Cult Cinema: Volume 6 In the 1980s, author Clive Barker was dubbed the new face of horror. And what a face it was, one that looked like it should be fellating both Lord Byron and Aleister Crowley during a sex magic ritual, all arched eyebrows and smooth cheeks and smoky eyes. Barker’s 1985 short story …
Adoration Directed by Atom Egoyan After a string of critical flops, Atom Egoyan is back in a big way with the rich and vibrant Adoration, a complex portrait of teenhood, grief and simmering sociopolitical tension. Smart but oddball teen Simon (Devon Bostick) makes an unusual association while translating an article regarding Israeli airport security for …
“…grim atmospheric tale of madness and isolation.. tortures the viewer with its rich landscapes and violent twists.” Dark Nature Directed by Marc de Launay With a Chopin fueled drive into the horrific, Marc de Launay’s grim atmospheric tale of madness and isolation, Dark Nature, tortures the viewer with its rich landscapes and violent twists. Following …
Body Count: Volume 1 Horror. The much maligned, hard partying, estranged uncle of cinema. Being the reasonably presentable professional that I am by day, it often shocks people that I, a man in his thirties of above-average intelligence devotes such a large portion of his free time mentally cataloguing some of the worst movies ever …
Our column “Gone Unseen” is dedicated to those great films that many people have overlooked and or have found trouble finding distribution across the globe. My Dear Enemy Directed by Lee Yoon-ki Furthering a developing hypothesis that South Koreans are launching a charm offensive against all hallowed Western film archetypes, the splendid My Dear Enemy, …
Our column “Hidden Gems” is dedicated to those great films that many people have overlooked and or have found trouble finding distribution across the globe. Must Love Death Directed by Andreas Schaap Offhand, it’s difficult to think of another film that features both a “meet cute” and a nail gun, but in his first feature, …
—————— The Other Guys Directed by Adam McKay You’d be forgiven for hoping The Other Guys, Adam McKay’s fourth feature-length collaboration with Will Ferrell, would mark a full-on return to form for a gifted comedic performer who hasn’t had an opportunity to actually be funny since, well, McKay’s last movie, Step Brothers. As it turns …
The Disappearance of Alice Creed Directed by J Blakeson In the post-Tarantino era, a good crime movie is hard to find. A new generation of filmmakers watched Reservoir Dogs, True Romance and especially Pulp Fiction in awe, while also thinking, “I could do that.” Sadly the great majority of them could not, and the field …
For the Love of Movies: The History of American Film Criticism charts the evolution of film criticism as a means of discussing its changing face and potential non-future. Using historical context, the film offers, in particular, its opinion on the downfall of the print critic. Most of the biggest names in popular film criticism make …
It’s past midnight in the dark Le Poste Parisie recording studio. Miles Davis steps up to the microphone, his face illuminated by the flickering cinema screen in front of him. He sees Jeanne Moreau walking slowly along the Champ-Elysses on a stormy night, her face lit only by the lights glowing inside the cafes, bars …
Cult Cinema: Volume 5 Quentin Tarantino is every video store clerk’s idol, and every film critic’s nightmare. Venerated by midnight movie buffs and Blockbuster cashiers for his unadulterated love of cult cinema, Tarantino has proved that a film school education is no match for passion, creativity, and kinetic energy. Unfortunately for film critics, this has …
Adam Yauch best know as one of the “Beastie Boys” and founder of Oscilloscope Laboratories is up in arms with the MPAA’s decision to hand down a “R rating” for the Holocaust documentary A Film Unfinished, due to it’s disturbing images of holocaust atrocities including graphic nudity. He has responded in saying, “This is too …
————– Soul Kitchen Directed by Fatih Akin There was reason to be excited about a new Fatih Akin film. His last effort, 2008’s The Edge of Heaven, quietly tamed Alejandro González Iñárritu;s unwieldy “everything is connected” school of screenwriting into a cohesive, affecting film. Before that, he produced an entertaining documentary on the Turkish music …
The first rule of Catfish is, don’t talk about Catfish, and we’re not joking. In late 2007, filmmakers Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost sensed a story unfolding as they began to film the life of Ariel’s brother, Nev. They had no idea that their project would lead to the most exhilarating and unsettling months of …
The Toronto After Dark Film Festival has officially announced its complete lineup of new horror, sci-fi, action and cult films that will have their local premieres at our 5th Annual event this August 13-20, 2010 at the city’s legendary Bloor Cinema. The 16 amazing feature films at the core of the festival include a number …
Cult Cinema: Volume 4 David Lynch films are a litmus test of intelligence. You don’t have to like them to prove that your cinematic IQ is above the level of a mouth-breather with a Vin Diesel DVD collection. But you do have to realize the films’ artistic merit. And then give lengthy interpretations of their …
——– High School Directed by John Stahlberg The words “stoner comedy” give rise to odious associations, making one expect a haphazard, loosely plotted, and unfunny mess – and, in almost all cases, rightfully so. John Stahlberg’s riotous and very funny High School elides such easy dismissal through a combination of inspired casting, tireless comic energy …
—————– Red White and Blue Directed by Simon Rumley Movies rarely open with more promise, nor fizzle out more disappointingly, than Simon Rumley’s Red White and Blue. A bizarre, intermittently effective movie that suffers from a surplus of characters, ideas and outlandish plot elements, Blue is the rare film that simultaneously exhibits serious talent and …
——– Memento Directed by Christopher Nolan Narrative complexity, today, is firmly the domain of thrillers (read: hyperkinetic activity). Entire projects hinge on “gotcha” plot twists, powered at best by unnecessary opaqueness and at worst by sheer contrivance. The moment I realized that Inception would be a merely good movie, and not the great movie that …
—————— Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World Directed by Edgar Wright Over the last decade, everyone from Zack Snyder to Ang Lee to the Neveldine/Taylor crew have attempted to draw inspiration from geek culture in order to create innovative, bleeding-edge films. Efforts like these wind up feeling compromised at best and ill-fated at worst, either because …
Dream Home Directed by Ho-Cheung Pang Probably the only horror film to involve the housing crisis, Dream Home wastes its creative concept by being unfortunately muddled. Though the protagonists’ obsession with owning a home at the sacrifice of her family and moral integrity could have been fascinating, the film is ultimately shallow and confusing. Despite …
The Last Exorcism Directed by Daniel Stamm Thanks to its wicked humor and unexpected smarts, The Last Exorcism sets itself apart from many recent attempts at faux-documentaries. In the film, documentary filmmakers follow a disillusioned preacher who hopes to expose the danger exorcism poses in the modern age. He attempts to reveal the ignorance and …
Sucker Punch has been described as Alice in Wonderland with machine guns, but I would like to believe, coming from Zack Snyder’s mind, that it will be so much more than that. Little has been said or revealed about this production until the San Diego Comic-Con hit this weekend. Not only has the website launched …