“Words can only evoke things,” one dancer says to the camera early in Pina. “That’s where dance comes in.” This Oscar-nominated documentary puts that ethos to the test; presenting a breathtaking string of world-class dances in tribute to celebrated German choreographer Pina Bausch. Fellow German Wim Wenders (Wings of Desire) directs, presenting the film in […]
Film + TV
Posted inArts + Music
Hear Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier do Halifax
Well, Kevin Smith successfully pulled off his Halifax hat trick on Friday and brought the ridiculously funny Scott Mosier along for the ride. They talked The Beachcombers, sharks, nazis, Harry Potter and even belted out an admirable rendition of our national anthem. Smith was a peach, as always, and was pumped to be back in […]
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The Double
The Double is a textbook example of how talented writers don’t always make great directors. Brandt, with co-writer Derek Haas, scripted Wanted and 3:10 to Yuma, two fun genre pictures, elevated by their performers and directors Timur Bekmambetov and James Mangold, respectively. Here Brandt and Haas have put together a boilerplate spy thriller with an […]
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AFF/Neptune launches winter film series
The Atlantic Film Festival, in partnership with Neptune Theatre (1593 Argyle Street), have announced a winter film series. Just as painfully capitalized as their summertime outdoor fest alFresco filmFesto, except punnier, the alfreSnow filmFesto will show four films each Monday in March by legendary British director Alfred Hitchcock–the program entitled 7 O’clock Hitchcock—at the 200-seat […]
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Andrew Murphy becomes programmer of Toronto’s Inside Out Fest
A big congratulations goes out to Andrew Murphy, former programming manager for the Atlantic Film Festival. It’s been announced that he’s the new director of programming at Inside Out, producer of the annual Toronto LGBT Film Festival and the Ottawa LGBT Film Festival. Murphy was at the AFF for 12 years, having worked on programming […]
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Bone-creepy The Woman in Black
Arthur Kipps (Daniel Radcliffe) is a lawyer settling the seaside estate of a woman whose child drowned near the creepy old home. The local villagers aren’t happy to see him, since every time someone goes to the gothic pile, the ghostly lady of the title appears and children die. The Woman in Black is an […]
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Albert Nobbs underdeveloped
It’s interesting to look at sexuality and sexual identity in a time and place—Ireland in the 1800s— when there was only one norm. Albert Nobbs tackles the subject, but too superficially. Albert (Glenn Close), a woman who lives life as a man, works in a swanky hotel, squirreling money away to eventually buy a shop. […]
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Chronicle poignant (with tech issue)
Chronicle unfurls from the perspective of cameras wielded in jittery fashion by its characters, an increasingly tiresome conceit that adds nothing to a film whose true ancestor is Carrie, not The Blair Witch Project. Three teenaged guys get zapped into unconsciousness by a mysterious entity and wake up with the ability to move objects with […]
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Daniel Radcliffe speaks
Last week, Coast film editor Carsten Knox spoke with Daniel Radcliffe. Here are excerpts from that conversation, where Radcliffe talks about his appreciation of the legendary British horror studio Hammer Film Productions and more about life working on film sets.
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Daniel Radcliffe leaves Harry Potter behind
The most famous teenager in the world has graduated. Daniel Radcliffe, now 22, played Harry Potter in the most successful film franchise in history, with profits in the billions of dollars, an adaptation of the biggest-selling book series in history, some 450 million copies sold. Now comes the rest of Radcliffe’s life and career, starting […]
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Kevin Smith’s movies
After his next release, the hockey epic Hit Somebody, Kevin Smith says he’s done being a film director. No more snootchie bootchies. If the popularity of his podcasts and spoken word engagements continues—this week he’s back in Halifax for the third time in four months—he won’t need to make movies anymore. If you’re wondering why […]
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Flag on the Play brings the Superbowl to Halifax
In the backyard of 6015 Willow Street, a house with a long history in Halifax of artistic endeavours, there’s a door leading to a basement room with ceilings scarcely high enough to accommodate the many donated film-quality spot lights. Plastic chairs face a set that looks a little like a teen’s bedroom. Posters, paintings, multiple […]
