By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) When his grandfather (Terence Stamp) is murdered by a vicious monster, Jake (Asa Butterfield) discovers a mystery that takes him to an old children’s home in Wales. Run by shapeshifting headmistress Miss Peregrine (Eva Green), the house provides residency for children who all have their own unique special powers. But the… Read More Blu-ray Review: Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children
By John Corrado After her husband is killed by a capitalist land baron (Peter Saarsgard), Emma Cullen (Haley Bennett) enlists bounty hunter Sam Chisholm (Denzel Washington) to help her get vengeance and protect their land. Sam rounds up a motley crew (Chris Pratt, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Ethan Hawke, Byung-hun Lee, Vincent D’Onofrio, Martin Sensmeier) to help prepare… Read More Blu-ray Review: The Magnificent Seven
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) Still recovering from being brutal assaulted and robbed, Brad (Ben Schnetzer) goes to college, hoping to start a new chapter of his life. But when his older brother Brett (Nick Jonas) convinces him to join his fraternity, Brad faces a whole new level of pain and humiliation as the pledging rituals become increasingly horrifying… Read More DVD Review: Goat
By John Corrado ★★½ (out of 4) When his mother (Margo Martindale) is diagnosed with a brain tumour, John Hollar (John Krasinski) returns to the hometown where his father (Richard Jenkins) and brother (Sharlto Copley) still live. As he faces his mother’s potential mortality, John also has to help deal with various other family problems,… Read More DVD Review: The Hollars
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Review By John Corrado ★★★½ (out of 4) Recounting the events of the rebellion hinted at in the opening crawl of the original 1977 film, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is a prequel that actually works. Directed by Gareth Edwards, the film expands upon the mythology of the series in… Read More Three Views: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them Review By John Corrado ★★★½ (out of 4) Expanding upon the world she created in the Harry Potter series, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is the first film for which author J.K. Rowling wrote the screenplay, and it serves as a welcome return to the wizarding… Read More Three Views: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
By John Corrado ★★ (out of 4) A remake of the classic 1959 biblical epic, which was itself a remake of a 1925 silent film, Ben-Hur is another version of the classic story of adoptive brothers Judah Ben-Hur (Jack Huston) and Massala Severus (Toby Kebbell), who’s loyalty is tested when Massala joins the Roman army and betrays… Read More Blu-ray Review: Ben-Hur
By Erin Corrado This past weekend (December 9th-11th) the 5th annual JAYU Human Rights Film Festival happened at The Bloor Hot Docs Cinema in Toronto. It is a small festival that doesn’t get a whole ton of press, but they play some great films each year that highlight important issues. Their name ‘JAYU’ comes from… Read More JAYU Human Rights Film Festival Recap
By John Corrado ★★★½ (out of 4) Based on the true story of Saroo Brierly’s journey to reconnect with his birth family after getting lost on the crowded streets of India over twenty years earlier, Lion is a moving and inspiring drama. The first half of the film follows Saroo as a young boy (Sunny Pawar), who gets… Read More Review: Lion
By John Corrado ★★★★ (out of 4) Directed by Pablo Larraín in his English language debut, Jackie largely eschews the typical biopic formula to offer a complex and nuanced portrait of Jacqueline Kennedy, exploring how she meticulously managed her place in the public spotlight, both as First Lady and sudden widow. The narrative is centred… Read More Review: Jackie
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) During World War II, Japan forced thousands of young women from around Asia into sexual slavery. Referred to as “comfort women,” and now more affectionately called the grandmothers, many of the aging victims have spent years protesting and demanding the government to issue a formal apology for their abuse,… Read More Review: The Apology
By John Corrado The biggest movie of 2015, and a thoroughly entertaining blockbuster that does a fine job of continuing this classic saga, Star Wars: The Force Awakens is now available in a glorious 3D Collector’s Edition to give fans the definitive version of the film. Although many fans will have already gotten the original Blu-ray release from… Read More Blu-ray Review: Star Wars: The Force Awakens: 3D Collector’s Edition
By John Corrado Arriving a few months after the original Blu-ray release, The Jungle Book: 3D Collector’s Edition has now arrived, offering fans the definitive version of Disney’s excellent remake. For more on the film itself, which is one of the year’s best, you can read our three views right here. Although some will question the… Read More Blu-ray Review: The Jungle Book: 3D Collector’s Edition
By John Corrado Directed by Steven Spielberg, bringing Roald Dahl’s classic children’s book to the big screen, The BFG follows the budding friendship between bright but lonely young girl Sophie (Ruby Barnhill), and a towering creature who calls himself the Big Friendly Giant (Mark Rylance), who takes her from an orphanage in the middle of the… Read More Blu-ray Review: The BFG
By John Corrado After a devastating accident left him orphaned, Pete (Oakes Fegley) was raised in the woods by a friendly dragon named Elliot. When Pete is discovered by forest ranger Grace (Bryce Dallas Howard) and her boyfriend’s daughter Natalie (Oona Laurence), whose father Jack (Wes Bentley) works for a logging operation, their small town is… Read More Blu-ray Review: Pete’s Dragon
By John Corrado ★★★½ (out of 4) When a trio of young thieves, Rocky (Jane Levy), Alex (Dylan Minnette) and Money (Daniel Zovatto), try to steal a large chunk of cash from the house of a blind war veteran (Stephen Lang) in a rundown Detroit neighbourhood, they get more than they bargained for when he starts… Read More Blu-ray Review: Don’t Breathe
By John Corrado ★★½ (out of 4) When four couples, including Annie (Melanie Lynskey) and her fiancé Matt (Jason Ritter), Jessie (Clea DuVall) and her partner Sarah (Natasha Lyonne), and Jack (Ben Schwartz) and his much younger girlfriend Laura (Alia Shawkat), stay together at an old family estate house, things become awkward when it’s revealed that Annie intends the trip to be… Read More DVD Review: The Intervention
By John Corrado ★★★★ (out of 4) Directed by Kenneth Lonergan, only his third film in sixteen years following You Can Count On Me and Margaret, Manchester By The Sea is a masterful and beautifully written look at how grief affects different people, anchored by outstanding performances and an impressive handling of tone. Lee Chandler (Casey Affleck) is a… Read More Review: Manchester By The Sea
Moana Review By John Corrado ★★★½ (out of 4) Directed by John Musker and Ron Clements, who helped usher in the fabled Disney Renaissance with such classics like The Little Mermaid and Aladdin, Moana is a solid entry into the studio’s oeuvre that continues their current hot streak. Taking place in the South Pacific, the story… Read More Three Views: Moana
By John Corrado ★★★½ (out of 4) “If you must blink, do it now.” These are the first lines of voiceover heard during the gripping prologue of Kubo and the Two Strings, and they apply perfectly to the film. You simply don’t want to blink during this visually stunning stop motion adventure, which keeps wowing us with… Read More Blu-ray Review: Kubo and the Two Strings
The Joy of Movies 