Orson Welles’ 1938 radio broadcast War of the Worlds was so convincing, some listeners were persuaded into thinking a martian invasion really was at large. Brave New Jersey, a quirky small-scale comedy from budding director Jody Lambert, sets a funny fictitious story in this historical footnote, resulting in a sweet and refreshing flick that stays faithful to its period.
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets is an astonishing film. Visually, it could even be described as a masterpiece. Unfortunately, a formulaic third act and a lack of chemistry between the two leads sink one of the most promising films of the year.
By: Nick Ferwerda Even with an open mind and fair expectations, the latest sci-fi/thriller The Recall will leave you feeling disappointed.
The Devout is a new addition to the faith-based genre, and it’s actually a pretty cool flick. You don’t often hear “cool” in the same discussion as recent faith-based cinema, so I assume I already have your attention.
The Toronto International Spring of Horror and Fantasy Film Festival is a weekend dedicated to genre appreciation conceived by filmmakers Lari Teräs and Jon Lewis. The festival returns to the city’s indie hot spot Carlton Cinema on Friday, April 7 and carries through to Sunday, April 9, promising movie goers an eclectic three-day event filled with music videos, short films, and unique movies that are out-of-this-world.
The team behind last year’s efficient horror anthology Minutes Past Midnight return to bring similar chills and thrills with Galaxy of Horrors, another feature-length anthology hand-picked by Torontonian film programmer Justin McConnell. This time, he’s showcasing horror shorts with a sci-fi twist.
By: Jessica Goddard The Space Between Us really wants to be a ground-breaking, memorable sci-fi love story, and maybe if it’d stuck to that alone, it would’ve been a better film.
Blood Father (DIR. Jean-François Richet) Mel Gibson was once one of Hollywood’s biggest stars. Now, he is staging a comeback which includes a few directorial efforts. Preceding those is his starring role in Jean-Francois Richet’s Blood Father, a film which could be cynically viewed as an attempt to get Gibson back on the public’s radar and nothing more, if only it was not so entertaining and memorable.
The premise of Criminal involves an ex-con being used as a vessel to contribute to an ongoing investigation by the CIA. Information and memories are transferred via a scientific procedure from a recently murdered agent to the agency’s newly hired hand. This set-up is bonkers, but the cast sells it as best as they can.
No Men Beyond This Point is a Canadian comedy that isn’t constantly funny as it is consistently clever.