Robert Carlyle has proven to be an astonishing actor from his memorable work in The Full Monty, Trainspotting, and California Solo. Though The Legend of Barney Thomson allows the actor to return to his Trainspotting-esque wildness, it’s unfortunate that his first attempt at directing a feature film isn’t quite so flawless.
In 2013, audiences were treated to two movies involving hostage situations in the White House: Antoine Fuqua’s Olympus Has Fallen and Roland Emmerich’s White House Down. The former performed well enough at the box office to merit a sequel, while the other languished in obscurity, likely due to its director’s notorious incompetence. And yet, much like its predecessor, London Has Fallen shows that in terms of quality, White House Down triumphed where Olympus had fallen.
After watching younger filmmakers at work, viewers hope to walk away with a bit of pep in their step feeling hopeful about the future of movies. I knew going into Hostile that the horror film was written/directed by teenager Nathan Ambrosioni, and I did leave feeling elated. Not only that, but Hostile was also really good.
Sexploitation cinema’s latest entry Gone by Dawn boasts bare bodies as if its already waving down Mr. Skin for a year-end top prize in nudity. However, don’t be fooled by this skin flick. Even though the film prides itself on sex appeal, there’s something more meaningful underneath it all.
A film titled A Perfect Day opens itself to a lot of critical wordplay. Unfortunately, it’s not perfect and it’s not imperfect – it’s definitely somewhere in the middle. An Okay Day just doesn’t have the same ring.
Based on an autobiography of the same name, Mark Craig’s The Last Man on the Moon documents the experiences and recollections of retired US naval pilot and NASA astronaut Eugene Cernan who, in addition to a couple of other trips to space, was commander of the 1972 Apollo 17 lunar landing. As the last one of his mission to re-enter the vessel, Cernan remains – to this day – the last human being to have set foot…
Australian filmmaker Alex Proyas had a terrific output in the 1990’s: the gothic comic book adaptation, The Crow, and the superlative neo-noir/sci-fi film Dark City. Since then, however, Proyas has made few noteworthy cinematic contributions, and his latest, the 3D fantasy/adventure film Gods of Egypt, is abundant in imagination but lacking in novelty.
Just like staring at an inkblot, “random” and “strange” are the first words that spring to mind if I had to describe Frank D’Angelo’s Sicilian Vampire to movie goers. However, the oddities give D’Angelo’s film a fever dream allure – it’s entertaining one way or another.
British filmmaker Philip Ridley’s The Reflecting Skin hasn’t screened in Toronto since its Canadian premiere at TIFF in 1990. Given its vibrant formalism and unconventional approach to genre, Ridley’s first feature simply may have been unable to find a broader audience. However, the film works well for cult film audiences.
