By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) Still reeling from his sister’s suicide, Shane (Andrew Martin) dreams of finally getting away from his small Native community in Northern Ontario, and going to university in Toronto with his secret boyfriend David (Harley Legarde-Beacham). But his depressed mother (Jennifer Podemski), dwindling money and being forced to hide his… Read More Review: Fire Song
By John Corrado ★★★½ (out of 4) A master of finding intersecting lines between comedy and drama, writer-director Lorene Scafaria has crafted a touching and yet still often laugh out loud funny film in The Meddler, using feel good humour to sensitively explore the different ways people grieve. This is the sort of film you can see… Read More Review: The Meddler
By John Corrado ★★★½ (out of 4) Eugene (Dylan Harman) is a young man with Down Syndrome, who still believes in the power of rainbows to deliver gold. Living in Toronto and riddled by extreme poverty, he practically has to take care of himself alongside his terminally ill mother. Eugene sets out to find the proverbial… Read More Review: The Rainbow Kid
Captain America: Civil War Review By John Corrado ★★½ (out of 4) The latest superhero teamup, a concept that has grown less novel since the first Avengers four years ago, Captain America: Civil War packs a lot of stuff into its 146 minute running time. To be sure, there are things here that do work, but after a certain point… Read More Three Views: Captain America: Civil War
By John Corrado ★★★★ (out of 4) The feeling of watching Sing Street, the latest and for me greatest music-themed drama from director John Carney, is best described partway through the film. The moment comes when the troubled aspiring model Raphina (Lucy Boynton) talks to our lovestruck teenaged protagonist Conor (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo) about learning how… Read More Review: Sing Street
By John Corrado ★★ (out of 4) Beginning with a frantic 911 call over the opening credits, Body starts off on a solid and intriguing note, introducing us to its trio of young female characters over a Scrabble game. Their banter has a natural, mumblecore quality to it, with the added dread of knowing that something bad… Read More Review: Body
The Jungle Book Review By John Corrado ★★★½ (out of 4) The experience of watching The Jungle Book is so absorbing and compelling on a purely visual level, that we almost immediately forget that what we are seeing, save for human lead Neel Sethi, has been created almost entirely through the magic of special effects. The… Read More Three Views: The Jungle Book
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 ★★★½ (out of 4) Directed by Wiebke Von Carolsfeld, The Saver is a gritty and emotionally affective Canadian drama that captures the all too common realities of living in poverty, especially for Native youth who are often ignored within the system. The film follows Fern (Imajyn Cardinal), a 16-year-old who is left desperate and alone after the… Read More Review: The Saver
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) The feature debut of Director X, who is perhaps better known for music videos like Hotline Bling, Across the Line is a well made and often stylish examination of poverty and racism at a small town high school. Partially inspired by real racial tensions in North Preston, Nova Scotia… Read More Review: Across the Line
By John Corrado ★★★½ (out of 4) “Growing up isn’t the problem, forgetting is.” Although not a direct quote from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s original book, this message perfectly encapsulates the enduring resonance of his story and is one of the most poignant lines of dialogue that has been added to The Little Prince. Directed by Mark Osborne, this… Read More Review: The Little Prince
By John Corrado ★★★★ (out of 4) A Canadian coming of age drama shot in and around Thunder Bay, Sleeping Giant is a small film that leaves a big impact in its searing exploration of the long buried feelings that are awoken in the throes of youth. Already landing a spot on my top ten list… Read More Review: Sleeping Giant
By John Corrado ★★★½ (out of 4) The latest showcase for a powerhouse performance from Jake Gyllenhaal, Demolition is a gripping character study of a man who quite literally has to tear every little thing in his life apart, so that he can start to piece it all back together again. Last year’s opening night film at… Read More Review: Demolition
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) It always feels good to find a Canadian film that takes some of the most recognizable tropes of homegrown cinema, including a dark sense of humour and scenic shots of our country’s many beautiful landscapes, and uses them in service of telling a story that still feels unique… Read More Review: Borealis
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) Just four films into his career, all of which have featured Michael Shannon in one form or another, Jeff Nichols has proven himself to be one of our most promising filmmakers, a visual storyteller with a genuine eye for crafting unique character studies. With his debut feature, Shotgun Stories, he… Read More Review: Midnight Special
By John Corrado ★★★★ (out of 4) Richard Linklater is the undisputed master of hangout movies. His films beautifully show characters simply existing within a period of time, from the almost real time narrative framing of Before Sunset, to the collection of moments from a young life that he so poignantly captured in his masterpiece Boyhood. And… Read More Review: Everybody Wants Some!!
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) The title of 10 Cloverfield Lane is the first bit of deception that this crafty and often surprisingly inventive thriller has to offer. It leads us to believe that the film will be a direct sequel to Cloverfield. While it does share a few strands of DNA with… Read More Review: 10 Cloverfield Lane
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) At the start of About Scout, a coming of age dramedy that treads a well worn but always enjoyable path, we are introduced to our two main characters over a montage that cuts back and forth between them to show the state of their lives. Scout (India Ennega) is a… Read More Review: About Scout
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) John (Jack Reynor) is a young man struggling to make money as a taxi driver in Ireland, forced to take care of his severely alcoholic mother (Toni Collette), who is slowly killing herself in drunken stupors, finding it too painful to face her broken life. But the pressure… Read More Review: Glassland
By John Corrado ★★½ (out of 4) A Canadian-funded escape thriller, River follows John Lake (Rossif Sutherland), a volunteer doctor in Laos who is dealing with patients of trauma and emergency surgeries, as evidenced in the almost relentlessly graphic opening scenes. But when he intervenes in a violent rape after a night at the bar, accidentally… Read More Review: River
The Joy of Movies 