Author: glenonfilm

Born into a harsh environment that few can properly envision without first hand knowledge, Glen had to swiftly become resourceful at a young age to evade the roving gangs of cannibalistic mutants that roamed the blasted wastelands of Hamilton, ON. Subsisting on naught but Gino’s pizza and an equally steady diet of VHS movies with eye-catching covers, he eventually evolved into the repository of useless and banal film knowledge that exists today. This knowledge was previously used to win bar arguments in a pre-smartphone era, but is now deposited here in a vain attempt to make public his most secret inner thoughts. Enjoy!

This Is Where I Leave You Review

This Is Where I Leave You (2014)

Dir: Shawn Levy

“You can laugh or you can cry, there’s no correct response.” So says Jane Fonda’s Hillary Altman upon the passing of her husband in Shawn Levy’s overstuffed melodrama This Is Where I Leave You. Despite a capable and sprawling cast full of ringers from the TV world, this limp adaptation that details the real and shocking issues (mostly boilerplate infidelity and mild regret) that white upper-middle class folks are forced to deal with will likely inspire more shrugs than genuine emotion. Laughs and tears are (more…)

The Best Zombie Movies

Zombies have been a part of popular culture since the early 20th Century but were finally given their first big break with George A. Romero’s 1968 classic Night of the Living Dead. Currently experiencing an over decade-long revival with no end in sight, reanimated corpses are ubiquitous thanks to the continual stream of content like TV’s The Walking Dead (adapted from a comic) and the Brad Pitt-starring World War Z (which is somewhat adapted from a novel). Let’s take a look back at the signposts of the genre’s evolution with the best of the bunch:  (more…)

Whiplash (TIFF 2014 Review)

Whiplash (2014)

Dir: Damien Chazelle

J.K. Simmons’ wonderfully profane and shockingly abusive instructor Terrence Fletcher is an antagonist for the ages in Damien Chazelle’s rollicking sophomore feature Whiplash. A streamlined hybrid of a thriller and coming-of-age tale, Whiplash presents a bare-knuckle and bruised view of that most blood thirsty of all collegiate activities – playing in a jazz ensemble. Ostensibly about jazz drumming, the film probes the depths that devoted students must plumb in order to be (more…)

Gone Girl Review

Gone Girl (2014)

Dir: David Fincher

Gone Girl combines many recurring themes in David Fincher’s work: it’s a process-oriented thriller (Zodiac, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), featuring possibly unreliable narration (Fight Club), with overtones of classism and how technology seeps into our lives (The Social Network), all scored to the now familiar strains of Trent Reznor’s atonal bleeps and painted with Fincher’s signature cool palette. It’s also an adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s bestselling novel of the same name (joining fellow story-to-screen Fincher adaptations Fight Club, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and Dragon Tattoo) that holds many surprises for those unfamiliar with the source and even (more…)

Tim’s Vermeer Review

Tim’s Vermeer (2014)

Dir: Teller

“I could paint that” is a common refrain heard when viewing art, especially when the art in question is abstract, simple or elliptical in a way that defies easy meaning. 17th-century Dutch master Johannes Vermeer painted intricate interiors that were so realistic he seemingly “painted the light”. Few would claim that they could replicate his work accurately, but that’s exactly what inventor Tim Jenison sets out to do in Tim’s Vermeer, an intimate documentary that examines process and art, and how science may have played a role in the creation of (more…)

Chef Review

Chef (2014)

Dir: Jon Favreau

Writer/director Jon Favreau trades superheroes for sweaty kitchens in the winning Chef, an ode to creativity and following your muse. Coming off the critical and commercial failure of 2011’s Cowboys & Aliens, it makes sense that Favreau would retreat to the smaller budget realm where he cut his teeth with his breakout hit Swingers. Imbued with a sunny disposition and a renewed sense of purpose, the unexpected part is (more…)

The Drop Review

The Drop (2014)

Dir: Michaël R. Roksam

The Drop is another film based on a Dennis Lehane story (like Mystic River and Gone Baby Gone) which swaps out snowy Brooklyn for the usual Boston while retaining a strong sense of place. Like those previous Lehane adaptations, the world transposed to the screen here feels appropriately gritty and real. The story of familial responsibility and the sins of the past feels small by design, but is full of telling details (the chatter of barflies, how people act while alone)and strong performances (from a mostly foreign cast) that add richness. Tom Hardy (Bronson, Locke) once again proves chameleonic in the lead role, while the movie suffers from some pacing problems and odd character choices but remains interesting in spurts.

Hardy is Bob, a mumbling Brooklyn bartender with a soft spot for his booze-addled clients. His cousin Marv (James Gandolfini in his final screen appearance) is the bar’s namesake who long ago lost ownership to (more…)

The Double Review

The Double (2014)

Dir: Richard Ayoade

The Double reimagines Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s novella of the same name into a bleak and darkly funny vision that features a fine dual performance from Jesse Eisenberg at his motor-mouthed best. Combining the production design of Terry Gilliam with a uniquely understated sensibility all his own, director Richard Ayoade creates an alternate universe of corporate drudgery and oppression peppered  with anachronistic technology and surreal humour.

Jesse Eisenberg is Simon, a meek office drone whose luck is beyond bad. He can’t leave an impression on his boss or colleagues, his mother has little use for him, and he pines fruitlessly over his aloof co-worker Hannah (Mia Wasikowska). He is a non-entity who exists in an uncaring world. Thankfully, watching the world piling onto Simon is Schadenfreude at its best and Eisenberg sells the yearning and (more…)

Cut Snake (TIFF 2014 Review)

Dir: Tony Ayres

Cut Snake opens on a slow motion close-up of a cigarette heater pulsating as a drag is taken. Smoke swirls and ebbs, backlit by the blinding afternoon sun. The shot is enticing and evocative, and makes promises that the disappointing Cut Snake is unable to keep. While idyllic and sun-drenched Melbourne is an inspired choice to set a period noir in, it’s the visuals alone that pop in this overblown melodrama.

Taking place in 1974, the film opens with Pommie (Sullivan Stapleton, memorable in Animal Kingdom and perfunctory as a place holder in 300: Rise of an Empire) being released from prison and tracking down an old acquaintance. Side-stepping ambiguity, Pommie’s motivations are quickly made clear from the ominous music overlaid atop scenes of him stalking parking lots and threatening the elderly. He’s searching for (more…)

Starred Up Review

Starred Up (2014)

Dir: David Mackenzie

Prison’s long been a ripe setting for drama and The Prison Movie is a storied genre with many stellar entries. The past few years have seen some standouts from Europe, including the surreal Bronson from Danish auteur Nicolas Winding Refn, and the Godfather-esque Un prophète from French visionary Jacques Audiard. You can now add the incendiary Starred Up to that list, as it’s a first rate masterpiece of the genre that delivers a cracking blow to staid senses.

Jack O’Connell gives a star-making performance as the 19 year old inmate Eric Love who’s been prematurely transferred to adult prison (“starred up” in UK slang) after a string of mostly unnamed offenses. The inhumanity of the intake system of prison is laid out in deliberate detail in the opening scenes as you begin to (more…)