Tag Archives: Gary Oldman

Now On Canadian Netflix: January 2020

The Two Popes On the face of it, this strikes me as strange material for Fernando Meirelles to approach. The Brazilian filmmaker responsible for City Of God and The Constant Gardener is a visionary of colour and kinetics, of movement. Why would he choose to tell the story of two senior citizens having a conversation, his… Read More

A Brief History of Spy Movies: Part Three

THE LE CARRÉ ADAPTATIONS In the past two posts I review Harry Palmer movies and a dozen spy pictures from 1966 to 2006. This post is devoted to the film adaptations of the godfather of spy novels. Roger Ebert described John Le Carré’s novels as “chess problems in which one solution is elegant and all… Read More

10 Great Richard E. Grant roles

The undisputed media star of this year's Academy Awards season—coming to a conclusion with the ceremony on Sunday, February 24—is the Swaziland-born veteran actor Richard E. Grant. Those of us deeply embedded in the cult of his first feature film, Withnail and I, are especially enjoying the various articles about Grant's enthusiasm, and his deft social… Read More

10 Great Tom Hardy roles

I was listening to a podcast recently looking back at Christopher Nolan's Inception, and the hosts mused about Tom Hardy, what an impact his presence had on the film, and whether this was his breakout role in Hollywood. There's no doubt that even in an ensemble as well-assembled as this, his presence shone. One of the… Read More

Now on Canadian Netflix: Spring 2018

Mute (2018) A sci-fi thriller half a mess and half an interesting exercise in style. That it comes from Duncan Jones, the filmmaker responsible for Moon, Source Code, and, yes, Warcraft, hopes were high this would be a strong genre entry, but Mute never hits above its pulpy elements. We're in future Berlin, which looks… Read More