‘A Band Called Death’ rocks the TIFF Bell Lightbox
Starting this weekend at the TIFF Bell Lightbox is the new music documentary that unearths one of the most influential bands that almost nobody has ever heard of, “A Band Called Death”. The documentary boats executive producers Scott Mosier (friend and producer of Kevin Smith’s films) and Entourage’s Jerry Ferrara, which just goes to prove the vast and different influence their music has had. A band becoming a hit 30 years after recording your demo tape is a compelling and unique story, and one that has never been told on screen this way before.
A Band Called Death
Directed by Jeff Howlett, Mark Covino
Before Bad Brains, the Sex Pistols or even the Ramones, there was Death. Formed in the early 1970s by three teenage brothers from Detroit, Death is credited as being the first black punk band, and the Hackney brothers, David, Bobby, and Dannis, are now considered pioneers in their field. But it wasn’t until recently, when a dusty 1974 demo tape made its way out of Bobby’s attic nearly thirty years after Death’s emergence, that anyone outside a small group of punk enthusiasts had even heard of them. Equal parts electrifying rockumentary and epic family chronicle, the story of Death is one of brotherly love and fierce, divinely inspired expression.
‘Kick-Ass 2’ kicks less ass the second time around
Starting this weekend in theaters from Universal Studios is the eagerly awaited sequel to the 2010 cult film that hit large on home video, Kick-Ass 2. This time around the film is under the reigns of writer/director Jeff Wadlow and only produced by the original’s director Matthew Vaughn. The graphic novel sequel to Kick-Ass, Kick-Ass 2: Balls to the Wall, is a veritable blood bath, which beckons the question of how the film will translate to the theater screen.
Kick-Ass 2
Starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Chloe Grace Moretz, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Donald Faison, Lindy Booth, John Leguizamo, Morris Chestnut, Clark Duke, Augustus Prew, Olga Kurkulina and Jim Carrey.
Written and Directed by Jeff Wadlow
When we last saw junior assassin Hit Girl (Moretz) and young masked hero Kick-Ass (Taylor-Johnson), they were trying to live as normal teenagers Mindy and Dave. With graduation looming and uncertain what to do with their shared calling, Dave decides to start the world’s first superhero team with Mindy. Unfortunately, when Mindy is busted for sneaking out as Hit Girl, she’s forced to retire, leaving her to navigate (more…)
‘In a World…..’ is a great directorial debut from star Lake Bell
New in Canadian theaters this weekend is the new romantic comedy from first time director/writer Lake Bell, In a World… The film marks a large step forward for the gorgeous actress known mainly for her roles in “Children’s Hospital” and “How to make it in America” as Lake Bell is putting all her cards on the table here, and the gamble pays off.
In a World….
Starring; Lake Bell, Rob Corddry, Fred Melamed, Michaela Watkins, Alexandra Holden, Ken Marino, Demetri Martin, Tig Notaro, Nick Offerman
Written and Directed by Lake Bell.
Carol (Bell), an underachieving vocal coach, is motivated by her father (Melamed) the king of movie-trailer voice-overs, to pursue her aspirations of becoming a voiceover star. But when her success starts to interfere with the hopes Sam has for his protégé Gustav (Marino), unbeknownst to Sam, they become rivals. Carol moves in with her sister Dani (Watkins) and her husband (Corddry) who with the help of producer Loius (Martin), who is enamored with Carol, help her succeed amidst pride, sexism and family dysfunction.
‘The Deep’ brings a riveting tale of survival to the TIFF Bell Lightbox
Starting this weekend at the TIFF Bell Lightbox is the critically acclaimed Icelandic film that made the Oscar shortlist for best foreign language film at last year’s ceremony, “The Deep”. The film comes from director Baltasar Kormákur, the director of the Mark Whalberg starring “Contraband” and “2 Guns” and features a stellar lead performance from one of Iceland’s best actors, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson.
