Taxonomy country
All Lumière taxonomies known: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Belgium, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, Cayman Islands, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Gambia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Greenland, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kosovo, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, North Korea, North Macedonia, Norway, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Soviet Union, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Vietnam, West Germany, Yemen
List of posts tagged United Kingdom :
Better Man
Robbie Williams tells the story of his tumultuous career, characterized as an anthropomorphic chimpanzee, in Better Man. Growing up in Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England, Robert Williams (Jonno Davies) dreams of being a performer like his absentee father Peter (Steve Pemberton). Robert gets his big break at 15 when he is chosen by manager Nigel Martin-Smith […]
The Brutalist
A Jewish Hungarian architect immigrates to the United States after the Second World War in The Brutalist. In 1947, Holocaust survivor László Tóth (Adrien Brody) emigrates from Budapest to Philadelphia, where he is taken in by his cousin Attila (Alessandro Nivola) and his wife Audrey (Emma Laird). While awaiting word of when his wife Erzsébet […]
The Count of Monte Cristo
The classic novel by Alexandre Dumas receives an epic new adaptation with The Count of Monte Cristo. Young sailor Edmond Dantès (Pierre Niney) is promoted after risking his life to save a woman named Angèle (Adèle Simphal), against the orders of his captain Danglars (Patrick Mille). This promotion allows Edmond to propose to his love […]
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
An old enemy returns in Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl. Wallace (Ben Whitehead) has been using his inventions to automate his daily life, much to the minor annoyance of Gromit. Wallace’s latest invention is the “Smart Gnome” Norbot (Reece Shearsmith), which becomes a surprise hit for Wallace due to Norbot’s exceptional gardening skills. This […]
The End
A family’s existence within a fallout shelter is disrupted by the arrival of an outsider in The End. Following an apocalyptic event, a former Energy Tycoon (Michael Shannon) and his Wife (Tilda Swinton), descend into an underground bunker along with their Butler (Tim McInnerny), Doctor (Lennie James) and Friend (Bronagh Gallagher). The couple’s Son (George […]
Trailer Park Boys Presents Standing on the Shoulders of Kitties
Bubbles fulfills his dream of being a country music singer in Trailer Park Boys Presents Standing on the Shoulders of Kitties: The Bubbles and the Shitrockers Story. Bubbles (Mike Smith) is making a documentary about his burgeoning country music career, as he performs his cat-themed songs at an old folk’s home, in exchange for free […]
Gladiator II
Ridley Scott returns to the Roman Colosseum with Gladiator II. It has been sixteen years since the death of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, and his dream of making Rome a free republic has died under the rule of the twin Emperors Geta (Joseph Quinn) and Caracalla (Fred Hechinger). Aurelius’ grandson Lucius (Paul Mescal) has been living […]
Wicked: Part One
The Tony Award-winning musical hits the big screen with Wicked: Part One. Due to being born with green skin, Elphaba Thropp (Cynthia Erivo) has been subjected to much prejudice, particularly from her father Governor Thropp (Andy Nyman) of Munchkinland, who gives preferential treatment to Elphaba’s wheelchair-bound sister Nessarose (Marissa Bode). While accompanying Nessarose to Shiv […]
Blitz
A 9-year-old-old boy tries to make it home to his mother during the London bombings of World War II in Blitz. George (Elliott Heffernan) is a 9-year-old mixed race boy, who lives with his single mother Rita (Saoirse Ronan) and her father Gerald (Paul Weller) during the World War II blitz, where London was bombed […]
Bird
A 12-year-old Kent girl befriends an odd drifter in Bird. Bailey (Nykiya Adams) is a tomboyish 12-year-old living in Gravesend, North Kent with her chaotic father Bug (Barry Keoghan) and wayward brother Hunter (Jason Buda). As Bug is distracted by his upcoming wedding, Bailey meets Bird (Franz Rogowski), a mysterious man looking for his family. […]
Conclave
A conflicted Cardinal oversees a hotly contested election of a new Pope in Conclave. After the unexpected death of the Pope, Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes), dean of the College of Cardinals, prepares to oversee the highly secretive election ritual of the conclave. Several frontrunners emerge to take up the papacy, including the left-wing reformist Cardinal […]
Venom: The Last Dance
A fugitive Eddie Brock goes on one last adventure with the alien symbiote living inside him in Venom: The Last Dance. While vacationing in Mexico, Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) discovers that he is a wanted fugitive for the apparent death of Detective Patrick Mulligan (Stephen Graham). However, Mulligan is still alive, having been saved at […]
The Beast Within
A 10-year-old girl learns her family’s dark secret in The Beast Within. Willow (Caoilinn Springall) is a 10-year-old girl living on a fortified compound with her father Noah (Kit Harington) and mother Imogen (Ashleigh Cummings). Willow begins to suspect something is up with her parents after a series of strange events, including her grandfather Waylon […]
We Live in Time
The highs and lows of a young couple’s relationship are depicted non-linearly in We Live in Time. As he is finalizing the divorce from his failed marriage, Tobias (Andrew Garfield) ends up being hit by a car driven by Almut (Florence Pugh), a former figure skater turned Bavarian fusion chef. The two begin a passionate […]
Daddy’s Head
A grieving 12-year-old comes to believe that his dead father has returned in Daddy’s Head. Issac (Rupert Turnbull) is led by his stepmother Laura (Julia Brown) into a hospital to say goodbye to his father James (Charles Aitken), who was gravely injured in an automobile accident and is about to be taken off life support. […]
The Outrun
A recovering alcoholic returns home to a remote Scottish island in The Outrun. The life of 29-year-old Rona (Saoirse Ronan) has been derailed by her alcoholism, which destroyed both her career and relationship with her boyfriend Daynin (Paapa Essiedu). After undergoing 90 days of rehab, Rona returns home to the Orkney Islands of Scotland, where […]
Lee
The story of war photographer Lee Miller is told in Lee. In 1977 at the Farleys Farmhouse, an elderly Lee Miller (Kate Winslet) talks to her son Anthony Penrose (Josh O’Connor) about her career as a photographer in World War II. The story begins in 1938 France where former model Lee is vacationing with her […]
Wolfs
Two competing cleaners reluctantly have to partner up for a job in Wolfs. District attorney Margaret (Amy Ryan) panics when the Kid (Austin Abrams) she brought up to her hotel room seemingly drops dead. In desperation, Margaret calls a cleaner (George Clooney) to help resolve this problem. However, Margaret’s Man is shocked by the arrival […]
The Substance
This is an expanded rewrite of the review originally published as part of our coverage of TIFF 2024 A has-been actress uses an experimental drug to become a better version of herself in The Substance. Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) is a once-popular actress who has now been reduced to hosting the aerobics program Sparkle Your […]
The Substance – TIFF 2024
A has-been actress uses an experimental drug to become a better version of herself in The Substance. Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) is a once-popular actress now reduced to hosting the aerobics program Sparkle Your Life. However, Elisabeth ends up being fired, on her birthday, by her chauvinistic boss Harvey (Dennis Quaid), who begins looking for […]
The Crow
A murdered man comes back to right the wrongs that were committed in The Crow. While serving time in a rehab facility, Eric Draven (Bill Skarsgård) meets and falls for Shelly Webster (FKA Twigs), who he helps escape from Marion (Laura Birn), a woman working for Vincent Roeg (Danny Huston), a crime lord who made […]
Alien: Romulus
A group of friends trying to escape a mining colony encounter a derelict space station containing a terrifying threat in Alien: Romulus. Rain Carradine (Cailee Spaeny) is an orphaned young woman living on the mining colony Jackson’s Star, who is disappointed to discover that the Weyland Yutani corporation increased her service quota, preventing her departure […]
Kryptic – Fantasia 2024
A woman explores her connection to a missing cryptozoologist in Kryptic. While on a hike through the British Columbia wilderness, Kay Hall (Chloe Pirrie) has an encounter with a mythical cryptid called a Sooka, emerging with no memories. Kay learns that she looks identical to Barb Valentine, a cryptozoologist who went missing on a search […]
Trap
A serial killer learns that the FBI has set a trap for him at a concert in Trap. Cooper Adams (Josh Hartnett) is taking his teenage daughter Riley (Ariel Donoghue) to see her favourite pop star Lady Raven (Saleka Night Shyamalan). While at the concert venue, Cooper notices an increased police presence blocking all the […]
Kneecap
Belfast hoodlums form an Irish Gaelic rap group in Kneecap. Liam Óg “Mo Chara” Ó Hannaidh and Naoise “Móglaí Bap” Ó Cairealláin are two Belfast drug dealers, who insist on speaking the Irish language as taught to them by Naoise’s Irish Republican father Arlo (Michael Fassbender). While Liam is detained and questioned by Detective Ellis […]
Deadpool & Wolverine
The merc with the mouth recruits a variant of Logan to help save his universe in Deadpool & Wolverine. Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) has given up life as the mercenary Deadpool and now works as a used car salesman with Peter (Rob Delaney). A surprise birthday party for Wade is interrupted when he is taken […]
MaXXXine
A serial killer stalks Hollywood in MaXXXine. Six years after being the sole survivor of the massacre in Texas, adult film star Maxine Minx (Mia Goth) plans to crossover into the mainstream by being cast in the horror film The Puritan II, directed by Elizabeth Bender (Elizabeth Debicki). However, Maxine is tracked down by Louisiana […]
Kinds of Kindness
Yorgos Lanthimos directs a triptych fable in Kinds of Kindness. In The Death of R.M.F., Robert (Jesse Plemons) refuses to do a task for his friend and benefactor Raymond (Willem Dafoe) and his wife Vivian (Margaret Qualley). This results in Raymond cutting off Robert, resulting in his life falling apart, including losing his wife Sarah […]
Chuck Chuck Baby – Inside Out 2024
The world of an employee of a chicken packing factory turns upside down with the return of her old friend and love interest in Chuck Chuck Baby. Helen (Louise Brealey) is a woman in North Wales working in a chicken packing factory, with half of her wages going to her ex-husband Gary (Celyn Jones). Despite […]
I Saw the TV Glow
Two friends begin to question their reality after their favourite television show is cancelled in I Saw the TV Glow. In 1996, isolated seventh grader Owen (Ian Foreman) meets lesbian ninth grader Maddy (Brigette Lundy-Paine). The two end up bonding over their mutual love of a young adult horror series called The Pink Opaque, following […]
Grand Theft Hamlet – Hot Docs 2024
British actors try to stage a full production of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet in the world of Grand Theft Auto Online in Grand Theft Hamlet. Unable to find acting roles during the COVID-19 pandemic, Sam and Mark spend their time playing Grand Theft Auto Online. While running from the in-game police, Sam stumbles upon and Vinewood […]
Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger
Martin Scorsese hosts a look back at the partnership between British filmmaker Michael Powell and Hungarian screenwriter Emeric Pressburger in Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger. Martin Scorsese fostered his love of film by watching British productions that were aired on American TV. His favourites were from “Production of the Archers,” the […]
Black Box Diaries – Hot Docs 2024
A Japanese journalist investigates her own sexual assault in Black Box Diaries. In May 2017, Shiori Ito goes public about how she was raped by Yamaguchi, the Washington cheif of the Tokyo Broadcast System. Shiori’s goal is to get a criminal case reopened after an arrest was halted, presumably due to Yamaguchi’s friendship with Japanese […]
Eno – Hot Docs 2024
Generative AI is used to construct a documentary about electronic music artist Brian Eno in real-time with Eno. Brian Eno is best known as a founding member of Roxy Music, a creator of ambient music, and a producer of Talking Heads, U2, and Peter Gabriel. Director Gary Hustwit incorporates over 500 hours of new and […]
Never Look Away – Hot Docs 2024
Lucy Lawless directs this biography of New Zealand-born CNN camerawoman Margaret Moth in Never Look Away. Margaret Moth was the first female camera operator from television in New Zealand, who began working for CNN in 1990. Beginning with coverage of Desert Storm in Kuwait, Moth approached covering war with fearlessness. Even after getting shot by […]
Luther: Never Too Much – Hot Docs 2024
The life and career of Luther Vandross are looked back upon in Luther: Never Too Much. Luther Vandross grew up in the Brox with a love of music and in his younger years became part of the Apollo Theatre house band Listen to My Brother, which would go on to appear on the first episodes […]
Wicked Little Letters
A seaside English town is thrown into chaos as neighbours feud over potty-mouthed letters in Wicked Little Letters. Inspired by a true story from the 1920s, Edith Swan (Olivia Colman) is a deeply conservative woman living with her disapproving father Edward (Timothy Spall) and mother Victoria (Gemma Jones) in the seaside town of Littlehampton. Edith […]
Civil War
A group of journalists try to make their way through a country at war to attempt to interview the president in Civil War. After the President of the United States (Nick Offerman) threw the country in disarray the Florida Alliance and Western Forces of Texas and California split off from the country and declared war […]
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
The Ghostbusters are back in New York City and face off against an icy new threat in Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire. Having reestablished themselves at their base in New York City thanks to philanthropist, and former member, Winston Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson), Gary Grooberson (Paul Rudd), Callie Spengler (Carrie Coon), and her teenage kids Trevor (Finn Wolfhard) […]
Love Lies Bleeding
A gym manager falls for a bodybuilder in Love Lies Bleeding. Lou (Kristen Stewart) is a manager of a gym trying to escape her past relationship with her gun smuggler father, and beetle enthusiast, Lou Sr. (Ed Harris). Despite her estrangement from her father, Lou still maintains a relationship with her sister Beth (Jena Malone), […]
Drive-Away Dolls
Two lesbian friends on a road trip accidentally take an important package wanted by a group of criminals in Drive-Away Dolls. A group of criminals led by The Cheif (Colman Domingo), intercepts a very important briefcase from nervous collector Santos (Pedro Pascal) and prepares to have his goons Arliss (Joey Slotnick) and Flint (C.J. Wilson) […]
Bobi Wine: The People’s President
A musician turned politician runs against Uganda’s decades-long president in Bobi Wine: The People’s President. Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, better known as Bobi Wine, is a popular Ugandan musician and activist. Bobi Wine is an MP when the Ugandan government votes to remove age limits from the constitution, allowing President Yoweri Museveni to continue holding an […]
Argylle
A popular spy novelist discovers that her new novel might not exactly be fiction in Argylle. Elly Conway (Bryce Dallas Howard) is the author of a successful series of spy novels about Agent Argylle (Henry Cavill) and his partners Wyatt (John Cena) and Keira (Ariana DeBose). Elly suffers from writer’s block coming up with the […]
The Last Emperor
Last night I got to cross another film off the list of films that won the Oscar for Best Picture when I attended a screening of a 4K restoration of Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1987 historical epic The Last Emperor. The story begins in 1950, with the former emperor Pu Yi (John Lone) as a political prisoner […]
Freud’s Last Session
Sigmund Freud and C.S. Lewis debate the existence of God on the eve of World War II in Freud’s Last Session. On September 3, 1939, England declared war against Germany. Psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud (Anthony Hopkins) has recently fled from Vienna to London, though he is slowly dying from mouth cancer, which constantly worries his daughter […]
The Beekeeper
A retired black-ops assassin seeks revenge against a predatory phishing ring in The Beekeeper. Adam Clay (Jason Statham) has been living a quiet life working as a beekeeper on the farm of Eloise Parker (Phylicia Rashad). However, Eloise falls victim to a computer phishing scam, which empties her accounts, including over $2 million in charity […]
Ferrari
The future of the Ferrari S.p.A. sportscar manufacturer depends on the results of a treacherous 1000-mile race in Ferrari. In 1957, Enzo Ferrari (Adam Driver) is preparing his team, including drivers Alfonso de Portago (Gabriel Leone) and Piero Taruffi (Patrick Dempsey), to race in the 1000-mile-long Mille Miglia. In the lead-up to the race, Enzo […]
Saltburn
An Oxford University student spends the summer with his classmate’s eccentric upper-class family in Saltburn. Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan) is a scholarship student at Oxford University in the mid-2000s. Oliver befriends Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi), a popular student, who takes sympathy over Oliver’s stories of his troubled home life. In the summer of 2007, Felix […]
Night Swim
A family discovers that the pool at their new house is haunted by an evil spirit in Night Swim. Ray Waller (Wyatt Russell) is a baseball player, whose career is cut short by a diagnosis of secondary progressive MS. Ray convinces his wife Eve (Kerry Condon) to move in with their children Izzy (Amélie Hoeferle) […]
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom
The King of Atlantis reluctantly teams up with his half-brother to take on a powerful new foe in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. As the King of Atlantis, Aquaman, Arthur Curry (Jason Momoa), divides his time as the ruler of the underwater kingdom and living a domestic life with his Queen Mera (Amber Heard), along […]
The Zone of Interest
The commandant of Auschwitz lives with his family right next to the atrocities going on inside the concentration camp in The Zone of Interest. Rudolf Höss (Christian Friedel) is the commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp, who lives with his wife Hedwig (Sandra Hüller) and five children at an estate that borders the fence of […]
The Iron Claw
The story of the Von Erich family of professional wrestling is told in The Iron Claw. Kevin (Zac Efron), Kerry (Jeremy Allen White), David (Harris Dickinson), and Mike (Stanley Simons) are the sons of legendary Texa wrestler-turned-promotor Fritz Von Erich (Holt McCallany). Kevin wrestles for his father’s World Class Championship Wrestling promotion, where he is […]
Wonka
The origins of the world-famous chocolatier are told in Wonka. Willy Wonka (Timothée Chalamet) at the Galeries Gourmet to fulfil his dream of being a world-famous chocolatier, which he shared with his late mother (Sally Hawkins). However, Wonka quickly finds the Galeries Gourmet is ruled by the Chocolate Cartel of Arthur Slugworth (Paterson Joseph), Gerald […]
Poor Things
The creation of a mad scientist learns what it means to be a woman in Poor Things. Dr. Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe) is a mad scientist who hires his student Max McCandless (Ramy Youssef) to observe the progress of his “daughter” Bella (Emma Stone). Max soon comes to realize that Bella is not a normal […]
Eileen
A secretary’s relationship with her new coworker at a correctional facility turns sinister in Eileen. Eileen Dunlop (Thomasin McKenzie) is a young woman working as a secretary at a correctional facility for teenage boys in 1960s Massachusetts. At home, Eileen has to deal with her alcoholic father Jim (Shea Whigham), the retired police chief, who […]
The Abyss: Special Edition
On the eve of the film’s 35th anniversary, a 4K restoration of the special edition of James Cameron’s The Abyss returned to theatres for one night. After the nuclear submarine USS Montana Cayman Trough, deepsea oil driller Bud Brigman (Ed Harris) and his experimental rig Deep Core are requisitioned by a team of Navy SEALS […]
Next Goal Wins
A down-on-his-luck soccer manager is hired to coach the American Samoa national team in Next Goal Wins. Thomas Rongen (Michael Fassbender) is a temperamental Dutch-American soccer coach who is sent by American Soccer Federation head Alex Magnussen (Will Arnett) to coach the American Somoa National Team, a move recommended by Thomas’ ex-wife Gail (Elisabeth Moss). […]
Fingernails
A teacher takes a job at an institute preparing couples for a love compatibility test in Fingernails. A new test has gained popularity, which tests the compatibility of couples by scanning their fingernails. Anna (Jessie Buckley) and her boyfriend Ryan (Jeremy Allen White) are one of the lucky couples who scored 100% on the test. […]
It’s a Wonderful Knife – Toronto After Dark
A young woman traumatized by a Christmas Eve serial killer wishes she was never born in It’s a Wonderful Knife. A knife-wielding killer dressed as a snow angel on Christmas Eve terrorizes the town of Angel Falls. The killer, who turns out to be local developer Henry Waters (Justin Long), is killed by Winnie Carruthers […]
The Last Exit – Toronto After Dark 2023
Two criminals take shelter from a storm on a farm that holds its share of secrets in The Last Exit. Ruth (Joely Richardson) lives an isolated existence on a farm with her teenage daughter Maisy (Sadie Soverall) and her comatose Pa (Roger Ajogbe). During a raging storm, the family is greeted by the frantic knocking […]
Foe
The relationship of a young married couple is forever changed by a stranger’s proposition in Foe. In the near future, Henrietta (Saoirse Ronan) and her husband, Junior (Paul Mescal), live an isolated existence on the latter’s family farm. Late one night, the couple is visited by Terrance (Aaron Pierre), who informs Junior that he has […]
The Royal Hotel
Two US backpackers take a job at a bar in the Australian outback with a very unruly male clientele in The Royal Hotel. Hanna (Julia Garner) and Liv (Jessica Henwick) are two Americans backpacking in Australia, who are forced to take a job placement when they run out of money. The two are assigned to […]
The Contestant – TIFF 2023
The participants of a late-1990s Japanese reality series look back on their experience in The Contestant. In 1998, Nasubi was chosen to participate in producer Toshio Tsuchiya’s spinoff of his hit show Denpa Shonen, called Denpa Shonen: A Life in Prizes. Nasubi was forced to strip naked before being locked in a small apartment. His […]
The Critic – TIFF 2023
A veteran theatre critic concocts a blackmail scheme involving a young starlet in The Critic. Jimmy Erskine (Ian McKellen) is the longtime drama critic for The Daily Chronicle, recently inherited by David Brooke (Mark Strong). David wants to restore The Chronicle to being London’s most-read family newspaper and earmarks Jimmy for the chopping block, both […]
Strays
A newly stray dog decides to seek revenge against his former owner in Strays. Reggie (Will Ferrell) is a naive Border Terrier in a neglectful relationship with his owner Doug (Will Forte). Reggie ends up being abandoned in a city ally, where he ends up befriending street-smart Boston Terrier Bug (Jamie Foxx), who teaches him […]
