By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) I recently came across a new edition of Munro Leaf’s famous 1936 children’s book The Story of Ferdinand while in a store, and decided to look through it. It’s a short book, perfectly formatted for young readers, so I had time to read it cover to cover in only… Read More Review: Ferdinand
A Wrinkle in Time Review By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) Disney’s new adaptation of Madeline L’Engle’s 1962 children’s novel of the same name, which has been guided to the screen by acclaimed director Ava DuVernay, A Wrinkle in Time is a contemporary take on the classic story that also stays mostly faithful to… Read More Three Views: A Wrinkle in Time
By John Corrado ★★½ (out of 4) Saxon Gamble (Jack Kesy) is a young outlaw who returns to the hometown where he grew up following his mother’s sudden death, dredging back to the surface problems with his brother Dean (David Cubitt) and father Leonard (Peter McRobbie). But things take a darker turn when Saxon becomes… Read More Review: Juggernaut
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) The latest from writer-director Sally Potter, The Party is a work of filmmaking that’s economical and to the point. The film is short at just 69 minutes including credits, and doesn’t waste a minute of its running time. It unfolds pretty much in real time, and all takes… Read More Review: The Party
By John Corrado ★★★½ (out of 4) There is wonderful serendipity to the fact that Darkest Hour was released in the same year as Dunkirk, with both films focusing on the same specific events in World War II, albeit approaching them from different sides. Where Christopher Nolan’s film was an on the ground look at… Read More Review: Darkest Hour
By John Corrado ★★ (out of 4) The term “Oscar bait” has become a common and arguably slightly overused pejorative to describe a certain type of adult drama. But Steven Spielberg’s The Post, which was rushed into production in March of last year with the full intention of releasing it in time for awards season in… Read More Review: The Post
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) The second film directed by 28 Days Later, Sunshine and Never Let Me Go screenwriter Alex Garland, who made his directorial debut with the provocative and intellectually stimulating Ex Machina in 2015, Annihilation is another unique work of science fiction that challenges us with its heady themes and ever shifting… Read More Review: Annihilation
By John Corrado ★★ (out of 4) Bea (Charlotte Salisbury) is a shy and awkward tween girl from Toronto who travels with her mother (Delphine Roussel) to a small town in Northern Ontario, where her father (Christopher Bolton) has inherited the local diner. While her parents struggle to patch up their fraying marriage, Bea strikes up… Read More Review: Porcupine Lake
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) The latest claymation feature from Aardman, and the first directed by Nick Park since helming the animation studio’s Oscar-winning Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit in 2005, Early Man is a delightful caveman comedy that boasts their trademark mix of clever visual humour and witty one-liners.… Read More Review: Early Man
Black Panther Review By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) Picking up after the events of Captain America: Civil War, when Prince T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) witnessed his father King T’Chaka (John Kani) get killed in an explosion in Vienna, forcing him to assume the role of Black Panther, Black Panther offers a standalone adventure for… Read More Three Views: Black Panther
By John Corrado ★★ (out of 4) The title of Poop Talk provides the most apt description of what this documentary is about. Directed by Aaron N. Feldman, who closely collaborated with brothers Randy and Jason Sklar on the project, the film features a bunch of stand up comics talking about, you guessed it, poop.… Read More Review: Poop Talk
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) The first time we see August “Auggie” Pullman (Jacob Tremblay) in Wonder, he is jumping on the bed, with his head floating up and down in slow motion in front of the stars painted on his wall, and his face obscured by a plastic astronaut helmet. Auggie is… Read More Review: Wonder
By John Corrado ★★★½ (out of 4) Rob Grant and Mike Kovac are a pair of friends and independent filmmakers from Vancouver, and at the beginning of their documentary project Fake Blood, Rob tells us in voiceover that they are no longer on speaking terms. The film then goes back to tell us what happened… Read More Review: Fake Blood
By John Corrado ★★ (out of 4) Ben Layton (Thomas Middleditch) is in the throes of depression, finding himself unable to cope after his wife left him for another man. But he finds a new purpose in life when he finds out that his parents nearly adopted a baby girl, who they had to give… Read More Review: Entanglement
By John Corrado ★★½ (out of 4) Marina (Daniela Vega) is a transwoman in Chile, who is dating the much older man Orlando (Francisco Reyes). When Orlando suddenly falls ill and dies while they are together, his family starts to place the blame on Marina, barring her from coming to the funeral service, driven by… Read More Review: A Fantastic Woman
By John Corrado ★★ (out of 4) Last night, Netflix surprised everyone with a Super Bowl spot announcing that they were going to be dropping The Cloverfield Paradox right after the big game. There was no prior advertising for the film, no critics had seen it yet, and the title wasn’t even confirmed up until… Read More Review: The Cloverfield Paradox
By John Corrado ★★★★ (out of 4) The latest from writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson, Phantom Thread is said to have been inspired by Alfred Hitchcock’s 1940 classic Rebecca, and it does indeed have the feel of an old romantic drama from the 1940s or ’50s, albeit with a twisted side to it that is fascinating to unravel… Read More Review: Phantom Thread
By John Corrado ★★★★ (out of 4) Right from the opening scene of Logan, a brutal attempted carjacking staged in the middle of the sparse New Mexico desert, the film immediately sets itself up as offering something different from the majority of other comic book movies, let alone the ones in the X-Men universe. This… Read More Review: Logan
By John Corrado ★★½ (out of 4) Wink (Ian McLaren) is a member of the Badsville Kings, a greaser gang that tries to rule over the depressed title town in Badsville, a gritty crime drama that takes place just outside of Los Angeles and explores themes of loyalty and rivalry between gang members. When Wink falls… Read More Review: Badsville
By John Corrado ★★★★ (out of 4) When most people hear the name of figure skater Tonya Harding, they recall the 1994 incident when her rival Nancy Kerrigan’s knee was bashed in, mere weeks before they were both set to compete at the Olympics in Lilliehammer, Norway. But the truth is that she wasn’t even… Read More Review: I, Tonya