The Deep
Starring: Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, Jóhann G. Jóhannsson, Þorbjörg Helga Þorgilsdóttir, Stefán Hallur Stefánsson
Written by: Jón Atli Jónasson, Baltasar Kormákur
Directed by Baltasar Kormákur
In 1984, a fishing boat goes down miles off the coast of Iceland’s Westman Islands in some of the most forbidding seas on the planet, leaving the fishermen at the mercy of frigid and turbulent waters. Miraculously, one of the crew Gulli (Ólafsson) manages to survive, (more…)
Disney’s ‘Planes’ nosedives on takeoff
New in theaters this weekend is the film from Disney’s direct to video division that was later deemed to be worthy of a theatrical release, Disney’s follow up to Pixar’s “Cars”, “Planes”. That last point is a very poignant one, this is a Disney in house animation project NOT a Pixar project, and the script for Planes sadly makes this point all too clear.
Planes
Starring the voices of: Dane Cook, Stacey Keach, Brad Garret, Teri Hatcher, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Priyanka Chopra, John Cleese, Cedric the Entertatiner
Written by Jeffery M. Howard
Directed by Klay Hall
From above the world of “Cars” comes Disney’s “Planes,” a 3D animated comedy adventure featuring Dusty (Cook), a small-town plane with dreams of competing as a high-flying air racer. But Dusty’s not exactly built for racing—and he happens to be afraid of heights. So he turns to naval aviator Skipper (Keach), who helps Dusty qualify to take on Ripslinger, the defending champ of the race circuit. Dusty’s courage is put to the ultimate test as he aims to reach heights he never dreamed possible, giving a spellbound world the inspiration to soar.
Brandon Darby’s actions are explored in ‘The Informant’
Starting this weekend at the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema is the documentary that strives to delve behind the controversy and motivations of one of the most infamous personalities involved in the activist movement over the last decade. Informant takes a spellbinding look at Brandon Darby, a radical activist turned FBI informant who has been both vilified and deified, but never fully understood.
Informant
Starring Brandon Darby
Directed by Jamie Meltzer
In 2005, Brandon Darby became an overnight activist hero when he traveled to Katrina-devastated New Orleans and braved toxic floodwaters to rescue a friend stranded in the Ninth Ward. Soon after, he became a founding member of Common Ground, a hugely successful grassroots relief organization. After two young activists were arrested at the 2008 Republican National Convention, Darby shocked close friends and activists nationwide by revealing he’d been instrumental in the indictment as an FBI informant. As the only film with access to Brandon Darby since his public confession, Informant presents his compelling journey using direct address interviews and re-enactments featuring Darby. Darby’s story is often contradicted by commentary from acquaintances and expert commentators on various points along the political spectrum. The film invites viewers to form their own opinions about Darby’s character and actions, as well as the larger political context he operates within.
Johnnie To delivers the goods with ‘Drug War’
Starting this weekend at the TIFF Bell Lightbox is the newest action opus from the brilliant director behind such classics as “Election”, “Breaking News” and “PTU” Johnnie To, “Drug War”. The hard-boiled and unrelenting crime drama features some of the great gun and driving stunts that To films are infamous for, but also packs some serious performances from its leads.
Drug War
Starring: Sun Honglei, Louis Koo, Huang Yi, Michelle Ye
Written by Ryker Chan, Ka-Fai Wai, Nai-Hoi Yau, Xi Yu
Directed by Johnnie To
Drug War is an explosive new thriller, the first of Johnnie To’s action opuses to be set in Mainland China. After his narcotics factory goes up in a ball of flame, drug manufacturer Choi Tin-ming (longtime To collaborator Koo) is captured by hard-nosed cop Zhang Lei (Honglei), who is spearheading a sting operation against a massive narcotics network. Coerced by the threat of the death penalty to turn informant, Choi takes Zhang undercover into the narcotics pipeline. But as Zhang Lei gets deeper and deeper into the drug syndicate and tightens the net around the dealers, he is still unsure whether his unwilling partner has an alternate plan in place that will blow open the entire operation.