The Last Voyage of the Demeter
A doomed ship carries deadly cargo in The Last Voyage of the Demeter. Clemens (Corey Hawkins) is a British doctor stranded in Romania, who secures passage aboard the Detetmer helmed by Captain Eliot (Liam Cunningham) and his first mate Wojchek (David Dastmalchian). Part of the Demeter’s cargo on its voyage to London is fifty unmarked […]
Home Invasion – Fantasia 2023
The history of the doorbell and its ties to home surveillance are explored in Home Invasion. Graeme Arnfield presents a cinematic essay on the evolution of the doorbell from its inception to the development of the Ring door-bot in more recent years. The film also makes some deviations talking about how D.W. Griffith paved the […]
Femme – Fantasia 2023
A drag queen victimized by a homophobic attack seeks vengeance against one of his attackers in Femme. Jules (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett) is a London man who performs in drag shows as Aphrodite Banks. While going into a store to buy cigarettes in full make-up, Jules ends up being viciously beaten by a group of thugs including […]
Raging Grace – Fantasia 2023
A Filipino housekeeper and single mother about her new employer and her dying uncle in Raging Grace. Joy (Max Eigenmann) is an undocumented Filipino immigrant in London who is working as a housekeeper to earn enough money to pay for citizenship for herself and her young daughter Grace (Jaeden Paige Boadilla). Joy is asked to […]
Talk to Me – Fantasia 2023
A group of teens get more than they bargained for when they attend possession parties featuring a haunted embalmed hand in Talk to Me. Unable to handle the grief over her mother’s death, Mia (Sophie Wilde) has been staying at the house of her best friend Jade (Alexandra Jensen), who live with her younger brother […]
Sympathy for the Devil – Fantasia 2023
A mild-mannered driver finds himself taken hostage by an unhinged passenger in Sympathy for the Devil. David (Joel Kinnaman) is racing to the hospital to be with his wife who is in labour. However, when he arrives, he is greeted by a gun-toting man (Nicholas Cage) dressed all in red, who gets into David’s car. […]
Oppenheimer
The story of the man who created the atomic bomb is told in Oppenheimer. As a young man, J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) was responsible for helping bring the study of quantum physics to the United States. This results in Oppenheimer being recruited by General Leslie Groves (Matt Damon) to lead the Manhattan Project and […]
Barbie
The signature doll from Mattel hits the big screen with Barbie. In Barbieland, Barbie (Margot Robbie) lives a perfect existence with President Barbie (Issa Rae), author Barbie (Alexandra Shipp), physicist Barbie (Emma Mackey), and doctor Barbie (Hari Nef). Barbie is the unrequited object of affection of Ken (Ryan Gosling), who has to compete with Ken […]
Joy Ride
Four Asian-American women go on a journey across Asia to locate one of their birth mothers in Joy Ride. Audrey (Ashley Park) is an Asian woman who was adopted as a baby by white American parents. As Audrey leaves on a business trip to Beijing, her childhood best friend Lolo (Sherry Cola) suggests that they […]
Asteroid City
The attendees of a youth astronomy convention find themselves quarantined after an encounter with aliens in Asteroid City. Asteroid City is a small desert town known for being the site of the arid plains meteorite. Many Junior Stargazers and their parents descend upon the town for Asteroid Day, including photographer and recent widower Augie Steenbeck […]
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
The Autobots join forces with the Maximals to save the planet Earth in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. In 1994 Brooklyn, Noah Diaz (Anthony Ramos) resorts to carjacking to support his family, but the car he ends up breaking into turns out to be the Autobot Mirage (Pete Davidson), who is called into action by […]
Hong Kong Mixtape – Hot Docs 2023
The work of Hong Kong’s artists and activists is made illegal by China in Hong Kong Mixtape. Due to its years as a British colony, Hong Kong has typically been more progressive than communist mainland China. However, that began to change when China regained control of the city and began to police it with its […]
Beau is Afraid
An anxiety-ridden man tries to make it home for his mother’s funeral in Beau is Afraid. Beau Wassermann (Joaquin Phoenix) is a middle-aged man who lives on his own, often afraid to venture out into the world around him. Beau regularly visits his therapist (Stephen McKinley Henderson) to talk about his anxieties, often involving his […]
The Deepest Breath – Hot Docs 2023
An Italian woman attempts to break the world record for the incredibly dangerous sport of freediving in The Deepest Breath. Freediving is an extreme sport where swimmers try to descend to the deepest depths in a single breath. Alessia Zecchini is an Italian woman following in the footsteps of the world’s greatest freediver Natalia Molchanova. […]
Unwelcome
A London couple moves to a rural Irish village and learns that malevolent goblins occupy the woods behind their garden in Unwelcome. After surviving an attack by thugs in their London apartment, pregnant Maya (Hannah John-Kamen) and her husband Jamie (Douglas Booth) move to a rural Irish village, where Jamie has inherited the house of […]
Is There Anybody Out There? – Hot Docs 2023
A woman born with a rare physical disability tries to find other people like her while combating ableism in society in Is There Anybody Out There? Ella Glendining was born without hip joints, and very small femurs, and Ella’s disability is so rare that there aren’t even proper statistics. Ella joins various online groups to […]
Renfield
The servant of Count Dracula fights for his independence in Renfield. For decades Robert Montagu Renfield (Nicholas Hoult) has been the familiar for Count Dracula (Nicolas Cage), with his primary task being locating victims for his master. Following Dracula’s latest defeat, Renfield relocates to an abandoned hospital in New Orleans. He nurses his master back […]
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
A thief forms a team to rescue his daughter from the man who betrayed him in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. Edgin Darvis (Chris Pine) is a bard turned thief imprisoned with barbarian Holga Kilgore (Michelle Rodriguez) for two years after a heist goes wrong. Upon escape, Edgin learns he was betrayed by con […]
Scream VI
This Review is Spoiler-Free Ghostface returns in the Big Apple in Scream VI. One year after the latest attacks in Woodsboro, Sam Carpenter (Melissa Barrera) and her sister Tara (Jenna Ortega) have moved to New York City along with fellow survivors Mindy Meeks-Martin (Jasmin Savoy Brown) and her twin brother Chad (Mason Gooding). Sam struggles […]
Cocaine Bear
A bear goes on a rampage in a National Park after ingesting cocaine in Cocaine Bear. Multiple duffle bags containing cocaine are dumped out of a plane into the Chattahoochee National Forest right before the drug runner dies while trying to skydive. St. Louis drug lord Sydney White (Ray Liotta) sends his song Eddie (Alden […]
All Quiet on the Western Front
A platoon of German soldiers fights to survive in the trenches during the First World War in All Quiet on the Western Front. Paul Bäumer (Felix Kammerer) enlists in the Imperial German Army in 1917, along with his friends Albert Kropp (Aaron Hilmer), Franz Müller (Moritz Klaus) and Ludwig Behm (Adrian Grünewald). The friends are […]
Plane
An airline pilot crash-lands his plane and is forced to team with a prisoner to rescue his passengers and crew in Plane. Brodie Torrance (Gerard Butler) is a commercial airline pilot who is forced to land after being struck by lightning in the middle of a storm. After landing, Torrance and his crew realize they […]
Aftersun
A father and daughter go on a vacation together in Turkey in Aftersun. Calum (Paul Mescal) is a 30-year-old separated man who goes on a holiday in Turkey with his 11-year-old daughter Sophie (Frankie Corio). The two cherish their time together, even though there is something off about Calum’s behaviour. Many years later, an Adult […]
The Loneliest Boy in the World
A recently orphaned teenager creates a replacement family consisting of recently deceased corpses in The Loneliest Boy in the World. Oliver (Max Harwood) grew up under the incredibly sheltered care of his mother (Carol Anne Watts), who died in a freak accident the previous year. While psychiatrist Julius (Evan Ross) wants to commit Oliver to […]
The Eternal Daughter
A screenwriter struggling with writer’s block travels to a remote inn with her elderly mother in The Eternal Daughter. Julie Hart (Tilda Swinton) travels with her elderly mother, Rosalind (also Swinton), to an isolated manor that was once their family home but is now operating as an inn. Accompanied only by the Receptionist (Carly-Sophia Davies) […]
White Noise
A family tries to deal with the aftermath of an “Airborne Toxic Event” in White Noise. Jack Gladney (Adam Driver) is a college professor living with his fourth wife, Babette (Greta Gerwig) and their four children. The lives of the family change when a railway tank car crashes outside of town, releasing an unknown toxin […]
Empire of Light – TIFF 2022
A cinema manager connects with her new employee in Empire of Light. Hilary (Olivia Colman) is the duty manager of the Empire Cinema, located in a 1980s English coastal town. Steven (Micheal Ward) is a new employee hired at the cinema, which also includes the manager Donald Ellis (Colin Firth), who is engaged in an […]
The Lair – TADFF
A Royal Air Force pilot is shot down over Afghanistan and encounters a secret Soviet bunker containing monstrous creatures in The Lair. Lt. Kate Sinclair (Charlotte Kirk) is shot down by insurgents flying over Afghanistan. Sinclair flees from the insurgents into an abandoned bunker but soon finds monstrous beings in status who awaken during the […]
See How They Run
A police inspector and rookie police constable investigate a murder after the 100th performance of Agatha Christie’s “The Mousetrap” in See How They Run. Leo Köpernick (Adrien Brody) is a sleazy American film director hired by producer John Woolf (Reece Shearsmith) to direct a film adaptation of Agatha Christie’s “The Mousetrap,” which just celebrated the […]
Triangle of Sadness – TIFF 2022
A luxury cruise goes horribly awry in Triangle of Sadness. Carl (Harris Dickinson) and Yaya (Charlbi Dean) are two models in a highly volatile relationship who embark on a luxury cruise. Crew leader Paula (Vicki Berlin) tries to ensure the passengers are happy, while The Captain (Woody Harrelson) spends most of the trip in a […]
The Banshees of Inisherin – TIFF 2022
Two lifelong friends inexplicably begin feuding in The Banshees of Inisherin. In 1923, on the island of Inisherin, just off Ireland’s west coast, Pádraic (Collin Farrell) visits the home of his best friend Colm (Brendan Gleeson) for their daily trip to the pub. However, Pádraic is shocked to find Colm ignoring him and is later […]
Emily – TIFF 2022
The all-to-short life story of the author of “Wuthering Heights” is told in Emily. Emily Jane Brontë (Emma Mackey) is the second-youngest daughter of an Anglican priest in 19th-century England. Berated by her older sister Charlotte (Alexandra Dowling) for being the strange one in the family, Emily takes solace in her brother Branwell (Fionn Whitehead), […]
Sisu – TIFF 2022
A lone prospector tries to protect his stash of gold from a group of Nazis in Sisu. In 1945 Finland, at the tail end of World War II, former soldier Aatami Korpi (Jorma Tommila) strikes it big when he uncovers a large deposit of gold. While on his way to bring the gold back to […]
The Lost King – TIFF 2022
An amateur historian seeks to spread the truth about King Richard III in The Lost King. Philippa Langley (Sally Hawkins) is a middle-aged woman at a crossroads, who one night takes her kids to a production of Shakespeare’s “Richard III” while her separated husband John (Steve Coogan) goes out on a date. Philippa begins to […]
Naked
The TIFF Bell Lightbox presented a new 4K restoration of 1993’s Naked, the breakthrough film for both director Mike Leigh and star David Thewlis. Johnny (Thewlis) flees Manchester after committing a sexual assault and ends up crashing at the London flat of his ex-girlfriend Louise (Lesley Sharp), where he quickly seduces her roommate Sophie (Katrin […]
Deadstream – Fantasia 2022
A controversial livestreamer sets out to spend a night alone in a haunted house in Deadstream. Shawn Ruddy (Joseph Winter) is the controversial host of the “Wrath of Shawn” live stream, who has just returned online after an incident that cost him his sponsors. To bounce back, Shawn decides to spend a night in the […]
Coupez! (Final Cut) – Fantasia 2022
Oscar-winning filmmaker Michel Hazanavicius directs a meta remake of the hit Japanese zombie-comedy One Cut of the Dead with Coupez! (Final Cut). Remi (Romain Duris) is a struggling filmmaker trying to support his wife Nadia (Bérénice Bejo) and daughter Romi (Simone Hazanavicius). Remi is given the opportunity to adapt a single-take zombie film that was […]
Flux Gourmet
A group of “sonic caterers” go into residences at a remote artistic institution in Flux Gourmet. Elle di Elle (Fatma Mohamed), Billy Rubin (Asa Butterfield), and Lamina Propria (Ariane Labed) are a trio of performance artists who take residence at a culinary art institute run by Jan Stevens (Gwendoline Christie). The residency is being documented […]
Crimes of the Future
David Cronenberg makes his return to body horror in Crimes of the Future. Sometime in the future, humanity has evolved to the point where they can no longer feel pain, which has resulted in body mutilations becoming a perverse form of performance art. Saul Tenser (Viggo Mortensen) is one such performance artist, who regularly performs […]
DASHCAM
A freestyling musician’s Livestream takes an unexpected turn in DASHCAM. Annie Hardy is the host of BandCar, the internet’s number one improvised music show in a moving vehicle, where she streams her freestyle raps from her car, all while laughing off the COVID-19 pandemic. On a trip to England, Annie steals the phone and car […]
Men
A recently widowed woman is tormented during a vacation to the English countryside in Men. Harper Marlowe (Jessie Buckley) has gone on vacation to the English countryside to recover from the recent suicide of her husband James (Paapa Essiedu). Arriving in the village of Coston, Harper is greeted by her friendly landlord Geoffrey (Rory Kinnear), […]
My Old School – Hot Docs 2022
Alan Cumming stands in for a legendary student of Glasgow’s Bearsden Academy in My Old School. In 1993, a new student named Brandon Lee enrolled in Bearsden Academy, a posh high school in the rich end of Glasgow. Claiming to be a Canadian, who moved in with his grandmother after the death of his opera […]
Nothing Compares – Hot Docs 2022
The turbulent first five years of the career of Sinéad O’Connor are reframed through a feminist lens in Nothing Compares. Growing up in Ireland with an incredibly abusive mother, Sinéad O’Connor entered the world of music as a form of therapy. Despite shaving her head to rebel against being a musical commodity, Sinéad would end […]
The Northman
A Viking prince seeks revenge against his murderous uncle in The Northman. In AD 895, Viking King Aurvandil War-Raven (Ethan Hawke) returns home from battle to his Queen Gudrún (Nicole Kidman) and young son Amleth. Shortly after participating in a coming-of-age ceremony for Amleth conducted by Heimir the Fool (Willem Dafoe), Aurvandil is betrayed and […]
Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore
Various allies of Dumbledore go on a mission to prevent the dark wizard Grindelwald from rising to power in Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore. In 1932, Gellert Grindelwald (Mads Mikkelsen) sets a plan into motion that asserts himself in the election for the head of the International Confederation of Wizards, after the organization acquits […]
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Sonic teams with a new ally to face foes old and new in Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Left on his own while Tom Wachowski (James Marsden) and his wife Maddie (Tika Sumpter) travel to Hawaii for the wedding of Maddie’s sister Rachel (Natasha Rothwell) to Randall (Shemar Moore), Sonic the Hedgehog (Ben Schwartz) is shocked […]
You Won’t Be Alone
A young shape-shifting witch tries to live a normal human life in an isolated mountain village in You Won’t Be Alone. Nevena (Sara Klimoska) is a teenager in 19th century Macedonia, who is kidnapped by the “Wolf Eateress” Old Maid Maria (Anamaria Marinca). Nevena is turned into a follow Wolf Eateress, which is a shape-shifting […]
West Side Story (2021)
Steven Spielberg directs a new big-screen adaptation of the acclaimed stage musical with West Side Story. In 1957 Manhattan, the street gangs of the caucasian Jets and Puerto Rican Sharks fight for control of San Juan Hill on Manhattan’s West Side. The gang leaders of Riff (Mike Faist) and Bernardo (David Alvarez) are ready to […]
The King’s Man
The origins of the super-secret spy agency are shown in The King’s Man. Orlando Oxford (Ralph Fiennes) is a war veteran and aristocrat, who does not want his son Conrad (Harris Dickinson) to get involved when the actions of a shadowy organization lead to the start of a Great War. However, Conrad soon learns that […]
The Beatles: Get Back
Peter Jackson restores the 1969 documentary footage of The Beatles recording their album “Let It Be” in The Beatles: Get Back. In January 1969, The Beatles began work on an album with the working title of “Get Back,” with the original plan being to write and perform 14 songs in front of an audience as […]
House of Gucci
A woman marries into the powerful fashion dynasty in House of Gucci. Patrizia Reggiani (Lady Gaga) is a young woman working at her father’s trucking company, who at a party meets Maurizio Gucci (Adam Driver), the son of Rodolfo Gucci (Jeremy Irons), who co-owns the Gucci fashion house with his brother Aldo (Al Pacino). Despite […]
The Power of the Dog
A coldhearted rancher has an antagonistic relationship with his brother’s new wife and her son in The Power of the Dog. Phil Burbank (Benedict Cumberbatch) is a cowboy in 1925 Montana, who owns a ranch with his brother George (Jesse Plemons). While on the range, the brothers stop for dinner at an establishment run by […]
Belfast
The beginning of The Troubles in Northern Ireland is shown from the point of view of a young child living with his middle-class Protestant family in Belfast. Nine-year-old Buddy (Jude Hill) lives in a working-class neighbourhood in North Belfast with his Ma (Caitriona Balfe), older brother Will (Lewis McAskie), and grandparents Granny (Judi Dench) and […]
Spencer
Diana, Princess of Wales, contemplates her future with the Royal Family during a tumultuous Christmas in Spencer. The Royal Family has gathered at Sandringham House for the 1991 Christmas holiday. Getting lost on her way over Diana (Kristen Stewart), in the midst of very public marital issues with Prince Charles (Jack Farthing), is the last […]
Mass
Two couples meet in a church basement to discuss the aftermath of a violent tragedy in Mass. Jay (Jason Isaacs) and his wife Gail (Martha Plimpton) arrive at the Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Hailey, Idaho. Greeted by church employee Judy (Breeda Wool), they are led down to a meeting room set up in the church […]
Last Night in Soho
A fashion student is haunted by memories of an aspiring singer from the 1960s in Last Night in Soho. Eloise (Thomasin McKenzie) is a 1960s-obsessed young woman from the English countryside, who is accepted into the London College of Fashion. Unhappy with the living situation at her dorm, Eloise decides to rent a room in London’s […]
Antlers
A school teacher in a small Oregon town becomes concerned about the well-being of one of her students in Antlers. Julia Meadows (Keri Russell) is a middle-school teacher, who has recently moved back to her Oregon hometown, where she lives with her sheriff brother Paul (Jesse Plemons). Julia becomes concerned about one of her students […]
Bergman Island
A filmmaker couple travel to the island where Ingmar Bergman lived and made his films in Bergman Island. Chris (Vicky Krieps) and Tony (Tim Roth) are a couple, who travel to the Baltic island of Fårö, where Ingmar Bergman lived and made his most well-known films. Both Chris and Tony are filmmakers, with the latter […]
The French Dispatch
Wes Anderson presents us with an obituary, travel guide, and 3 featured articles from a fiction magazine in The French Dispatch. Arthur Howitzer, Jr. (Bill Murray) was found dead of an apparent heart attack while preparing the final issue of his magazine “The French Dispatch,” a supplement of the Liberty Kansas Evening Sun, detailing life […]
Paul Dood’s Deadly Lunch Break – Toronto After Dark 2021
A middle-aged thrift store employee vows to seek revenge on those who wronged him in Paul Dood’s Deadly Lunch Break. Paul Dood (Tom Meeten) is an aspiring performer, who is working hard to audition for a talent competition run by social media star Jack Tapp (Kevin Bishop). However, thanks to a miscommunication, Paul panics when […]
Nightshooters – Toronto After Dark 2021
A guerrilla film crew has to fight for their survival when they witness a mob murder in Nightshooters. Marshall Keane (Adam McNab) is the director of a no-budget zombie film, shooting in an abandoned building with a ragtag crew that includes cinematographer Jenn (Kaitlyn Riordan), sound recordist Oddbod (Nicky Evans), special effects expert Ellie (Rosanna […]
The Rescue
A group of recreational cave divers assist with an operation to save a Thai soccer team stuck in a cave in The Rescue. In 2018, the arrival of monsoon rains trapped twelve boys and their soccer coach in a flooded cave in Northern Thailand. A huge operation begins to first locate and rescue the missing soccer team […]
Alien on Stage – Toronto After Dark 2021
This Review Originally Published As Part of Our Coverage of Fantasia 2021 A group of bus drivers from Wimborne, Dorset in the UK put on an amateur stage production of Ridley Scott’s Alien in Alien on Stage. Paranoid Dramatics is an amateur theatre group consisting of Dorset Bus Drivers. In a departure from the group’s usual family […]
The Addams Family 2
The kooky and creepy family goes on a cross-country vacation in The Addams Family 2. Wednesday Addams (Chloë Grace Moretz) wins big her school’s science fair, receiving praise from its holographic benefactor Cyrus Strange (Bill Hader), but she is embarrassed by the presence of her parents Gomez (Oscar Isaac) and Morticia (Charlize Theron) and her […]
No Time to Die
A retired James Bond is pulled back into action by a new global threat in No Time to Die. James Bond (Daniel Craig) has left MI6 for a life in Italy with Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux), though a sudden attack by the criminal organization SPECTRE, somehow run from behind bars by Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Christoph Waltz), […]
Wolf – TIFF21
A young man with Species Identity Disorder is sent to a clinic with controversial methods in Wolf. Jacob (George MacKay) is a teenager who believes himself to be a wolf, who is admitted to a clinic meant to cure those with similar species dysphoria. While Dr. Angelie (Eileen Walsh) uses very optimistic methods in her therapy […]
Flee – TIFF21
A refugee tells his story about how he fled Afghanistan and ended up in Denmark in Flee. Danish filmmaker Jonas Poher Rasmussen interviews his friend Amin Nawabi about his life growing up in Afghanistan and how he had to flee with his family to escape the growing war and turmoil. Ending up in Russia, Amil […]
Nobody Has to Know – TIFF21
