By John Corrado ★★★★ (out of 4) Roger Ebert is one of the main reasons why I became a writer, and like so many of us in this field, his reviews are the sole inspiration behind my choice to become a film critic. Because of this, Life Itself is somewhat ironically hard for me to… Read More Review: Life Itself
The Lunchbox – A Sony Pictures Classics Release http://sonyclassics.com/thelunchbox/ Blu-ray Release Date: July 8th, 2014 Rated PG for thematic material Running time: 105 minutes Ritesh Batra (dir.) Ritesh Batra (screenplay) Max Richter (music) Irrfan Khan as Saajan Fernandes Nimrat Kaur as Ila Nawazuddin Siddiqui as Shaikh Nakul Vaid as Rajeev Our reviews below: _________________________________________ The Lunchbox… Read More Blu-ray Review: The Lunchbox
Today, Paramount is releasing Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa .5 on DVD & Blu-ray. A companion to last year’s admittedly amusing Bad Grandpa, this new feature takes us behind the scenes of the impressive makeup which got the film an Oscar nomination, edited together with some very funny interviews and outtakes involving Ellie (Catherine Keener) and… Read More DVD Release: Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa .5
Words and Pictures – A D Films Release http://wordsandpicturesthemovie.com Release Date: July 4th, 2014 (Limited) Rated PG for mature themes and language Running time: 116 minutes Fred Schepisi (dir.) Gerald Di Pego (writer) Paul Grabowsky (music) Clive Owen as Jack Marcus Juliette Binoche as Dina Delsanto Valerie Tian as Emily Navid Negahban as Rashid Bruce… Read More Five Views: Words and Pictures
Last week, the 1964 classic A Hard Day’s Night was released on DVD & Blu-ray through the Criterion Collection. A month after The Beatles famously appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show, the film follows John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr as they let loose around London at the height of their fame,… Read More Criterion Release: A Hard Day’s Night
Last week, Level Film released the boxing film A Fighting Man on DVD. The Canadian production follows Sailor O’Connor (Dominic Purcell), a washed up boxer with a tragic past and a mother (Sheila McCarthy) who is dying of cancer. Despite the trepidation of his manager (James Caan) and kind priest (Kim Coates), O’Connor steps back into the ring for one… Read More DVD Release: A Fighting Man
By John Corrado *** (out of 4) With slightly grainy handheld cinematography, mostly captured at director Joe Swanberg’s own Chicago home, Happy Christmas couldn’t be farther from the summer blockbusters that are currently dominating the box office. But that’s precisely the charm of this low key and very entertaining little film. After premiering at Sundance… Read More Review: Happy Christmas
By John Corrado Two of the best and most important documentaries of 2014 are opening this weekend, with The Case Against 8 and The Internet’s Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz both starting limited runs at the Bloor Cinema today. These are invaluable films that chart the moving human stories behind recent political history,… Read More Bloor Cinema Release: The Case Against 8 and The Internet’s Own Boy
Today, Sony Pictures is releasing Masters of Sex: Season One on Blu-ray, featuring all twelve episodes of the acclaimed Showtime series. The year is 1957, and Dr. William Masters (Michael Sheen) is an obstetrician fascinated with human sexuality, involved in groundbreaking research alongside his assistant Virginia Johnson (Lizzy Caplan). But the controversial study is at… Read More Blu-ray Release: Masters of Sex: Season One
Six years. That’s how long it’s been since we first launched One Movie, Five Views back in 2008 with our thoughts on the spy comedy Get Smart. The website has come a long way since then, and for the most part the journey has been a lot of fun for all of us, a rewarding… Read More Celebrating Six Years
By John Corrado After premiering at Hot Docs back in 2013, The Life and Crimes of Doris Payne is finally opening at the Bloor Cinema this weekend, and will be playing multiple times until next Thursday. Tickets and showtimes are right here. Although on the surface the 81-year-old Doris Payne seems like a sweet elderly… Read More Bloor Cinema Release: The Life and Crimes of Doris Payne
By John Corrado *** (out of 4) It’s an unwritten rule of comedy that sequels are rarely as funny as their predecessors, with the majority of followups to comedic classics being easily forgotten over the years. But rules were made to be broken, and that’s something directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller obviously know very… Read More Review: 22 Jump Street
Nominated for Best Animated Feature at the Oscars, Mongrel Media is releasing Ernest & Celestine on all home entertainment platforms today, including iTunes. Celestine (Mackenzie Foy) is a lonely mouse living in the sewers where they fear the bears up above, and Ernest (Forest Whitaker) is a hungry bear in a town that is annoyed… Read More Digital Release: Ernest & Celestine
After premiering at TIFF last year, Remstar Films is releasing Devil’s Knot on DVD & Blu-ray today. Dramatizing the story of the West Memphis Three, the film follows Pam Hobbs (Reese Witherspoon), the grieving mother of one of the three young boys that were killed in 1993. We see everything from the events of that… Read More DVD Release: Devil’s Knot
Two weeks ago, MGM released the classic 1996 comedy The Birdcage for the first time on Blu-ray. Armand Goldman (Robin Williams) is the owner of a cabaret nightclub, with his partner Albert (Nathan Lane) as the star performer. But when their son Val (Dan Futterman) announces his engagement to Barbara (Calista Flockhart), the daughter of… Read More Blu-ray Release: The Birdcage
By Erin Corrado Released on iTunes last week, and coming to CD tomorrow, the soundtrack for How To Train Your Dragon 2 is a must buy for fans of both film music as well as the HTTYD films. The soundtrack opens with a rousing and joy filled re-imagining on the themes from the first film.… Read More Soundtrack Review: How To Train Your Dragon 2
How To Train Your Dragon 2 – A 20th Century Fox Release https://www.howtotrainyourdragon.com Release Date: June 13th, 2014 Rated PG for some scary scenes and action Running time: 102 minutes Dean DeBlois (dir.) Dean DeBlois (writer) Based on the book series by Cressida Cowell John Powell (music) Jay Baruchel as Hiccup (voice) Cate Blanchett as… Read More Five Views: How To Train Your Dragon 2
By John Corrado ***1/2 (out of 4) The Double is a film that quietly grows on you and is impossible to shake afterwards, a fascinating tragicomedy filled with perfectly mannered character quirks and dark subtext about the often futile struggle for individuality. This is what the work of Wes Anderson might look like if he… Read More Review: The Double
By John Corrado ***1/2 (out of 4) Even amongst the massive landscape of books that fall into the increasingly lucrative Young Adult bracket, few novels have had the lasting impact and unlikely popularity of author John Green’s 2012 bestseller The Fault in Our Stars. This love story between two teens who fall in love through… Read More Review: The Fault in Our Stars
Tim’s Vermeer – A Sony Pictures Classics Release http://sonyclassics.com/timsvermeer/ Blu-ray Release Date: June 10th, 2014 Rated PG for language Running time: 80 minutes Teller (dir.) Conrad Pope (music) Tim Jenison as Himself Penn Jillette as Himself Philip Steadman as Himself David Hockney as Himself Our reviews below: _________________________________________ Tim’s Vermeer Blu-ray Review By John Corrado ****… Read More Blu-ray Review: Tim’s Vermeer
The Joy of Movies 