2016
Now You See Me 2
It’s been three years since audiences flocked to the largely forgettable yet surprising box office hit Now You See Me, a crime thriller about a Robin Hood-esque band of highly skilled magicians who perform elaborate cons to rob the rich of their money. After taking in roughly $350 million worldwide, the film has apparently merited a sequel – the equally forgettable Now You See Me 2.
Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising
The laughs in Seth Rogen’s first live-action sequel Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising are every bit a part of the movie’s rollicking Revenge of the Nerds pastiche. The film is driven by the dubious actions and deceptive prank wars between two scrambling teams, which amount to amusing, frenzied chaos.
Mother’s Day
There are movies by Garry Marshall that are “very Garry Marshall”, and movies that are “sort of Garry Marshall”. Mother’s Day is – most definitely – “very Garry Marshall”.
Fifty Shades of Black
What happened? I was supposed to like Fifty Shades of Black. As someone who wasn’t afraid to stand up for Marlon Wayans’ Haunted House spoof series, Wayans’ riff on Sam Taylor-Johnson’s Fifty Shades of Grey should’ve been up my alley. So, indeed, what happened?
Monkey Up
Robert Vince is at it again with talking animals in Air Bud Entertainment’s Monkey Up. After directing the stupefyingly popular Air Buddies franchise, Vince returns to talented monkeys after cutting his teeth with such films as MVP: Most Valuable Primate and MVP: Most Vertical Primate.
TIFF Kids ’16: CodeGirl
The Technovation Challenge features teams of young women who have acquired resources and the proper pre-production to invent a mobile app. If accepted in the competition, their team’s ideas must pass through multiple rounds until a winning collaborative is awarded first place along with $10,000 to finalize their project.
Canadian Film Festival ’16: Dead Rush
The arrival of Dead Rush’s world premiere at this year’s Canadian Film Fest came at a coincidental time. On April 8, Ilya Naishuller’s Hardcore Henry hits theatres. Both films are very good genre flicks that position the viewer in the lead character’s perspective. As far as which film has a cleaner landing though, Dead Rush has the edge.
Canadian Film Festival ’16: Jackie Boy
Jackie Boy leaves a controversial footprint at this year’s Canadian Film Festival. It’s bound to shake up the room and ignite all those who watch it. In other words, filmmaker Cody Campanale reminds us of how films can be greatly provocative and start intelligent discussions.
Canadian Film Festival ’16: Chasing Valentine
There is no bigger proponent of Canadian cinema than myself. If a film really captures me, I’ll go out of my way to champion it. Low budget, undetectable indies sometimes need that extra push. However, no matter if the film is big or small, if the end result is wildly inconsistent, I have to throw in the towel. Case in point: Navin Ramaswaran’s shockingly inept Chasing Valentine.