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Add ‘Silent Night’ to your holiday non-festivities this year…(Blu-Ray Review)

silent night banner

 

Back in 1984 a small budget slasher film caused a major backlash in theaters across North America. People picketed, officials banned it and film critics panned it, calling for the heads of both the director and producers. But through it all the film became a success and spawned 4 sequels. The film, considered a camp horror classic by genre fans, has now served as the basis for a ‘inspired by’ remake released on Blu-Ray and DVD this week from Anchor Bay Entertainment called simply Silent Night.

Silent Night

View slideshow: Silent Night Movie Stills

Starring: Malcolm McDowell, Jamie King, Donal Logue, Ellen Wong, Brendan Fehr and Lisa Marie

Written by Jayson Rothwell

Directed by Steven C. Miller

Silent Night Cover
Photo credit:
Anchor Bay Entertainment

In a small sleepy suburban town, Sherriff Cooper (McDowell) and Deputy Bradimore (King) Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  December 6, 2012 | Categories: Home Entertainment, Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Brad Pitt tries ‘Killing Them Softly’ but without much fanfare (Review)

KILLING-THEM-SOFTLY-POSTER-

 

New this week in theaters from Alliance Films and the Director of the polarizing ‘The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford’ Andrew Dominik is his newest collaboration with Assassination star Brad Pitt,Killing Them Softly. The crime drama features Dominik’s now trademark long pauses and drawn out sequences, but is the story as fascinating as the real life drama that inspired and spurred on The Assassination of Jesse James?

Killing Them Softly

View slideshow: Killing Them Softly

Starring: Brad Pitt, Scoot McNairy, Ben Mendelsohn, Richard Jenkins, James Gandolfini and Ray Liotta

Written by Andrew Dominik based on the novel by George V. Higgins

Killing Them Softly Poster
Photo credit:
Alliance Films

Directed by Andrew Dominik

Frankie (McNairy) and Russel (Mendelsohn) are 2-bit hustlers that are convinced to pull a job that is very ill advised, holding up a Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  December 4, 2012 | Categories: Reviews, Theatrical | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The ‘Bones Brigade’ are here to tell their own story with their ‘Autobiography’

Better known as a filmmaker nowadays, with acclaimed films like Dogtown and Z-Boys and Riding Giants under his belt, former Z-Boy and Skateboarding Hall of Fame inductee Stacey Peralta brings us his latest project based on his historic mentorship of some of skateboarding’s greatest innovators, Bones Brigade: An Autobiography. A decade after the now seminal Dogtown, and after being pestered by the Brigade members for a Bones Brigade film for almost the same amount of time, Peralta has finally delivered a follow up showing the 1980`s segment of his skateboarding career that saw him move behind the scenes and put young stars in the spotlight.

Bones Brigade: An Autobiography

Starring: Tony Hawk, Steve Caballero, Rodney Mullen, Lance Mountain, Mike McGill, Tommy Guerrero, Tony Alva, George Powell, Christian Hosoi and Stacey Peralta.

Directed by Stacey Peralta

Bones Brigade: An Autobiography Poster
Photo credit:
Vans/Nonfiction Unlimited Productions

Shortly after retiring from competition, Peralta teamed with business partner George Powell to form Powell-Peralta Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  November 30, 2012 | Categories: Documentary, Reviews, Theatrical | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

ParaNorman DVD Review

 

ParaNorman DVD

Starring the voices of Cody Smit-McPhee, Tucker Albrizzi, Anna Kendrick, Casey Affleck, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Leslie Mann, Jeff Garlin and John Goodman

Written by Chris Butler

Directed by Chris Butler and Sam Fell

New this week on DVD and Blu-Ray from Alliance Films is the stop motion animated wonder, from the same studio that brought us Henry Selick’s Coraline, which scared up some decent box office this summer, ParaNorman. Directors Chris Butler and Sam Fell bring us the story of a boy with the gift to talk to the deceased and a mission to fulfill. So what does the DVD have in store for us?

Norman Babcock (Smit-McPhee) is an awkward child with an extraordinary Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  November 29, 2012 | Categories: Home Entertainment, Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

“Hitchcock” focuses on “Psycho” and the woman behind the man……..