‘Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters’ will satisfy fans of the first film
New in theaters today is the sequel to 2010’s “Percy Jackson and the Lightning Theif” which brings back most of the main cast members, minus Pierce Brosnan as Percy’s cedar (half man/half horse) mentor and protector, in another epic tale of Greek gods and their half human offspring in the modern world. This time around Percy and friends end up taking on the ‘Sea of Monsters’, know to humans as the Bermuda Triangle, as they have to save the world all over again.
Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters
Starring Logan Lerman, Alexandra Daddario, Brandon T. Jackson, Levin Rambin, Douglas Smith, Jake Abel, Anthony Head, Nathan Fillion and Stanley Tucci.
Written by Marc Guggenheim based on the book by Rick Riordan
Directed by Thor Freudenthal
Percy Jackson (Lerman), accompanied by his friends Annabeth Chase (Daddario), Clarisse La Rue (Rambin), Grover (Jackson) and Tyson (Smith) his half-brother, goes on a journey in the sea of monsters to retrieve the legendary Golden Fleece and save camp half-blood. The camp has been attacked and the barriers that protect the campers are down thanks to Percy’s rival Luke (Abel), another half-blood and the son of Hermes (Fillion). The adventure takes many dangerous and twisted turns and the nefarious plans of Luke could bring the end of days crashing down on earth in a heartbeat if he succeeds.
‘Trance’ fails to mesmerize on Blu-ray
New to Blu-ray is the latest film from Academy Award winning director Danny Boyle that marks his first step back into the realm of the psychological crime thriller since his debut film “Shallow Grave”, “Trance”. The film is the feature adaptation of writer Joe Ahearne’s television film from 2001 of the same name and features a stellar trio of actors leading the small ensemble set in the high stakes world of art thievery.
Starring: James McAvoy, Vincent Cassel, Rosario Dawson
Written by Joe Ahearne, John Hodge
Directed by Danny BoyleSimon (McAvoy) is a fine art auctioneer who gets mixed up with a gang led by Franck (Cassel) looking to steal a painting. After the painting goes missing, Simon and Franck, along with Franck’s crew, join forces with hypnotherapist Elizabeth (Dawson) to recover their lost spoils. As boundaries between desire, reality and hypnotic suggestion begin to blur the stakes rise faster than anyone could have anticipated. (more…)
‘Berberian Sound Studio’ is a feast for the ears and eyes
Starting this weekend at the TIFF Bell Lightbox is the film that caused quite the stir at the formal TIFF 2012 festival, Berberian Sound Studio. The film features the always dependable and engaging Toby Jones as the proverbial fish out of water, his character traveling from his home in Surrey England to work in the Italian film business during the heyday of the Italian ‘Giallo ‘ film. The film is an exercise in style, atmosphere and tone and delightfully hearkens back to the Italian thrillers it bases itself in the midst of.
Berberian Sound Studio
Starring: Toby Jones, Cosimo Fusco, Antonio Mancino, Fatma Mohamed, Salvatore Li Causi, Chiara D’Anna, Tonia Sotiropoulou
Written and Directed by Peter Strickland
Summoned to an Italian studio to record the audio effects for a bloody horror opus, meek British sound engineer Gilderoy (Jones) quickly finds his genteel disposition clashing with that of his alternately boisterous, genial and hostile Italian hosts. As Gilderoy becomes unhealthily submerged in his work, the simulated aural violence (snapping celery stalks standing in for cracking bones, pulverized watermelons for squishing craniums) starts to take on a cruel edge. As tension in the claustrophobic studio mounts, it becomes clear that the film is corrupting Gilderoy’s fragile psyche.
‘Computer Chess’ looks great but fails to get the audience in checkmate
The TIFF Bell Lightbox takes a step back to the low fi days of computer programming starting this weekend with the underwhelming “Computer Chess”. The surreal and subdued comedy strives to obtain the levels of classic Christopher Guest productions in its quirkiness of world building, but the question becomes is it witty and engaging enough to earn that comparison?
