Imagine if Kit and Holly in Terrence Malick’s Badlands had been caught early in their spree and Kit was incarcerated. That’s more or less the starting point for Lowery’s 1970s-set romantic drama, starring Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara as Texan lovers Bob and Ruth, separated by crime and the law. Ruth takes care of their […]
Film + TV
Posted inArts + Music
Kill Your Darlings
A pre-Howl Allen Ginsberg attended Columbia University in 1944 where he met some like-minded, shit-disturbing young poets and writers, including Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs, who set about changing the world. But the key relationship here is between Ginsberg (convincingly essayed by former boy wizard Daniel Radcliffe) and the painfully closeted Lucien Carr (Dane DeHaan, […]
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Captain America: The Winter Soldier
The thing about Captain America is he represents the fallacy of “America,” the apple-pie-eating, baseball-playing archetype that’s as outdated as a Stan Lee cameo. So all of this critical foam about how The Winter Soldier is highly political with its internet leaks and whistleblowers is just the scum on the glass after a refreshing egg […]
Posted inArts + Music
Noah
It’s a natural progression for indie (male) directors to ascend their guts-and-pennies world for cushy blow-up jobs—Kenneth Branagh eschewed Shakespeare for Thor, David Gordon Green caught a ride out of the South on the Pineapple Express and Spike Lee left Brooklyn for Inside Man. Darren Aronofosky’s first big to-do is an odd choice for the […]
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Muppets: Most Wanted
At just the one-quarter mark, it’s already been a banner year for family entertainment, even if you choose to dismiss Frozen’s grip on popular culture on a 2013 technicality: The Lego Movie, Mr. Peabody and Sherman and now Muppets: Most Wanted have offered delights to children, their parents and the childless adults who wish there […]
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Top of the Lake
A seven-episode TV series set in rural New Zealand, Top of the Lake is a real treat. It stars Golden Globe award-winning Elizabeth Moss–the Mad Men actor rocking a very plausible Kiwi accent–as a police investigator returning to her hometown and getting involved in a mystery involving child abuse, abduction and drug dealing. In Campion’s capable […]
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Short Term 12
A truly remarkable independent film that didn’t stand a hope in hell of making it into the multiplex, this is a gem not be missed on a smaller screen. Based on the experiences of writer-director Cretton, who worked in a group home for at-risk teens, we meet an ensemble of tough kids and the somewhat […]
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Big Brother Canada Episode 6
After last Thursday’s Twistos twist (stop trying to make Twistos happen), new player–still disappointed it wasn’t Scott!–Allison entered the house and was promptly forgotten about (save a few nasty comments from Head of Household Ika) and adopted by the boys. To celebrate, they were given a bucket of beer and reacted with an embarrassing display, […]
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Need for Speed
Aaron Paul, who we all saw win two Emmys for Breaking Bad, does a student film-level Ryan Gosling impression in the relentlessly stupid Need for Speed, which is based on a video game series, because we’ve learned valuable lessons from Super Mario Bros. and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. Paul plays Tobey Marshall, a hardscrabble street […]
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Bad Milo!
Bad Milo! is a perfect example of the self-conscious comedy-horror genre—this hybrid puts comedy first and lets its camp flag fly. Hyper-stressed office worker Duncan (Ken Marino) gives sphincter-splitting man-birth to a fleshy manifestation of repressed anger. Milo is an big-eyed ass-baby with anger issues who acts on the homicidal tendencies Duncan suppresses. A consummate cast of character actors […]
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Diana
When Diana premiered to a dismal response from critics and audiences alike, rogerebert.com contributor Ali Arikan admitted one saving grace, writing: “to her credit, Naomi Watts does a more-than-passable job of playing Diana.” I can’t say the same. Poorly cast and labouring with less-than-passable dialogue, there aren’t enough acting chops in the celebrity butcher shop for Watts to convincingly portray the legendary Spencer stunner. […]
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Banshee Chapter
James Hirsch (Michael McMillian) takes an enhanced form of DMT and disappears without a trace. James’ college buddy, Anne Roland (Katia Winter), starts investigating her friend’s disappearance and follows a trail that twists through covert government drug testing, shortwave radio signals and an infamous writer named Thomas Blackburn (Ted Levine). With the exception of the […]
