The past comes back to haunt you. In America, the spectre of slavery is often the underlying theme of that country’s gothic stories. Canada, though we’re not as likely to admit it, has its own cultural genocide to reckon with. Rhymes for Young Ghouls, the debut feature from acclaimed Mi’kmaq director Jeff Barnaby, picks up […]
Film + TV
Posted inArts + Music
Atlantic Film Fest
Click here to read up on our picks for the best of the 33rd Atlantic Film Festival. Horror (get spooked with our cover feature on Jay Dahl’s There Are Monsters), documentaries (get heated debate fodder for life with Buying Sex), shorts (like Cory Bowles’ Anatomy of Assistance)and more–we throw it all in the popper and […]
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Secretariat’s Jockey: Ron Turcotte
Director Phil Comeau had some trouble keeping up with 71-year-old retired jockey Ron Turcotte. “He would call me at midnight with ideas on where we should go the next day for filming,” says Comeau. “We had to get up at five in the morning to shoot. He has incredible energy.” Secretariat’s Jockey: Ron Turcotte is […]
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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 […]
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Riddick
It’s been 13 years and six Fast & Furiouses since Pitch Black, yet Vin Diesel is as dominating a screen presence as ever in the gruff Riddick. Left for dead on a hostile world, survivalist predator Riddick has to deal with a broken leg and vicious beasties in a sparse, nearly wordless first act. The […]
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Closed Circuit
Surprise, surprise, the British government is watching everything you do in the legal thriller Closed Circuit. After terrorists blow up a busy London market, the mastermind is detained and put on trial with suspicious ease. Lawyers Rebecca Hall and Eric Bana will represent the accused, which would be awkward for the ex-lovers even if there […]
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Getaway
There’s one decent shot in Getaway, a white-knuckle, three-minute chase on busy roads with the camera mounted on the car’s bumper. That scene feels like a shot of pure adrenaline after the exhaustingly boring 80-minutes before it in this rinky-dink heist flick. Ethan Hawke is a better adjusted Ryan Gosling from Drive, who, after his […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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The World’s End
Gary King was the shit in high school. Twenty years on, he hasn’t changed a bit. Pity then for his friends in The World’s End, a sci-fi/action remembrance of drunken things past. King (the ever-versatile Simon Pegg) pesters his old chums into a reunion pub crawl at their sleepy hometown which hasn’t changed a wink. […]
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You’re Next
Note to would-be killers; do your research. A lesson learned by animal-masked psychopaths who bite off more than they can chew in the lovely You’re Next. Erin (Sharni Vinson, just, fantastic) accompanies her professor/boyfriend to his family’s reunion at an isolated farmhouse. Mom’s on heavy pills, big bro’s a douche and there’s no booze. An […]
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Jobs
Steve Jobs is a whiny, little baby. A petty, crying, pseudo-spiritual brat who’s self-centred daydreaming ruins lives and wastes hundreds of millions of dollars. That should be the theme of Jobs, a relentlessly shameless ode to the apparently mythical importance of the guy who made iPods. Ashton Kutcher is constantly on the edge of tears […]