Computer Chess
Starring: Wiley Wiggins, Patrick Riester, Freddy Martinez, Myles Paige
Written and Directed by Andrew Bujalski
Set over the course of a weekend tournament for chess software programmers thirty-some years ago, Computer Chess transports viewers to a nostalgic moment when the contest between technology and the human spirit seemed a little more up for grabs. (more…)
Spring Breakers is a must own on Blu-ray
New on Blu-ray from VVS Films is the tantalizing and titillating new film from “Kids” scribe Harmony Korine, the heavily buzzed about “Spring Breakers”. Starring a pair of former Disney child stars, a ‘Pretty Little Liar’ and Harmony’s own wife as bikini-clad bandits who desperately want to leave behind their humdrum college lives for sun, drugs and the allure of Spring Break. Spring Breakers has grown with infamy over the explicit nature of its subject matter and its stars as well as the nature of where Franco’s character truly came from, but the film succeeds on its own merits and is one of 2013’s best offerings so far.
Spring Breakers Blu-Ray Review
Starring Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Benson, Rachel Korine, Selena Gomez, Gucci Mane and James Franco
Written and Directed by Harmony Korine
Four sexy college girls, Faith (Gomez) Candy (Hudgens) Brit (Benson) and Cotty (Korine), plan to fund their spring break getaway by burglarizing a popular fast food shack. But that’s only the beginning. At a motel room rager, fun reaches its legal limit and the girls are arrested and taken to jail. Hungover and clad only in bikinis, the girls appear before a judge but are bailed out unexpectedly by Alien (Franco) An infamous local thug and rapper, Alien takes them under his wing and leads them on the wildest Spring Break trip in history. Rough on the outside but with a soft spot inside, Alien wins over the hearts of the young Spring Breakers, and leads them on a Spring Break they never could have imagined.
‘The Newsroom’ crackles with life on Blu-ray
TV veteran Aaron Sorkin returns with a new show, his first since the ill-fated yet excellently written Saturday Night Live take off “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip”, and this time he has taken his take on the inner workings of a network TV newsroom to the friendly confines of HBO with “The Newsroom”. The hit HBO show recently returned with its second season on the cable giant, so let`s delve in to the first season set to see if it`s worth your hard earned dollars.
The Newsroom Season 1
Starring: Jeff Daniels, Emily Mortimer, John Gallagher Jr., Alison Pill, Thomas Sadoski, Dev Patel, Olivia Munn with Terry Crews, Jane Fonda and Sam Waterston
Created by Aaron Sorkin
Aaron Sorkin’s latest drama is set at a fictional cable news channel where anchor Will McAvoy (Jeff Daniels) leads a group of reporters and staff striving to make a hard-hitting news program. After a recent blow up at a college lecture, anchor McAvoy returns to work to find that his support team, minus a handful of devotees, are all fleeing to the late night news program. McAvoy also inherits a new producer, his former flame MacKenzie McHale (Mortimer) and number one Jim Harper (Gallagher Jr), who is immediately smitten with Maggie Jordan (Pill). Also in the newsroom is Neal Sampat (Patel), late night producer Don Keefer (Sadoski), gorgeous and brilliant business reporter Sloan Sabbith (Munn) and the man over seeing it all Charlie Skinner (Waterston).
‘Blackfish’ will fascinate TIFF Bell Lightbox audiences starting this weekend
Starting this week at the TIFF Bell Lightbox is the documentary that caused quite the splash at this year’s Hot Docs film festival, “Blackfish”. When director Gabriela Cowperthwaite began investigating the death of a trainer who was dragged to her death during a “Dine with Shamu” show at SeaWorld, she soon found the initial story gave way to a far more shocking and further-reaching situation that plumbed the depths of a billion-dollar industry.
