“Heartless is aimless and messy, and offers no real insight in the very many themes it introduces.” Heartless Directed by Philip Ridley Everything you need to know about Heartless is laid out in the first thirty minutes. It is a film about vanity, loss and pain… it is also about gang violence, social decay and …
If ever a mother was designed to drive her offspring to crime, depravity and therapy, it was Livia Soprano. The star of David Chase’s acclaimed HBO drama was mob boss Tony (James Gandolfini) — an antihero for our times. But the early years of the show were dominated by the supremely malevolent matriarch Livia Soprano …
——————— Down Terrace Directed by Ben Wheatley A good movie that could very easily have been a great one, Down Terrace, a very black comedy with a dash of arthouse ambition, has all the ingredients necessary for a truly distinctive feature but bungles the proportions, making for a peculiar viewing experience – one worth partaking …
Sean Byrne’s debut feature, The Loved Ones, not only received a standing ovation at last year’s midnight madness screening at TIFF, but it was also the recipient of The Cadillac People’s Choice Award (Midnight Madness), and received a number of positive reviews (including our own). Anyone who has been following trends in world cinema cannot …
Over the years, Meir Zarchi’s 1978 rape-revenge film I Spit on Your Grave (aka Day of the Woman) has been labeled everything from an expression of raw, feminist rage to a cinematic sex offense. And there’s no doubt that Steven R. Monroe’s 2010 remake be equally polarizing, as it’s more graphically violent by at least …
The first annual Bite Me! Toronto International Body Image Film and Arts Festival will be held this weekend, at the NFB’s Mediatheque. For those who read ‘body image film festival’ and are beset by memories of awkward adolecent moments involving sex ed, school counsellors, and painfully upbeat filmstrips, rest assured that this festival will be …
The world has never seen such a dangerous threat until the World Cup came to South Africa. Now, striking terror in Middle-earth, the vuvuzela joins the fellowship in an epic scale. Check out the trailer for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Vuvuzela!
Mai Mai Miracle Directed by Sunao Katabuchi Mai Mai Miracle is the story about growing up amidst a changing world. Set ten years after the Second World War, life in rural Japan is at a turning point. Inspired by the stories her grandfather tells her, nine year old Shinko, creates elaborate fantasy worlds about the …
The final, complete version of Jorge Michel Grau’s We Are What We Are premiered at the Director’s Fortnight program in Cannes this year and had critics and audiences alike talking. Shocking, bloody and deeply moving are but some of the compliments it revived and now Montreal has the privilege of seeing what all the hype …
No grand achievement, Despicable Me nevertheless proves to be a satisfying hour and a half of fun for the family. Despicable Me Directed by Pierre Coffin & Chris Renaud Two supervillains compete for the chance to steal the moon from the sky, but before Gru, the more experienced bad guy and the protagonist, can pull …
A galaxy of intricate geometric patterns floating hypnotically towards you; a grid of horizontal grey lines stabbing across the screen; the figure of Robert De Niro falling through a sheet of flames that segues neatly into a series of dazzling neon backdrops. The opening credits from Vertigo, Psycho and Casino all bear the distinctive hallmark …
——————— The amazing thing about the horror films of Herschell Gordon Lewis is not that they were shocking in 1960s. From what I gather from classic rock radio stations and Partridge Family reruns, vibrantly coloured juice raised eyebrows prior to at least 1975. No, what’s amazing about films like 1963’s Blood Feast and 1964’s Two …
Panorama-cinéma is collaborating with the 2010 edition of the Fantasia Film Festival to present three screenings of Kuroneko (1968), on July 9 (7:45pm, J.A. De Sève Theatre), July 14 (3pm, J.A. De Sève Theatre) and July 15 (6:30pm at the Cinémathèque Québécoise). The intimate experience of a magnificent 35 mm print from Janus Films (distributor …
The Human Centipede (First Sequence) Directed by Tom Six For a movie whose entire premise is more or less spelled out in its title, The Human Centipede is a surprisingly elusive proposition. Despite the sordid particulars, Tom Six’s debut is emphatically not a horror film, at least not in the modern sense. It rejects all …
Telling the story of four drug addicts in Scotland, Danny Boyle’s tri-Oscar nominated adaptation of Irvine Welsh’s novel, Trainspotting cemented him as one of the leading contemporary British directors. The soundtrack consists of an eclectic, but complimentary cast of British artists, ranging from the pop of Blur to the ambience of Brian Eno and much …
National Film Board of Canada (NFB) production Act of Dishonour has its theatrical premiere this Friday in Toronto. The premiere, which was delayed due to the G20 conference, will be shown at the AMC Yonge and Dundas. The film, a drama, concerns honour killings and a bride-to-be in Afghanistan as she is visited by a …
The National Film Board of Canada (NFB) has announced a new app for the iPad, available through iTunes. With the app, users can watch over one thousand NFB films for free. It also allows users to store films for up to forty-eight hours, in case the user is away from a WiFi zone. It has …
Good riddance. Starting this week, Blockbuster’s stock will not be available on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). The NYSE requires individual share to be worth more than $1 averaged over a consecutive thirty-day period; Blockbuster’s shares have remained below that point since May. As of this writing, a Blockbuster share is only worth 17¢, …
“Despite the film’s minor problems, Sisters is a film that remains worthwhile for any fan of Hitchcock or horror.” Sisters Directed by Brian De Palma USA – 93 min. Color Criterion Spine #89 One of Brian De Palma’s best known early works, Sisters is draws on both the psychological thriller and the kind of body …
Now in its 11th year, the UK’s premier horror, fantasy and extreme cinema festival is once again destined to bring terror and carnage to London’s West End, the Film4 sponsored Frightfest which runs for five days over the August Bank Holiday weekend at the Empire cinema looks certain to showcase the very best in genre …
13- The Hunger (1983) In his feature debut, director Tony Scott casts David Bowie as centuries-old vampire John Blaylock. A clever hook to lure the MTV audience, but the real stars of his film are Catherine Deneuve and Susan Sarandon, who play predator and prey. A Deneuve and Bowie manhunt in a disco as Bauhaus …
I Spit on Your Grave was originally made under the title Day of the Woman and played some theatre chains and horror festivals under that title in 1978. It didn’t attract much attention until it was picked up for distribution by The Joseph Gross Organization in 1980 and given the luridly exploitative new name. There …
“Controversy, carnage, cannibalism, cutting-edge chills and a clutch of classy special guests await the thousands of fans who will descend on the Empire Cinema in London’s Leicester Square for the annual Film4 FrightFest, now in its eleventh horrifying year.” The UK’s top event for horror fans will unveil 36 films in two screens. There are …