By John Corrado ★★★★ (out of 4) A haunting and visually stunning cinematic tone poem, and winner of the Hot Docs Best Canadian Feature award, Konelīne: Our Land Beautiful is a gorgeously captured documentary that offers a powerful and moving hymn to living in harmony with the land. Director Nettie Wild doesn’t confine the film to a single narrative arc,… Read More Bloor Cinema Release: Konelīne: Our Land Beautiful
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) Playing almost like an American blues version of Buena Vista Social Club, I Am The Blues allows us to hang out in the classic juke joints, church halls and front porches in Mississippi that are home to aging musicians including Bobby Rush, Jimmy “Duck” Holmes and Barbara Lynn. They are part of the last… Read More Bloor Cinema Release: I Am The Blues
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) After graduating from film school in 1985, Will Allen joined the Bhuddafield cult, an experience that took up over two decades of his life, as he made short films for the cult and became their documentarian. Starting in California, Bhuddafield was a secret community of young spiritualists who were all looking for answers… Read More Bloor Cinema Release: Holy Hell
By John Corrado ★★½ (out of 4) Following a group of aging burlesque performers, who still retain their sex-positive attitudes even as seniors, League of Exotique Dancers, the recent opening night film at Hot Docs, provides a fun alternative history of the women’s rights movement. Although using their bodies and mostly performing for men, these dancers all… Read More Bloor Cinema Release: League of Exotique Dancers
By John Corrado Hot Docs has come to a close, but before we officially wrap things up until next year, below are my thoughts on the final few films that I had the chance to see. I have also included links to my previous sets of reviews at the bottom of this post, so that you can look… Read More #HotDocs16: Final Batch of Reviews
By John Corrado We have now reached the final weekend of Hot Docs, and below are my thoughts on some more films that I had the chance to see over the last few days. Please come back on Monday for my final batch of reviews, and you can find more info on any remaining showtimes through the links… Read More #HotDocs16: Fourth Batch of Reviews
By John Corrado Although we are coming up to the final weekend of Hot Docs, there are still plenty of films left to screen. Below are my thoughts on eight more that I saw this week, including several standouts and fascinating conversation starters. Please come back for more reviews over the weekend, and you can find info… Read More #HotDocs16: Third Batch of Reviews
By John Corrado The first weekend of Hot Docs has just come to a close, and below are my thoughts on nine films that I had the chance to see over the last three days. Please come back for more reviews throughout the rest of the festival, and you can find info on tickets and showtimes through the links in the… Read More #HotDocs16: Second Batch of Reviews
By John Corrado The 2016 edition of Hot Docs kicks off tonight, and below are my thoughts on ten films that I had the chance to screen in advance, to give you a small sampling of what to expect from this year’s lineup. Please come back for more capsule reviews throughout the festival, and you… Read More #HotDocs16: First Batch of Reviews
By John Corrado ★★★½ (out of 4) Martine Stonehouse is a celebrated transgender activist living on the autism spectrum in Toronto, who is struggling to complete her gender confirmation surgery before marrying her longtime partner John Gelman, a straight man who is also on the autism spectrum, and wants to have a partner with female genitalia. Because of… Read More Review: Transfixed
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) Life Off Grid opens at the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema today, tickets and showtimes can be found right here. Funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, Life Off Grid looks at different people across Canada who have all found ways to live completely or almost entirely off… Read More Bloor Cinema Release: Life Off Grid
By John Corrado ★★★½ (out of 4) After premiering at TIFF, Al Purdy Was Here is starting a limited run at the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema tonight, tickets and showtimes can be found right here. A “Sensitive Man” beneath an ultra masculine persona, who rose from his humble working class origins to leave behind a lasting legacy… Read More Bloor Cinema Release: Al Purdy Was Here
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) The music documentary All Things Must Pass: The Rise and Fall of Tower Records is opening at the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema this weekend, tickets and showtimes can be found right here. Founded by Russ Solomon in the back of his father’s convenience store, Tower Records blossomed into the premiere place for music… Read More Blood Cinema Release: All Things Must Pass: The Rise and Fall of Tower Records
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) After premiering at Hot Docs, and becoming a top twenty finalist for the Audience Award, The Barkley Marathons: The Race That Eats Its Young is opening at the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema this weekend, tickets and showtimes can be found right here. With a bizarre application process and… Read More Bloor Cinema Release: The Barkley Marathons: The Race That Eats Its Young
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) After premiering at Hot Docs, and becoming a runner-up for the Audience Award, Mavis! opens at the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema this weekend, tickets and showtimes can be found right here. A legendary gospel and soul singer, and iconic civil rights activist in the time of Martin Luther King… Read More Bloor Cinema Release: Mavis!
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) Ravi Patel, the title subject in the utterly delightful documentary Meet the Patels, is approaching thirty and facing pressure to find a wife. But this process is complicated by living in a family where Patels always marry Patels, and nobody breaks away from their proud Indian culture. Ravi’s more… Read More Review: Meet the Patels
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 ★★★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 ★★★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
The Joy of Movies 