The Spectacular Now A beautiful rarity of a coming-of-age story, from that title to note-perfect casting, The Spectacular Now is one of the year’s finest discoveries. Starring Miles Teller (Rabbit Hole) as Sutter, Lloyd Dobler with a drinking problem, and Shailene Woodley (The Descendants) as bookish Aimee, the film follows their last few months of […]
Tara Thorne
Posted inArts + Music
Another TIFF wrap
Greetings from the Upright Citizens Brigade rush lineup in NY (lines lines everywhere lines), where I’ve been ruminating on TIFF and crafting this final update. Since we last spoke I’ve not seen anymore celebrities in places they shouldn’t or shouldn’t be, but despite all odds—a bad schedule, pissy audience demeanour, construction/traffic delays galore—I managed to […]
Posted inArts + Music
TIFF views, reviews, overviews
REVIEWS TOO LONG FOR TWITTER BUT NOT REALLY THAT LONG BECAUSE YOU DON’T CARE YET Gravity There’s no sound in space and I have no words to justify this beautiful epic thriller starring Sandra Bullock in one of the key roles of her lifetime. Read more when it opens in October. Enough Said Nicole Holofcener […]
Posted inArts + Music
In A World…
The very compelling Lake Bell—you may remember her as the singular female character with substance on HBO’s How to Make It in America, AKA Jeantourage—has written and directed herself a modest, funny starring vehicle with In A World…. Set in the world of LA voice actors (get it?), Bell stars as Carol, daughter of industry […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
All the awesome
Dear Sally, Three connecting flights and one expensive ride from the airport later, I made it to Halifax. The first thing I noticed was the weather. You know how in Palo Alto it’s always just “weather”—television-ready days, warm in the sun, each one the same, even on Christmas? Well here, you don’t know what it’s […]
Posted inArts + Music
The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones
A chintzy, Toronto-y Twilight rip-off, The Mortal Instruments stars Lily Collins (daughter of Phil, point your burning sticks away from Lena Dunham!) as Clary, daughter of a pair of top-notch shadowhunters, a secret group that’s been hunting demons for 1,000 years, though they vary in age and are all British for no explained reason. The […]
Posted inArts + Music
Fruitvale Station
With the police shooting of Toronto teen Sammy Yatim fresh on this country’s mind, the 2008 murder of Oscar Grant as portrayed Fruitvale Station cuts even closer to the bone. It’s written and directed by first-timer Ryan Coogler with a deft, doc-style approach—DP Rachel Morrison uses a muted, gritty palette similar to her work in […]
Posted inArts + Music
The Civil Wars
The Civil Wars’ Barton Hollow was a surprise hit, and its success split the duo apart, ie “internal discord and irreconcilable differences of ambition.” (Theory: They got too famous for John Paul White’s liking. Have you ever seen that guy smile?) How this record exists is confusing, since they don’t speak and are writing about […]
Posted inArts + Music
Elysium
It’s 2154 and life is the worst. It makes Mad Max look like the Hamptons, it’s so bad. No health care, crumbling houses, tires everywhere, jerk-ass robots fucking with you on your way to your factory job building more jerk-ass robots. This is Matt Damon’s life. Earlier in Matt Damon’s life, which has always been […]
Posted inArts + Music
We’re the Millers
This has been a drab, middling summer, little to recommend with even half a heart, and hardly anything has had a sense of humour of any kind. Well what a delight We’re the Millers is, this complete margarita of a movie that finds Jason Sudeikis, Jennifer Aniston, Emma Roberts and Will Poulter pretending to be […]
Posted inArts + Music
2 Guns
“You’re my people,” Mark Wahlberg tells Denzel Washington over and over in the completely nonsensical surprise hit 2 Guns, AKA Tango & Cash Go to the Desert and Also Bill Paxton is There. So the boys are thieves of sorts avenging the death of an associate, and then they end up with $40 million of […]