Last week, 20th Century Fox released Dom Hemingway on Blu-ray, a film that premiered at TIFF last year. Dom Hemingway (Jude Law) is a safecracker who has just gotten out after twelve years in jail, looking for payback from his old crime boss (Demian Bichir), while struggling to reconnect with his estranged daughter (Emilia Clarke).… Read More Blu-ray Release: Dom Hemingway
Two weeks ago, the 1959 film Pickpocket was released on Blu-ray through the Criterion Collection. Directed by Robert Bresson, this is a quiet character study of Michel (Martin LaSalle), a lonely writer who spends his days compulsively snatching wallets throughout Paris, leading to chance encounters with Jeanne (Marika Green), a beautiful young woman who might… Read More Criterion Release: Pickpocket
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) Among my biggest regrets of last year’s TIFF was missing the appealingly titled Can a Song Save Your Life?, which Harvey Weinstein quickly acquired for a hefty price tag. Now that same film has arrived in theatres under the new name Begin Again, and I’m happy announce that… Read More Review: Begin Again
After picking up the Audience Award for Best Documentary at this year’s Sundance, Alive Inside is opening at the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema in Toronto this weekend, and will be playing multiple times until July 31st. Showtimes and tickets are right here. Directed by Michael Rossato-Bennett, the film follows Dan Cohen, the founder of the… Read More Bloor Cinema Release: Alive Inside
Heaven is for Real – A Sony Pictures Release http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/heavenisforreal/ Blu-ray Release Date: July 22nd, 2014 Rated PG for thematic material Running Time: 99 minutes Randall Wallace (director) Randall Wallace (screenplay) Christopher Parker (screenplay) Based on the book by Todd Burpo and Lynn Vincent Nick Glennie-Smith (music) Greg Kinnear as Todd Burpo Connor Corum as Colton… Read More Blu-ray Review: Heaven is for Real
After premiering at TIFF last year, Phase 4 Films is releasing Made in America on all home entertainment platforms today, including video on demand. Directed by Ron Howard, the documentary follows the staging of the Made in America music festival in Philadelphia, a massive outdoor concert masterminded by iconic rapper Jay Z. The idea is… Read More Digital Release: Made in America
By John Corrado ★★★★ (out of 4) When talking about the the sheer spectacle and mayhem on display in Snowpiercer, someone describes it as “a blockbuster production with a devilishly unpredictable plot,” and late in the game this becomes the perfect description of South Korean director Bong Joon Ho’s latest epic. After months of anticipation,… Read More Review: Snowpiercer
Planes: Fire & Rescue – A Walt Disney Pictures Release http://movies.disney.com/planes-fire-and-rescue Release Date: July 18th, 2014 Rated G for action and some peril Running time: 84 minutes Roberts Gannaway (dir.) Jeffrey M. Howard (characters) Mark Mancina (music) Dane Cook as Dusty Crophopper (voice) Ed Harris as Blade Ranger (voice) Julie Bowen as Lil’ Dipper (voice)… Read More Five Views: Planes: Fire & Rescue
By John Corrado ★★★½ (out of 4) A few years back in the summer of 2011, Rise of the Planet of the Apes practically came out of nowhere to become one of the best moviegoing surprises in recent memory, a briskly paced franchise reboot that was as exciting as it was smart. Now comes Dawn… Read More Review: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Today, 20th Century Fox is releasing Rio 2 on Blu-ray & DVD. Continuing the charming adventures of Blu (Jesse Eisenberg) and Jewel (Anne Hathaway), this is a harmless and entertaining enough animated sequel that kids are going to love. We reviewed Rio 2 when the film was in theatres back in April, and our overall… Read More Blu-ray Release: Rio 2
By John Corrado ★★★★ (out of 4) Mason (Ellar Coltrane) is lying in the grass and staring up at the blue sky, the distinctive sound of Coldplay’s “Yellow” playing on the soundtrack, as his single mother (Patricia Arquette) arrives and picks him up from school. This is the already iconic opening scene of Boyhood, a… Read More Review: Boyhood
By John Corrado ★★★★ (out of 4) Roger Ebert is one of the main reasons why I became a writer, and like so many of us in this field, his reviews are the sole inspiration behind my choice to become a film critic. Because of this, Life Itself is somewhat ironically hard for me to… Read More Review: Life Itself
The Lunchbox – A Sony Pictures Classics Release http://sonyclassics.com/thelunchbox/ Blu-ray Release Date: July 8th, 2014 Rated PG for thematic material Running time: 105 minutes Ritesh Batra (dir.) Ritesh Batra (screenplay) Max Richter (music) Irrfan Khan as Saajan Fernandes Nimrat Kaur as Ila Nawazuddin Siddiqui as Shaikh Nakul Vaid as Rajeev Our reviews below: _________________________________________ The Lunchbox… Read More Blu-ray Review: The Lunchbox
Today, Paramount is releasing Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa .5 on DVD & Blu-ray. A companion to last year’s admittedly amusing Bad Grandpa, this new feature takes us behind the scenes of the impressive makeup which got the film an Oscar nomination, edited together with some very funny interviews and outtakes involving Ellie (Catherine Keener) and… Read More DVD Release: Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa .5
Words and Pictures – A D Films Release http://wordsandpicturesthemovie.com Release Date: July 4th, 2014 (Limited) Rated PG for mature themes and language Running time: 116 minutes Fred Schepisi (dir.) Gerald Di Pego (writer) Paul Grabowsky (music) Clive Owen as Jack Marcus Juliette Binoche as Dina Delsanto Valerie Tian as Emily Navid Negahban as Rashid Bruce… Read More Five Views: Words and Pictures
Last week, the 1964 classic A Hard Day’s Night was released on DVD & Blu-ray through the Criterion Collection. A month after The Beatles famously appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show, the film follows John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr as they let loose around London at the height of their fame,… Read More Criterion Release: A Hard Day’s Night
Last week, Level Film released the boxing film A Fighting Man on DVD. The Canadian production follows Sailor O’Connor (Dominic Purcell), a washed up boxer with a tragic past and a mother (Sheila McCarthy) who is dying of cancer. Despite the trepidation of his manager (James Caan) and kind priest (Kim Coates), O’Connor steps back into the ring for one… Read More DVD Release: A Fighting Man
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
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