By John Corrado ★★★★ (out of 4) “Think of our newscast as a screaming woman running down the street with her throat cut,” ruthless news director Nina (Rene Russo) tells budding freelance crime journalist Louis Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal) in Nightcrawler, one of many provocatively relevant observations that the film offers. There is such exhilarating energy… Read More Review: Nightcrawler
By John Corrado ★★★★ (out of 4) The experience of seeing Birdman is often like witnessing a sustained magic trick. We watch the movie in awe of how director Alejandro G. Innaritu is pulling everything together, and are left wanting to see it again just to get a closer look at how perfectly all the… Read More Review: Birdman
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) The trio at the centre of writer-director Lynn Shelton’s wonderful 2012 film Your Sister’s Sister provided one of the most strangely believable and oddly endearing three handers in recent memory. Now comes Laggies, the latest dramedy from the quietly perceptive voice of Lynn Shelton, and the unlikely trio… Read More Review: Laggies
By John Corrado ★★★★ (out of 4) When you search the word “whiplash” in the dictionary, one of the definitions that comes up is to “move suddenly and forcefully, like a whip being cracked.” And what better way to describe Whiplash, a music film from promising young director Damien Chazelle that unfolds with the force… Read More Review: Whiplash
Today, Sony Pictures is releasing this summer’s Sex Tape on Blu-ray. Disappointed with their love life post kids, mommy blogger Annie (Cameron Diaz) and her husband Jay (Jason Segel) make a sex tape. But when the video gets synced to the iPads they gave out as gifts, which are now in the hands of their… Read More Blu-ray Release: Sex Tape
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) “Ideals are peaceful, history is violent,” the tough Don “Wardaddy” Collier (Brad Pitt) tells shy new recruit Norman Ellison (Logan Lerman) in Fury, a very well made film that eschews the more idealistic views of some World War II movies with impressive historical accuracy and unwavering realism. This… Read More Review: Fury
By John Corrado ★★★½ (out of 4) Right from the opening title card, which lands on screen with a boom clearly meant to elicit the first jump scare of the film, The Guest positions itself as a throwback to the classic genre busting horror comedies and action thrillers of the 1980s. And everything that follows… Read More Review: The Guest
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) At the beginning of The Skeleton Twins, we watch as failed actor Milo (Bill Hader) drops a picture of his boyfriend into his fish tank, turns up the volume on his stereo and lies down in the bathtub. The water slowly turns red with the blood of his… Read More Review: The Skeleton Twins
Today, Paramount is releasing a Diamond Anniversary Edition of the beloved 1954 holiday classic White Christmas on Blu-ray. After the war, song and dance men Bob Wallace (Bing Crosby) and Phil Davis (Danny Kaye) team up with the popular sister act of Betty (Rosemary Clooney) and Judy Haynes (Vera Ellen), to perform together and help… Read More Blu-ray Release: White Christmas
Today, Paramount is releasing a new edition of the 1996 comedy Kingpin, for the first time on Blu-ray. After losing his hand and promising career, washed up bowler Roy Munson (Woody Harrelson) starts training Amish prodigy Ismael (Randy Quaid) to compete at a national competition, and hopefully defeat his sleazily successful rival, Ernie McCracken (Bill… Read More Blu-ray Release: Kingpin
By John Corrado ★★★½ (out of 4) “A saint is a human being we celebrate for the sacrifices that they make, for their commitment to making the world a better place,” Father Geraghty (Chris O’Dowd) tells his Catholic school class in the wonderful dramedy St. Vincent. And this definition of a saint not only provides… Read More Review: St. Vincent
The Judge – A Warner Bros. Release http://thejudgemovie.com Release Date: October 10th, 2014 Rated 14A for coarse language Running Time: 141 minutes David Dobkin (director) Nick Schenk (screenplay) Bill Dubuque (screenplay) Thomas Newman (music) Robert Downey Jr. as Hank Palmer Robert Duvall as Joseph Palmer Vera Farmiga as Samantha Powell Billy Bob Thornton as Dwight… Read More Three Views: The Judge
By John Corrado ★★½ (out of 4) Because of the title, it would be very easy to take a cheap shot at Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day and just use those words to describe the film. But I’m not going to do that, because this new Disney movie is actually… Read More Review: Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
By John Corrado ★★★★ (out of 4) “We still love each other, right?” Steve (Antoine-Olivier Pilon) asks his mother Diane (Anne Dorval) during a pivotal dramatic moment in Mommy. “That’s what we’re best at, buddy,” she tells him, and these words become the heart of the story. The fifth film from Quebec director Xavier Dolan, who at… Read More Review: Mommy
Today, Disney is releasing their highly recommended sports movie Million Dollar Arm on Blu-ray. With excellent performances from Jon Hamm and the entire cast, this is an incredibly entertaining and inspirational crowdpleaser that has something for everyone. We reviewed the film in theatres back on May 16th, and our overall consensus was: “Directed by Craig Gillespie… Read More Blu-ray Release: Million Dollar Arm
Today, Disney is releasing their 1959 animated classic Sleeping Beauty on Blu-ray, as part of their Diamond Edition series. When Princess Aurora (Mary Costa) is cursed by the jealous Maleficent (Eleanor Audley), she is sent to live in the forest with three kind fairies, until her sixteenth birthday when it’s up to Prince Phillip (Bill… Read More Blu-ray Release: Sleeping Beauty
Last week, Paramount released this summer’s blockbuster Transformers: Age of Extinction on Blu-ray. When struggling inventor Cade Yeager (Mark Wahlberg) and his teen daughter Tessa (Nicola Peltz) purchase a broken down truck that turns out to be Autobot leader Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen), the ongoing war with the Decepticons is reignited, and they find themselves… Read More Blu-ray Release: Transformers: Age of Extinction
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) On the morning of their fifth wedding anniversary, Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) comes home to find a coffee table mysteriously broken and his wife Amy (Rosamund Pike) missing. The police are notified, a missing person case is opened, and soon the whole town is out looking for her.… Read More Review: Gone Girl
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) Although being advertised almost like a cross between The Blind Side and Million Dollar Arm, a pair of films that I genuinely liked, The Good Lie in fact couldn’t be more different from those stories about wealthy Americans helping immigrants new to the country. This is a quieter… Read More Review: The Good Lie
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) Directed by Israel Horovitz from his own stage play, My Old Lady works mainly as a three person drama, with the majority of the story taking place at the same location, and the biggest revelations happening during conversations. After premiering at TIFF, the drama opens today in limited… Read More Review: My Old Lady
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