A secret romance is reignited between a farmer’s daughter and an amnesiac farmhand in Nobody Has to Know. Phil (Bouli Lanners) is a Belgian man working as a farmhand for Scottish farmer Angus (Julian Glover). Phil suddenly has a stroke in the middle of the field, though he recovers, albeit with temporary amnesia. Phil is assisted […]
A Banquet – TIFF21
A woman becomes concerned after her oldest daughter suddenly stops eating in A Banquet. Holly (Sienna Guillory) is a woman who lives along with her two teenage daughters Betsy (Jessica Alexander) and Isabelle (Ruby Stokes). After encountering a blood-red moon while at a party, Betsy suddenly loses her desire to eat and comes to believe that […]
DASHCAM – TIFF21
A freestyling musician’s Livestream takes an unexpected turn in DASHCAM. Annie Hardy is the host of BandCar, the internet’s number one improvised music show in a moving vehicle, where she streams her freestyle raps from her car, all while laughing off the COVID-19 pandemic. On a trip to England, Annie steals the phone and car […]
Earwig – TIFF21
A man takes care of a girl with ice for teeth in Earwig. Albert Scellinc (Paul Hilton) is the caretaker for 10-year-old Mia (Romane Hemelaers), who regularly has to be given dentures made out of ice. Albert regularly receives phone calls asking for updates on Mia and he is told that he has 13 takes to prepare […]
Last Night in Soho – TIFF21
A fashion student is haunted by memories of an aspiring singer from the 1960s in Last Night in Soho. Eloise (Thomasin McKenzie) is a 1960s-obsessed young woman from the English countryside, who is accepted into the London College of Fashion. Unhappy with the living situation at her dorm, Eloise decides to rent a room in London’s […]
Candyman
The legend returns for a new generation in Candyman. Anthony McCoy (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) is an artist living in Chicago’s Cabrini Green neighborhood with his gallery director Brianna Cartwright (Teyonah Parris). After hearing an urban legend from Brianna’s brother Troy (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett) about a graduate student named Helen Lyle who seemingly went crazy, Anthony becomes interested […]
Martyrs Lane – Fantasia 2021
A girl is instructed to do nightly tasks by a ghost in Martyrs Lane. Leah (Denise Gough) is a 10-year-old living in a vicarage with her family. Out of morbid curiosity, Leah takes her mother Sarah’s (Denise Gough) locket to find that it contains a golden lock of hair, which goes flying outside of Leah’s window. […]
The Night House
A recently widowed woman starts to believe her late husband is haunting her in The Night House. Beth (Rebecca Hall) is a schoolteacher with a history of depression, who is currently reeling from the very sudden and unexpected suicide of her husband Owen (Evan Jonigkeit). Beth is supported in her grief by her friend Claire (Evan […]
Alien on Stage – Fantasia 2021
A group of bus drivers from Wimborne, Dorset in the UK put on an amateur stage production of Ridley Scott’s Alien in Alien on Stage. Paranoid Dramatics is an amateur theatre group consisting of Dorset Bus Drivers. In a departure from the group’s usual family pantomimes, scriptwriter Luc decides to write an adaptation of the film Alien, spurred […]
Pig
A truffle hunting hermit confronts his past after the kidnapping of his beloved Truffle Pig in Pig. Robin Feld (Nicolas Cage) is a man living on his own in a cabin in the Oregan woods accompanied only by his pet pig, with whom he hunts truffles in the woods that he gives to aspiring restaurant supplier […]
Caveat
A lone drifter accepts a job to look after a psychologically troubled woman in Caveat. Issac (Jonathan French), a drifter suffering from memory loss, is offered a job by his landlord Barret (Ben Caplan) to look after his niece Olga (Leila Sykes) for five days, offering to pay Issac $200 a day. Issac arrives at the […]
Trial of the Chicago 7
A group of peaceful protestors are placed on trial in the aftermath of riots during the 1968 Democratic National Convention in The Trial of the Chicago 7. During the Democratic National Convention in the summer of 1968, thousands of protestors gather in Chicago to protest the Vietnam War, which turns into a violent clash with the […]
The Father
A man with worsening dementia is taken in by his daughter in The Father. Anthony (Anthony Hopkins) is an elderly man suffering from the effects of dementia, who moves in with his daughter Anne (Olivia Colman) after he has a falling out with his live-in nurse. However, the move is not easy on Anthony, who […]
Zack Snyder’s Justice League
Zack Snyder’s Justice League is being reviewed as an independent entity from the theatrical cut. For my original thoughts, you can check out my original review from November 2017. A little background, for the uninformed: In May 2017, while his Justice League film was beginning post-production, Zack Snyder decided to step down as director, following the […]
Falling
A man has to care for his deeply cruel and homophobic dementia-suffering father in Falling. John Peterson (Viggo Mortensen) is a gay man, who brings his father Willis (Lance Henriksen), who is suffering from the early signs of dementia, to John’s home in California with his husband Eric (Terry Chen) and daughter Monica (Gabby Velis). […]
The Dig
A self-taught archeologist is hired by a landowner to excavate large burial mounds in The Dig. Edith Pretty (Carey Mulligan) is a landowner in 1939 Suffolk, who hires local self-taught excavator Basil Brown (Ralph Fiennes) to take a look at the large burial mounds on her estate in Sutton Hoo. Digging primarily on his own with […]
Promising Young Woman
A woman seeks vengeance against predatory men in Promising Young Woman. Cassie Thomas (Carey Mulligan) is a 30-year-old med school dropout, who still lives at home with her parents and works in a coffee shop. At night, Cassie makes it a habit to go to clubs and confront the men who try to take advantage […]
Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm
Sacha Baron Cohen unleashes his Kazakhstani news reporter on more unsuspecting Americans in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bride to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. Fourteen years after his first trip to America, Borat Sagdiyev (Sacha Baron Cohen) finds himself an embarrassment to his country of Kazakhstan. As a […]
Possessor
A corporate assassin begins to literally lose her mind in Possessor. Tasya Vos (Andrea Riseborough) is a woman who works for a company that uses mind implant technology to transfer Vos’ consciousness into a host body, which is then used to perform high profile assassinations, all under the watchful eye of her handler Girder (Jennifer […]
Undergods
Take a journey through Europe in decline in Undergods. Street scavengers K (Johann Myers) and Z (Géza Röhrig) load dead bodies into their truck in a plague-ridden city and tell each other stories about their routines. This includes Ron (Michael Gould) and Ruth (Hayley Carmichael), a couple in a loveless marriage who enters into a […]
Tenet
A CIA agent becomes involved with an organization intent on stopping time inverting weapons in Tenet. The Protagonist (John David Washington) is a CIA agent, who after surviving a botched undercover operation in Kyiv is recruited into a top-secret organization known only by the code name “Tenet.” The Protagonist learns of the existence of weapons […]
The Old Man Movie
Three kids help their grandfather find his missing cow in The Old Man Movie. Priidik, Aino, and Mart are three brothers who are dropped off at their grandfather’s farm for the summer. Every morning the villagers gather around grandfather’s barn for milk from his prized cow, who he does not treat very well. When Priidik […]
Kriya
A man finds himself thrust into the funeral ritual for the father a woman he just picked up in a bar in Kriya. Neel (Noble Luke) is a nightclub DJ, who picks up a woman named Sitara (Navjot Randhawa) following a set. He ends up following her home to find Sitara’s mother Tara Devi (Avantika […]
Lucky
A self-help author is tormented on a nightly business by a home-invading killer in Lucky. May Ryer (Brea Grant) is a notable self-help author, whose latest book hasn’t been selling as well as her first. One night. May discovers a masked invader at her house and her husband Ted (Dhruv Uday Singh) matter-of-factly mentions that […]
The Reckoning
A newly widowed woman in a plague-ridden 17th century English village finds herself accused of witchcraft in The Reckoning. Grace Haverstock (Charlotte Kirk) is a woman in 1665 England, who is mourning the death of her husband Joseph (Joe Anderson), who has hung himself after contracting the great plague, leaving Grace alone with her infant […]
Unhinged
A single mother finds herself pursued and tormented by a road raging madman in Unhinged. Rachel Hunter (Caren Pistorius) is a young woman currently going through a divorce, who finds herself stuck in traffic while driving her son Kyle (Gabriel Bateman) to school. Along the way, Rachel has an altercation with a man (Russell Crowe), […]
You Should Have Left
A troubled man and his family encounter strange occurrences at their Welsh vacation home in You Should Have Left. Theo Conroy (Kevin Bacon) is a former banker, who plagued by nightmares and the lingering fallout from a past event. Theo decides to go on a vacation to Wales with his much younger actress wife Susana […]
Host
A group of friends Zoom conversation is disrupted by a demonic entity in Host. Haley (Haley), Jemma (Jemma Moore), Emma (Emma Louise Webb), Radina (Radina Drandova), Caroline (Caroline Ward), and Teddy (Edward Linard) are six friends under lockdown, who have gathered for their weekly Zoom conversation. On this particular Zoom meeting, the friends have decided […]
Trouble
A filmmaker seeks to reconnect with her estranged Northern Irish father in Trouble. Mariah Garnett travels to Vienna to meet her father David, who she hasn’t seen since she was two years old. Growing up in Belfast at the height of The Troubles, David was the subject of a 1971 BBC news story, solely for […]
Coded Bias
The biases present in machine learning algorithms are examined in Coded Bias. While working on a project in the MIT Media Lab, computer scientist Joy Buolamwini discovered that facial-recognition software was unable to identify her face, as an African-American female, unless she put on a white mask. Upon further examination, Joy learns that the training […]
#Blessed
An evangelical church in Toronto develops a connection with millennials in #Blessed. C3 is an Evangelical church that began in Australia and has grown to 500 churches around the world. The Toronto branch of C3 was formed by Pastor Sam and his wife Jenn in 2013 and over the last number of years the congregation has […]
The Trip to Greece
Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon head to Greece for their fourth culinary adventure in The Trip to Greece. Marking a decade of culinary excursions, Steve and Rob set off to follow the path of Odysseus in Greece for an Observer article, this time written by Rob instead of the career-focused Steve. However, during the trip, Steve […]
Never Rarely Sometimes Always
A teenage girl from rural Pennsylvania travels with her cousin to New York City to deal with an unwanted pregnancy in Never Rarely Sometimes Always. Autumn (Sidney Flanigan) is a 17-year-old girl living in a small town in rural Pennsylvania. Autumn begins to suspect that she may be pregnant, a fact that she confirms when she […]
Resistance
An aspiring actor joins a resistance group seeking to save the lives of Jewish orphans during World War II in Resistance. Marcel Mangel (Jesse Eisenberg) is a young man in Strasbourg, France, who works in his father’s butcher shop during the day, while at night aspires to become a mime. One day, Marcel is recruited to […]
The Internet of Everything
Documentarian Brett Gaylor examines out the increasingly connected world in The Internet of Everything. There was a time when the internet seemed like a fun and new way to connect together humanity. However, that all began to change when technology companies evolved into giant corporations, who are looking into new ways to connect the world […]
The Lodge
This review may contain SPOILERS A soon-to-be stepmother finds herself stranded at a cabin with her fiance’s two children in The Lodge. Still grieving the sudden suicide of their mother Laura (Alicia Silverstone), 17-year-old Aidan (Jaeden Martell) and 12-year-old Mia (Lia McHugh) are dismayed to learn that their father Richard (Richard Armitage) plans on marrying his young […]
Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)
A group of female vigilantes team up against a Gotham City crimelord in Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn). Despondent after breaking up with the Joker, Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) goes on a bender before declaring her emancipating of the clown prince of crime by blowing up the Ace Chemicals plant. […]
The Gentlemen
Guy Ritchie returns with his first gangster film in over a decade with The Gentlemen. One day Raymond (Charlie Hunnam) is visited by private investigator Fletcher (Hugh Grant), who details his plans to blackmail Raymond’s boss Mickey Pearson (Matthew McConaughey), an American immigrant, who has created a highly successful marijuana dealing operation in the UK. Mickey […]
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
The Resistance makes its last stand against the First Order in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. As the war between the Resistance and the First Order rages on, it is discovered that the long thought deceased Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) has returned and has been secretly controlling the First Order from the Sith homeworld […]
1917
Two soldiers during the First World War are sent to stop their fellow soldiers from walking into a trap in 1917. In the spring of 1917 in the midst of the First World War, Lance Corporal Blake (Dean-Charles Chapman) and Lance Corporal Schofield (George MacKay) are taken to speak with General Erinmore (Colin Firth), who […]
The Two Popes
The contrasting ideologies between Pope Benedict XVI and his successor Pope Francis are examined in The Two Popes. Following the death of John Paul II in 2005, conservative German Cardinal Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger (Anthony Hopkins) is elected the new leader of the Catholic Church as Pope Benedict XVI. Fast forward to 2012 and the Catholic […]
Marriage Story
The divorce of a young couple becomes increasingly less amicable in Marriage Story. After a decade of marriage, actress Nicole (Scarlett Johansson) and theatre director Charlie (Adam Driver) have decided to split up. Cast in a new TV role, Nicole travels with her son Henry (Azhy Robertson) home to Los Angeles, staying with her mother […]
Judy
The story of Judy Garland in the twilight of her career is told in Judy. Three decades after her breakthrough role in The Wizard of Oz, Judy Garland (Renée Zellweger) is suffering from depression and substance abuse and is on the verge of losing custody of her two youngest kids to her ex-husband Sidney Luft […]
Crazy World – TIFF19
Child kidnappers have to contend with the “Waka Stars” in Crazy World. The Tiger Mafia, lead by the diminutive Mr. Big, need to kidnap kids for a sacrifice. While the kids’ parents, which includes a commando gone crazy and Uganda’s best action cop Bruce U, try to stage a rescue, it is soon discovered that […]
Sorry We Missed You – TIFF19
A working-class British family struggles to make ends meet in Sorry We Missed You. Having previously lost his home and job in the 2008 financial crash, Ricky (Kris Hitchen) starts a semi-freelance job with a delivery depot. Requiring a long financial deposit for his delivery van, Ricky’s wife Abbie (Debbie Honeywood) is forced to sell […]
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Quentin Tarantino brings us back to 1969 Los Angeles in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. In February 1969, fading 1950s television star Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) is struggling to find work for himself and his stuntman best friend Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt), other than the various villain of the week roles on TV pilots. […]
The Prey
An undercover Chinese detective is placed in a Cambodian prison, where the corrupt warden hires men to hunt down the prisoners in The Prey. Xin (Gu Shangwei) is an undercover Chinese detective in Cambodia, who is arrested an placed in a prison run by a brutal warden (Vithaya Pansringarm). Xin is one of many prisoners […]
Stare
A group of young people are affected a curse involving a ghost is abnormally large eyes in Stare. Within close proximity to each other Haruo’s brother Kazuto and Mizuki’s friend Kana both die of apparent heart attacks, except for the fact that their eyes exploded. Haruo and Mizuki team together to find out what happened […]
Idol
A grieving father wants answers about the events that lead to his son’s death in Idol. Councilor Koo Myung-hui is a candidate for governor, who returns home one day to find out that his son Johan was involved in a hit and run and brought the bloody body home with him. Koo convinces his son […]
Little Monsters
A kindergarten class on a field trip has to survive a sudden zombie outbreak in Little Monsters. After being dumped by his girlfriend for not wanting kids, Dave (Alexander England) goes to live with his sister Tess (Kat Stewart) and five-year-old nephew Felix (Diesel La Torraca). After dropping Felix off at his kindergarten class, Dave […]
Yesterday
An aspiring musician wakes up into a world that has never heard of The Beatles in Yesterday. Jack Malik (Himesh Patel) is a struggling singer from the town of Clacton-on-Sea in the UK, who is ready to give up on his musical ambitions, despite the neverending support of his childhood friend and manager Ellie Appleton […]
Watergate
The events leading up to the resignation of US President Richard Nixon is told in detail in Watergate. In 1972, five men broke into the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex. This would soon erupt into a scandal, as a cover-up by the administration of Richard Nixon is exposed. Using transcripts of […]
Godzilla: King of the Monsters
Humanity is threatened by the emergence of titans in Godzilla: King of the Monsters. Five years after the mythical beast Godzilla helped stop the threat of the MUTOs, the crypto-zoological organization Monarch is under government scrutiny for keeping the truth about titans secret from the world. However, when ecoterrorist Alan Jonah (Charles Dance) kidnaps paleobiologist […]
Rocketman
The fantastical life and career of Elton John are told in Rocketman. As a child, Reginald Dwight (Taron Egerton) gained an interest in playing music, which was supported by his grandmother Ivy (Gemma Jones), tolerated by his apathetic mother Sheila (Bryce Dallas Howard), and all but ignored by his unloving father Stanley (Steven Mackintosh). As […]
Ma
A group of friends befriend a middle-aged black woman with sinister intentions in Ma. Maggie (Diana Silvers) is a teenager, who has moved to small town, where her mother Erica (Juliette Lewis) grew up. At school, Maggie quickly befriends Haley (McKaley Miller), Andy (Corey Fogelmanis), Chaz (Gianni Paolo), and Darrell (Dante Brown), who invite Maggie […]
Aladdin
Guy Ritchie brings the kingdom of Agrabah to life in Aladdin. Aladdin (Mena Massoud) is a street rat, who dreams of a better life, especially after he meets and becomes infatuated with Princess Jasmine (Naomi Scott), who lives a sheltered life in the palace and must only marry a prince. Aladdin is recruited by scheming […]
Pokemon Detective Pikachu
A young man enlists the help of a talking Pikachu to find out what happened to his father in Pokemon Detective Pikachu. Tim Goodman (Justice Smith) is an insurance salesman, with former dreams of being a Pokemon trainer, who learns that his estranged father Harry has apparently died in a car crash. Returning to his […]
XY Chelsea
A trans whisleblower becomes an activist upon her release from prison in XY Chelsea. Chelsea Manning is a former US Army intelligence analyst, who was charged with uploading over 750,000 documents pertaining to the Iraq War to Wikileaks. In addition, Chelsea decided to come out as a trans woman while she was in the middle […]
Hunting for Hedonia
The origins and modern reemergence of the process of deep brain stimulation is examined in Hunting for Hedonia. In the 1950s, Dr. Robert Galbraith Heath performed experiments in neuromodulation, trying to seek out the source of pleasure in the brain, also known as hedonia. However, Heath’s methods were shunned by the medical community and he […]
Mystify: Michael Hutchence
The life and career of the late INXS frontman is revisited in Mystify: Michael Hutchence. In the mid-1980s, the Australian band INXS hit it big with their breakthrough 1987 album “Kick.” However, fame wasn’t as easy thing for frontman Michael Hutchence to handle. Featuring voice-over interviews with his INXS bandmates and ex-girlfriends, including Kylie Minogue […]
The Pickup Game
The billion dollar industry of seduction is explored in The Pickup Game. In 1992, Ross Jeffries released his self-published seduction guide “How to Get Women in Bed.” This kickstarted an industry of self-described seduction gurus, who now generate over $1 billion a year teaching how to pick-up women. However, the question must be asked is […]
Our Godfather
The family of one the biggest Mafia turncoats speaks out in Our Godfather. In the mid-1980s Tommaso Buscetta broke the Mafia code of silence, when he became the first high ranking mob boss to turn against Cosa Nostra. Through his testimony, over 400 Mafiosi and he and his family went into hiding out of fear […]
Hellboy
Neil Marshall reboots the adventures of the monster hunting hellspawn in Hellboy. Hellboy (David Harbour) is a hellspawn raised by Trevor Bruttenholm (Ian McShane) of the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense. While on assignment in England, Hellboy comes across a plan by the pig-like fairy Gruagach (Stephen Graham) to resurrect The Blood Queen Nimue […]
The Man Who Killed Don Quixote
Terry Gilliam finally brings his long-in-development passion project to the big screen with The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. Toby Grisoni (Adam Driver) is a washed up filmmaker, currently shooting commercials for an advertising agency run by The Boss (Stellan Skarsgård). Toby comes across a bootleg DVD of a film he made about Don Quixote […]
Dumbo
Tim Burton directs a live-action re-imagining of the animated classic with Dumbo. Holt Farrier (Colin Farrell) is an equestrian performer and widower, who has just returned from the First World War and is reunited with his kids Molly (Nico Parker) and Joe (Finley Hobbins) at the Medici Brothers Circus. However, the circus run by Max […]
Pond Life
Two couples get together for a party, which quickly goes down the tubes in Pond Life. Dick (Ryan Blakely) and Sandy (Jeanie Calleja) are a couple preparing for a party that will be attended by Sandy’s foster sister Daisy (Kerry McPherson) and her boyfriend Richard (Ryan McVittie). As the night wears on, secrets each person […]
Leaving Neverland
Two men who are claiming to have been sexual abused as kids by Michael Jackson tell their story in Leaving Neverland. Wade Robson and Jimmy Safechuck are two men who befriended Michael Jackson when they were children. Through interviews between them and their family members, Robson and Safechuck tell their parallel stories of how their […]
Fighting with My Family
The story of WWE superstar Paige and her wrestling family in England is told in Fighting with My Family. Saraya Knight (Florence Pugh) has been wrestling since the age of 13 for her family’s wrestling promotion World Association of Wrestling in Norwich, England, which is run by her father Ricky (Nick Frost) and mother Julia (Lena Headey) and […]
Cold War
We follow the tumultuous relationship between two musicians in postwar Europe in Cold War. In 1949 Poland, jazz-loving pianist Wiktor Warski (Tomasz Kot) is forced to play into the communist propaganda machine and audition traditional folk musicians, as part of state-sponsored project. During the auditions, Wiktor finds himself immediately enamored by Zuzanna “Zula” Lichoń (Joanna Kulig), […]
