Many a film has been made of the back of real life tragedies and plenty have been delicately done, utilizing the cinematic art form to convey the sense of loss, triumph and guilt. Peter Berg is a director known for…
NYFF Review: The Rehearsal
I like to think that when Alison Maclean finished shooting her new film The Rehearsal, she and her editor Jonno Woodford-Robinson sat down and numbered each scene individually. Maclean then flipped a coin. If it was heads, all the even-numbered…
Movie Review: Goat
Not so much as a condemnation of fraternity life as it is a tepid critical view from afar, Andrew Neel’s Goat is all too pleased with itself when it’s showing the harsh brutality of frat life while never fully diving into what makes…
Movie Review: The Magnificent Seven
In 1952, Akira Kurosawa created a stir in international audiences with his iconic film, Seven Samurai. The film is not only one of the most famous films in Japanese cinema, but it also sparked major influence in American works.…
Movie Review: I.T.
Few things anger me more in movies than deliberately incompetent or stupid cops. Can’t figure out how to advance your thriller or horror film? Need to raise the stakes? Have the cops come in, bungle an investigation, and refuse to…
TIFF Review: Arrival
For more TIFF 2016 coverage, go here. Director Denis Villeneuve has come back after his slightly under cooked Sicario with a film best experienced totally immersed. While Arrival is being touted as a “thinking mans science fiction film” (and to a point, it is) the…
TIFF Review: The Promise
For more TIFF 2016 coverage, go here. Perhaps this demonstrates a lack of creative initiative, but one would believe that if a director was to tackle a subject as weighty as the Armenian genocide, they would not choose to use…