Whether by choice or by circumstance, Casey Affleck has skirted the edges of stardom for nearly a decade since his breakout role in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. (more…)
Author: glenonfilm
SNOWDEN Review: Stone Shatters The Surveillance State
Edward Snowden’s leak of classified NSA information is the kind of story that mercurial filmmaker Oliver Stone should be able to sink his teeth into – a young idealist goes up against a monolothic opponent in a story rife with political intrigue and moral ambiguity. (more…)
DOCTOR STRANGE Review: Marvel’s Cosmic Gamble
Having seemingly exhausted the possibilities for Earth-bound battles and even venturing into space with Guardians of The Galaxy, Marvel’s Sorcerer Supreme takes centre stage in the dimension hopping and mind bending Doctor Strange. (more…)
HELL OR HIGH WATER Review: Desperate Men In A Desperate Land
A rusted out jalopy rumbles down the deserted side streets of a ghost town, past graffiti decrying a government that bails out banks while leaving nothing for its veterans. Two masked men enter a bank and rob it at gunpoint, a small drop of vengeance against an institution that’s wronged countless others. (more…)
TIFF Review: ARRIVAL Cribs From Christopher Nolan’s Playbook
Denis Villeneuve’s carefully constructed alien invasion pic Arrival is as notable for what it does as for what it avoids. It risks that linguistic research and the probing of the human soul can be swapped out for bombastic clashes of military might and still hold an audience’s attention. (more…)
TIFF Review: COLOSSAL Is The Strangest Genre Mashup Of The Year
An at-times uneasy mix between a mega monster movie with an indie coming-of-age tale, Nacho Vigalondo’s genre-jumping Colossal defies easy description. It’s an offbeat, inventive, and uneven movie that nestles uncomfortable truths and earnestness among its giant kaiju fights. (more…)
TIFF Review: THE BIRTH OF A NATION Is Raw and Powerful
The Birth of a Nation – which reclaims its title from a KKK propaganda film made over a hundred years ago – is a heady mix of gut-level artistry and timely history lesson, told from the perspective of an ambitious auteur making his directorial debut. (more…)
IMPERIUM Review: Post-Potter Radcliffe Goes Undercover As A Skinhead
The shock of seeing diminutive Daniel Radcliffe spout racial epithets and march in white power rallies serves as a morbid draw for the thriller Imperium. Playing an FBI agent turned undercover Neo-Nazi, the actor continues to do his level best to shed his enduring Harry Potter image. (more…)
WAR DOGS Review: The Wolfy Gun Bros of Miami
Stop me if you’ve heard it before: young guys run amok in their industry, making untold fortunes while binging on drugs and consumerism, breaking the law many times over until it all comes crashing down. War Dogs takes that familiar template from The Wolf of Wall Street and relocates it to the gun-running world of Miami for a bombastic journey that takes its stylistic cues from visual savants like Michael Bay and legendary storytellers like Martin Scorsese, remixing them for an occasionally fun ride that loses steam long before the credits role. (more…)
THE LOBSTER Review: Love In A Hopeless Place
The log line is absurd: residents of an unnamed city in the dystopian near-future must be in a relationship otherwise they’re sent to a hotel and given 45 days to find a mate. Failure to pair up results in being turned into an animal of their choosing. Lonely David (Colin Ferrell) chooses a lobster because they live to be a 100 years-old and have blue blood. Good choice David. (more…)