Bohemian Rhapsody
The story of Freddy Mercury and Queen is told in Bohemian Rhapsody. In 1970, Farrokh Bulsara (Rami Malek), an Indian-British Parsi college student, is hired by Brian May (Gwilym Lee) and Roger Taylor (Ben Hardy) to be the new lead singer of their band Smile, adopting the new name of Freddie Mercury. Along with bassist John […]
The Wife
The wife of a famous author silently suffers after he wins a Nobel prize in The Wife. Joan Castleman (Glenn Close) is a woman married to acclaimed author Joe Castleman (Jonathan Pryce), who receives a call one morning saying that he has won the Nobel prize in literature. Initially Joan seems ecstatic about her husband’s accomplishment, […]
Mary Queen of Scots
The Queen of Scotland fights for her claim to the British crowd in Mary Queen of Scots. After a number of years as the Queen of France, the recently widowed Mary Stuart (Saoirse Ronan) returns home to Scotland and stakes her claims as the heir of the British throne, currently held by Queen Elizabeth I (Margot Robbie). […]
The Favourite
Two women compete for the affections of the Queen in The Favourite. In 1708 Great Britain, Queen Anne (Olivia Colman) sits on the throne, while the country is at war with France. Suffering from health problems, Anne leaves the bulk of the actual ruling to her faithful adviser Sarah Churchill (Rachel Weisz), who makes all the important […]
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald
The universe of the Wizarding World continues to expand in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. While in the midst of being transferred from custody in New York back to London, the dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald (Johnny Depp) escapes and begins amassing a legion of followers. Despite being banned from travel outside of England, Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) […]
Widows
The wives of slain criminals plan their own heist in Widows. Following a heist gone sour, career criminal Harry Rawlings (Liam Neeson) and his crew are gunned down by police. Harry’s death leaves his widow Veronica (Viola Davis) $2 million in debt to gangster, turned politician Jamal Manning (Brian Tyree Henry), who is in the midst of running in […]
The Girl in the Spider’s Web
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo returns in The Girl in the Spider’s Web. Computer hacker Lisbeth Salander (Claire Foy) is hired by former NSA employee Frans Balder (Stephen Merchant) to steal a program called Firefall, which can access the world’s nuclear missiles. Soon after completing the heist, Lisbeth’s apartment is ambushed by a group of men who […]
Mandy
A broken man seeks bloody vengeance against a religious cult in Mandy. Red Miller (Nicolas Cage) is a logger, who lives with his artist girlfriend Mandy Bloom (Andrea Riseborough) in a cabin near the Shadow Mountains in the year 1983. One day, Mandy catches the attention of a cult known as the Children of the New Dawn, lead by Jeremiah […]
The Predator
The intergalactic hunter combats a misfit group of soldiers in The Predator. While on mission, sniper Quinn McKenna (Boyd Holbrook) encounters a Predator, which crash lands in the area and kills off his entire unit. Taken into custody, Quinn is placed in a prison bus with fellow “loonies” Nebraska Williams (Trevante Rhodes), Coyle (Keegan-Michael Key), Baxley (Thomas Jane), Lynch (Alfie Allen), […]
Jeremiah Terminator LeRoy
The true story of cult literary icon J.T. LeRoy is told in Jeremiah Terminator LeRoy. Laura Albert (Laura Dern) is a musician and writer, who wrote the autobiographical novel “Sarah,” under the pseudonym of a 19 year old boy named Jeremiah Terminator LeRoy. While Laura frequently does phone interviews as J.T., the constant request for pubic appearances results […]
Teen Spirit
A shy teenager participates in an international singing competition in Teen Spirit. Violet (Elle Fanning) is a 17 year old Polish girl living on farm with her mother (Agnieszka Grochowska) on the Isle of Wright. An aspiring singer, Violet meets former opera singer Vlad (Zlatko Buric) at a bar and he help her improve her singing, as she prepares […]
In Fabric
A mysterious department store sells a haunted red dress to unsuspecting customers in In Fabric. Sheila (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) steps into the department store Dentley & Soper’s to buy a dress for a blind date. Greeted by the odd, cryptic speaking shopkeeper (Fatma Mohamed), Sheila ends up buying a haunting red dress. However, the date doesn’t go well […]
The Death and Life of John F. Donovan
The correspondence between a child actor and TV celebrity changes both of their lives in The Death and Life of John F. Donovan. In 2006, 11 year old child actor Rupert Turner (Jacob Tremblay) is shocked by the news that his favourite actor John F. Donovan (Kit Harington) was found dead at the age of 29. A […]
The Little Stranger
A country doctor returns to a manor he once visited as a child in The Little Stranger. Dr. Faraday (Domhnall Gleeson) first visited Hundreds Hall in the summer of 1919, when he visited the manor with his mother, who used to work as a maid. Three decades later, the manor has fallen into despair, with the owner Angela […]
Christopher Robin
The characters from the Hundred Acre Wood set out to assist their now grown up friend in Christopher Robin. As a child, Christopher Robin (Ewan McGregor) enjoyed many adventures in the Hundred Acre Wood with his friend Winnie the Pooh (Jim Cummings), Piglet (Nick Mohammed), Tigger (Cummings), Eeyore (Brad Garrett), Rabbit (Peter Capaldi), Owl (Toby Jones), Kanga […]
Hurt
A woman spends Halloween night with her PTSD-suffering husband in Hurt. It is Halloween night in the small town of New Caney, Texas and Rose (Emily Van Raay) is reunited with her husband Tommy (Andrew Creer), who has just returned from the war. After spending some time with Rose’s sister Lily (Stephanie Moran) and her husband Mark […]
The Dark
An undead teenage girl befriends blind boy in The Dark. Mina (Nadia Alexander) is a cannibalistic undead teenager, who haunts an isolated forested area known as the “Devil’s Den.” After dispatching of a fugitive criminal that enters the area, Mina meets the criminal’s blinded hostage Alex (Toby Nichols). Mina decides to help Alex get back to […]
Rokuroku: The Promise of the Witch
Multiple individuals are tormented by supernatural creatures emerging from a haunted hotel in Rokuroku: The Promise of the Witch. One day out of the blue, Izumi receives a call from her old friend Mika, who she arranges to meet-up with. Meanwhile, Izumi’s grandfather is disturbed by a supernatural force that no one else can see. Elsewhere, people from […]
Chuck Steel: Night of the Trampires
The best goddamn cop on the force has to deal with an infestation of vampire tramps in Chuck Steel: Night of the Trampires. Chuck Steel (Mike Mort) is a jacked up action hero cop, who knows what it takes to clean up the streets of L.A. While investigating a series of murders, Steel encounters an old […]
Profile
A British journalist seduces an ISIS recruiter online in Profile. As a means to do research for a news story, Amy Whitaker (Valene Kane) creates a fake Facebook profile in an attempt to attract ISIS recruiters and find out how they convince women in Europe to abandon their lives and travel to Syria to join the […]
Westwood: Punk, Icon, Activist
The life and career of fashion icon Vivienne Westwood is told in Westwood: Punk, Icon, Activist. Coming from humble beginnings in the north of England, fashion designer first came into prominence through her relationship with Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren and her role in helping to create the fashion of the punk movement in the 1970s. In the […]
Hotel Artemis
Bank robbers take refuge in a top secret hospital for criminals in Hotel Artemis. It is June 21, 2028 and Los Angeles is in the midst of the worst riots in its history. After a botched bank robbery, Sherman (Sterling K. Brown) and his brother (Brian Tyree Henry) are injured by gunshots and go for […]
First Reformed
A country priest has a crisis of faith in First Reformed. Reverend Toller (Ethan Hawke) is the pastor of the First Reformed parish, a historic yet poorly attended Dutch Reform church. Toller is approached by Mary (Amanda Seyfried), a pregnant parishioner, who asks Toller to talk to her husband, an environmentalist, whose despair about the environment […]
Disobedience
A photographer returns home to her Orthodox Jewish community and rekindles a forbidden romance in Disobedience. Ronit Krushka (Rachel Weisz) is a New York based photographer, who returns home to London to mourn the death of her rabbi father. Despite being estranged from her Orthodox Jewish family, she is invited to stay at the home of […]
Matangi/Maya/M.I.A.
The music and politics of international popstar M.I.A. are told in Matangi/Maya/M.I.A.. Matangi Arulpragasm, aka Maya to her friends and M.I.A. to most of the world, moved in 1985 with her family as refugees from war-torn Sri Lanka to the United Kingdom. Initially aspiring to be a documentary filmmaker, M.I.A. broke into the music industry in […]
Shirkers
A Singapore filmmaker revisits a film she made in her youth in Shirkers. When she was 18 years old, Sandi Tan set out to shoot Singapore’s first road movie with her friends Jasmine Ng and Sophie Siddique. The film was directed by Sandi’s enigmatic American mentor Georges Cardona, who would disappear along with the footage after […]
The Cleaners
Outsourced content moderators decide what content is appropriate for the major social networks in The Cleaners. Companies such as Google and Facebook outsource content moderation to foreign companies, who go through thousands of pictures and videos to weed out all sexual, violent, or terrorist content. One such company is located in Manila, where the anonymous […]
Warrior Women
The history of the activism by indigenous females are told in Warrior Women. In the 1970s, Madonna Thunder Hawk of the Lakota First Nation was one of the leaders of the American Indian Movement, which thought for the rights of the indigenous population. This fight continues today, with Madonna’s daughter Marcy joining in the activist efforts. […]
The Guardians
The systematic abuse of the elderly in the Las Vegas area is investigated in The Guardians. Elderly couples such as Rudy and Rennie North find themselves appointed to legal guardians without their knowledge, which results in them being literally kidnapped from their homes and robbed of their life savings. This has resulted in people, such […]
Three Identical Strangers
Three men discover that they are triplets separated at birth in Three Identical Strangers. In 1980, Robert Shafran, Eddy Galland, and David Kellman discovery by accident that they are triplets separated at birth and adopted by different families. Their reunion results in the three to become minor celebrities, appearing on talk shows and even a cameo in the […]
Exit Music
The final year in the life of a young man with cystic fibrosis is depicted in Exit Music. Ethan Rice has been preparing for his death his entire life. Originally given only three months to live, Ethan and his family have had to cope with his cystic fibrosis, an incurable genetic illness that eventually leads to respiratory […]
A Quiet Place
A family tries to take shelter from sound sensitive creatures in A Quiet Place. The world has been ravaged by creatures, who hunt by sound. Lee Abbott (John Krasinski) and his wife Evelyn (Emily Blunt) struggle to survive in silence with their children Regan (Millicent Simmonds), Marcus (Noah Jupe), and Beau (Cade Woodward). However, a combination of […]
Ready Player One
A group of friends try to save a virtual world from an evil corporation in Ready Player One. In the year 2045, most of the world’s cities have degraded into slums and the population find escape in a virtual world known as the OASIS, created by James Halliday (Mark Rylance) and Ogden Morrow (Simon Pegg). On his […]
Isle of Dogs
Wes Anderson returns with the stop motion Japanese adventure Isle of Dogs. 20 years in the future, all the dogs of Japan are afflicted by a virus and Mayor Kobayashi (Kunichi Nomura) of Megasaki City decrees that all dogs be deported to nearby trash island. One day, the five alpha dogs of Chief (Bryan Cranston), Rex […]
Luba
A single mother tries to turn her life around, while dealing with her addict ex-husband in Luba. Luba (Nicole Maroon) is a single mother struggling to make ends meet, while raising her six year old son Matty (Porter Schaefer). At the same time, Luba has to deal with her ex-husband Donnie (Vladimir Jon Cubrt), who […]
Pacific Rim: Uprising
The war between the Kaiju and Jaegers resumes in Pacific Rim: Uprising. A decade has passed since the end of the war and Jake Pentecost (John Boyega) lives in the shadow of his war hero father and has fallen into a life of crime. After being apprehended along with teenage genius Amara Namani (Cailee Spaeny) following a […]
Tomb Raider (2018)
Alicia Vikander stars as Lara Croft in this new adaptation of the long-running video game series in Tomb Raider. It has been seven years since Lord Richard Croft (Dominic West) disappeared without a trace. His daughter Lara (Vikander) discovers that her father had a secret hobby as an archaeologist and that he disappeared while searching for […]
Death Wish
Bruce Willis stars in a remake of the 1974 cult classic in Death Wish. Dr. Paul Kersey (Willis) is a trauma surgeon in Chicago, who has a seemingly happy life with his wife Lucy (Elisabeth Shue) and daughter Jordon (Camila Morrone), despite the fact that Paul’s younger brother Frank (Vincent D’Onofrio) is always asking for money. However, […]
Mom and Dad
A mass hysteria results in parents trying to kill their kids in Mom and Dad. Carly Ryan (Anne Winters) is a teenage girl who has a strained relationship with her parents Brent (Nicolas Cage) and Kendall (Selma Blair). One day without explanation, parents all over the country gain the sudden compulsion to kill their children. Carly, her […]
Mute
A bartender who cannot speak tracks down his girlfriend in the underworld of Berlin in Mute. Leo (Alexander Skarsgård) is a man who lost the ability to speak after a childhood accident. Leo works as a bartender at the bar, along with his waitress girlfriend Naadirah (Seyneb Saleh). One night, Naadirah mysteriously disappears without a trace and […]
Annihilation
A team of scientists investigate an environmental phenomena know as “The Shimmer” in Annihilation. After being MIA for nearly a year, biologist Lena (Natalie Portman) is shocked by the sudden return of her soldier husband Kane (Oscar Isaac), who quickly falls gravely ill. Lena is taken to a government facility where psychologist Dr. Ventress (Jennifer Jason […]
All the Money in the World
An oil tycoon refuses to pay the ransom for his kidnapped grandson in All the Money in the World. John Paul Getty (Christopher Plummer) is an incredibly successful oil tycoon, who made billions drilling and shipping oil from the Saudi desert. In 1973, Getty’s 16 year old grandson John Paul Getty III (Charlie Plummer) is kidnapped […]
Darkest Hour
Winston Churchill is forced to make tough decisions during the early days World War II in Darkest Hour. In May 1940, the Nazis have occupied most of Western Europe and British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain (Ronald Pickupis) forced to resign and the Liberal and Conservative parties form a grand coalition to tackle the Nazi threat. Despite […]
Once Upon a Time at Christmas – Blood in the Snow 2017
A small town is tormented by a pair of crazed killers in the twelve days leading up to Christmas in Once Upon a Time at Christmas. In the small town of Woodridge, a pair of killers dressed up as Santa (Simon Phillips) and Mrs Claus (Sayla Vee) have started killing people each night in increasing […]
Justice League
The world’s heroes team together to fight an invading threat in Justice League. As the world recovers from the death of Superman (Henry Cavill), a new threat arises in the form of the invading Steppenwolf (Ciarán Hinds), who comes to Earth looking for the Mother Boxes, which will allow him to take over the planet. Batman […]
Murder on the Orient Express
Kenneth Brannah directs and starts in this new adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express. After finishing a case in Jerusalem, Belgian detective Hercule Poirot (Brannah) is called back to London, disrupting his plans for vacation time in Istanbul. Poroit secures a place on the Orient Express, run by his friend Bouc (Tom Bateman) […]
The Snowman
A veteran detective tracks down a serial killer triggered by falling snow in The Snowman. Harry Hole (Michael Fassbender) is a legendary detective in Oslo, Norway, who has recently returned from an absence. His first case is a series of missing women cases, each other which occurred during a snowfall, with a snowman left at […]
Blade Runner 2049
We return to the conflict between humans and replicants 30 years later in Blade Runner 2049. In the year 2049, replicants developed by Niander Wallace (Jared Leto) have been integrated into society. Officer K (Ryan Gosling) is a replicant blade runner, who is tasked with finding and retiring older model replicants. While on a job, K […]
Loving Vincent
Oil painted visuals tells the story of the life and death of Vincent van Gogh in Loving Vincent. One year after the suicide of Vincent van Gogh (Robert Gulaczyk), Armand Roulin (Douglas Booth) is asked by his postmaster father Joseph (Chris O’Dowd) to deliver an undelivered letter from Vincent to his brother Theo. After finding out that […]
Lucky
A 90 year old atheist navy veteran contemplates his mortality in Lucky. Living in a small town in the California desert, Lucky (Harry Dean Stanton) has a very specific daily routine, which includes doing the crossword at the local diner run or conversing with his friends at the bar. However, one day Lucky’s routine is […]
Victoria and Abdul
Queen Victoria begins an unlikely friendship with her Indian servant in Victoria and Abdul. 29 years into the British rule of India, Indian clerk Abdul Karim (Ali Fazal) is sent along with his friend Mohammed (Adeel Akhtar) to present a mughal coin to Queen Victoria (Judi Dench). Victoria takes a fancy to Abdul and ask that he be […]
Kingsman: The Golden Circle
Kingsman teams up with their American cousins to bring down a psychopathic drug lord in Kingsman: The Golden Circle. A year has passed since Eggsy Unwin (Taron Egerton) became of a full agent of the Kingsman spy organization, even though he deeply misses his fallen mentor Harry Hart (Colin Firth). However, a terrorist organization known as the […]
I, Tonya
The life and career of scandal-ridden figure skater Tonya Harding is told in I, Tonya. From childhood Tonya Harding (Margot Robbie) was bred to be a figure-skating champion from her stern and often abusive mother LaVona (Allison Janney). Tonya would meet future husband Jeff Gillooly (Sebastian Stan) as a teenager, who initially seemed like an escape from her […]
First Reformed
A country priest has a crisis of faith in First Reformed. Reverend Toller (Ethan Hawke) is the pastor of the First Reformed parish, a historic yet poorly attended Dutch Reform church. Toller is approached by Mary (Amanda Seyfried), a pregnant parishioner, who asks Toller to talk to her husband, an environmentalist, whose despair about the […]
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
A woman seeks justice for the unsolved murder of her daughter in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. Seven months after the rape and murder of her daughter Angela, Mildred Hayes (Frances McDormand) rents three billboards on an isolated road criticizing the police department’s supposed lack of progress on the case, specifically calling out Chief Bill Willoughby (Woody […]
The Ritual
Four friends lost in the woods are chased by a mythical creature in The Ritual. Six months after the tragic murder of their fried Robert (Paul Reid), Luke (Rafe Spall), Hodge (Robert James-Collier), Phil (Arsher Ali), and Dom (Sam Troughton) go on a hiking trip in the Swedish highlands. After Dom injures his knee in […]
PROTOTYPE
Toronto-based experimental filmmaker Blake Williams makes his feature debut with PROTOTYPE. Through the use of 3D imagery, footage of the 1900 Galveston Hurricane is turned into a sci-fi landscape. The thing that attracted me to Blake Williams’ PROTOTYPE is the film’s description as a 3D experimental film with sci-fi imagery. However, the film turns out to be […]
The Killing of a Sacred Deer
A heart surgeon must make a horrible choice in The Killing of a Sacred Deer. Steven Murphy (Colin Farrell) is a cardiac surgeon living a seemingly happy life with his wife Anna (Nicole Kidman) and two children. Steven develops a paternal relationship with Martin (Barry Keoghan), a 16 year old boy, whose father died on Steven’s operating table […]
The Trip to Spain
Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon go on their third culinary road trip in The Trip to Spain. Asked once again to write a series of restaurant reviews, Steve and Rob leave for a trip across Spain. For Rob, it’s a chance to have a break from his busy family life with his wife Sally (Rebecca […]
The Night of the Virgin
A young virgin gets more than he bargained for one New Year’s Eve in The Night of the Virgin. Nico (Javier Bódalo) was dragged to a New Year’s Eve party by friends and desperate to find a girl to take his virginity. Nico attracts the attention of Medea (Miriam Martín), who takes him home to her […]
Dunkirk
Thousands of soldiers seek rescue during World War II in Dunkirk. During the Second World War, 400,000 British and French soldiers are surrounded by the enemy on a beach in the town of Dunkirk, located in the north of France. The attempted evacuation of the soldiers are told from three perspectives. On land, told over […]
Baby Driver
A young and skilled getaway driver wants out from a life of crime in Baby Driver. Baby (Ansel Elgort) is a young man, who has been working as a getaway driver in order to pay off a debt to crime boss Doc (Kevin Spacey). Baby hopes to be done with Doc after his debt is […]
I, Daniel Blake
An elderly man struggles to receive government assistance in I, Daniel Blake. Daniel Blake (Dave Johns) is a 59 year old carpenter in Newcastle, who has been out of work following a heart attack. After a work capability assessment by the government support centre, Daniel is deemed fit for work and denied employment and support allowance, […]
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
Captain Jack Sparrow avoids vengeful pirate ghosts while searching for the Trident of Poseidon in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. Henry Turner (Brenton Thwaites), the son of Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), is desperate to locate the Trident of Poseidon, which has the power to break all the curses of the sea, hence freeing his […]
Alien: Covenant
The following review contains SPOILERS A crew of colonists come across a planet holding a dark secret in Alien: Covenant. The colony ship Covenant is on its way to the remote planet of Origae-6, with two thousand colonists on board, monitored by synthetic crew member Walter (Michael Fassbender). When a neutrino burst hits the ship, Walter is […]
Whitney “Can I Be Me”
The troubled career of Whitney Houston is revisited in Whitney “Can I Be Me”. Whitney Houston was born in Newark, New Jersey as was the daughter of gospel singer Cissy Houston and cousin of Dionne Warwick. Releasing her first album in her early question, Houston quickly rose to the top of the pop charts, but was […]
The Workers Cup
Migrant workers building the infrastructure for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar participate in a soccer tournament in The Workers Cup. In 2022, the Middle Eastern country of Qatar will play host to the FIFA World Cup. To prepare for the event, workers are brought in from India, Nepal, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Ghana, and Kenya to […]
Do Donkeys Act?
