By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) When I finally went to see this modern version of Ghostbusters last night, having waited a bit to try and get away from some of the high-pitched negativity surrounding the film, I was determined to form my own opinion. Which is exactly what I did. And for a big… Read More Review: Ghostbusters
By John Corrado ★★★★ (out of 4) Walt Disney’s motto was that for every laugh there should be a tear, so it’s only fitting that Life, Animated, a documentary about the profound affects the studio’s animated classics have had on a young autistic man, would offer plenty of both emotions. This is the story of Owen… Read More Review: Life, Animated
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) A starkly surreal dark comedy packed with eerily relevant social metaphors, The Lobster imagines a dystopic near-future society where single people are sent to a strangely clinical hotel where they are given forty five days to choose a partner. And if they do not meet this deadline, they are… Read More Review: The Lobster
By John Corrado ★★★★ (out of 4) I have always been fascinated by time travel, both the way it is used in movies and other stories, as well as the actual possibilities of being able to move along the space-time continuum. I have also always loved building models and collecting movie memorabilia, to remind me of… Read More Review: How to Build a Time Machine
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) Although filmed under the close watch of officials, and featuring a script written by the North Korean government, who clearly intended the project to be self-serving propaganda, Under the Sun actually becomes a fascinating exploration of censorship. Gaining permission to tell the story of a young family as their daughter Zin-mi prepares… Read More Review: Under the Sun
By John Corrado ★★½ (out of 4) The gutsy feature debut of young director Stephen Dunn, Closet Monster is a Canadian film that takes its inspiration from both Xavier Dolan and David Cronenberg. These fellow homegrown filmmakers couldn’t be further apart in their own work, but their influences are both felt in this self-assured and often ambitious… Read More Review: Closet Monster
By John Corrado ★½ (out of 4) Although Equals has a mildly intriguing premise, it leaves much of it unexplored in favour of crafting a clichéd emo love story that will have little resonance beyond heartsick teenagers. The film takes place in a dystopic future society where people are made to be completely devoid of emotions,… Read More Review: Equals
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) An animal-focused adventure from Illumination Entertainment, the same studio behind the Despicable Me franchise, The Secret Life of Pets is an enjoyable caper that injects cute characters into a familiar formula to offer a fast-paced and easily likeable diversion. The prologue introduces us to Max (Louis C.K.), an adorable… Read More Review: The Secret Life of Pets
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) Rex (Michael Caton) is a lonely old cab driver in central Australia, who is diagnosed with stomach cancer and given three months to live. This is the setup for Last Cab to Darwin, an evocative and quietly affecting drama that sensitively explores the timely subject of terminally ill patients… Read More Review: Last Cab to Darwin
By John Corrado ★★★½ (out of 4) I have never been to the New Beverly Cinema, a repertory theatre in Los Angeles that thrives on showing double bills of classic films on 35mm prints. But I would love to go there after seeing Out of Print, an enjoyable documentary that provides a sweet ode to the importance of the… Read More Review: Out of Print
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) From his impassioned hubris to his pun-ready name, you would be hard pressed to find a fictional political figure as fascinating and conflicted as Anthony Weiner, the popular and married Democratic congressman who was forced to resign amidst a sexting scandal, and saw his chance for a comeback… Read More Review: Weiner
The BFG Review By John Corrado ★★★½ (out of 4) Adapting Roald Dahl’s beloved 1982 children’s book to the big screen, Steven Spielberg brings his good old fashioned magic to The BFG, which also happens to be the director’s first production at Disney. The result is an incredibly charming and emotionally resonant all ages fantasy film, that harkens… Read More Three Views: The BFG
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) “I have a great deal of trouble imagining myself as an old lady,” Leslie Caron says at the start of Larry Weinstein’s documentary portrait Leslie Caron: The Reluctant Star, and at 85 years old, the veteran actress appears as alive as ever. Being interviewed at her home and at some… Read More Review: Leslie Caron: The Reluctant Star
By John Corrado ★★★½ (out of 4) Ricky Baker (Julian Dennison) is a “bad egg,” at least that’s what we are told by deranged child services officer Paula (Rachel House) at the beginning of Hunt for the Wilderpeople. But as the film goes on, we discover that this rambunctious gangsta-wannabe kid is actually pretty sweet and just… Read More Review: Hunt for the Wilderpeople
By John Corrado ★★★★ (out of 4) When New Zealand pop culture reporter David Ferrier found bizarre videos online of a sport called Competitive Endurance Tickling, where half-naked young guys are paid to be tied up and tickled by other men, he reached out for an interview with the company behind it. But he never could… Read More Review: Tickled
Finding Dory Review By John Corrado ★★★★ (out of 4) Arriving thirteen years after the huge success of Finding Nemo, Finding Dory joins the ranks of rare sequels that we didn’t think we needed, but turn out to be emotionally resonant continuations of the stories set in motion by their predecessors. Pixar has a long history… Read More Three Views: Finding Dory
By John Corrado ★★★½ (out of 4) Brian De Palma sits in front of a fireplace in a medium closeup, discussing his filmmaking career, as clips from his films and other influences are interspersed between. This is the simple visual conceit behind De Palma, an extremely engaging documentary portrait that allows the director to talk candidly… Read More Review: De Palma
By John Corrado ★★★★ (out of 4) Watching Raiders! The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made gave me the same feeling I had seeing Raiders of the Lost Ark for the first time as a kid. And that’s no small praise of this genuine crowdpleaser that is finally being released after playing at last year’s Hot Docs, and… Read More Review: Raiders! The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) Maggie (Greta Gerwig) is perpetually single, but wants to have a baby and considers herself ready to be a mother. Determined to raise the raise the child on her own, she is all set to go through with artificial insemination with her friend (Travis Fimmel), when she meets the… Read More Review: Maggie’s Plan
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) Adapting Jean Hegland’s novel for the screen, director Patricia Rozema brings Into the Forest to screen with intimate and quietly intense style. The Canadian filmmaker displays a sensitive and compassionate touch in her handling of even the film’s most graphic elements, crafting a stark apocalyptic drama that functions as a resonant… Read More Review: Into the Forest
The Joy of Movies 