Yearly Archives: 2014

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) review — Once more into the cowl, Michael Keaton

Directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu, written by Innaritu, Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, and Armando Bo After I saw the movie I considered the career of Michael Keaton. I always respected the guy as both a talented comedic and dramatic actor—in movies like Night Shift, Beetlejuice and Clean and Sober. He has a compelling, combustive quality. There's nothing warm…Read More

In Cinemas. November 7, 2014 — Interstellar, Birdman (Or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), Big Hero 6, Force Majeure, Frank

Interstellar Maybe the most anticipated movie of the year, Interstellar is directed by Christopher Nolan, the man who has carved out a career of consistent quality blockbusters. He directed the three most recent Batman movies, Inception, Memento, and a few other clever entertainments. As a result of his across-the-board success I've noticed the more highbrow of the critical…Read More

Frank review — Quirky, original, and moving

Directed by Lenny Abrahamson, written by Jon Ronson and Peter Straughan Frank is a strange little backstage comedy/drama on its surface. Underneath it's a solemn examination of damaged people inside a circle of attention and creativity. It's maybe got a dash of Almost Famous, but it's far more peculiar. You should know, a favourable comparison…Read More

A Cult Of One: Enigma

Directed by Michael Apted, Written by Tom Stoppard, adapting the novel by Robert Harris | 2001 Welcome back to a semi-regular feature on FITI called " A Cult of One." It highlights an older film that (IMHO) is worth discovering. http://youtu.be/5NrfiIpUd20 Enigma actually was fairly well-received at the time, but it seems to have vanished from…Read More

CTV Morning Live: October 31, 2014 — Vampire movies!

The delightfully be-coiffed Heidi Petracek invited me back on CTV Morning Live today to discuss creepy movies. I talked about the excellent Nightcrawler, the execrable Dracula Untold, gave some suggestions for Halloween vampire movies, including Dracula (1979), Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), Let The Right One In, and 28 Days Later, which is more of a zompire plague movie,…Read More

In Cinemas. October 31, 2014 — Nightcrawler, Map To The Stars, Before I Go To Sleep, Happy New Year, and The Trial

Nightcrawler This role is game-changer for Jake Gyllenhaal's career. Gaunt and hollow-eyed, he's Louis Bloom, a lone insomniac and nocturnal denizen of Los Angeles. Ambitious and amoral, he becomes a freelance videographer, chasing crime and traffic accidents to capture and feed the insatiable beast of local TV news. This is a dark, slippery thriller, one…Read More

Where’s the Oscar bait?

Friday is Halloween. It makes sense a crappy—in most reviewers' opinions, anyway—horror movie is in cinemas, Ouija. But since the Toronto International Film Festival in September, the traditional start of the season where Hollywood studios release their best stuff, we haven't seen much that's award-worthy. I'm talking about prestige pictures. Where are they? It's as if it's…Read More