Willem Dafoe narrates life in a donkey sanctuary in Do Donkeys Act? At a “retirement home for donkeys,” the animals recover from cruelty and neglect at the hands of humans. As the donkeys get groomed, fed, and give birth, the voice of God narration poetically ponders what exactly the donkeys think of the humans who care […]
Brimstone & Glory
Go behind the scenes of Mexico’s National Pyrotechnics Festival in Brimstone & Glory. Tultepec is considered to be fireworks capital of Mexico, with over two thirds of the population manufacturing the pyrotechnic devices. Every year there is a festival put on in the city in celebration to the Patron of Fireworks San Juan de Dios. The residents […]
Communion
A teenage girl takes care of her autistic brother and struggles to hold her family together in Communion. Ola is 14 year old Polish girl, who has to take care of her household, in lieu of her dysfunctional alcoholic father and absentee mother. This including caring for her autistic brother Nikodem, who is about to receive […]
Free Fire
A arms deal devolves into a shootout in Free Fire. IRA members Chris (Cillian Murphy) and Frank (Michael Smiley) arrive at a warehouse in 1978 Boston to perform an arms deal, arranged by their intermediary Justine (Brie Larson). They are soon met by representative Ord (Armie Hammer), who leads them to conduct business with South African […]
The Zookeeper’s Wife
The keepers of the Warsaw Zoo shelter Jews during World War II in The Zookeeper’s Wife. Antonina Zabinski (Jessica Chastain) is a woman who runs the Warsaw Zoo with her husband Jan (Johan Heldenbergh). However, after the German invasion of Poland, the zoo is left in shambles, with most of the animals either killed or taken […]
Prevenge
A pregnant woman seeks vengeance against those responsible for the death of her husband in Prevenge. Ruth (Alice Lowe) is a window, whose husband died in a climbing accident, after being cut loose by those he was climbing with. At the same time she found out about her husband’s death, Ruth also discovers that she […]
T2 Trainspotting
Danny Boyle returns to the characters from Irvine Welsh’s novels two decades later in T2 Trainspotting. After living in Amsterdam, Mark Renton (Ewan McGregor) returns to Edinburgh twenty years after stealing the money from a drug deal and is reunited with his old friends Daniel “Spud” Murphy (Ewen Bremner) and Simon “Sick Boy” Williamson (Jonny Lee Miller), who […]
The Girl with All the Gifts
A young girls holds the cure for a zombie outbreak in The Girl with All the Gifts. In the near future, humanity has been ravaged by a fungal disease that has left the population dominated by flesh-eating “hungries.” At a British army base headed by Sgt Eddie Parks (Paddy Considine), research is done by Dr […]
Kong: Skull Island
A group of explorers travel to and island ruled by a giant ape in Kong: Skull Island. Bill Randa (John Goodman) is a government official, who is made in charge of an expedition to the uncharted skull island. The expedition is escorted by a platoon of soldiers fresh out of the Vietnam War, lead by Lieutenant […]
My Scientology Movie
BBC journalist Louis Theroux sets out to make a film about Scientology in My Scientology Movie. The Church of Scientology is probably one of the most controversial organizations in the world. Combining spirituality and technology, Scientology is most well-known for the number of celebrities among its membership, most infamously Tom Cruise. Louis Theroux and director John Dowler set […]
The Founder
An entrepreneurial salesman turns a family owned burger stand into the world’s largest fast food chain in The Founder. Ray Kroc (Michael Keaton) is a traveling milkshake machine salesman, who becomes curious when an unusually large order to made by a burger stand in San Bernardino, California. Travelling to the stand, Ray meats brother Dick and Mac […]
Oasis: Supersonic
The story of the band Oasis’ quick rise from unknown signings to one of the biggest bands in the UK is retold in Oasis: Supersonic. Lead by brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher, Oasis began as a small garage band in Manchester, England. Thanks to the strong songwriting from Noel, Oasis quickly found themselves signed to Alan McGee’s […]
Werewolf
This review was originally posted as part of my coverage of TIFF 2016 Two homeless lovers choose different paths for each other in Werewolf. Blaise (Andrew Gillis) and Nessa (Bhreagh MacNeil) are two homeless recovering drug addicts. In between trips to get their daily dose of methadone, the two lovers go door-to-door offering to mow lawns for cash. […]
Silence
Two 17th century Jesuit priests find their faith tested as they search for their mentor in Japan in Silence. Jesuit priest Alessandro Valignano (Ciarán Hinds) receives word that the long lost missionary Cristóvão Ferreira (Liam Neeson) has apostatized his faith after being tortured by the anti-Christian Japanese inquisitor Inoue Masashige (Issey Ogata). Ferreira’s pupils Father Sebastião Rodrigues (Andrew […]
The Autopsy of Jane Doe
A father and son perform a late night autopsy on a mysterious female corpse in The Autopsy of Jane Doe. At a grisly crime scene, Sheriff Sheldon (Michael McElhatton) finds a body of of a woman partially buried in the basement. Wanting answers to how this woman died, Sheldon sends the body to the Tilden Morgue […]
One More Time with Feeling
Nick Cave tries to move past personal tragedy, as he finishes the recording of his latest album in One More Time with Feeling. In the summer of 2015, as he was in the process of writing and recording his latest album “Skeleton Tree,” musician Nick Cave’s 15 year old son Arthur died in a tragic […]
Lion
An Indian man raised in Australia tries to find his hometown with the help of Google Earth in Lion. Saroo (Sunny Pawar) is an Indian boy living with his mother Kamla (Priyanka Bose) and older brother Guddu (Abhishek Bharate) in an impoverished neighborhood. One day Saroo accompanies Guddu on trip and is left by his […]
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Return for a new adventure in the Wizarding World in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) is an eccentric wizard and collector of magical creatures, which he keeps in his enchanted suitcase. Shortly after arriving in 1926 New York on business, Newt comes across a demonstration by “New Salemers,” who include […]
You’ve Been Trumped Too
Donald Trump’s promises during his 2016 presidential campaign are contrasted with the ongoing hardships of those in Aberdeen, Scotland in You’ve Been Trumped Too. Five years ago, Donald Trump built a high end golf course on environmentally protected land in Aberdeen, Scotland. The most vocal opponents of the course were Michael Forbes and his 92 […]
The Beatles: Eight Days a Week – The Touring Years
Ron Howard directs this look back at the peak of Beatlemania in The Beatles: Eight Days a Week – The Touring Years. Following the release of their debut album “Please Please Me” in 1963, The Beatles became an overnight success around the world. Over the course of the next three years, the band would release […]
Off the Rails
A man with Asperger’s Syndrome spent more than 30 years impersonating train conductors in Off the Rails. Since childhood, Darius McCollum has loved trains. Trains were a place where he could find solace from the bullying he experienced in school. He befriended the subway operators in New York City and at the age of 15 he drove […]
Into the Inferno
Werner Herzog teams up with scientist Clive Oppenheimer to explore the world’s volcanoes in Into the Inferno. Ten years ago, Werner Herzog met volcanologist Clive Oppenheimer while in Antarctica working on his doc Encounters at the End of the World. Together they reunite to explore active volcanoes around the world, particularly focusing on the mythology expressed by the […]
Dog Eat Dog
Three ex-cons get together for one last job in Dog Eat Dog. Troy (Nicolas Cage) has just gotten out of prison and is reunited with his crew of Mad Dog (Willem Dafoe) and Diesel (Christopher Matthew Cook). Looking for one big score to retire on, Troy accepts a job from El Grecco (Paul Schrader), which involves kidnapping a […]
The Autopsy of Jane Doe
A father and son perform a late night autopsy on a mysterious female corpse in The Autopsy of Jane Doe. At a grisly crime scene, Sheriff Sheldon (Michael McElhatton) finds a body of of a woman partially buried in the basement. Wanting answers to how this woman died, Sheldon sends the body to the Tilden […]
Werewolf
Two homeless lovers choose different paths for each other in Werewolf. Blaise (Andrew Gillis) and Nessa (Bhreagh MacNeil) are two homeless recovering drug addicts. In between trips to get their daily dose of methadone, the two lovers go door-to-door offering to mow lawns for cash. Nessa begins to take her road to recovery more seriously, seeking out […]
Kubo and the Two Strings
A boy goes on a quest for his father’s samurai armour in Kubo and the Two Strings. Kubo (Art Parkinson) is a boy who lives with his mother in a small village, where he tells stories to the villagers about his samurai father Hanzo, using magical origami controlled by Kubo’s shamisen. One day Kubo ignores […]
Embers
A group of people try to exist in a world without memory in Embers. After a global epidemic, the population of the world have forgotten how to remember. Various people try to move on with their lives, including a guy (Jason Ritter) and a girl (Iva Gocheva), who are supposedly lovers, a teacher (Tucker Smallwood) […]
The BFG
Steven Spielberg brings the novel by Roald Dahl to life on the big screen with The BFG. Sophie (Ruby Barnhill) is an orphan girl, who is one night taken away by a Big Friendly Giant (Mark Rylance). The BFG turns out to be a kind soul, who captures dreams to give to children. However, the other […]
The Conjuring 2
Ed and Lorraine Warren investigate a haunting in north London in The Conjuring 2. After assisting the Perron family, Ed and Lorraine (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) go on to investigate a haunting in Amityville, Long Island, which gives them both public fame and increased criticism by skeptics. Meanwhile in Enfield, North London, Peggy Hodgson (Frances O’Connor) begins […]
High-Rise
A new resident of a high-rise tower finds himself in the middle of battle between the classes in High-Rise. Dr. Robert Laing (Tom Hiddleston) is a physiologist, who has just moved into the 25th floor of a state of the art forty story London high-rise tower designed by architect Anthony Royal (Jeremy Irons), who lives in the […]
Another Country
Actor David Gulpilil talks about the treatment of Australia’s indigenous population in Another Country. Ramingining is an isolated indigenous community 500 kilometres east of Darwin, Australia. The area was once the centre of Yolngu culture, where the people lived a self-sufficient lifestyle in the bush. However, the Australian government came in and built the community, forcing the Yolngu to […]
The Happy Film
Graphic designer Stefan Sagmeister explores his own happiness in The Happy Film. For his latest graphic design project, Stefan Sagmeister has decided to find out what is the best path towards happiness. Sagmeister sets off to try meditation, therapy, and meditation for three months each and record the results of each trial. There is a title […]
Gary Numan: Android in La La Land
Musician Gary Numan prepares to make a comeback after a six year hiatus in Gary Numan: Androd in La La Land. Since arriving on the music scene in the late-1970s Gary Numan has come to be known as the Godfather of electronic pop music, with him having a career spanning nearly four decades. After taking […]
My Scientology Movie
BBC journalist Louis Theroux sets out to make a film about Scientology in My Scientology Movie. The Church of Scientology is probably one of the most controversial organizations in the world. Combining spirituality and technology, Scientology is most well-known for the number of celebrities among its membership, most infamously Tom Cruise. Louis Theroux and director John Dowler […]
Off the Rails
A man with Asperger’s Syndrome spent more than 30 years impersonating train conductors in Off the Rails. Since childhood, Darius McCollum has loved trains. Trains were a place where he could find solace from the bullying he experienced in school. He befriended the subway operators in New York City and at the age of 15 he […]
Bobby Sands: 66 Days
The hunger strike of Irish Republican Bobby Sands is recounted in Bobby Sands: 66 Days. By 1981, the troubles in Northern Ireland have been going on for more than two decades. Imprisoned IRA members, such as Bobby Sands, demanded to be considered political prisoners, rather than common criminals. Inspired by ancient Gaelic laws, Sands and […]
League of Exotique Dancers
The legends of burlesque tell their story in League of Exotique Dancers. The various pioneers and legends of burlesque, such as Delilah Jones, Lovey Goldmine, Judith Stein, and Camille 2000, are invited to perform at the Legends of Burlesque Hall of Fame in Las Vegas. These performers tell their story about working in an era when there were very […]
Sing Street
From writer/director John Carney (Once) comes this coming of age story set within the new wave/new romantic era of the mid-1980s. Conor (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo) is a 15-year old teenager living in 1985 Dublin. When his family sends him to the Synge Street Christian Brothers School, Conor immediately finds himself targeted by bullies and the strict headmaster. […]
The Witch
A family in 1630s New England is torn apart by suspected witchcraft in The Witch. William (Ralph Ineson) and Katherine (Kate Dickie) live a devout Christian life with their five children on an isolated farm surrounded by woods. Beginning with the sudden disappearance of their newborn son, the family begins to experience an unexplained string of […]
Deadpool
The “merc with a mouth” receives the big screen treatment in Deadpool. Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) is a wise cracking mercenary, who finds love with the beautiful prostitute Vanessa (Morena Baccarin). However, Wade finds out that he has late-stage cancer, which results in him enrolling in a program headed by Ajax (Ed Skrein), who ends […]
Nina Forever
A young woman enters into a love triangle with the ghost of her new beau’s dead girlfriend in Nina Forever. Holly (Abigail Hardingham) is a paramedical student and supermarket worker, who decides to pursue a relationship with her co-worker Rob (Cian Barry), despite the emotional baggage of the fact that he is still grieving over his […]
Hail, Caesar!
