The Greatest Hits
High Fidelity meets The Butterfly Effect in Ned Benson’s hipster rom-com The Greatest Hits. While that sounds like a fun movie mash-up, The Greatest Hits is anything but.
Disney
Flamin’ Hot
A biopic about the conception of the Flamin’ Hot Cheeto may seem like a watershed moment for pessimists who claim Hollywood is running out of ideas. But, I implore those movie goers to change their attitude and give Flamin’ Hot a shot, especially if they’re looking for a winning Father’s Day flick. The film’s messaging about integrity, determination, and self-encouragement is enough to crack the toughest nut.
Quasi
The most amusing thing about Quasi is how the guys of Broken Lizard have finally owned up to being a bunch of dorks who are actually *really* into Monty Python, notably Life of Brian and Monty Python and the Holy Grail. That’s an oddly charming concept considering the comedy troupe are frat symbols known for making meatheaded comedies like Super Troopers and Beerfest. We all remember that jock who had to take an arts extra-curricular…
Disney+ Day 2022: The Exclusives and How You Can Celebrate
If you listen closely, you can hear the faint mouth-sounds of lightsaber beams. It’s the sound of a Disney fan pretending they’re Obi-Wan Kenobi as they circle September 8 on their calendar – Disney+ Day. Along with festivities taking place globally across Disney Parks, Disney+ subscribers will be given sneak peeks of upcoming projects as well as early perks. Ranging from early access to blockbusters and newly released Disney productions, to re-released exclusives, to early…
Jojo Rabbit
Jojo Rabbit, written and directed by Taika Waititi, is a risqué movie that reminded me of classic comedies made by the legendary Mel Brooks. The film risks being offensive to lampoon racism, including its different perspectives by persecuting followers, and to draw parallels to current arrogant behaviour thrusted upon minorities. Waititi solves the puzzle to make his satire work, but also doesn’t distill the severity of past hate crimes in this period piece.
Ford v Ferrari
By: Trevor Chartrand It doesn’t take a car enthusiast to enjoy the high-octane drama that fuels Ford v Ferrari, one of the best movies of 2019. Director James Mangold (Walk the Line, Logan) helms this fast paced, in-your-face film that’s based on the true story of the ‘car wars’ that took place in the late 1960s. The film comes fully loaded with a classic look, (mostly) strong characters, and a tight, focused story. Ford v Ferrari…
Beauty and the Beast
Passive-aggressive movie goers could easily lump Disney’s live-action rendition of Beauty and the Beast with the studio’s recent catalogue of modern facelifts (Alice in Wonderland, Maleficent, Cinderella, The Jungle Book). After all, it’s a current trend that’s obviously working for them. According to a recent Collider article, there are 13 remakes/retellings either currently in the shop or enduring early stages of production.
Life, Animated
I’m catching Life, Animated far into its successful theatrical run, and after it was a hit on the festival circuit (placing sixth on the audience favourites list at Hot Docs, winning an award at the Sundance Film Festival for Roger Ross Williams’ direction and also being nominated for the prestigious Grand Jury Prize). I’m thankful to have seen the documentary, and I’m elated to pay the recommendation forward to anyone who hasn’t yet watched this…
Finding Dory
Only Pixar could find a way to reevaluate quirky comic relief as a poignant study on mental and physical disabilities. Academy Award winning writer/director Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo, WALL·E) along with co-director/writer Angus MacLane (in her feature-length debut after developing her filmmaking through Toy Story short films) have developed a faithful sequel while also identifying a message that has been treaded cautiously in the past.