Jake Kasdan’s comedy is a series of disjointed gags and one-liners without a satisfying through-line, intermittently amusing but ultimately unsatisfying. Cameron Diaz plays the unprofessional educator, Elizabeth, whose teaching repertoire consists of R-rated movies and whose life ambition amounts to finding a sugar daddy. Spotting a candidate for that role in a wealthy colleague (Justin […]
Matt Semansky
Posted inArts + Music
The Tree of Life about nature versus grace
Terrence Malick’s movies are more poetry than prose, tethered to conventions like plot and character by only the thinnest of connective strands. So it is in The Tree of Life, which is in one sense about a man (Sean Penn) recalling the grief, anger and joy of a childhood ruled by a loving but stern […]
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Balfour’s method
You’re sure to know who Eric Balfour is, even if you’ve never heard of him. A Los Angelino whose elongated face is punctuated by a distinctive jutting jawline, Balfour is the kind of actor whose mug is more recognizable than his moniker. At 34, he’s already amassed nearly two decades’ worth of movie and television […]
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Not much to The Art of Getting By
Gavin Wiesen’s drama about a slacker teen exhibits the opposite flaw as its main character. Whereas high school senior George (Freddy Highmore) is a baby-faced deer who sees life as a series of paralysis-inducing headlights, the film itself is far too confident in its studied indie-ness. George is outfitted with an oversized overcoat, a family […]
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Cell 213 dull like solitary confinement
Part psychological thriller, part religious horror and part Shawshank Redemption redux, Cell 213 is a wholly amateurish effort that’s neither thoughtful or frightening. Eric Balfour stars as unscrupulous lawyer Michael Grey, who’s falsely convicted of the murder of a mentally unstable client and gets locked away in the very same cell that housed his alleged […]
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X-Men: First Class a relaunch for mutant franchise
The fifth X-Men movie feels like a fresh start for the franchise, and not just because it’s a prequel that chronicles the origin of the mutant superhero team in the JFK era. From the early introductions of the cocky but good-hearted scientist Charles Xavier (James MacAvoy) and the vengeance-driven Holocaust survivor Erik Lensherr (Michael Fassbender), […]
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Buy in to The Greatest Movie Ever Sold
Seven years after adopting a McDonald’s-only diet for Super Size Me, Morgan Spurlock once again puts himself at the centre of his documentary action. This time, Spurlock’s credibility, rather than his health, is on the line, in a movie about product placement in movies that follows Spurlock in his quest to fund the movie entirely […]
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The Conspirator a stirring history lesson
The first third of Robert Redford’s historical drama is a static civics lesson about the principles of due process and the importance of maintaining the rule of law in times of war. Just when you’re thinking about ducking out of class, though, a wave of emotional momentum comes along, shaking the dust off the textbooks. […]
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Unspectacular Priest
Scott Stewart’s adaptation of the eponymous graphic novel series opens with a couple of minutes of bloody, animated exposition, during which we learn that after years of warfare, super-powered priests have beaten back a race of eyeless vampires and the church has established Orwellian colonies for the human survivors. As silly as all that is, […]
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Jumping The Broom full of real people
Salim Akil’s wedding comedy smuggles a surprisingly cogent commentary on class divisions among black Americans into its otherwise predictable story framework, giving the movie a welcome bite that helps it rise above the average romcom. Sabrina (Paula Patton) and Jason (Laz Alonso) get engaged after a brief courtship, setting up a nuptial weekend that brings […]
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Charlie Zone reveals Halifax dark side
Michael Melski knows a little something about the duality of Halifax, how its mini-ecosystems churn alongside each other. He’s witnessed the city’s “culture of white privilege and wealth,” but has lived in tougher neighbourhoods in Spryfield, Dartmouth and Halifax’s north end. Melski’s seen pretty and he’s seen gritty, and finds cinematic inspiration in the latter. “You […]
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Fast Five dumb, fun
The fifth installment of the cars-go-vroom series takes the action to Rio de Janeiro, where the gang led by Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and Jordana Brewster try to pull off One Last Job. That job involves making off with a crime kingpin’s millions while evading his militia and a U.S. agent (Dwayne Johnson) determined to […]