The Coen Brothers play homage to classic Hollywood in the kidnapping comedy Hail, Caesar!. Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin) is the head of production at Capital Pictures, who is supervising the production of multiple motion pictures, the highest profile of which being the biblical epic Hail, Caesar! A Story of The Christ. When the film’s star Baird Whitlock […]
The Fear of 13
A death row prisoner tells his story in The Fear of 13. After spending 23 years on death row, convicted murderer Nick Yarris decides to drop all appeals and ask to be executed. Through one highly performative monologue, Yarris tells his story and why he ultimately reached this final decision. From British documentary filmmaker David Sington comes […]
45 Years
A woman rethinks her relationship with her husband in 45 Years. Kate and Geoff Mercer (Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay) are a couple a few days away from their 45th wedding anniversary. Geoff receives the news from that the body of his ex-girlfriend Katya has been found in the Swiss Alps, more than fifty years after her […]
Anomalisa
A lonely self-help author finds a connection with an anomaly of a woman in Anomalisa. Self help author Michael Stone (David Thewlis) has traveled to Cincinnati, Ohio to promote his latest book at a hotel customer service convention. However, Michael is an incredibly lonely man, who perceives everyone (Tom Noonan) as exactly the same. However, […]
Brooklyn
A young Irish immigrant adjusts to like in America in Brooklyn. Eilis (Saoirse Ronan) is a young woman from a small Irish town, who is arranged by her older sister to go to the US for a better future, with priest and sponsor Father Flood (Jim Broadbent) arranging for Eilis’ accommodation and employment. Eilis is initially incredibly […]
Carol
A young aspiring photographer has an affair with an older woman in Carol. Therese Belivet (Rooney Mara) is an aspiring photographer in her twenties working in a department store. One day she meets Carol Aird (Cate Blanchett), a middle-aged housewife, who is in the beginnings of a bitter divorce with her husband Harge (Kyle Chandler). Therese and […]
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Warning: Those wanting to avoid specific plot details are best advised NOT to proceed further. The Star Wars saga continues with Episode VII The Force Awakens. It has been 30 years since the defeat of the Galactic Empire. Out of its ashes arisen the First Order headed by Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis), who commands dark Force user Kylo Ren […]
Legend
Tom Hardy stars as the infamous London gangsters The Krays in Legend. Reggie and Ronnie Kray (Hardy) are twin gangsters in London during the 1960s. Reggie, the more level-headed of the two, fronts his criminal enterprises as the head of a nightclub, white Ronnie is a mentally unstable violent psychotic. All the while, the actions […]
Room
A young boy and his mother adjust to life outside the confined quarters where they lived in Room. Jack (Jacob Tremblay) is a five year old boy, who has only known existence in “room,” where he lived with his mother Joy (Brie Larson). Joy has tried her best to shelter Jack from the truth of […]
Theeb
A young Bedouin boy experiences a greatly hastened coming of age as he embarks on a perilous desert journey in Theeb. Theeb (Jacir Eid Al-Hwietat) is the youngest of three brothers living in a Bedouin tribe in the harsh desert environment of the Ottoman Empire’s Hejaz Province in 1916. When a British officer (Jack Fox) comes across […]
Spectre
Agent 007 faces his greatest adversary in Spectre. Going against orders from MI6, James Bond (Daniel Craig) tracks down a criminal organization, whose members wear rings with the insignia of an octopus. Bond finds that this organization, known as SPECTRE, is lead by Franz Oberhauser (Christoph Waltz), a presumed dead man from Bond’s past. Bond tracks […]
Steve Jobs
The story of Apple’s co-founder is told through behind-the-scenes interactions before three production launches in Steve Jobs. Under the backdrop of the launches for the Macintosh in 1984, NeXT Computer in 1988, and iMac in 1988, Steve Jobs (Michael Fassbender) has repeated behind-the-scenes interactions with various individuals. Thiss includes stressed out marketing executive Joanna Hoffman […]
The Martian
An astronaut finds himself stranded on the surface of Mars in The Martian. Mark Watney (Matt Damon) is a botanist on the Ares III mission to Mars, lead by commander Melissa Lewis (Jessica Chastain). When a storm results in an emergency evacuation, Mark is hit with debris and presumed dead. However, it turns out that Mark survived […]
Love
Warning: The content described in this review is only suitable for people 18 years or older. Reader discretion is advised.Controversial filmmaker Gaspar Noé (Enter the Void) mixes romantic drama with explicit sex in Love. Murphy (Karl Glusman) is an American film student, who begins an extremely passionate relationship with Parisian artist Electra (Aomi Muyock). Featuring a […]
The Idol
A young refugee from Gaza goes on to win Arab Idol in The Idol. Mohamad Assaf grew up in the the troubled Palestinian region of Gaza. As a ten year old, he formed a band with his older sister Nour, who recognized Mohamad’s immense singing talent. Many years later, Mohamad Assaf would sneak out of Gaza on a fake […]
London Road
The residents of the rural town of Ipswitch struggle to cope with a serial killer in their midst in the stage musical adaptation London Road. In 2006, five prostitutes were found murdered in Ipswitch and the residents of London Road were interviewed about the murders and how they are dealing with the fact that someone […]
Amy
The rise and fall of singer Amy Winehouse is shown in Amy. Beginning her career as a teenager, young British jazz singer Amy Winehouse quickly rose to fame. However, following the international success of her second album “Back to Black,” Winehouse found herself struggling with a substance abuse problem, which would eventually claim her life. […]
Sinister 2
Another family is targeted by the evil deity Bughuul in Sinister 2. Following the events of the first film, Ex-Deputy So & So (James Ransone) has committed himself to investigating Bughuul and ensuring that it does not cause anymore deaths. So & So’s investigation leads him to an apparently abandoned farmhouse, but he arrives to find it occupied […]
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
A CIA agent teams up with a KGB operative to stop a terrorist plot in The Man from U.N.C.L.E.. Napoleon Solo (Henry Cavill) is an ex-con, who has become one of the CIA’s best agents. He is assigned to recruit Gaby Teller (Alicia Vikander) and get her help in locating her Nazi scientist father. For the mission, Solo […]
A Hard Day
A detective becomes the victim of blackmail in A Hard Day. On his way to his mother’s funeral, Detective Ko Gun-soo (Sun-kyun Lee) accidentally runs over an individual in the middle of the road. Detective Ko tries to cover up this hit-and-run and, right when it appears that he has succeeded, he receives a call from […]
Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation
Tom Cruise and team return for a fifth mission, this time against a rogue “anti-IMF” agency. Ethan Hunt (Cruise) discovers proof of the existence of a criminal organization known as The Syndicate, lead by Solomon Lane (Sean Harris). However, since CIA director Alan Hunley (Alec Baldwin) successfully campaigned for the IMF to be disbanded, Hunt is left […]
Nina Forever
A young woman enters into a love triangle with the ghost of her new beau’s dead girlfriend in Nina Forever. Holly (Abigail Hardingham) is a paramedical student and supermarket worker, who decides to pursue a relationship with her co-worker Rob (Cian Barry), despite the emotional baggage of the fact that he is still grieving over […]
Catch Me Daddy
A Pakistani girl and her boyfriend go on the run from thugs hired by her father in Catch Me Daddy. Laila (Sameena Jabeen Ahmed) is a hairstylist living with her boyfriend Aaron (Connor McCarron) in a trailer in West Yorkshire. Laila’s estranged father wants her to come back home and hires a group of Pakistani […]
Monty Python: The Meaning of Live
This review was originally published as part of my coverage of Hot Docs 2015 The famed comedy troupe reunites on stage for the final time in Monty Python: The Meaning of Live. For the first time in 34 years, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin reunite on stage for a series […]
Big Game
The President of the United States relies on a 13 year old Finnish boy for survival in the action/adventure Big Game. Oskari (Onni Tommila) is a boy in Northern Finland, who is sent out into the wilderness on a coming-of-age hunting trip. He comes across the escape pod of US President William Allen Moore (Samuel L. […]
Slow West
A young Scottish man recruits a gruff outlaw to help find his love in Slow West. Jay Cavendish (Kodi Smit-McPhee) has traveled from Scotland to America to locate Rose Ross (Caren Pistorius), the object of Jay’s affections, who fled Scotland some time ago with her father John (Rory McCann). While heading west, Jay comes across Silas Selleck […]
Tomorrowland
A teenage girl finds a pin that leads her to a futuristic city in Tomorrowland. Casey Newton (Britt Robertson) is a troublesome teen, who is arrested when she is caught trying to sabotage the deconstruction of the former Cape Canaveral NASA launch site. When she makes bail, Casey finds a pin, which provides her with […]
Ex Machina
A computer programmer is assigned to test an artificial intelligent being in Ex Machina. Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson) is programmer working for the world’s largest search engine Bluebook. Caleb wins a company lottery and is flown to the isolated home of Bluebook’s CEO Nathan (Oscar Isaac). Nathan has developed an artificial intelligent robot named Ava (Alicia […]
The Creeping Garden
The fascinating world of the plasmodial slime mould is explored in The Creeping Garden. The plasmodial slime mould is an organism typically found around rotting logs, which can be described as a mix between a fungus and an animal. Sporting a primitive intelligence, slime moulds fascinate scientists, who perform a wide variety of experiments. The […]
Chuck Norris vs. Communism
Citizens in communist Romania find an escape in the form of bootlegged VHS action films in Chuck Norris vs. Communism. In the 1980s, Romania was under control by a communist dictatorship, where citizens’ only view of the outside world came from bootlegged American films, which were viewed at secret screening parties. The tapes were imported […]
Western
The changing relationship between two U.S./Mexico border towns are explored in Western. The towns of Eagle Pass, Texas and Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico have had a friendship with each other for generations, with Eagle Pass’ mayor Chad Foster being well known on both sides of the border. However, an increase of drug cartel violence in […]
Out to Win
The lives and careers of LGBT athletes are examined in Out to Win. In 2014, Michael Sam made headlines by becoming the first openly gay player to be drafted into the NFL. Using this as a stepping stone, the history of LGBT athletes are told, from NFL player David Kopay in the 1970s to to […]
Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Story of the National Lampoon
The history of the the infamous national humour magazine is told in Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Story of the National Lampoon. National Lampoon was founded in 1969 by Doug Kenney, Henry Beard and Robert Hoffman, as a national spin-off of the Harvard Lampoon. The magazine was known for its boundary-pushing satirical content, which often […]
Monty Python: The Meaning of Live
The famed comedy troupe reunites on stage for the final time in Monty Python: The Meaning of Live. For the first time in 34 years, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin reunite on stage for a series of performances at the O2 theatre in London. The group is followed through […]
Stand by for Tape Back-up
An old VHS tape becomes a conduit for memories in the experimental essay film Stand by for Tape Back-up. Inspired by the synchronicity that comes from watching The Wizard of Oz, while listening to Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon, Ross Sutherland pulls out an old VHS cassette that he shared with his grandfather. […]
Listen to Me Marlon
Previously unreleased recordings of Marlon Brando narrate the story of his career in Listen to Me Marlon. Throughout his lifetime, Marlon Brando kept an archive of over 200 hours of personal audio recordings. These recordings are used to get inside the notoriously reclusive actor’s head, as he provides a reflection on his career, as well […]
Tig
Comedian Tig Notaro had the worst few months of her life in 2012 when she was experienced a life-threatening infection, the death of her mother, and a break-up, all before being diagnosed with bilateral breast cancer. Notaro decided to turn her situation into material for a stand-up set on August 3, 2012, at the Largo […]
Monsoon
From filmmaker Sturla Gunnarsson (Force of Nature) comes this meditation on the torrential rains of India. Beginning around June of every year, the annual monsoons decent upon India. This incomparably vast weather system affects the country in multiple different ways, including being India’s primary source of water for drinking and farming. Over the course of […]
Kingsman: The Secret Service
From director Matthew Vaughn (Kick-Ass, X-Men: First Class) comes this adaptation of the spy comic book series “The Secret Service” by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons. Harry Hart (Colin Firth), code name Galahad, is a member of an independently operated spy agency known as the Kingsmen. When an agent codenamed Lancelot is killed in the […]
Still Alice
Julianne Moore plays a 50 year old woman suffering from early onset Alzheimer’s disease in the drama Still Alice. Alice Howland (Moore) is an esteemed linguistics professor at Columbia University, who has recently celebrated her 50th birthday. Alice begins to forget small details about her life and decides to get tested by a neurologist, where […]
The Theory of Everything
The life of theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking and his relationship with his wife Jane is at the centre of biopic The Theory of Everything. Stephen Hawking (Eddie Redmayne) is an astrophysics student, who meets Jane Wilde while studying at Cambridge University. The two quickly hit it off and begin a romantic relationship, but things get […]
The 50 Year Argument
Martin Scorsese and David Tedeschi directs this look back at the 50 year history of the New York Review of Books. In 1963, founders Robert B. Silvers and Barbara Epstein, along with publisher A. Whitney Ellsworth and writer Elizabeth Hardwick, took advantage of the New York printers’ strike to establish the New York Review of […]
Selma
The fight for the voting rights of African Americans is at the centre of the historical drama Selma. Shortly after winning the Nobel Peace Prize for leading the Civil Rights Movement, Martin Luther King Jr. (David Oyelowo) sets his sights on the town of Selma, Alabama, which imposes strict restrictions on black citizens, who try […]
Citizenfour
Documentary filmmaker Laura Poitras completes her trilogy about post-9/11 America with this film about the man who blew the whistle on wiretapping and information collection done by the NSA. In January 2013, Laura Poitras receives a series of encrypted e-mail from a man calling himself “citizen four.” The contact is ready and willing to blow […]
Into the Woods
Rob Marshall (Chicago) directs this big screen adaptation of the Broadway musical by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine. A baker (James Corden) and his wife (Emily Blunt) live in a village and are desperate for a child. The couple are confronted by a witch (Meryl Streep), who tells them that they can’t have kids because […]
Interstellar
From Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight Trilogy, Inception) comes the science fiction epic Interstellar. At an unspecified point in the future, global warming has affected the Earth to the point where dust storms are a regular occurrence and the focus of humanity has moved from technology to agriculture, in order to maintain the shrinking food […]
Blindspot 2014: Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
With the new exhibition on Stanley Kubrick opening at the TIFF Bell Lightbox, I decided to make one of Kubrick’s films my Blindspot selection for November. The film that I decided to go with, and saw theatrically at the Bell Lightbox this afternoon, was the cold war comedy Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to […]
ABCs of Death 2
Once again, 26 filmmakers present 26 ways to die in the horror anthology ABCs of Death 2. As with the first film, each of the filmmakers were given creative freedom to create a short segment corresponding to the letter of the alphabet they were assigned, with each ending in a highly creative and often gory […]
The Guest
The writer-director duo of Simon Barrett and Adam Wingard (You’re Next) return with this action-thriller about a mysterious visitor, who is not all that he seems. One day, the Peterson family is visited by a man named David (Dan Stevens), who claims to be a friend of their deceased soldier son Caleb. While Caleb’s parents […]
Hector and the Search for Happiness
A British psychiatrist goes on a soul searching journey for happiness in Hector and the Search for Happiness. Hector (Simon Pegg) is a London psychiatrist, who lives a tidy, uncomplicated, satisfactory life with his girlfriend Clara (Rosamund Pike). After a particularly bad day, Hector decides that he needs to get away and find out the […]
Coherence
Indie Spotlight is a series focusing on reviews of independent films This review may contain SPOILERS Strange things happen at a dinner party in the indie sci-fi film Coherence. A group of eight friends, Em (Emily Foxler), Kevin (Maury Sterling), Mike (Nicholas Brendon), Beth (Elizabeth Gracen), Amir (Alex Manugian), Laurie (Lauren Maher), Hugh (Hugo Armstrong), […]
The Guest
The writer-director duo of Simon Barrett and Adam Wingard (You’re Next) return with this action-thriller about a mysterious visitor, who is not all that he seems. One day, the Peterson family is visited by a man named David (Dan Stevens), who claims to be a friend of their deceased soldier son Caleb. While Caleb’s parents […]
Hector and the Search for Happiness
A British psychiatrist goes on a soul searching journey for happiness in Hector and the Search for Happiness. Hector (Simon Pegg) is a London psychiatrist, who lives a tidy, uncomplicated, satisfactory life with his girlfriend Clara (Rosamund Pike). After a particularly bad day, Hector decides that he needs to get away and find out the […]
The Duke of Burgundy
Director Peter Strickland (Berberian Sound Studio) returns with an examination of the complex nature of S&M relationships in The Duke of Burgundy. Cynthia (Sidse Babett Knudsen) is a wealthy butterfly expert, who has a complicated relationship with her housekeeper and lesbian lover Evelyn (Chiara D’Anna), who thrives on Cynthia treating her cruelly in a master/slave […]
Pride
A group of gay activists finds a common cause with a group of striking Welsh miners in the true story Pride. Set in 1984, while the UK was still under the rule of Margaret Thatcher, a young gay activist named Mark (Ben Schnetzer) decides to raise money to support striking miners in Wales, forming a […]
Big Game
The President of the United States relies on a 13 year old Finnish boy for survival in the action/adventure Big Game. Oskari (Onni Tommila) is a boy in Northern Finland, who is sent out into the wilderness on a coming-of-age hunting trip. He comes across the escape pod of US President William Allen Moore (Samuel […]
The Trip to Italy
British comedians Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon return as fictional versions of themselves in director Michael Winterbottom’s The Trip to Italy. After the success of their previous restaurant-going road trip, Steve and Rob are asked to go on a second trip, this time around Italy. The two travel to many locations around the country, including […]
Sin City: A Dame to Kill For
Nine years after the original, Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller return for more tales from Sin City. In the titular story A Dame to Kill For, photographer Dwight McCarthy (Josh Brolin) is approached for a favour by his highly seductive ex-lover Ava Lord (Eva Green). However, Dwight soon gets more than he bargained for and […]
Frank
An experimental music group is lead by an eccentric man in a papier-mâché head in the indie comedy-drama Frank. Jon (Domhnall Gleeson) is a wannabe musician, who stumbles upon a band called “Soronprfbs,” who are trying to stop their keyboardist from drowning himself in the ocean. Needing an extra man for their performance that night, […]
Guardians of the Galaxy
A new team of Marvel heroes hits the big screen with the comedic sci-fi adventure Guardians of the Galaxy. Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), aka Star-Lord, is a human outlaw, who was abducted as a child and raised by a group of Ravagers, lead by Yondu (Michael Rooker). Quill comes into possession of a sphere-like artifact, […]
Lucy
French auteur Luc Besson (Leon: The Professional) returns with the sci-fi/action film Lucy. Lucy (Scarlett Johansson) is a 25 year old American woman, who finds herself forced to deliver a case of an experimental drug called CPH4 to Taiwanese gangster Mr. Jang (Choi Min-sik). Lucy finds herself captured and forced to smuggle the drug, which […]
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
The stakes are raised in the second film of this rebooted Planet of the Apes series. In the decade since the first film, the drug that has made apes smarter has also resulted in a global pandemic that killed half the world’s human population. Caesar (Andy Serkis) has been living a peaceful existence with the […]
Filth
Indie Spotlight is a series focusing on reviews of independent films Based on the novel by Irving Welsh (Trainspotting), Filth focuses on Detective Sergeant Bruce Robertson (James McAvoy), a chauvinist Scottish police officer, who is determined to get promoted to inspector. With his young partner Ray Lennox (Jamie Bell), Bruce sets off to solve a […]
Locke
Tom Hardy stars in this single location drama as a man having the worst night of his life on a drive to London. Ivan Locke (Hardy) is a dedicated family man and successful construction manager, who leaves behind an important job in Birmingham, in order to drive to London and make right one of his […]
Only Lovers Left Alive
From cult independent filmmaker Jim Jarmusch (Dead Man, Broken Flowers) comes the brooding vampire romance Only Lovers Left Alive. Adam (Tom Hiddleston) is a centuries-old vampire, who currently lives a reclusive and depressed life in Detroit as a rock musician, with his only contact with the outside world being a human named Ian (Anton Yelchin), […]
The Immortalists
Aubrey de Grey and Bill Andrews are two scientists, who hope to find a way to cure the human aging process. Aubrey is using his company SENS to research ways to clean up the “molecular garbage” that causes aging, while Bill is using his company Sierra Science to find a way to completely reverse the […]
Beyond Clueless
Narrated by Fairuza Balk, Beyond Clueless is a cinematic essay that looks into the mind, body, and soul of the teen movie. The documentary consists clips and examples from over 200 films, including The Craft, Mean Girls, and Euro Trip. Diving headfirst into the psyche of the teen movie, Beyond Clueless focuses on issues, such […]
Pulp: a Film about Life, Death & Supermarkets
Best known for their 1995 hit song “Common People,” British rock band Pulp stopped playing around 2001-02. With frontman Jarvis Cocker wanting to give the band a happy ending, they reunited for a tour of the UK in 2012. Pulp: a Film about Life, Death & Supermarkets follows the band as they prepare to play […]
The Possibilities are Endless
In 2005, Scottish rock musician Edwyn Collins, best known for his 1994 hit “A Girl Like You,” suffered a serious stroke. After waking up, Collins was only able to utter the phrases “Grace Maxwell” (his wife) and “The Possibilities are Endless.” The Possibilities Are Endless places the audience into Collins’ mind as he recovers from […]
A Dangerous Game
In this follow-up to his 2011 documentary You’ve Been Trumped, Scottish director Anthony Baxter gives an update on the fight against Donald Trump’s golf course in Aberdeenshire, while also exploring the larger issue of the wealthy 1% building golf courses on the world’s most fragile ecosystems. Particular attention is given to the historic Croatian town […]
An Honest Liar
During his career, magician James “The Amazing” Randi was known as the greatest escape artist since Harry Houdini. Randi always started his shows by describing himself as a “liar, cheat, and charlatan” and describes magicians as the most honest people, since they tell you that they are going to fool you. This is why Randi […]
Just Eat It: A Food Waste Story
In this follow-up to their 2010 documentary The Clean Bin Project, Just Eat It: A Food Waste Story follows filmmakers Jen Rustemeyer and Grant Baldwin on a six month challenge to live entirely on food waste. One third of all food produced is not consumed, with much of it being thrown away, despite still being […]
American Interior
Welsh musician Gruff Rhys is the distant relative of 18th century explorer John Evans. Evans left Wales for America in 1792, hoping to find a fabled tribe of Welsh-speaking Native Americans. Along the way, Evans was responsible for doing much of the early mapping of the American interior. Hoping to find the location of John […]
Blindspot 2014: Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
