By John Corrado ★★★½ (out of 4) Based on a pair of memoirs written by father and son, Beautiful Boy depicts the struggles faced by writer David Sheff (Steve Carell) to help his drug-addicted young adult son Nic (Timothée Chalamet) get clean, after he started using crystal meth as a teenager. The English language debut… Read More #TIFF18 Review: Beautiful Boy
By John Corrado ★★½ (out of 4) The latest film from Dan Fogelman, best known as the creator of the hit show This Is Us, Life Itself follows a collection of characters who are all connected in various ways, with the through line being Will (Oscar Isaac) and Abby (Olivia Wilde), a New York couple… Read More #TIFF18 Review: Life Itself
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) Based on Canadian author Patrick deWitt’s acclaimed book of the same name, The Sisters Brothers follows Eli (John C. Reilly) and Charlie Sisters (Joaquin Phoenix), a pair of outlaw brothers in 1851, Oregon who are hired to kill an eccentric prospector (Riz Ahmed), who is also being tracked… Read More #TIFF18 Review: The Sisters Brothers
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) The second feature by Brady Corbet, Vox Lux focuses on the anatomy of a modern pop star whose life has been impacted by violence. The first half shows us our protagonist Celeste as a teenager (Raffey Cassidy) who survives a school shooting, and finds fame as a pop… Read More #TIFF18 Review: Vox Lux
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) TIFF decided to embrace streaming services by choosing the Netflix-produced Outlaw King to officially open the festival last night, and even though I still have some reservations about the predominantly non-theatrical distribution model used by the company – which notably got them blacklisted from Cannes this year –… Read More #TIFF18 Review: Outlaw King
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) Lou (Michaela Kurimsky) and Chantal (Karena Evans) are best friends who are both trapped in the small Ontario town where they grew up, and they are trying to save up enough money so that they can hitch a ride to New York. But their plans to escape are… Read More #TIFF18 Review: Firecrackers
By John Corrado ★★★½ (out of 4) Adapted from Lee-Anne Poole’s stage play, Splinters follows Belle (Sofia Benzhaf), a young woman who returns to Nova Scotia for her father’s funeral, forcing her to finally confront her overbearing mother (Shelley Thompson), who became distant after she came out as a teenager. But this time Belle has… Read More #TIFF18 Review: Splinters
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) The latest short film directed by Zack Russell and starring Kayla Lorette – who previously collaborated on the fascinating She Stoops to Conquer which played at the festival in 2015 – 7A takes place in a single location and involves a young woman (Lorette) who is alone in… Read More #TIFF18 Review: 7A
By John Corrado The 25th edition of the Hot Docs Film Festival came to a close yesterday, with Transformer taking home both the Rogers Audience Award for Best Canadian Documentary, and the general Audience Award as well. Below are my final reviews from the festival. Enjoy! The Reckoning: Hollywood’s Worst Kept Secret – ★★★ (out of… Read More Hot Docs Reviews: The Reckoning, Andy Irons: Kissed By God, Inventing Tomorrow, Roll Red Roll, MATANGI / MAYA / M.I.A., Wind of Swabia
By John Corrado The 25th edition of the Hot Docs Film Festival is on until May 6th in Toronto. More information on tickets and showtimes can be found through the links in the film titles. Enjoy! The Feeling of Being Watched – ★★★ (out of 4) The close-knit and predominantly Muslim community of Bridgeview, Illinois has been… Read More Hot Docs Reviews: The Feeling of Being Watched, Letter From Masanjia, Believer, More Human Than Human, Pick of the Litter
By John Corrado The 25th edition of the Hot Docs Film Festival is on until May 6th in Toronto. More information on tickets and showtimes can be found through the links in the film titles. Enjoy! United We Fan – ★★½ (out of 4) The dedicated fans who have put together letter writing campaigns and started… Read More Hot Docs Reviews: United We Fan, Behind the Curve, 306 Hollywood, Bathtubs Over Broadway, Minding the Gap, Bachman
