Jacques Cousteau, filmmaker, explorer, scientist and much much more, once said that people protect what they love. Whether or not this quote was in the minds of the team behind Chasing Coral, its message is pervasive in this hour and a half long documentary that is equal parts heartbreaking and beautiful. Coming from a background […]
Reviews
‘To the Bone’ Review: Raw and Honest Storytelling
To the Bone is based on writer/director Marti Noxon’s personal struggle with eating disorders, specifically anorexia and bulimia. Her feature debut follows a 20-something year old, Ellen (Lily Collins), and her battle with anorexia. Obsessed with calorie counting (she can accurately tell you how many calories each item on her plate of food has), Ellen’s […]
‘From the Land of the Moon’ is a Meandering Melodrama
Official Synopsis: In post-World War II France, Gabrielle’s idealistic dreams of true love make her a rebel, and are even considered a sign of insanity. Forced by her parents to marry José, a devoted Spanish farm worker, Gabrielle vows never to love him, and is soon sent away to the Alps to receive a cure […]
‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ Review: A Refreshing Take on a Classic Character
Your friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man is back and he’s having the time of his life. And so are all his friends. Even the villain. Tom Holland is the newest (age appropriate) Spider-Man in Spider-Man: Homecoming and he’s definitely the best one yet, in case that wasn’t clear enough for you from Civil War. We finally get to see a […]
‘The Journey’ Review: Too Focused on the Final Destination
After 40 years of violence in Northern Ireland, the ability to bring peace lies in the hands of the leaders of the Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Féin (the political party of the Irish Republican Army). The Journey is the dramatization of how Ian Paisley (Timothy Spall) and Martin McGuinness (Colm Meaney) eventually managed to put […]
‘Nowhere to Hide’ is Visceral in Storytelling
Nowhere to Hide is a story of a man struggling for survival in Iraq, where war has become the norm. The enemy is invisible, and neither women nor children have a safe hideout. Our protagonist, 36-year-old Nori Sharif, is husband, father of four children, and a male nurse. He becomes a videographer, documenting life over […]
‘The House’ Review: The trend of sub-par comedies continues
Let’s face it, 2017 has been and still is a pretty bad year for comedies so far. Chips, Snatched, and Fist Fight all underwhelmed and under-performed. The House might be a tad better because of a few laugh-out moments and the charms of the likes of Will Ferrell and Amy Poehler, but it doesn’t do […]
‘Despicable Me 3’ Review: Double, Double Toil and Bubbles
The latest in the Despicable Me franchise seems more like a film created out of necessity rather than to enhance. Despicable Me 3 was no doubt produced because it’s going to be a huge box office hit, but it doesn’t have enough substance to stand on its own, acting more as a film that sets up any eventual […]
‘The Beguiled’ Review: Kidman is Queen of Coppola’s Clan
Hot off her historic and triumphant Best Director win at Cannes, Sofia Coppola’s The Beguiled continues to prove how talented she is behind the camera. Basically reviewing itself in the title and describing its audience after seeing the film, The Beguiled is a slow burn, but when it gets good, it gets good. Taking place in Virginia in […]
‘The Big Sick’ Review: Equal Parts Hilarious and Heartbreaking
The Big Sick is based on the real-life story of comedian Kumail Nanjiani and the time his wife, Emily V. Gordon, was in a coma. It sounds sad because it is. But make no mistake, The Big Sick is very, very funny. (It’s still sad though.) When Emily (Zoe Kazan) heckles Kumail (playing himself) at one […]
‘Black Butterfly’ Review: Be Prepared for Disappointment
A “thriller” based on the 2008 French TV Movie originally titled Papillon noir, Brian Goodman’s version of Black Butterfly, tries hard to be clever by having a plot layered with different levels of crazy, but manages only to annoy. Another woman in Jefferson County has been murdered, the fourth in three years, and Paul (Antonio Banderas), an […]
‘Okja’ Review: Zany and Important
As far as visual conceptual is concerned, Bong Joon Ho’s Okja not only flourishes, but leaps into some of the most engaging spectacles of the year so far. From the costumes to the sets, there’s always something interesting to look at. While that is happening, there is simultaneously a struggle to maintain balance in what […]
‘Transformers: The Last Knight’ is a Knight to Forget (Yeah, that’ll do.)
And so, yet another entry in Michael Bay’s Transformers franchise is released, and with it comes the now almost a decade old film press tradition of autopsying it like a bloated corpse dragged out of a sewer. Yes, surprising absolutely nobody Transformers: The Last Knight, is a load of old toilet. To be fair, it’s […]
‘The Hero’ Review: A Character Study that Resonates
The first thing that comes to mind when thinking about The Hero is that it is this year’s Birdman. This is one of the biggest compliments I could give a film. The story centers around an aging Western icon, Lee Hayden who, thanks to a viral video has a chance at reviving his career in the movies. Along […]
‘The Bad Batch’ is Audacious Arthouse
The Bad Batch follows Arlen (Suki Waterhouse) after she’s left in a Texas wasteland fenced off from civilization. While trying to navigate the unforgiving landscape, Arlen is captured by a savage band of cannibals led by the mysterious Miami Man (Jason Momoa). With her life on the line, she makes her way to The Dream […]