For this month’s blindspot, I go back to 1998 and the debut film of British director Guy Ritchie, Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels. Four friends, Eddie (Nick Moran), Tom (Jason Flemyng), Bacon (Jason Statham), and Soap (Dexter Fletcher), pool together £100,000 as the buy-in for a high-stakes card game Eddie is playing against crime […]
Dom Hemingway
Jude Law sleazes it up in the British dark comedy Dom Hemingway. The titular Hemingway (Law) is a foul mouthed, heavy drinking larger-than-life safecracker, who just spent twelve years in prison after refusing to testify against his boss Mr. Fontaine (Demián Bichir). Upon his release, Hemingway immediately reteams with his best friend Dickie Black (Richard […]
Muppets Most Wanted
Following their 2011 comeback, the Muppets return for a world tour and heist hijinks. Not knowing how to proceed after their reunion, the Muppets are approached by Dominic Badguy (Ricky Gervais), who offers to be their manager for a new world tour. However, in reality Dominic is in league with the criminal mastermind Constantine, who […]
Nymphomaniac
From director Lars von Trier (Melancholia) comes this epic two volume story about a woman with a lifelong sex addition. Left beaten and bloodied in an alley, the titular nymphomaniac Joe (Charlotte Gainsbourg) is taken in by the kind stranger Seligman (Stellan Skarsgård). While she recovers in his home, Joe insists to Seligman that she […]
In Fear
Indie Spotlight is a series focusing on reviews of independent films The following review might contain SPOILERS. The British horror thriller In Fear focuses on Tom (Iain De Caestecker) and Lucy (Alice Englert), a young couple on their way to a festival. After stopping off at a pub, during which Tom has some sort of […]
Pompeii
From director Paul W.S. Anderson (Resident Evil) comes the disaster epic Pompeii. Milo (Kit Harington) is a young Celtic gladiator whose entire family was killed by Roman forces lead by Corvus (Kiefer Sutherland). Milo is brought to the city of Pompeii, where he enters a rivalry with gladiator champion Atticus (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) and attracts the […]
Philomena
Finishing off my catching up of the Oscar nominees for Best Picture, I checked out this true story directed by Stephen Frears. When she was younger, Irish woman Philomena Lee (Judi Dench) was forced by nuns to give up her son, born out of wedlock, for adoption, with her also being forced into labour at […]
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit
Based on the characters created by Tom Clancy, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit goes back to the start of the career of the CIA analyst. After being injured during the war in Afghanistan in 2003, Jack Ryan (Chris Pine) is recruited into the CIA by Thomas Harper (Kevin Costner). A decade later, Ryan is working a […]
Inside Llewyn Davis
From directors Joel and Ethan Coen comes this musical drama about a folk singer named Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaac), who struggles to find success in Greenwich Village scene of 1961. Practically homeless, Llewyn resorts to crashing on his friend’s couches, while he watches the greater musical success of his friends Jim (Justin Timberlake) and Jean […]
Frozen
Loosely based on the story The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen, the latest Disney animated film Frozen tells the story of the royal sisters Elsa (Idina Menzel) and Anna (Kristen Bell) in the kingdom of Arendelle. Elsa has the magical ability to create snow and ice, but she is forced to hide these powers […]
12 Years a Slave
From director Steve McQueen (Shame) comes the historical drama 12 Years a Slave. Based on true events, the film tells the story of Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a free black man living Saratoga Springs, New York in the 1840s. A skilled violin player, Northup is lured away by two men offering a touring gig in […]
Gravity
Director Alfonso Cuarón (Children of Men) heads to outer space with the survival epic Gravity. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) is a bio-medical engineer on her first space mission, working with veteran astronaut Matt Kowalski (George Clooney). While performing a spacewalk, doing work on the Hubble Space Telescope, Stone and Kowalski are hit with the debris […]
Insidious: Chapter 2
James Wan returns with his second horror film of the year (and apparently his final one for the foreseeable future). Insidious: Chapter 2 takes place nearly immediately after the events of the previous film and sees Josh and Renai Lambert (Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne) staying with their kids at the house of Josh’s mother […]
Unclaimed
At the end of the Vietnam war, it was claimed that no American soldiers were left behind enemy lines. Director Michael Jorgensen’s documentary Unclaimed somewhat challenges this statement with this story about a man, who is located living in Vietnam and claims to be a long missing American soldier. The film’s main focus, and narrator, […]
Under the Skin
Scarlett Johansson plays a seductive alien temptress in Jonathan Glazer’s Under the Skin, which is loosely adapted from Michel Faber’s 2000 novel of the same name. Laura (Johansson) is an emotionless alien, in the form of attractive female, who drives around Scotland in a white van, looking to lure unsuspecting males back to her home […]
The Double
British comedian Richard Ayoade (The IT Crowd) follows up his directorial debut Submarine with this highly surreal and stylized adaptation of the famous Dostoevsky novella. The Double focuses on Simon James (Jesse Eisenberg), a meek man, who lives a really unnoticeable existence. His boss Mr. Papadopoulos (Wallace Shawn) fails to realize that Simon has been […]
Belle
The issues of race, class, and gender in 18th century Britain are looked at in Amma Asante’s period drama Belle. Dido Elizabeth Belle (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) is the illegitimate, bi-racial daughter of a Royal Navy admiral (Matthew Goode). She is left in the care of her uncle Lord Mansfield (Tom Wilkinson), who raises her, along with […]
A Story of Children and Film
Director Mark Cousins follows up his epic documentary The Story of Film: An Odyssey with this new film that takes a look at depiction of children in cinema. While A Story of Children and Film is fully independent from his previous documentary, Cousins uses the same basic template from The Story of Film to discuss […]
The World’s End
Director Edgar Wright reteams with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost for the final entry of their “Cornetto Trilogy,” which began with Shaun of the Dead in 2004 and continued with Hot Fuzz in 2007. In The World’s End, Gary King (Pegg) is a man pushing middle age, who can’t escape the glory days of his […]
Kick-Ass 2
The teenager who decided to become as superhero is back in Kick-Ass 2. Two years have passed since the events of the first film and Dave Lizewski (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) has vowed to retire his alterego of Kick-Ass, especially since others have now started hitting the streets as superheroes. However, Dave quickly becomes bored of the […]
The Wolverine
The most famous member of the X-Men returns for this Japan-set solo adventure. The Wolverine takes place a number of years after the events of X-Men: The Last Stand and begins with Wolverine (High Jackman) having long since left the X-Men and is now living in seclusion, haunted by visions of the late Jean Grey […]
Much Ado About Nothing
After creating a number of cult classic TV series, such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, and Dollhouse, Joss Whedon finally received some major mainstream success last year as the director of The Avengers. With this huge success behind him, you are left wondering what Whedon would choose to do next. It turns out the […]
Man of Steel
Seven years after he last graced the big screen, Superman returns with a new film, produced by Christopher Nolan (the Dark Knight trilogy) and directed by Zack Snyder (Watchmen), that reboots DC comic’s’ signature hero. The overall story remains the same: With the planet Krypton on the verge of destruction, Jor-El (Russell Crowe) sends his […]
The East
Writer/actress Brit Marling (Another Earth, Sound of My Voice) reteams with Sound of My Voice writer/director Zal Batmanglij for the thriller The East. The film stars Marling as Sarah, who is an operative for an elite private intelligence firm. Sarah is sent undercover to infiltrate an eco-terrorist organization named The East, who use an “eye […]
The Great Hip-Hop Hoax
The music industry is no stranger to hoaxes. In fact, the story of the Milli Vanilli, the pretty-boy duo of the late 1980s, who were exposed as lip-syncers, probably remains the most infamous hoax of music history. However, compared to Silibil n’ Brains, the main subjects of Jeanie Finlay’s documentary The Great Hip-Hop Hoax, Milli […]
Shooting Bigfoot
It’s fun to think about the fact that there is much in our world that has yet to be discovered. For decades, we have heard rumours of creatures that exist in the wilderness. In the Himalayas it is the Abominable Snowman, in Scotland it is the Loch Ness Monster, and here in North America it […]
TPB AWK: The Pirate Bay Away from Keyboard
Continuing right where Napster let off, The Pirate Bay is the world’s largest file-sharing website, generating the bulk of the world’s BitTorrent traffic. While Napster was primarily targeted by the music industry, The Pirate Bay was targeted by Hollywood studios, due to the fact that the BitTorrent protocol allows for the download of large-sized files […]
Tales from the Organ Trade
There are people all over the world, who are desperate in need of a new organ to survive. However, there is not enough supply to meet the demand and there are people who end up waiting years for a qualified donor to appear. As such, some people go to extreme measures and spend thousands of […]
The Kill Team
At one point in Dan Krauss’ war crime documentary The Kill Team, one of the film’s subjects has this to day about the situation he is in: “From the day you join, to the day you’re out, your job as infantry is to kill everything that gets in your way. Why are you pissed off […]
Pussy Riot – A Punk Prayer
It would be understandable if someone assumed that Russia was better place, more than two decades after the fall of the Soviet Union. However, when Vladimir Putin once again became president of Russia after a change in the law removing term limits, you have to wonder if Russia just exchanged communism for an ultra right […]
Trance
After playing the awards game with the Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire and Oscar-nominated 127 Hours, director Danny Boyle returns to dishing out his unique take on genre films. In the case of Trance, what starts off as a fairly ordinary heist film, turns into psychological thriller in which the main protagonist begins to doubt the reality […]
The Disappeared
The Disappeared tells the story of six shipwreck survivors stranded on two life boats in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. The crew consists of Captain Gerald (Brian Downey), Mannie (Billy Campbell), Gib (Ryan Doucette), Pete (Shawn Doyle), Merv (Gary Levert), and Dickie (Neil Matheson). Gerald estimates that they are 600 miles from shore and […]
Stoker
There seems to be a bit of a trend beginning, involving famed Korean directors making North American films. A little over a month ago we saw the release of The Last Stand, which was directed by Jee-woon Kim, who was known in Korea for the films The Good, The Bad, and The Weird and I […]
A Good Day to Die Hard
Since the first Die Hard way back in 1988, the character of John McClane has been Bruce Willis’ signature film character. The series returned after a 12 year absence with 2007’s Live Free or Die Hard and, six years later, John McClane returns for the fifth time with A Good Day to Die Hard. When […]
The Waiting Room
The Waiting Room is a cinéma vérité-style documentary about a public hospital in California. The film just shows the activity at the hospital over the course of the day. The only real narration comes in the form of voiceovers from the staff and patients. At the very least, the film is an interesting look at […]
The Last Stand
It’s been nearly a decade since Arnold Schwarzenegger has had a leading role in an action film, having spent much of that time as Governor of California. After brief supporting roles in the two Expendables films, Schwarzenegger officially makes his return in The Last Stand. The films centres around a small town sheriff (Schwarzenegger), who […]
Les Misérables
Les Misérables is notable for being the first of the few musicals I’ve seen on stage. As such, I was somewhat curious in seeing this new film adaptation directed by Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech). The film stars Hugh Jackman as ex-convict Jean Valjean, Russell Crowe as the determined Inspector Javert, Anne Hathaway as the […]
Searching for Sugar Man
Imagine you are a folk rock singer in the early 1970s, who is discovered in a Detroit bar and signed to record deal. You record a couple records and, even though the music is well-received, the records don’t sell and you are dropped from the label and forgotten about. Now imagine that over twenty years […]
Cloud Atlas
Six weeks into its release, I finally caught up with Cloud Atlas, the epic multi-story film directed by the collaboration of Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run) and Andy and Lana Wachowski (The Matrix). The film is based on the novel of the same name by David Mitchell and features a large ensemble cast that includes […]
Life of Pi
Life of Pi is the new film by director Ang Lee and is about an Indian boy named Pi, who is stranded in a lifeboat after a ship sinks, with his only company being a Bengal tiger. The film is a very spiritual and mystical film and religion plays a very big role in the […]
Argo
I’ve been hearing a lot of good things about Ben Affleck’s third directorial effort Argo, so I thought I should make it a point to see the film while it was still in theatres. Argo is a true story about C.I.A. agent Tony Mendez (Affleck), who travels to Iran, undercover as a film producer, in […]
The Story of Film: An Odyssey
It was definitely one hell of a ride. Over the last two months, I ventured out to watch each instalment of this epic 15 hour documentary. It’s definitely not an easy undertaking, especially since the first episodes, from way back in late September, now seem like a distant memory, compared to the final episodes I […]
Skyfall
This year marks the 50th Anniversary of the James Bond franchise and with it comes the new film Skyfall. It was a decade ago when the Bond series fell victim to excess, including invisible cars and a heavy use CGI stunts. This resulted in the series to strip back and reboot the Bond franchise as […]
Seven Psychopaths
Seven Psychopaths in the follow-up by director Martin McDonagh, who was last seen with the dark comedy In Bruges in 2008. While the previous film had a story that became increasingly dark and dramatic, Seven Psychopaths is very much a comedy – albeit a very dark and violent one. The film has flourishes of the […]
Taken 2
When it was released in 2008, Taken became a surprise hit and started Liam Neeson’s current career path as an action star. That said, there wasn’t really any need for a sequel. The film was seemed like a fairly stand-alone story, which saw Neeson’s ex-spy Bryan Mills tear through Paris looking for his kidnapped daughter. […]
Frankenweenie
Frankenweenie began life as a half hour short film made towards the beginning of Tim Burton’s career in 1984. 28 years later, Burton has expanded Frankenweenie into a feature length, black and white, stop-motion film, which is essentially Burton’s homage to classic horror films. The film, which is directly inspired by Frankenstein, sees a boy […]
Blindspot: A Serious Man
For this month’s blindspot film, I am choosing a release that is only three years old. I highly regretted missing out on the Coen Brothers’ A Serious Man when it was released in 2009, especially after the film went on to receive an Oscar nomination for Best Picture. I suppose that I missed out on […]
Berberian Sound Studio
It so happens that I took a Post-Production sound class last spring and I am quite familiar with the time and effort that it takes to make and record sounds for films. Berberian Sound Studio is about a British sound editor named Gilderoy (Toby Jones), who is called in to do the sound for an Italian […]
The Act of Killing
In Indonesia during the 1960s there was a large genocide, in which the paramilitary group in charge of the country decided to kill off anyone they accused to be a communist. The Act of Killing follows a group of people who committed these murders. They are working with the director to reenact their killings in the style of […]
Byzantium
In just five years, I’ve fast became a fan of Saoirse Ronan and will probably see anything she’s in. The same can pretty much be said about Gemma Arterton, who I absolutely loved in The Disappearance of Alice Creed, which played at TIFF a few years ago. As such, when I found out about this film that […]
Dredd 3D
Back in 1995, there was an adaptation of the Judge Dredd comics that starred Sylvester Stallone and audiences generally frowned upon Stallone’s interpretation of the character, namely in the way he quickly got rid of Dredd’s trademark helmet. Well, it’s 17 years later and a new reboot has surfaced, which was reportedly supposed to be closer to […]
On the Road
TIFF is now upon us and it is now time for my first review of the festival! On the Road is an adaptation of the classic novel by Jack Kerouac. The film focuses on Sal Paradise (Sam Riley), who is an aspiring writer and the narrator of the film. The narration of the film is in Kerouac’s […]
Blindspot: Full Metal Jacket
It was actually a pretty good month for seeing films for the first time and there are at least three films I could have written about today. I’ve decided to go with the film that is freshest in my mind, which is probably also the most acclaimed the three. That film would be Stanley Kubrick’s […]
ParaNorman
My favourite scene of the stop motion film ParaNorman happens within the first five minutes. The opening scene of the film is a full-on homage to grindhouse films of the 1970s, complete with an old-fashioned “Feature Presentation” title card, grainy and scratched images, and a synthesized score. I definitely have to say that I liked the zombie […]
The Dark Knight Rises
Aside from the tragedy of last night’s movie theatre shooting, The Dark Knight Rises ended up being a highly enjoyable conclusion to Christopher Nolan’s trilogy of Batman films. The film takes place eight years after the events of The Dark Knight. Gotham City is now relatively crime free and Bruce Wayne has retired the Batman persona and […]
Brave
After seeing the latest Disney/Pixar collaboration Brave, I realized how difficult a film it is to market without giving away some major plot details. Indeed, the film I saw today was quite different than the film that was advertised in the trailers. That said, I still enjoyed the film that I saw. Without giving away […]
Prometheus
Ridley Scott’s return to science fiction in 30 years began as a sort of prequel to Alien that expanded the backstory of the origins of the mysterious ship where the alien creatures were originally found. Indeed those prequel elements are still very much present within Prometheus. However, it seems that Scott decided all but severe the […]
Dark Shadows
When I heard that Tim Burton’s Dark Shadows was based on a 1970s horror-based soap opera, that was the film I was expecting it to be. When the trailer came out, it looked like the film was taking a campy and comedic route, which I’m sure would have excited people who liked Tim Burton’s early work, […]
The Job
For my final film of Hot Docs, I saw this French documentary that filmed the recruitment process for an insurance company. Ten job seekers come in for the job, not even being told what it is, and they go through a recruitment process that I can best describe as both shocking and enthralling. To call […]
We Are Legion: The Story Of The Hacktivists
We Are Legion tells the history of “hacktivism,” the recent movement in which activist acts are done by a group of individuals through the internet. The main focus of the film is group “Anonymous.” A very interesting aspect of this history is that Anonymous started out as essentially online pranksters with no political agenda. Eventually they would become […]
The Queen Of Versailles
Even though it was not the original intention of the documentary, The Queen Of Versailles is a very interesting case study about a spoiled rich family and their attempts to cope with the financial crisis. The main focus of the film is Jackie Siegel, the trophy wife of timeshare king David Siegel. Jackie has seven children (and one […]
Herman’s House
Herman’s House is about two people – Herman Wallace and Jackie Sumell. Wallace was Black Panther member, who was falsely accused of murdering a prison guard and has been kept in solitary confinement at Angola prison for about 40 years. Jackie is an artist and activist, who collaborated with Wallace on an art project in which she […]
Radioman
You may not know Craig “Radioman” Castaldo by his name, but I am almost certain that you have seen the guy. Radioman is known for appearing at the film sets around New York City, always with his bike and trusty radio. Often this results in him getting a brief cameo role in the production. In […]
Her Master’s Voice
There are 189 films screening throughout the course of Hot Docs. With so many films screening during the week, it can be easy for some of these films to get lost in the shuffle and get overwhelmed by the docs with big buzz. I am happy to say that I have discovered one of the […]
The Imposter
My experience at Hot Docs kicked off in a big way with The Imposter. Even though it was the first film that I would see at the festival, I can say now that it is probably going to be the one to beat. The film is done in a very similar style to the films […]
Sound It Out
Tomorrow happens to be International Record Story Day. As such, it is not that surprising that the Bloor Cinema would program a new documentary that is all about celebrating the joy and charm of the independent record store. Sound It Out documents the very last record shop in Teesside, which is located in the North East of England. […]
Bully
“Sticks and Stones may Break My Bones, but Names Will Never Hurt Me” That’s a phrase that was taught to me when I was in elementary school as a response to bullying, even though the belief that names don’t hurt isn’t exactly accurate. I was bullied all throughout elementary and high school and it was […]
The Grey
Now, on this day of Guillermo del Toro sightings, I also happened to see a movie. They were really hyping this movie over the last few days as having a performance by Liam Neeson that was so good, that plans are already being made to re-release the film in October for a possible Oscar qualifying […]
The Woman in Black
Tonight I saw and advance screening of this new ghost story staring Daniel Radcliffe, which has its regular release next week. This is Radcliffe’s first post-Harry Potter film and it is definitely a different type of role for him, being a gothic horror film. Radcliffe plays a lawyer, who comes to a small English town to […]
A Dangerous Method
I’m started to head into the cream of the crop of the Canada’s Top Ten selection. A Dangerous Method is of course the latest film by David Cronenberg. The very fact that the film is directed Cronenberg might affect the opinions of some from an auteuristic point of view. On it’s the own, I thought that […]
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
I delayed my list of my favourite films of 2011 as I went out to see some last-minute possible contenders. I saw War Horse on Sunday and I now I went to see Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy today. The film is an old school Cold War spy thriller in which a British spy named George Smiley (Gary […]
Hugo
That fact that Hugo is directed by none other than Martin Scorsese was probably the first sign that it wouldn’t be just your average family film. In fact, the film turns out to be a celebration of the history of early cinema, most notably the work of Georges Méliès, played in the film by Ben Kingsley. For […]
Shame
Let me start by saying that I thought that Shame was a really good film. The film does have very strong sexual content, which makes it a little difficult to watch at times (and it’s not really passive entertainment). That said, I thought that overall the film was absolutely enthralling, with excellent performances by Michael Fassbender […]
The Muppets
I’m am a bit of a weird age when it comes to my fandom of The Muppets. When I was born in 1982, The Muppet Show had already finished its run and two of the three original Muppet films were already released. However, the Muppets were still a big part of my childhood, with me watching everything from […]
Anonymous
For most of his career Roland Emmerich became well known for his knack of blowing up the world real good. He is also one of the most critically loathed directors, with all but two of films receiving a Rotten rating on Rotten Tomatoes. I personally didn’t mind his disaster films and even used his films The Day After […]
The Three Musketeers (2011)
The classic novel The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas is probably one of the most adapted stories of all time and this is about the third high profile adaption that was made in my lifetime. When comparing this film to the others, I probably like it better than 2001’s The Musketeer, but this film doesn’t really hold […]
Tucker & Dale vs Evil
