By John Corrado *** (out of 4) With slightly grainy handheld cinematography, mostly captured at director Joe Swanberg’s own Chicago home, Happy Christmas couldn’t be farther from the summer blockbusters that are currently dominating the box office. But that’s precisely the charm of this low key and very entertaining little film. After premiering at Sundance… Read More Review: Happy Christmas
By John Corrado Two of the best and most important documentaries of 2014 are opening this weekend, with The Case Against 8 and The Internet’s Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz both starting limited runs at the Bloor Cinema today. These are invaluable films that chart the moving human stories behind recent political history,… Read More Bloor Cinema Release: The Case Against 8 and The Internet’s Own Boy
Today, Sony Pictures is releasing Masters of Sex: Season One on Blu-ray, featuring all twelve episodes of the acclaimed Showtime series. The year is 1957, and Dr. William Masters (Michael Sheen) is an obstetrician fascinated with human sexuality, involved in groundbreaking research alongside his assistant Virginia Johnson (Lizzy Caplan). But the controversial study is at… Read More Blu-ray Release: Masters of Sex: Season One
Six years. That’s how long it’s been since we first launched One Movie, Five Views back in 2008 with our thoughts on the spy comedy Get Smart. The website has come a long way since then, and for the most part the journey has been a lot of fun for all of us, a rewarding… Read More Celebrating Six Years
By John Corrado After premiering at Hot Docs back in 2013, The Life and Crimes of Doris Payne is finally opening at the Bloor Cinema this weekend, and will be playing multiple times until next Thursday. Tickets and showtimes are right here. Although on the surface the 81-year-old Doris Payne seems like a sweet elderly… Read More Bloor Cinema Release: The Life and Crimes of Doris Payne
By John Corrado *** (out of 4) It’s an unwritten rule of comedy that sequels are rarely as funny as their predecessors, with the majority of followups to comedic classics being easily forgotten over the years. But rules were made to be broken, and that’s something directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller obviously know very… Read More Review: 22 Jump Street
Nominated for Best Animated Feature at the Oscars, Mongrel Media is releasing Ernest & Celestine on all home entertainment platforms today, including iTunes. Celestine (Mackenzie Foy) is a lonely mouse living in the sewers where they fear the bears up above, and Ernest (Forest Whitaker) is a hungry bear in a town that is annoyed… Read More Digital Release: Ernest & Celestine
After premiering at TIFF last year, Remstar Films is releasing Devil’s Knot on DVD & Blu-ray today. Dramatizing the story of the West Memphis Three, the film follows Pam Hobbs (Reese Witherspoon), the grieving mother of one of the three young boys that were killed in 1993. We see everything from the events of that… Read More DVD Release: Devil’s Knot
Two weeks ago, MGM released the classic 1996 comedy The Birdcage for the first time on Blu-ray. Armand Goldman (Robin Williams) is the owner of a cabaret nightclub, with his partner Albert (Nathan Lane) as the star performer. But when their son Val (Dan Futterman) announces his engagement to Barbara (Calista Flockhart), the daughter of… Read More Blu-ray Release: The Birdcage
By Erin Corrado Released on iTunes last week, and coming to CD tomorrow, the soundtrack for How To Train Your Dragon 2 is a must buy for fans of both film music as well as the HTTYD films. The soundtrack opens with a rousing and joy filled re-imagining on the themes from the first film.… Read More Soundtrack Review: How To Train Your Dragon 2
How To Train Your Dragon 2 – A 20th Century Fox Release https://www.howtotrainyourdragon.com Release Date: June 13th, 2014 Rated PG for some scary scenes and action Running time: 102 minutes Dean DeBlois (dir.) Dean DeBlois (writer) Based on the book series by Cressida Cowell John Powell (music) Jay Baruchel as Hiccup (voice) Cate Blanchett as… Read More Five Views: How To Train Your Dragon 2
By John Corrado ***1/2 (out of 4) The Double is a film that quietly grows on you and is impossible to shake afterwards, a fascinating tragicomedy filled with perfectly mannered character quirks and dark subtext about the often futile struggle for individuality. This is what the work of Wes Anderson might look like if he… Read More Review: The Double
By John Corrado ***1/2 (out of 4) Even amongst the massive landscape of books that fall into the increasingly lucrative Young Adult bracket, few novels have had the lasting impact and unlikely popularity of author John Green’s 2012 bestseller The Fault in Our Stars. This love story between two teens who fall in love through… Read More Review: The Fault in Our Stars
Tim’s Vermeer – A Sony Pictures Classics Release http://sonyclassics.com/timsvermeer/ Blu-ray Release Date: June 10th, 2014 Rated PG for language Running time: 80 minutes Teller (dir.) Conrad Pope (music) Tim Jenison as Himself Penn Jillette as Himself Philip Steadman as Himself David Hockney as Himself Our reviews below: _________________________________________ Tim’s Vermeer Blu-ray Review By John Corrado ****… Read More Blu-ray Review: Tim’s Vermeer
Today, Paramount is releasing Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit on Blu-ray & DVD, after opening in theatres on January 17th. After injuring his back overseas, young soldier Jack Ryan (Chris Pine) is recruited by government agent Thomas Harper (Kevin Costner) to become an analyst for the CIA. But when he discovers a plot by Russian businessman Viktor… Read More Blu-ray Release: Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit
After doing well in theatres earlier this year, 20th Century Fox released the Bible epic Son of God on Blu-ray & DVD last week. Narrated by John the Apostle (Sebastian Knapp), the film tells the story of Jesus (Diogo Morgado), from his early life and most famous teachings to his crucifixion and miraculous resurrection. Edited… Read More Blu-ray Release: Son of God
Chef – A VVS Films Release http://chefthefilm.com Release Date: June 6th, 2014 Rated 14A for coarse language and substance abuse Running time: 115 minutes Jon Favreau (dir.) Jon Favreau (writer) Jose C. Hernandez (music) Jon Favreau as Carl Casper John Leguizamo as Martin Bobby Cannavale as Tony Emjay Anthony as Percy Scarlett Johansson as Molly… Read More Five Views: Chef
By John Corrado ***1/2 (out of 4) Audiences will have no problem virtually reliving the same day over again in Edge of Tomorrow, which has a plot that ingeniously repeats itself, while still feeling fresh every step of the way. Warner Bros. is releasing Edge of Tomorrow today, and the studio should score big. This is… Read More Review: Edge of Tomorrow
By John Corrado Premiering at Hot Docs back in 2013, Brothers Hypnotic is finally circling back to Toronto this weekend, and will be playing a couple more times until next Thursday at the Bloor Cinema. I enjoyed this one at last year’s festival, and tickets can be found right here. The eight members of the… Read More Bloor Cinema Release: Brothers Hypnotic
Back on May 6th, MGM released the 1989 comedy Weekend at Bernie’s for the first time on Blu-ray. When corporate drones Richard (Jonathan Silverman) and his slacker friend Larry (Andrew McCarthy) present their boss Bernie Lomax (Terry Kiser) with a financial discrepancy, he invites them to his beach house for the weekend, with plans for… Read More Blu-ray Release: Weekend at Bernie’s
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