As we were dutifully informed before the preview screening of Transcendence, Wally Pfister not only shot this movie on film, but he also developed the film photochemically rather than digitally. This isn’t surprising for Pfister, acolyte of fervent film fetishist Christopher Nolan, but it is reflective of this cinematographer-turned-director’s old-fashioned approach to the material. Old-fashioned…
Game of Thrones – and the book series that inspired it – is renowned for its high bodycount. What defines the series, of course, is not just the number of characters its happy to kill off, but the choice of characters and the timing. Ned Stark is the Ur-example; the shining paragon of nobility who…
Late in After May (Après Mai or Something in the Air elsewhere) one of its teenage protagonists is informed that the assault charges that had loomed over these young wannabe-revolutionaries have been dropped. You see, in an ill-advised protest, these leftist French students (in tumultuous 1971) seriously injured a security guard, causing them to spend…
The term “guilty pleasure” is overused. I’m not of the belief that the concept doesn’t exist; of course it does! Guilt and pleasure are so closely related it’s absurd to dismiss the validity of experiencing shame and enjoyment simultaneously. But a trashy horror film with subpar special effects, a cheesy eighties pop song, a lurid…
Simon (Kacey Mottet Klein) is a liar and a thief. He steals skiing equipment from the wealthy guests populating the ski resort looming over his squalid apartment. The funds he earns from their sale is shared with his sister Louise (Léa Seydoux) – when she isn’t disappearing into a never-ending procession of young men’s cars.…
For a supposed “chick flick,” The Other Woman doesn’t demonstrate an especially high opinion of women. The hook – a wronged wife (Leslie Mann) and a pair of mistresses (Cameron Diaz and Kate Upton) team up to get revenge on their smarmy lover (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) – seems to be an empowerment-of-women-type-deal on the surface. And…
“The Lion and the Rose” is a timely reminder of why Game of Thrones is excellent television. Not because it dispatches one of the most detestable fictional characters in recent history, but because it continues its trend of subversion. George R.R. Martin is infamous for his predilection for dispatching his characters en masse, often unexpectedly.…
In Bob We Trust unapologetically positions Father Bob Maguire as an icon of goodness, an old man with an infectious good humour, idiosyncratic charm and, above all, a deep respect and love for humanity. Defined by his generosity in the community and his outspokenness in the media, this documentary chronicles Bob’s battle to try and…
“Times have changed.” So says Zero Moustafa (F. Murray Abraham) to Young Writer (Jude Law) as he luxuriates in the baths of the Grand Budapest Hotel. Except luxury is now in short supply; once a thriving symbol of opulence, the Grand Budapest Hotel is no longer so grand (and it’s not even in Budapest; the…
Any Day Now tells a powerful story. Based on the real-life case of a gay couple in the ‘70s who fought for legal guardianship of a mentally handicapped boy, this is an important story that demands to be told. Unfortunately, while the story itself is moving, Any Day Now fails to distinguish itself as a…
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