Tucker & Dale vs Evil is a horror/comedy that initially debuted at 2010 Sundance Film Festival. Tonight I saw the film during a screening at the Toronto Underground Cinema (though it’s also supposed to get a limited release next month). The film can be best described as a reverse horror movie, since most of the events […]
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
It’s easy to use the reboot buzzword when describing this film, but the film can also be seen as a loose remake of 1972’s Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (which was the fourth film of the original series). The film is actually pretty decent and features a much more realistic depiction of apes, than […]
Attack the Block
Attack the Block is a British sci-fi/horror/comedy that has been getting a lot of buzz for the past few month and it finally received a limited North American release. The film has simple enough plot – a group of alien creatures attack a group of hoodlums within a south-London apartment block. However, there is something with […]
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, Part Two
A decade of Harry Potter films ends with this very climatic final installment of the series. Since this is the second half of a two-part story, the action picks up pretty quickly and it is definitely the most action-packed film in the entire series. After being absent for Part 1, the action returns to Hogwarts, which […]
The Cave of Forgotten Dreams
Werner Herzog is definitely one of the most unique directors around today. In a career spanning nearly 40 years, he successfully managed to split between doing fictional films and documentaries. This film features the exploration of a cave, which was discovered in France in 1994, that featured the oldest cave paintings ever discovered, dating back […]
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
So here is the second part of my IMAX contrast, with this one centering on the habit of using the format as a premium way of seeing major blockbuster films. With at least one major film released in IMAX every month, it’s hard to believe that this is a habit that only really began a decade ago. […]
X-Men: First Class
It’s been a little over 11 years since X-Men became the first successful adaptation of a Marvel comic property and spawned a decade long craze in comic book films. X-Men: First Class can be both described as a prequel and reboot to the original series. For people who only know X-Men from the previous films, they would only really […]
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
Out of all the films based on Disney theme park rides to come out last decade (as least three rides got adaptations), Pirates of the Caribbean is the only to get turned into a successful franchise. Technically, this is the fourth film in the series. However, it can also be said that this film features a new […]
You’ve Been Trumped
As the first film I’ve seen at the Hot Docs film festival, I sure made an interesting and though provoking pick. You’ve Been Trumped is about Donald Trump’s efforts to build a golf course in Scotland, a move that upsets the locals, who are in danger of losing their homes. As someone with partial Scottish heritage (my […]
Paul
I’ve been a fan of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost since Shaun of the Dead, so I was happy to see them back together for Paul (even though they are without usual director Edgar Wright). The film is a sci-fi comedy about two British geeks, who pick-up an alien named Paul (voiced by Seth Rogen) that […]
Rango
Rango is one of those animated films, which moves past from the fact that it is animated and becomes something much more. If it wasn’t for the fact that all the characters in this film were talking animals, this film would probably be able to stand alone as a pretty good Western. The films stars (the […]
Unknown
I have been hearing a lot of comparisons between this film and Liam Neeson’s surprise 2008 hit Taken. However, while they are both films that feature Neeson in a genre he is not usually known for, they are two different types of film. While the term is probably overused, the best description of Unknown would be […]
No Strings Attached
Ivan Reitman returns with his first film in five years with No Strings Attached. I usually don’t like or see romantic comedies, but I decided to see this film due to Reitman’s involvement, the somewhat adult premise, and the fact that the film stars Natalie Portman, who doesn’t usually star in these types of films. […]
TRON: Legacy
I will start off by saying that, after a year of studios attempting to cash-in, this is by far the best 3D film to come out since Avatar. I guess it really shows what a difference filming in the format does. The film also has scenes shot in IMAX and it is definitely advised that […]
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
I’ve always had mixed feelings about the Chronicles of Narnia film series, though I thought that the last film (Prince Caspian) was pretty good. I thought that this film was a slight step down from the, more action-filled, previous film. That said, I still thought that the film was a decent fantasy/adventure film for families. […]
Waste Land
While, at the Bell Lightbox today for the Tim Burton exhibition, I decided to see another one of the building’s exclusive engagement. Wastle Land is a documentary about a Brazilian artist, who goes to the largest landfill in Rio De Janeiro to create art in the likeness of the various “Pickers,” who work in the […]
The People vs. George Lucas
One of the great things about the TIFF Bell Lightbox is that not only does it have the normal Cinematheque screenings, but it also has exclusive engagements of films that previously played at various film festivals and wouldn’t usually get a normal release. The People vs. George Lucas is one of those films, which previously […]
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1
The entire Harry Potter series so far had more or less the same formula with most of the action happening in and around Hogwarts. As such, it is a bit jarring that the first film the two-part finale doesn’t feature Hogwarts on screen at all. The decision was made to split the final book of […]
127 Hours
The problem with films based on a true story is that there is a chance that you already know how the story end. In the case of this film it’s been well advertised that the film is about a mountain climber (played in the film by James Franco), who gets his arm trapped under a […]
Machete
If nothing else, Machete is a good demonstration of Robert Rodriguez’s skills as an editor. What began as a faux-trailer in Grindhouse is now a full-fledged film. Most of the footage from that trailer reappears in this film with the newly shot footage and the transition seems flawless. As for the film itself, it’s definitely […]
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
I had to wait a week and a half before I was finally able to see Scott Pilgrim vs the World, however the wait has been worth it. This is a film for everyone that loves videogames, Toronto, and everything in between. I don’t think that the film does too much to change peoples opinion […]
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
You would never expect Disney to make a live action film based on a classic Mickey Mouse cartoon, but then again you could probably say the same thing about films based on their theme park rides. Other than scene that pays homage, this film is really related to the cartoon in name only. It instead […]
Inception
Christopher Nolan has developed into one of my favourite directors and while his work on the Batman films have made him popular, I always like the other projects he does on the side. Inception is a very interesting science fiction/action film about the world of dreams and the difference between fantasy and reality. It’s a bit […]
The Last Airbender
I’m usually one of the first people to find ways to defend M. Night Shyamalan’s films, since I have unapologetically been a fan of his ever since The Sixth Sense hit it big over a decade ago. However, even I can’t really think of a defense for this film, which will probably end up ranking as my least […]
The A-Team
I was pretty much a toddler when the original television series was popular, however I still remember watching it. As you can guess, I don’t really remember anything about the show other than Mr T. As such, I can’t really compare the new film version to the show. However, I can say that this was […]
Robin Hood
Ridley Scott’s new film version of Robin Hood received fairly poor reviews from most critics. However, I feel that it might have fared better if it didn’t have the stigma of being attached to the classic story. Let it be said that this is not the traditional Robin Hood story that has been told in […]
Alice in Wonderland
It is unmistakable that this film is Alice in Wonderland through the eyes of Tim Burton. The director’s touches are all over the film, especially with its gothic imagery. This film was also the first major 3D film, since Avatar hit it big last year. I do have to say that it was a slightly […]
Edge of Darkness
One thing I can definitely say about this film is that it was nice to see Mel Gibson in front of the camera again. It it wasn’t for the novelty of his involvement, I would have considered this film to be a very average thriller. However, everything that happens in this film is pure joy […]
The Lovely Bones
With this film, Peter Jackson leaves behind the huge epics he was involved with during the last decade and does a film that is probably closer in tone to his 1994 film Heavenly Creatures. The film is about a girl that continues watch her family (and her killer) and she is murdered. The most common […]
Avatar
It was over a decade since James Cameron last directed a feature film. Was it worth the wait? I will not say that Avatar will go down as the best of James Cameron’s films, I still thought that it was very good. If nothing else, it was visually spectacular and it definitely needs to be […]
Adam
Adam is a film about a man with Asperger’s syndrome that develops a relationship with his neighbour. This film features a personal subject for me, since I was diagnosed with Asperger’s last year. As a result, while I was watching the film I kept comparing the character of Adam to my own experieces and found […]
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
As the end of the series approaches, it seems that the main point of this film was to set-up a final chapter so large that it had to be split into two movies. This was definitely the darkest of the Harry Potter films, complete what will probably be the biggest downer ending of the series. […]
Brüno
You can say that 2006’s Borat brought guerrilla filmmaking to a new level with Sacha Baron Cohen fooling many unsuspecting Americans to the point that he was sued afterwards. Probably as a result, Brüno keeps it safe and at least half of the film seems to consist of mostly scripted content. However, there are still […]
Moon
I have to say that Moon is probably one of the best science fiction films I have seen in years. The entire film focuses on Sam Rockwell’s character Sam Bell (and the on-board computer voiced by Kevin Spacey) and you can really feel the sense of isolation. Things shake up a bit when another individual […]
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Just like the first movie, I am going to go straight to the point here. This film is definitely not perfect and 2 1/2 running time may get to some people. However, I also found that it succeeded in being quite entertaining. And that’s all I’m going to say about that. 8/10 (Read an extended […]
Year One
Probably one of the most famous biblical comedies out there is Monty Python’s Life of Brian. I don’t think that Year One can really be compared to that film, however I do say that the biblical jokes were some of the best parts of this film. In fact the film can be summed up in […]
the Taking of Pelham 123
I always believe that a good thriller can be a quite entertaining film that you don’t have to put too much thought into. That’s what this film happens to be. The only Tony Scott film I really saw before this was Top Gun, however I may now be willing to check out some of the […]
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Wolverine is the most popular of the X-Men character, so it was probably natural that they would make a movie about his origins. However, I do not think that the resulting film would succeed in revitalizing the X-Men series. It was an OK film, however about half the film is quite light on action and […]
State of Play
I almost thought I wasn’t going to write this tonight. I went to see the film and due to a blackout, the film cut out with 45 minutes left to screen. I waited at the theatre for over an hour, but it never reopened and I thought the day was lost. I then made the […]
Monsters vs. Aliens
One of the selling points for this film was how it was shown using “InTru3D.” As such, it was a must for me to see this film in 3D. I have to say that I was impressed. I think it was partially because it was a CGI movie, but the 3D was really seamless and […]
Stone of Destiny
This Canada/UK co-production was the closing film at last year’s Toronto Film Festival. The film tells the true story about a group of Scottish youths that break into Westminster Abbey to steal back the Stone of Destiny and reignite Scottish national pride. It was overall a nice little film. I have some Scottish/Irish background, so […]
The International
It’s almost worse to see a movie that you thought was so-so than a movie you didn’t like. If you do not like a movie, there would be no positive aspects to look at. For a film like this one, there were moments when it looked like the film would be better than it was. […]
Taken
Apparently the North American release of this film was delayed so long that it was released is pretty much every other country, but here. I also found out that this version of Taken is an edited PG-13 version, instead of the more violent version that was released overseas. That said, I still found the film […]
Revolutionary Road
This film will probably be the final film in my 2008 catch-up and I was spurred to it after Kate Winslet won Best Actress for it at the Golden Globes. I did not know what to think of the the film at first. I did agree that Winslet’s performance was good, but I didn’t get […]
Frost/Nixon
This was the final film that I wanted to see before compiling my top ten lists next week, and I am glad that I saw it. This film, which is based on a play, looks back to the famous series of interviews between Richard Nixon and the British journalist David Frost. The chemistry between Frank […]
Valkyrie
It is a shame that there is poor public opinion on Tom Cruise, since I thought Valkyrie was quite a good movie. It would be stretching it to say that it is a film that would receive Oscar recognition, but I thought that the film was a great return to thrillers for director Bryan Singer, […]
Yes Man
Jim Carrey has had a very interesting career, which I essentially grew up to (Ace Venture: Pet Detective came out when I was 11). You had this guy, who was relatively unknown, except for being “the white guy” on In Living Color. Suddenly he appears in three hit comedies in 1994, is cast as The […]
Australia
Before this film, Baz Luhrmann was known for the Red Curtain Trilogy, of which I’ve seen two: Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge! Both of those films feature extravagant ideas. One being a modern version of Shakespeare’s play, while using the original text, and the other being a period musical using modern music. Now with […]
Slumdog Millionaire
While it may sound cheesy using Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? as the basis for a story about finding a lost love in India, but it actually works out. The story takes place mainly in flashbacks. as the main character, who is being interrogated by police on suspicion of cheating on the game show, […]
Quantum of Solace
I guess it can agreed that the James Bond series would seem a little dated with newer action-packed spy films like the Jason Bourne films showing up. However, I never expected the producers to try and combine the two. There are many times throughout the film that seems to borrow from the Bourne films (including […]
Happy-Go-Lucky
A strike started yesterday at York University, where I study Film, leaving my school year in limbo. As such, I was craving a “feel good” film to make me forget about the situation for a while. This British comedy by Mike Leigh fit the bill quite nicely. This film tells the story of Poppy (Sally […]
W.
Oliver Stone did an interesting thing with this biopic of president George W. Bush. While he could have have took the opportunity to trash than man for his many bad decisions in the White House, the film instead takes a sympathetic view at Bush’s life. The main plot involves the actions leading into and directly […]
RocknRolla
Since, the release of Snatch in 2000, Guy Ritchie found difficulty in moving away from the formula the made him famous. 2002 saw the Madonna-staring Swept Away, which loathed by pretty much everyone. Then came Revolver 2005, which took the crime films Ritchie was associated with, removed the comedy, and added a cerebral element that […]
Burn After Reading
A year after taking a break from the genre with No Country for Old Men, the Coen Brothers return to comedy with Burn After Reading. I have to say that this is probably the Coen Brothers funniest film since 2000’s O Brother, Where Art Thou, though some people might even look at far back to […]
TIFF08: Good and Fifty Dead Men Walking
Most of the films I’ve seen at the festival were pretty light-hearted affairs. However, the films I saw last night and this morning were, in contrast, quite serious. Good is a story about a German university professor (Viggo Mortensen), who joins the Nazi party and slowly moves from being a “good” guy to being totally […]
Tropic Thunder
Who would have thought that in the end it would be Simple Jack that generated controversy? In a film that features Robert Downey Jr. playing an Australian actor, who darkens his skin to play an African American sergeant, the biggest complaint about this film involves a subplot, where Ben Stiller’s character plays a mentally disabled […]
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
Before I write anything else, I should agree that this undoubtedly an unnecessary third film in the Mummy series that is probably being made as a cash in. That doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy it. Truth be told, that this is a fairly decent film. I was even able to overcome my biggest beef about […]
The Dark Knight
Batman Begins set things up, and now The Dark Knight set things into full motion. I could say that I thought it was a very good film and I like the fact that equal screen time was given to both heroes and the villains. Heath Ledger was definitely wonderful as The Joker, however I also […]
Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D
If you recall my Movies of the Moment column for this month, I put this film as one of the films I was not interested in seeing this month. However, this was because I thought I wasn’t going to be able to see it in 3D. When I found out this was not the case, […]
The Wackness
Before I talk about the film, I have to give a shout out to the guys over at FirstShowing.net, most notably its editor Alex Billington. If it wasn’t for Billington’s constant praise of the film, since it debuted at Sundance, I might not have even considered going to see this film. The film is a […]
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
Last Wednesday when I looked back at The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, I worried that I did not know if I would enjoy this film, since I wasn’t that familiar with the rest of The Chronicles of Narnia. However, it turned out that I enjoyed the film just fine. It helped that this […]
The Visitor
When I go to my semi-regular independent film viewings, I usually never know much about the film I am going to see. I just see what’s playing, watch the trailers, and watch a film that seems intriguing. That’s how I decided to see The Visitor. This film has a very low-key cast, with the only […]
Speed Racer
The latest film from the Wachowski Brothers started out looking it was case of style instead of substance. The film looked neat (with a very green-screened world that made the film look like a live-action cartoon), however the first half hour of the film was a huge jumble of flashback interspersed with a single race. […]
Run Fatboy Run
Simon Pegg has really started to make a name for himself, since the release of Shaun of the Dead back in 2004. This film is his first staring role without his usual collaborators, writer/director, Edgar Wright and, co-star, Nick Frost. For the first 20 minutes or so, I was not sure if this David Schwimmer-directed […]
Funny Games
Funny Games is not an entertaining film. I thought that I will make that clear. However, I will also say that I thought it was a very good film. It’s a horror film and it’s a shot-for-shot remake of an Austrian film of the same name by the same director. It’s a highly disturbing film. […]
Doomsday
I’ve probably said this a million times by now, but Doomsday is what you get when you take films such as 28 Days Later, The Road Warrior, The Warriors, and Escape from New York and combine them with a dash of Excalibur. So yeah, the film is not that original and that is probably its […]
Be Kind Rewind
I first heard of this film in May 2006 and I thought it’s premise of making homemade remakes to popular films sounded good on paper. Also, it was directed by Michel Gondry, who always brings a unique vision to his films and music videos (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind being one of my favourites). […]
The Eye
Before I continue with the review, I should make a correction from yesterday’s Movies of the Moment post. I said that The Eye was the latest J-Horror remake, when it actually the remake of a Hong Kong horror film. That said, the Asian influence wasn’t as evident in this film as films like The Ring […]
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Sweeney Todd is probably Tim Burton’s darkest film. It is even more dark than Sleepy Hollow, which was released eight years ago (and featured over a dozen decapitations). I would also say that this is probably Tim Burton’s best film so far. He has moved a long way in the 22 years he has been […]
The Golden Compass
6 years ago saw the successful releases (only one month apart) of the big screen adaptations of Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. Since then, it seems that every fantasy novel is being adapted. Of these adaptations, I believe The Golden Compass is the highest profile release since The Lion, The Witch, and The […]
Beowulf
Beowulf was an interesting experiment: take the motion-capture technology used in making The Polar Express and use it to make a more serious epic. I won’t go into the debate about whether or not this film really needed to be made using motion-capture CGI instead of live action, since I’m actually a little tired of […]
American Gangster
Celebrity sighting aside, what did I actually think of the film? I can definitely say that it is NOT this year’s Departed. It’s not bad film, but I thought it was a very formulaic film. The entire plot goes back and forth between Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe’s stories. The stories don’t even begin to […]
TIFF07: Standing in on a film
The biggest thing to happen during my volunteer shift yesterday was that I stood inside the theatre during a screening (to make sure there were no bootleggers in the crowd). As such, I also got to see the film (whenever I was not looking at the crowd), so I will post some quick thoughts on […]
Sunshine
Danny Boyle, known for Trainspotting and 28 Days Later enters the Sci-Fi genre with Sunshine. In fact there are quite a few technical similarities between this film and 28 Days Later. They both have the same director (Boyle), screenwriter (Alex Garland), star (Cillian Murphy), and composer (John Murphy). The film even features Rose Byrne (one […]
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
I’m not too big a reader, so I never really got into reading the Harry Potter novels. As such, I have always gone into these films with a fresh mind (minus the odd spoilers that are thrown about). I always thought the first film (Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s/Sorcerer’s Stone) was the best in showing […]
Live Free or Die Hard
I had to do a lot of preparation before going to see this, the forth movie in the Die Hard series. Specifically, I had to see the other three movies. I purchased the box set on Monday and watched the films throughout the week, so I would be all caught up on the adventures of […]
Once
It’s time once again for my monthly look at independent film. This month, I went to see the Irish film Once. This film can be classified as a romantic musical. However, unlike most musicals, where singing starts for no apparent reason, this is a more realistic type of musical. The romantic part of the film […]
28 Weeks Later
So, this is the sequel to the apocalyptic zombie/virus flick 28 Days Later. This was definitely more of a grim and intense movie than the first film. While the first film had a period where nothing much happened, in this film the characters were always in danger (either by “the infected” or the U.S army, […]
Hot Fuzz
Two years ago saw the release of the very funny horror-comedy Shaun of the Dead. Now the same team is back for Hot Fuzz, which is a satire on police films. I should say first that I loved Shaun of the Dead. In fact, I consider it one of my favourite films. However, I have […]
The Wind that Shakes the Barley
Since it’s St. Patrick’s Day and I’m partly of Irish heritage, I thought I would check out this film about the Irish war of independence and the start of the Irish civil war. At the focus of the film is the Irish Republican Army. At first thought, I thought this was the same IRA that […]