By John Corrado The 25th edition of the Hot Docs Film Festival is on until May 6th in Toronto. More information on tickets and showtimes can be found through the links in the film titles. Enjoy! The Devil We Know – ★★★ (out of 4) When DuPont brought Teflon onto the market in the 1940s, it… Read More Hot Docs Reviews: The Devil We Know, The White World According to Daliborek, The Cleaners, The Bill Murray Stories, Recovery Boys
By John Corrado The 25th edition of the Hot Docs Film Festival is on until May 6th in Toronto. More information on tickets and showtimes can be found through the links in the film titles. Enjoy! Exit Music –★★★ (out of 4) Formerly titled How Do You Feel About Dying, Exit Music follows Ethan Rice, a… Read More Hot Docs Reviews: Exit Music, Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, Love, Gilda, Gurrumul, The Lonely Battle of Thomas Reid
By John Corrado The 25th edition of the Hot Docs Film Festival is on until May 6th in Toronto. More information on tickets and showtimes can be found through the links in the film titles. Enjoy! Three Identical Strangers – ★★★½ (out of 4) When the 19-year-old Bobby arrived at college in 1980, he was treated… Read More Hot Docs Reviews: Three Identical Strangers, I Used to Be Normal: A Boyband Fangirl Story, Bisbee ’17, The Game Changers, Shirkers
By John Corrado The 25th edition of the Hot Docs Film Festival is on until May 6th in Toronto. More information on tickets and showtimes can be found through the links in the film titles. Enjoy! Transformer – ★★★ (out of 4) Gaining fame as a champion weightlifter and bodybuilder, and also serving in the US Marines,… Read More Hot Docs Reviews: Transformer, The Night of All Nights, Bernie Langille Wants to Know Who Killed Bernie Langille, Golden Dawn Girls, Playing Hard
By John Corrado The 25th edition of the Hot Docs Film Festival kicks off tonight and will be running until May 6th in Toronto. This is the first set of many reviews that I will be posting throughout the festival, and more information on tickets and showtimes can be found through the links in the… Read More Hot Docs Reviews: The Heat: A Kitchen (R)evolution, Take Light, The Artist and the Pervert, The Accountant of Auschwitz, Chef Flynn, Anote’s Ark
By John Corrado The 12th edition of the Canadian Film Fest starts tomorrow night at the Scotiabank Theatre in Toronto, showcasing a selection of ten features and twenty shorts, all from homegrown filmmakers. I had the chance to preview six of the features, including opening and closing night films Becoming Burlesque and The Go-Getters, and… Read More Previewing the 2018 Canadian Film Fest
By John Corrado The 2017 Toronto International Film Festival has come to a close, with Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri taking home the People’s Choice Award. Before we officially close the books on this year’s festival, below are my thoughts on the five final films I saw over the weekend. More information on these movies can be… Read More #TIFF17 Reviews: Molly’s Game, Brad’s Status, Battle of the Sexes, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and 55 Steps
By John Corrado The Toronto International Film Festival is on until September 17th, more information on these movies can be found through the links in the film titles. Enjoy! The Lodgers – ★★½ (out of 4) Taking place in rural Ireland in the 1920s, The Lodgers is a ghost story that follows orphaned teenaged twins Rachel (Charlotte… Read More #TIFF17 Reviews: The Lodgers, Valley of Shadows, Our People Will Be Healed and There is a House Here
By John Corrado The Toronto International Film Festival is on until September 17th, more information on tickets and showtimes can be found through the links in the film titles. Enjoy! Bodied – ★★★½ (out of 4) Adam (Calum Worthy) is a nerdy white graduate student at Berkeley who is fascinated by battle rap, writing his thesis paper… Read More #TIFF17 Reviews: Bodied, Professor Marston and the Wonder Women, Faces Places, Three Christs and Indian Horse
The Joy of Movies 