The Bling Ring review

Written and directed by Sofia Coppola, from the Vanity Fair article byNancy Jo SalesAs an anthropological study, The Bling Ring works. As a study of characters who engage, it doesn't really. Judge accordingly.Based on the true story of affluent Los Angeles teens who—obsessed with celebrity in their midst—stole $3 million worth of clothes, shoes and jewellery…Read More

Man of Steel review

Directed by Zack Snyder Written by David S. Goyer and Christopher Nolan from the comic Superman created by Jerry Seigel and Joe Shuster Superman, as Gary Engle wrote, "raises the American immigrant experience to the level of religious myth." That's exactly what Zack Snyder's new feature film is going for. With myth and religion, you…Read More

This Is The End review

Written and directed by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, adapting the short film by Jason Stone, Jay and Seth vs. The Apocalypse | 107 min | Netflix and Crave Plus This movie is quite a ride; it's both intrinsically self-indulgent and broadly satiric, celebratory of the juvenile behaviour of men and critical of it. And while…Read More

Before Midnight review

Directed by Richard Linklater Written by Linklater, Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke, based on characters by Linklater and Kim Krizan What might have been film history's most unlikely—and delightful—sequel gets a sequel. Back in 1995 Linklater told a story in Before Sunrise that had the tang of authenticity and autobiography; two 20-somethings meet on a…Read More

The Fast and the Furious series review

The sixth entry in this wildly successful action franchise came out recently, a franchise I've pretty much ignored. Why? Though I met Vin Diesel one time and he was friendly enough, I was never a huge fan of the guy onscreen. And I never much liked his pal, Paul Walker. The real appeal of these…Read More

Mark Palermo on film pacing

Fast & Furious 6 wasn't quite fast enoughMy former film-reviewing colleague at The Coast, indie movie director and now a fully fledged Hollywood screenwriter, Mark Palermo lets it rip in this post on feature films that overstay their welcome.I am very much down with his thoughts on respecting the rhythm of a story and not extending just…Read More

CTV Morning Live, June 7 2013

Yes, one more time onto morning television I went, the CTV morning show hosted by the ever-charming Heidi Petracek. It was really fun to be on there again, though strangely the set for this morning's show was McDonald's in Bedford.On today's show I spoke of my interest in Fast & Furious 6—review on this blog…Read More

American Mary review

Written and Directed by Jen and Sylvia SoskaSo great to see a homegrown horror with some new ideas. And especially good to see Ginger Snaps' Katherine Isabelle again on the big screen.The new ideas in the Soska twins' film are front-loaded. We start with Mary, a medical student who seems to really know her stuff,…Read More