By John Corrado This always happens. I was hoping to put up my list of the best movies of 2017 closer to the end of the year for once, but I ended up spending January playing catch up on films that I had either missed last year, or weren’t even getting wide releases until this… Read More The Best Movies of 2017
By John Corrado Every year, I end up seeing a lot of really good documentaries, and 2017 was no different. Between Hot Docs and TIFF, there were a lot of non-fiction films that I really liked, and that’s what I want to highlight here. There were a few buzzed about films that I didn’t get… Read More The Best Documentaries of 2017
By John Corrado With my list of the best movies of 2016 having gone up over the weekend, it’s time for my rundown of the best documentaries of last year. This list took me a while to put together, with a lot of deliberation between order of the films, but I’m happy with the way things have finally… Read More The Best Documentaries of 2016
By John Corrado I don’t think anyone would deny that 2016 was a year of ups and downs, both at the movies and especially in real life. But the greatness of some of the films that came out of last year in spite of all the craziness and political uncertainty can’t be denied, and those… Read More The Best Movies of 2016
By John Corrado The one thing that stuck out to me when putting together this highly belated list of the best albums of 2015, is just how different the majority of these recordings are from each other. But like the wide range of movies I watch, the music I listen to is just as diverse,… Read More The Best Albums of 2015
By John Corrado The best indicator of how many good movies were released in 2015 is the amount of trouble I had putting this list together. But after much deliberating, these are the ones I have finally chosen for my annual top ten list, followed by a whopping thirty honourable mentions, many of which it… Read More The Best Movies of 2015
By John Corrado I probably watch more documentaries in any given year than I do any other type of film, and 2015 was no different in this regard, bringing with it plenty of variety and a great selection of non-fiction filmmaking. So this list is a longtime coming. Between Hot Docs, TIFF, and the great… Read More The Best Documentaries of 2015
By John Corrado I heard the usual conversations about the proverbial “death of cinema” throughout 2014. But there were many movies released last year that provided the most compelling arguments you can make as to why this simply isn’t true. There were obviously some duds and commercial cash grabs, a selection of which qualify as the… Read More The Best Movies of 2014
By John Corrado I saw numerous documentaries in 2014, and there were a lot of great ones. Because of this, it was quite a challenge to narrow down this list, and ensuing selection of honourable mentions. But the ten documentaries I have finally chosen are an eclectic selection of what I consider to be the best… Read More The Best Documentaries of 2014
By John Corrado Although I mainly write about movies, I’m a writer first and foremost, and much of my work is done with headphones on and music playing in the background. And because I spend so much time writing, I’m constantly listening to music, both old and new. These are my picks for the best… Read More The Best Albums of 2014
By John Corrado I have been watching a lot of Christmas films over the past few weeks, and noticed a recurring theme. A selection of them are reaching important milestones this year, anniversaries that are worth recognizing and celebrating. Merry Christmas, everyone! Prep & Landing (December 8th, 2009) Has it really been five years since… Read More Christmas Films Celebrating Anniversaries
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) It’s interesting that a story about memories evokes such clear ones within myself. When I think about The Giver, Lois Lowry’s classic 1993 novel which has been a staple of young adult literature for about two decades now, I remember being 11 years old and getting up early… Read More Review: The Giver
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) Based on the bestseller by Richard C. Morais, The Hundred-Foot Journey is a total feel good film, and I liked that. Those who buy a ticket are going to leave feeling happy, just like after an evening spent at a fine restaurant, and the fact that the film… Read More Review: The Hundred-Foot Journey
By John Corrado ★★½ (out of 4) “This is like one of those ’80s movies,” Sarah (Aubrey Plaza) says partway through About Alex, a modern attempt to copy the magic of Lawrence Kasdan’s definitive classic The Big Chill. The movie opens today in limited release and video on demand, courtesy of levelFILM. But despite some… Read More Review: About Alex
By John Corrado ★★★½ (out of 4) I wasn’t expecting Guardians of the Galaxy to open that way that it does. We focus on a young Peter Quill (Wyatt Oleff) listening to his beloved Awesome Mix cassette tape while visiting his dying mother (Laura Haddock) in the hospital, before running out of the building in… Read More Review: Guardians of the Galaxy
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
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
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
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 Joy of Movies 