Blackfish
Directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite
A killer whale linked to three trainer deaths over two decades, Tilikum is the backbone of the story presented in Blackfish. However, Cowperthwaite discovered it wasn’t just this particular whale; there have been multiple cases of Orca attacks on trainers in parks around the world, although never in the wild. Featuring testimonies from experts and trainers, and with never-before-seen footage, (more…)
Dragon Girls Review (Dork Shelf)
Originally published at Dork Shelf
Dragon Girls
The Tagu Kung Fu School is located right next to the Shaolin Temple Monastery (the birthplace of the famed martial art) and is home to over 20,000 students. Dragon Girls follows three young female students at the school, living far away from their homes and families. They sacrifice the luxuries of childhood like days off, playtime and seeing their parents for the honor, respect and skill they will gain from their training. The physical and mental exhaustion and constant drive for perfection weigh heavily on the young warriors as they learn to cope with constant pressure to perform from every corner.
It’s easy to tell why director Inigo Westmeier has chosen her three subjects, as they run the spectrum of the students at the school. There’s the nine year old prodigy, whose father will only visit if she wins first place. Then there are the two teenagers, one who still tries hard every day but is just not as gifted as the rest, and the other, a returned run away from the school who doesn’t want to be there. Through the lives of these girls, and several others, we see the almost cult like attitude that the school fosters in their pupils. It’s a fascinating watch, and the girls are engaging onscreen presences.
The living quarters are in near squalor and the kids sleep in bunks beds with double digit roommates in each room. They are allowed to shower only twice a week and have to resort to a bucket and a tap at the end of corridor to scrub clean each morning. But the dedication to their craft of martial arts carries them through.
Till Next Time
Movie Junkie TO
Follow me directly on twitter @moviejunkieto and by liking my Facebook page at Movie Junkie TO
Email me at moviejunkieto@gmail.com
Related articles
- ‘Pacific Rim’ Review (Dork Shelf) (moviejunkieto.com)
- ‘Deceptive Practice’ immerses us in the magical world of Ricky Jay (moviejunkieto.com)
- ‘The Act of Killing’ is a gut-wrenching 2 hours of cinema (moviejunkieto.com)
- Despicable Me 2 Review (Kirk Haviland) (entertainmentmaven.com)
‘The Act of Killing’ is a gut-wrenching 2 hours of cinema
Starting this past weekend at the TIFF Bell Lightbox is one of the most controversial documentaries of the year, “The Act of Killing”. The film follows around a group of killers, that have somehow become revered figures in their native Indonesia, as they relate their stories of death and mayhem with grins and smiles upon their faces as hey reminisce about the ‘good old days’ when they were responsible for the death of thousands.
The Act of Killing
Directed by Joshua Oppenheimer
After the 1965 military coup against the Sukarno government, Indonesia was overrun by marauding bands of paramilitaries who indulged in the mass murder of more than one million alleged communists. These victims included ethnic Chinese and intellectuals and left behind a horrifying record of atrocities that, ironically, has enshrined these killers in their nation’s history as patriotic heroes. Director Joshua Oppenheimer and his collaborators provocatively explore this dark chapter of Indonesia’s history by enlisting a group of former paramilitaries to re-enact their crimes in the style of the Hollywood films that they love. Gleefully recreating some of the many murders they have committed with the aid of sets, costumes and pyrotechnics, the proud band of killers exhibits a fixation on style over substance — as well as an utter lack of remorse over their actions — that is both monstrous and mesmerizing.
‘Casting By’ is a informative look at a largely unkown Hollywood icon
Starting this weekend at the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema is the new documentary about the unsung heroes of the filmmaking process, the casting director, and the impact and evolution of the craft, “Casting By”. The film also serves to tell the story of the most influential and famous members of the casting world Marion Dougherty. In December of 2011, the film industry sadly lost Marion Dougherty and though most film fans would not recognize her by name; her work revolutionized the acting and casting industry.
