By John Corrado ★★½ (out of 4) Allowing the profoundly important message of its title subject to ring through in every scene, He Named Me Malala is an inspiring documentary about the power for change, that helps illustrate the importance of education and women’s rights. Forced to leave Pakistan with her family, after being shot in the head by the… Read More Review: He Named Me Malala
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) Named after the Mexican word for “hitman,” Sicario is a tense and thought provoking condemnation of the war on drugs, that provides a timely examination of the murky border policies and abuses of police force that have come in its wake. After members of her team are killed during a… Read More Review: Sicario
By John Corrado This week, Gus Van Sant’s landmark 1991 indie film My Own Private Idaho is being released on Blu-ray, through the Criterion Collection. Mike Waters (River Phoenix) is a young hustler on the streets of Portland, who is prone to narcoleptic attacks and sets out on the road in search of his mother, along with… Read More Criterion Release: My Own Private Idaho
By John Corrado Last week, 20th Century Fox released the hit summer comedy Spy on Blu-ray. Susan Cooper (Melissa McCarthy) is a desk bound analyst at the CIA, constantly relegated to giving directions to field agent Bradley Fine (Jude Law) through an earpiece. But when the identities of their other agents are compromised, she volunteers… Read More Blu-ray Release: Spy
By John Corrado Paramount is releasing the 1980 animated feature Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (And Don’t Come Back!!) for the first time on DVD today, for fans to revisit before The Peanuts Movie opens in a few weeks. The film follows Charlie Brown, Linus, Peppermint Patty and Marcie as they travel to Europe as exchange students, getting into plenty of misadventures… Read More DVD Release: Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (And Don’t Come Back!!)
By John Corrado ★★★★ (out of 4) “I’m gonna have to science the shit out of this,” Mark Watney (Matt Damon) deadpans at one point during The Martian, and watching the resourceful astronaut do just that provides one of the greatest moviegoing experiences of the year, in a rare blockbuster that manages to be smart,… Read More Review: The Martian
By John Corrado ★★★½ (out of 4) After playing at Hot Docs, Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Story of the National Lampoon opens at the Bloor Cinema this weekend, tickets and showtimes can be found right here. Through interviews and archival footage, Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Story of the National Lampoon entertainingly charts the promising… Read More Review: Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Story of the National Lampoon
By John Corrado ★★★½ (out of 4) After playing at Hot Docs, Finders Keepers is opening at the Bloor Cinema this weekend, tickets and showtimes can be found right here. The truth really is stranger than fiction in Finders Keepers, a compellingly absurd and surprisingly emotional documentary, that recounts the entirely bizarre story of two… Read More Review: Finders Keepers
By John Corrado This weekend, the recent summer blockbuster Avengers: Age of Ultron is being released on Blu-ray. When Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) resurrects his old peacekeeping program in a desperate attempt to keep his teammates safe, the result is a powerful force of artificial intelligence known as Ultron (James Spader), that takes the form of… Read More Blu-ray Release: Avengers: Age of Ultron
By John Corrado Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom was rereleased on Blu-ray last week, through the Criterion Collection. Narrated by Bob Balaban, the film follows Khaki Scout Sam Shakusky (Jared Gilman) and young booklover Suzy Bishop (Kara Hayward), a pair of twelve year olds who fall in love and run away together, prompting a search party to… Read More Criterion Release: Moonrise Kingdom
By John Corrado Last week, 20th Century Fox released The Rocky Horror Picture Show: 40th Anniversary Celebration on Blu-ray, a sparkly new edition of the 1975 classic. A mashup of comedy, musical and horror, the film follows Brad Majors (Barry Bostwick) and Janet Weiss (Susan Sarandon), an innocent young couple who get stranded at the isolated residence of… Read More Blu-ray Release: The Rocky Horror Picture Show: 40th Anniversary Celebration
By John Corrado Today, Elevation Pictures is releasing I’ll See You in My Dreams on DVD. Carol Petersen (Blythe Danner) is a former singer still grieving the death of her husband, who has settled into a quiet routine on her own, including frequent bridge games with her trio of friends (June Squibb, Rhea Perlman and… Read More DVD Release: I’ll See You in My Dreams
By John Corrado ★★★½ (out of 4) For a progressively minded and refreshingly character driven dramedy, that offsets the laughs with some genuinely moving twinges of bittersweetness, Grandma is surprisingly balanced and often quietly remarkable in its approach to the potentially tricky subject matter of its central story. Elle Reid (Lily Tomlin) is an aging feminist… Read More Review: Grandma
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) An engaging character study that affectively explores the fine line between genius and madness, Pawn Sacrifice is simply a solidly crafted biopic and historical drama. Back in 1972, Bobby Fischer (Tobey Maguire) was on top of the world, a young prodigy from Brooklyn who rose to fame to become one… Read More Review: Pawn Sacrifice
By John Corrado ★★★½ (out of 4) Listen to Me Marlon opens at TIFF Bell Lightbox this weekend, tickets and showtimes can be found right here. Assembled from old audio recordings of the late actor talking candidly about his life, playing over archival footage and film clips, Listen to Me Marlon gives us a rare… Read More Review: Listen to Me Marlon
By John Corrado ★★½ (out of 4) Unbranded opens at the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema this weekend, tickets and showtimes can be found right here. Swayed by their love for the Old West, four friends embark on the adventure of a lifetime, adopting a dozen wild mustangs from government holding facilities, and setting out to… Read More Bloor Cinema Release: Unbranded
By John Corrado To coincide with the 20th anniversary of the former and 10th anniversary of the latter, Sony Pictures has put out new Blu-ray editions of Jumanji and Zathura, a pair of classic and thematically similar adventure films, that were both adapted from Chris Van Allsburg books. Released in 1995, and becoming a breakout… Read More Blu-ray Release: Jumanji and Zathura
By John Corrado The 40th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival has just come to a close, with the powerful Room taking home the coveted Grolsch People’s Choice Award. But before we officially wrap things up, there are still a few more films left to talk about. My previous batch of reviews are right here, and below… Read More #TIFF15 Reviews: Where to Invade Next, He Named Me Malala, Youth, Looking for Grace
By John Corrado The 40th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival is winding down now, but will still be going strong in the city until September 20th. My previous batch of reviews from yesterday are right here, and below are my thoughts on four more films, and please come back on the final day of the festival for… Read More #TIFF15 Reviews: My Internship in Canada, Last Cab to Darwin, Lolo, Stonewall
By John Corrado The 40th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival is happening now, and will be going strong in the city until September 20th. My previous batch of reviews from yesterday are right here, and below are my thoughts on four more films, three of which have another screening coming up. Please come back tomorrow and throughout the… Read More #TIFF15 Reviews: Hurt, The Ardennes, Anomalisa, Victoria
The Joy of Movies 