Pete’s Dragon Review By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) An update of the 1977 Disney film, Pete’s Dragon is a remake pretty much in name only, which in this case turns out to be a good thing. Taking versions of the original’s two main characters and forging a new path for them, this is… Read More Three Views: Pete’s Dragon
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) Blending animation and live action across a mix of genres and styles, Zoom weaves together the interconnecting stories of three different artists, to offer a film that’s both entertaining and totally unique. The live action scenes focus on an aspiring comic book artist (Allison Pill) who works in… Read More Review: Zoom
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) Following the moving old age romance Love is Strange, director Ira Sachs returns with Little Men, another beautifully observed character study set against the backdrop of New York City, only this time focused on adolescents instead of seniors. The film follows Jake (Theo Taplitz), a sensitive kid who… Read More Review: Little Men
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) The year is 1951, and Marcus Mesner (Logan Lerman) works at his family’s butcher shop in New Jersey. At the beginning of Indignation, he is going away to a prestigious college in Ohio, partially to avoid being drafted into the ongoing Korean War, which has claimed the lives of many… Read More Review: Indignation
By John Corrado Running for five seasons on Comedy Central from 2012 to 2015, Key and Peele showcases the combined efforts of comedic duo Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele, with each episode mixing footage from their standup routine in front of a live audience and filmed sketches that star them in a variety of different… Read More DVD Review: Key and Peele: The Complete Series
By John Corrado ★½ (out of 4) After winning a bronze medal in gymnastics at the 2004 Olympics, and being forced to retire due to an injury shortly after, Hope Ann Greggory (Melissa Rauch) is washed up and mooching off her doting father (Gary Cole) in Ohio, while still taking full advantage of her “hometown hero” status.… Read More DVD Review: The Bronze
By John Corrado ★ (out of 4) The final film from late director Garry Marshall, Mother’s Day follows in the footsteps of his earlier movies Valentine’s Day and New Year’s Eve to offer another anthology comedy, this time centred around the second Sunday in May. Like the first two films, Mother’s Day follows many different archetypes leading… Read More DVD Review: Mother’s Day
By John Corrado ★★★★ (out of 4) Who knew that a movie about the friendship between a depressed man stranded in the wilderness and a farting corpse would be one of the best movies of the year, and yet here we are. Swiss Army Man is such a weird, strangely beautiful and surprisingly profound film,… Read More Review: Swiss Army Man
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) When I finally went to see this modern version of Ghostbusters last night, having waited a bit to try and get away from some of the high-pitched negativity surrounding the film, I was determined to form my own opinion. Which is exactly what I did. And for a big… Read More Review: Ghostbusters
By John Corrado One of my favourite movies of the year so far, Sing Street takes place in the 1984 and follows Conor (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo), a lovestruck teenager in Dublin who starts a band to try and win over aspiring model Raphina (Lucy Boynton). When I first saw Sing Street earlier in the year, I instantly fell… Read More DVD Review: Sing Street
By John Corrado A critical darling from the 2015 festival circuit, and one of the best movies of last year, Sleeping Giant follows restless teens Nate (Nick Serino), Riley (Reece Moffett) and Adam (Jackson Martin), who are spending the summer hanging out in a small Northern Ontario community. But the weight of jealousy and various family problems lead to tested… Read More DVD Review: Sleeping Giant
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) Strapped for cash and forced to perform at a rural white supremacist bar in the backwoods of Orgeon, punk rockers Pat (Anton Yelchin) and Sam (Alia Shawkat) and the rest of their band become witnesses to a murder, and end up held captive by a group of skinheads trying to hide the evidence, under… Read More Blu-ray Review: Green Room
By John Corrado ★★★★ (out of 4) Walt Disney’s motto was that for every laugh there should be a tear, so it’s only fitting that Life, Animated, a documentary about the profound affects the studio’s animated classics have had on a young autistic man, would offer plenty of both emotions. This is the story of Owen… Read More Review: Life, Animated
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) A longtime passion project for Don Cheadle, who directs and stars in the film as Miles Davis, Miles Ahead offers a look at the legendary musician and jazz trumpeter at two different stages in his complicated life, both at the height of his career and in the midst… Read More DVD Review: Miles Ahead
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) A starkly surreal dark comedy packed with eerily relevant social metaphors, The Lobster imagines a dystopic near-future society where single people are sent to a strangely clinical hotel where they are given forty five days to choose a partner. And if they do not meet this deadline, they are… Read More Review: The Lobster
By John Corrado ★★★★ (out of 4) I have always been fascinated by time travel, both the way it is used in movies and other stories, as well as the actual possibilities of being able to move along the space-time continuum. I have also always loved building models and collecting movie memorabilia, to remind me of… Read More Review: How to Build a Time Machine
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) Although filmed under the close watch of officials, and featuring a script written by the North Korean government, who clearly intended the project to be self-serving propaganda, Under the Sun actually becomes a fascinating exploration of censorship. Gaining permission to tell the story of a young family as their daughter Zin-mi prepares… Read More Review: Under the Sun
By John Corrado ★★½ (out of 4) The gutsy feature debut of young director Stephen Dunn, Closet Monster is a Canadian film that takes its inspiration from both Xavier Dolan and David Cronenberg. These fellow homegrown filmmakers couldn’t be further apart in their own work, but their influences are both felt in this self-assured and often ambitious… Read More Review: Closet Monster
By John Corrado ★½ (out of 4) Although Equals has a mildly intriguing premise, it leaves much of it unexplored in favour of crafting a clichéd emo love story that will have little resonance beyond heartsick teenagers. The film takes place in a dystopic future society where people are made to be completely devoid of emotions,… Read More Review: Equals
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) Based on a true story that became a bestselling memoir, Miracles From Heaven follows Anna Beam (Kylie Rogers), a young girl from a Christian family who suddenly becomes sick and is diagnosed with an incurable disorder that stops her brain from sending signals to her digestive tract. Her mother… Read More Blu-ray Review: Miracles From Heaven
The Joy of Movies 