Casting By
Directed by Tom Donahue
Dougherty began her career as a casting agent in the 50s for a collection of New York based TV shows, including the Kraft Television Theatre, Route 66 and Naked City. During the studio era of film making that lasted into the early 60’s, casting was done by surveying the usual crop of studio-signed actors who were often given roles based upon their looks and personality versus their talent. However, Dougherty recognized that there was a large pool of actors in New York’s off-Broadway productions and acting schools and was the first person to cast unknown actors based upon character instead of appearance. But perhaps the best treat in this revelatory film is the massive collection of footage, screen tests and movie clips featuring legendary actors such as James Dean, Christopher Walken, Jon Voight and Maureen Stapleton, before their fame.
RIPD is dead on arrival
New in theaters this weekend from the director of “Red” Robert Schwentke is the latest multimillion dollar extravaganza vying for your money, R.I.P.D. Jeff Bridges and Ryan Reynolds headline as two cops dispatched by the otherworldly ‘Rest In Peace Department’ to protect and serve the living from an increasingly destructive array of souls who refuse to move peacefully to the other side.
R.I.P.D
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Jeff Bridges, Mary-Louise Parker, Stephanie Szostak, James Hong, Marisa Miller and Kevin Bacon
Written by Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi
Directed by Robert Schwentke
Veteran sheriff Roy Pulsifer (Bridges) has spent his career with the legendary police force known as R.I.P.D. tracking monstrous spirits who are cleverly disguised as ordinary people. Once the wise-cracking Roy is assigned former rising-star detective Nick Walker (Reynolds) as his junior officer, the new partners have to turn grudging respect into top-notch teamwork. When they uncover a plot that could end life as we know it, two of R.I.P.D.’s finest must miraculously restore the cosmic balance, or watch the tunnel to the afterlife begin sending angry souls the very wrong way. (more…)
ITALIAN HORROR WEEK – DEEP RED REVIEW (Dr Terror`s Blog of Horrors)
Originally published by Dr. Terror`s Blog of Horrors
ITALIAN HORROR WEEK – DEEP RED – Ruminations on the Argento Classic from One of the Formerly Uninitiated.
Having grown up in the suburb of Mississauga, On Canada, a place that was great to grow up in but devoid of any of the cool, niche video stores that populate the so close yet so far metropolis that is Toronto, my introduction to anything other than the mainstream horror was stunted. Being the late 80’s early 90’s when I started to really pursue my education in earnest, one summer I systematically went through the entire horror section at the local Jumbo video and rented every tape they had, the internet was a funny place that you could download and watch a movie trailer in the blistering time of 45 minutes to an hour. Without the availability of something as amazing as the modern internet, with IMDB and the millions of torrent sites, back in the late 80’s/early 90’s tracking down rare films required actual homework. And with my local video store favoring films like “April Fool’s Day” and “Sleepaway Camp” to fill their shelves, the likes of Bava, Fulci, and Argento never seemed to show up.
TOGA! TOGA! TOGA! at the TIFF Bell Lightbox
Starting today at the TIFF Bell Lightbox and running through the rest of the summer is the new series based on the resurgence of the raunchy American comedy that was launched back in the 70’s by the now classic National Lampoon’s Animal House, ‘TOGA! The Reinvention of American Comedy’. Filled with special guests and screenings, the series promises to be one of the most hilarious set of films the Lightbox has managed to group together.
TOGA! The Reinvention of American Comedy
Running July 17th – Aug 29th 2013 at the TIFF Bell Lightbox
In 1978 a film was launched into theaters that combined the growing movement of improv comedy, the likes of Saturday Night Live and comedy troupes like the Groundlings, emerging director John Landis and the National Lampoon humor magazine entitled National Lampoon’s Animal House. The film went on to shatter box-office records and drag R-rated comedy from its b-movie drive in origins into the mainstream. The film also made “Toga! Toga!” into a generational rallying cry and served as inspiration for many a college drinking night. This film series will screen 27 rude, crude and brilliant movies that changed the face of modern American comedy, all of which owe at least in part a huge debt to Landis’ ground-breaking comedy.
