blown out colour schemes. Safe House falls firmly into this camp, loaded with nods to dirty dealings and water boarding. It’s a fairly entertaining movie, just one that definitely feels like it’s coming out a few years too late.