Every year, The Nutcracker ballet is performed all over the world, the music of Tchaikovsky providing one of the many sounds of the Christmas season. But what exactly goes into staging a ballet that features so many dancers and is often performed with a young cast? This is exactly what the confectionary documentary Getting to… Read More Bloor Cinema Release: Getting to The Nutcracker
Last week, Disney released Hayao Miyazaki’s Oscar-nominated The Wind Rises on Blu-ray, along with new editions of the classic Studio Ghibli films Princess Mononoke (1997) and Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989), providing a good overview of the recently retired filmmaker’s legendary career. The Wind Rises: Although his nearsighted vision kept him from being a pilot, Jirô Horikoshi… Read More Blu-ray Release: The Wind Rises, Princess Mononoke and Kiki’s Delivery Service
Last week, Disney released a new Sing-Along Edition of their beloved musical Frozen on DVD, featuring a bouncing snowflake to help us join in with the bestselling soundtrack. Since last November, Frozen has gone from being a holiday box office hit, to the highest grossing animated film of all time and an Oscar-winning cultural phenomenon… Read More DVD Release: Frozen: Sing-Along Edition
Today, Paramount is releasing the complete first and second seasons of Comedy Central’s Drunk History on DVD. Hosted by Derek Waters, and originating as an internet series, the TV show features inebriated comedians retelling classic stories from throughout history, with their drunken narrations playing over reenactments by a cast of famous faces. With each episode… Read More DVD Release: Drunk History: Seasons 1 & 2
By John Corrado Back on October 22nd, I had the opportunity to visit Disney’s Cinderella: The Exhibition, an amazing collection of costumes and props from their upcoming live action fairy tale, elaborately set up for two days at CBC headquarters and open only to exhibitors and members of the media. Although bursting to talk about… Read More A Photo Tour of Disney’s Cinderella: The Exhibition
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) The penultimate entry into the wildly successful cinematic saga, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 is the sort of film that is only really worth seeing if you were gripped by the previous instalments, and are already eagerly anticipating next year’s final chapter. And I mean this… Read More Review: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1
Today, director Frank Capra’s Oscar-winning 1934 classic It Happened One Night is being released for the first time on Blu-ray, through Criterion. Ellie (Claudette Colbert) is a spoiled heiress, and Peter (Clark Gable) is a struggling reporter looking for a story. When she runs away from her family and he helps her survive on the… Read More Criterion Release: It Happened One Night
Today, Sony Pictures is releasing 22 Jump Street on Blu-ray, a very entertaining comedy that smartly references its own sequel status. Police officers Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) are going back undercover, and this time Captain Dickson (Ice Cube) is sending them to college, where there is a new drug making the rounds. … Read More Blu-ray Release: 22 Jump Street
Last week, levelFILM released About Alex on DVD. When Alex (Jason Ritter) attempts suicide, his university friends come to stay with him at his rural house, to keep an eye on him and also figure out where they broke apart. This includes Sarah (Aubrey Plaza) who is masking her own pain, and the sarcastic Josh… Read More DVD Release: About Alex
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) Produced by Terrence Malick, and directed by his collaborator A.J. Edwards, The Better Angels takes a unique approach to the usual biopic formula, focusing on the rural Indiana childhood of Abraham Lincoln (Braydon Denney), years before he became the Sixteenth President. This couldn’t be farther from the expansive… Read More Review: The Better Angels
Today, Paramount is releasing Happy Christmas on DVD. Jenny (Anna Kendrick) has just broken up with her boyfriend, when she goes to stay with her brother Jeff (Joe Swanberg) over the holidays, with his wife Kelly (Melanie Lynsky) and their young son (Jude Swanberg). Jenny is barely responsible when it comes to living with a… Read More DVD Release: Happy Christmas
After a successful run at TIFF Bell Lightbox, D Films is releasing Coherence on DVD. When eight friends gather for a dinner party, on the same night that a comet is passing dangerously close to the earth, they start to experience shocking changes to all of their realities. After the power shuts out, a few… Read More DVD Release: Coherence
By John Corrado ★★★★ (out of 4) After delivering one of their biggest and most beloved films with last year’s Oscar-winning Frozen, Disney continues their winning streak with the bighearted and beautifully animated Big Hero 6, opening in theatres this weekend. It’s glorious. Loosely based on a Marvel comic of the same name, Big Hero 6 is another animated knockout from… Read More Review: Big Hero 6
By John Corrado ★★★★ (out of 4) Elliot “White Lightening” Scott dreams of being Canada’s first action hero, making amateurish and super low budget martial arts films with his long suffering girlfriend Linda Lum, starring his aspiring method actor friend Blake Zwicker. Shot on the fly around New Brunswick, the action films in question are… Read More Review: Kung Fu Elliot
By John Corrado ★★★★ (out of 4) The North Dakota oil fields are taking their toll on the environment and natural landscapes, but they are also providing jobs for men struggling to find work. The men are grateful for the opportunity to make money, but they are left needing a roof over their heads, many… Read More Review: The Overnighters
By John Corrado ★★★½ (out of 4) The title of The Theory of Everything refers to Stephen Hawking’s (Eddie Redmayne) ongoing search for a “simple, elegant equation to explain everything,” and prove without question that time and space have a beginning. This provides a profound backdrop to the moving romance that makes up the film,… Read More Review: The Theory of Everything
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) I went into Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar trying to keep an open mind, not wanting to be influenced by either the positive or negative side of the increasingly unavoidable buzz. As a whole, I liked the film, and my recommendation comes easily. Shot on glorious 70mm, this is a stunning visual… Read More Review: Interstellar
Today, Disney is releasing Maleficent on Blu-ray, one of the biggest hits of the year. A different version of their 1959 animated classic Sleeping Beauty, this live action fairy tale focuses on the vengeful Maleficent (Angelina Jolie), who is betrayed by King Stefan (Sharlto Copley) and puts a curse upon his daughter Aurora (Elle Fanning). … Read More Blu-ray Release: Maleficent
Today, Disney is releasing this summer’s animated sequel Planes: Fire & Rescue on Blu-ray. A step up from the first one, this is a well intentioned film that provides harmless entertainment and even excitement for young audiences, and should prove a popular choice at home. We reviewed Planes: Fire & Rescue in theatres back on… Read More Blu-ray Release: Planes: Fire & Rescue
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) There are many films to honour Halloween and Christmas, and now the November 2nd celebration of the Day of the Dead gets its own film in The Book of Life, a bright and vibrant piece of animation that authentically honours the Mexican tradition. The film opens with a… Read More Review: The Book of Life
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