‘Fondi ’91’ – the city of Fondi deserves a much better film
Starting at the Royal this week is the new coming of age story from Canadian filmmaker Dev Khanna and Degrassi graduate Raymond Ablack, Fondi ’91. Pretty early on the audience realizes that we are experiencing something spectacularly bad unspooling in front of our eyes. It’s sad that when we should be celebrating and forwarding Canadian cinema and film makers, director Khanna is Toronto based, that such a sloppy effort is around to help defend the stereotype that all film from Canada is bad.
Fondi ’91
Starring: Raymond Ablack, Mylène St-Sauveur, Serena Iansiti, Chris Pereira, Kyle Kirkpatrick, Thomas Wesson, Remo Girone
Written by André Bharti, Lenny Foreht, Dev Khanna, A. Sinha
Directed by Dev Khanna
Set against a background of lost innocence, youthful frivolity and dark moral themes, Fondi ‘91 follows the lustful adventures of a Jersey-based high school soccer team’s two week trip to Europe. Shot on location in Fondi, Italy, the team gets slaughtered during their on field (but not shown) matches as they are too caught up in scoring with the Italian ladies. (more…)
‘Byzantium’ delivers just enough to warrant a check-in
New in theaters north of the border this week is director Neil Jordan’s newest take on the Vampire mythos, Byzantium. Jordan returns to the genre he took on almost 2 decades ago with the Anne Rice penned Interview with a Vampire, but this time around he has a new take on the entire history of the vampire phenomenon.
Byzantium
Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Gemma Arterton, Sam Riley, Caleb Landry Jones and Johnny Lee Miller
Written by Moira Buffini
Directed by Neil Jordan
After fleeing their latest living quarters after an unforeseen attack, two mysterious women seek refuge in a run-down coastal resort. Clara (Arterton) meets lonely Noel who provides shelter for her and her daughter Eleanor (Ronan) in his deserted guesthouse Byzantium. Eleanor, an eternal schoolgirl, befriends Frank (Landry Jones) and tells him their lethal secret. They pair are actually mother and daughter, were born 200 years ago and survive on human blood. (more…)
‘Pacific Rim’ Review (Dork Shelf)
Originally Published at Dork Shelf
Director Guillermo del Toro unleashes his long awaited summer blockbuster Pacific Rim on multiplexes everywhere this weekend. It’s by far the biggest film del Toro has undertaken and he’s left all the money on screen. But the story driving the robot and sea monster battling action and the performances, from a cast featuring some recognizable faces and names but lacking a major star, are not without issues sometimes distracts from the amazing effects and action on display.
When monsters known as Kaiju start rising from the sea, the war for our planet begins. To combat the giant Kaiju, a special type of weapon is devised: massive robots called Jaegers, which are controlled simultaneously by two pilots whose minds are locked in a neural bridge allowing the pair to react and behave as one. But even the Jaegers are proving nearly defenceless in the face of the relentless Kaiju after initial success. On the verge of defeat following the evolution of Kaiju fighting techniques, the forces defending mankind have no choice but to turn to two unlikely heroes, a washed up former pilot (Charlie Hunnam) and an untested trainee (Rinko Kikuchi), who are teamed to drive a legendary but seemingly obsolete Jaeger from the past.
‘Deceptive Practice’ immerses us in the magical world of Ricky Jay
Originally Published at DORK SHELF
Deceptive Practice: The Mysteries and Mentors of Ricky Jay
Deceptive Practice is a journey into the realm of modern magic with the multitalented Ricky Jay, a world-renowned magician, author, historian and actor. Touted as one of magic’s greatest, Jay is dedicated to researching, teaching, performing and perfecting his craft. Magicians would normally be reluctant to let their secrets out, let alone allow a documentary crew to peek behind their velvet curtain, but Jay allows directors Molly Bernstein and Alan Edelstein to do just that. (more…)
MOVIE JUNKIE TO'S Entertainment Fix 