Though there are few solid jump moments and a few genuine scares in Dracula Untold, it is, essentially, just another superhero origin story – albeit for a slightly darker character than usual. At least he doesn’t sparkle…
Category: Movie Reviews
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day – Fun for the Whole Family!
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day is exactly what it says on tin – a movie about a monumentally bad day, not just for Alexander Cooper, but his entire family. It’s a slight film adapted from and expanding on a very slim children’s book, but it is both funnier and more […]
CIFF Review: LFO: Sounds Like Dark Fun!
A lonely, sad sack scientist wannabe discovers a combination of very low frequencies that appear to make people extremely suggestible. At first, he uses his discovery to act out his wildest fantasies, but then, as his past catches up with him, he goes farther than even he could have imagined. LFO is a micro-budgeted, low-fi […]
Gone Girl – Quite The Absorbing Exercise In Misdirection!
Nick and Amy Dunne has been married for five years – in fact, she disappears on the morning of the couple’s fifth anniversary. At first, Nick seems appropriately upset, but gradually his behaviour seems to be in conflict with his declared desire to find her. Did he kill her?
My Old Lady – Unexpected Connections Make for Dark Dramedy!
Mathias ‘Call me Jim’ Gold is broke, thrice-divorced and hoping that he can sell the Parisian apartment his father left him to get out of the hole. Mathilde Girard is the old lady who lives in the apartment with her daughter, Chloe. Thanks to a complicated French law, called a viager, Mathias must pay Mme. […]
CIFF Review: Out of Mind, Out of Sight: 18 Months In The Life of The Brockville Mental Health Centre!
Rarely do you come across a documentary ad simultaneously devastating and full of hope. Directed by John Kastner and produced by the National Film Board of Canada, Out Of Mind, Out of Sight is the first film to actually look at the patients and staff of the Brockville Mental Health Centre – a hospital for […]
CIFF Review: Xavier Dolan’s Mommy Falls Just Short!
Xavier Dolan’s fifth film, Mommy, tells a tale of tough love with some fresh ideas – like shifting aspect ratios to underscore mood, tone and point-of-view. It’s an ambitious, intense film that won this year’s Cannes Jury Prize, but may have been blessed with an underwhelming selection in competition.
CIFF Review: Whiplash – Yes, It’s That Good!
Although one of the joys of covering a film festival is the cool movies that you might never otherwise see, there are always a few that you have to see even when you know they will being getting some kind of mainstream release. Whiplash – which won both the Jury and Audience prizes at this […]
Hector Mitty; Walter’s Search for Happiness!
I’ve seen Hector and the Search for Happiness three times and a bit – only the first two were versions of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (Danny Kaye, 1947 and Ben Stiller, 2013) and the bit was parts of a TV series called My World and Welcome To It, all of which were based […]
The Boxtrolls: Just Another Message Movie About Intolerance!
Laika, the company that produced the brilliant Coraline and fine ParaNorman, releases The Boxtrolls today. Sadly, while outdoing the first two in terms of technical wizardry, The Boxtrolls assembles a host of familiar elements with only one lead character and two minor ones really ever coming to life.
The Equalizer: Fuqua and Denzel Top Training Day!
When a former special ops expert comes out of retirement to help a teen prostitute, things get violent. Based on the ‘80s TV series, Antoine Fuqua directs The Equalizer as a modern combination of ‘70s thriller and contemporary action flick – to devastating results.