By John Corrado ★½ (out of 4) There are some movies that just can’t seem to catch a break, and The Hunt, director Craig Zobel’s mix of political satire and ultra-violent action thriller which imagines a scenario where “elites” are hunting “deplorables” for sport, seems to be one of them. The film was meant to open… Read More Blu-ray Review: The Hunt
By John Corrado ★★★½ (out of 4) Pete Davidson, the heavily tattooed Saturday Night Live star who has attracted his share of both controversy and dedicated fans over the years for his unique brand of stand-up comedy, takes centre stage in The King of Staten Island, which he co-wrote and based on his own life. The… Read More VOD Review: The King of Staten Island
By John Corrado ★★★½ (out of 4) A selection of films from this year’s online edition of Hot Docs continue to be available to stream on their website. Tickets are $9 apiece, $8 for members, with screenings geo-blocked to Ontario. The full lineup can be found here. “If we have a husband, we won’t have a clitoris.… Read More Hot Docs Online Review: Breaking the Silence
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) A selection of films from this year’s online edition of Hot Docs continue to be available to stream on their website. Tickets are $9 apiece, $8 for members, with screenings geo-blocked to Ontario. The full lineup can be found here. Tam and Bay have been living in Germany for… Read More Hot Docs Online Review: Mein Vietnam
By John Corrado Last month, director Cathy Yan’s action comedy Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) was released on 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray. The latest entry into the DC Extended Universe, the film mainly serves as a fun showcase for Margot Robbie’s gleefully unhinged portrayal of Harley Quinn. Robbie… Read More 4K Ultra HD Review: Birds of Prey
By John Corrado This year’s special online edition of Hot Docs officially came to a close last night, and tonight the winners of the festival’s coveted Audience Award were announced during a live stream, which you can revisit on YouTube. The first place finisher was The Walrus and the Whistleblower, director Nathalie Bibeau’s film about… Read More Hot Docs Festival Online Audience Award Winners
By John Corrado While the in-person edition of Hot Docs was cancelled this year due to COVID-19, roughly 140 films that were set to screen at the festival were selected to stream online during a digital festival from May 28th to June 6th, with many titles being available for even longer until June 24th. Tickets… Read More Hot Docs Festival Online Reviews (Part 3)
By John Corrado While the in-person edition of Hot Docs was cancelled this year due to COVID-19, roughly 140 films that were set to screen at the festival were selected to stream online during a digital festival from May 28th to June 6th, with many titles being available for even longer until June 24th. Tickets… Read More Hot Docs Festival Online Reviews (Part 2)
By John Corrado Three years after delivering his iconic, Oscar-nominated performance as a young, working class Italian-American guy drifting through New York’s nightlife in Saturday Night Fever, John Travolta traded the white suit for a Stetson hat in Urban Cowboy, and went from disco dancing to doing the Texas two-step. Based on Aaron Latham’s 1978… Read More Blu-ray Review: Urban Cowboy: 40th Anniversary Edition
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) The latest and supposedly final instalment in this heavily dramatized saga of the man who taught Bruce Lee martial arts, Ip Man 4: The Finale finds Wing Chun grandmaster Ip Man (Donnie Yen) coming to America and battling racism in San Francisco circa 1964. At the start of… Read More Blu-ray Review: Ip Man 4: The Finale
By John Corrado ★★½ (out of 4) Directed by Nisha Ganatra, fresh off of helming the superior Mindy Kaling and Emma Thompson vehicle Late Night which just came out last year, The Hight Note is a music-themed romantic comedy that follows a mostly predictable path but still features some enjoyable elements. The film centres around… Read More VOD Review: The High Note
By John Corrado While the in-person edition of Hot Docs was cancelled this year due to COVID-19, roughly 140 films that were set to screen at the festival will be streamed online instead from May 28th to June 6th, with some being available for even longer. Tickets are $9 apiece, $8 for members, with select… Read More Hot Docs Festival Online Reviews
By John Corrado ★★★½ (out of 4) With this year’s in-person edition of Hot Docs cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a selection of festival films are being given broadcast premieres every Thursday night from April 16th to May 28th on CBC, documentary Channel, and the CBC Gem streaming app, as part of the Hot… Read More Hot Docs At Home Review: The Walrus and the Whistleblower
By John Corrado ★★★½ (out of 4) Written and directed by Australian horror filmmaker Leigh Whannell, The Invisible Man is a modern reimagining of the classic H.G. Wells novel and 1933 film of the same name, this time told from the perspective of a domestic abuse victim who makes her escape but continues to be… Read More Blu-ray Review: The Invisible Man
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) Jack Cunningham (Ben Affleck) is an alcoholic. He works in construction during the day and spends his nights at the local bar, getting drunk to the point of needing to be helped home. In the morning, he sips a beer while in the shower, and starts the whole… Read More Blu-ray Review: The Way Back
By John Corrado ★★★½ (out of 4) The Painter and the Thief, director Benjamin Ree’s excellent documentary about friendship and the healing power of art, documents a coming together of two people that is so remarkable and interesting that if it had been fiction, it likely would have been accused of being contrived. The painter… Read More VOD Review: The Painter and the Thief
By John Corrado ★★★½ (out of 4) Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon are back at it again in The Trip to Greece, the fourth instalment in this series that finds the two comic actors playing versions of themselves enjoying good food, having great conversations, and arguing over who does the better celebrity impressions. It all… Read More VOD Review: The Trip to Greece
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) The poster for Military Wives boasts that the film comes to us “from the director of The Full Monty,” and this really is a case of there being truth in advertising. The director is Peter Cattaneo, and like his surprise Oscar nominee from 1997, this film also functions… Read More VOD Review: Military Wives
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) With this year’s edition of Hot Docs cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a selection of festival films are being given broadcast premieres every Thursday night from April 16th to May 28th on CBC, documentary Channel, and the CBC Gem streaming app, as part of the Hot Docs… Read More Hot Docs At Home Review: Influence
By John Corrado This week, Paramount is giving the 4K Ultra HD treatment to a trio of their catalogue titles; Top Gun, Days of Thunder, and War of the Worlds (2005). What all three of these films have in common, aside from them being extremely well suited to being watching in high definition, is that they all star Tom… Read More 4K Ultra HD Reviews: Top Gun, Days of Thunder and War of the Worlds (2005)
The Joy of Movies 