Hitchcock (2012)

Starring Anthony Hopkins, Helen Mirren, Scarlett Johansson, Danny Huston, Toni Collette, James D’Arcy, Jessica Biel and Michael Wincott

Written by John J. McLaughlin based on the book “Alfred Hitchcock and the making of Psycho” by Stephen Rebello

Directed by Sacha Gervasi

New this week in theaters, opening exclusively at the Varsity in Toronto and expanding nation-wide in the weeks to come, from Fox Searchlight comes Hitchcock. The biopic about the master of suspense himself Alfred Hitchcock, despite the inference of title, is not a story of the man and his life, but the shooting of his seminal film Psycho and his relationship with his wife and most trusted collaborator Alma Reville.

Hitchcock starts at the premiere for Alfred Hitchcock’s (Hopkins) Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  November 25, 2012 | Categories: Reviews, Theatrical | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

What discoveries will “The Fruit Hunters” have for you…..

 

The Fruit Hunters (2012)

Written by Yung Chang and Mark Slutsky – based on the book by Adam Gollner

Directed by Yung Chang

After a highly successful Toronto debut screening as part of last week’s Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival Richmond Hill program, Yung Chang’s The Fruit Hunters starts an exclusive engagement this weekend at the Hot Docs Bloor Cinema. The film about people obsessed with seeking out and growing exotic fruits from around the world spans the globe in search of these hidden treats and director Chang introduces us to people of all nationalities. From the South American trying to save the banana business from extinction to the Hollywood celebrity trying to launch a community orchard in the Hollywood Hills, we are invited into all of these stories through Chang’s lens.

The Fruit Hunters is indeed a globetrotting tour of places with the Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  November 25, 2012 | Categories: Documentary, Film Festival, Reviews, Theatrical | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Dreamworks unveils the “Rise of the Guardians”

Rise of the Guardians (2012)

Starring the voices of Chris Pine, Alec Baldwin, Jude Law, Isla Fisher and Hugh Jackman

Written by David Lindsay-Abaire based on the books written by William Joyce

Directed by Peter Ramsey

New in theaters in time for US Thanksgiving weekend, and ready to fight for box office domination against stiff competition, Dreamworks and Paramount Pictures bring us the new animated film Rise of the Guardians. Classic iconic characters such as Santa, the Easter Bunny, Sandman, Tooth Fairy and Jack Frost are all in this rousing tale of camaraderie and teamwork. But how does Rise of the Guardians fare against other options out there this weekend?

Rise of the Guardians starts by introducing us to Jack Frost, Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  November 22, 2012 | Categories: Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Reel Asian 2012: Cold Steel Review

 

Reel Asian Film Festival 2012

Cold Steel (2012)

Starring Peter Ho, Tony Leung Ka-fai, Jia Song, Mickey Ho, Ringo Yu and Wilson Chu

Written by David Wu, Li Xiao-Min

Directed by David Wu

Making a welcome return to Chinese action filmmaking after a long absence working in North American television, frequent John Woo collaborator David Wu brings us Cold Steel. After a very successful showing at Fantasia in Montreal this year, the war-time epic has finally made its Toronto debut thanks to Reel Asian and co-presenter Toronto After Dark. So how does Mr Wu’s Cold Steel stack up to the classic films of Woo’s that he worked on?

In 1938, during the second Sino-Japanese War, Mu Lianfeng (Ho), Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  November 21, 2012 | Categories: Film Festival, Reviews, Theatrical | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

ParaNorman will save your homes soon (Theatrical Review)

 

ParaNorman (2012) (Theatrical Review Repost)

Starring the voices of Cody Smit-McPhee, Tucker Albrizzi, Anna Kendrick, Casey Affleck, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Leslie Mann, Jeff Garlin and John Goodman

Written by Chris Butler

Directed by Chris Butler and Sam Fell

From the same studio that brought us Henry Selick’s Coraline we get a new stop-motion animated film also dealing with the slightly macabre, ParaNorman. From directors Chris Butler, storyboard artist on Coraline, and Sam Fell, director of Tale of Despereaux and Flushed Away, comes the story of a boy with the gift to talk to the deceased and a mission to fulfill. But can these two directors live up to the brilliance that was Coraline?

Norman Babcock (Smit-McPhee) is an awkward child with an extraordinary gift, Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  November 17, 2012 | Categories: Reviews, Theatrical | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

‘The Watch’ comes home to protect your neighborhood (Blu-Ray Review)

 

The Watch Blu-Ray

Starring Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Jonah Hill, Richard Ayoade, Will Forte and Billy Crudup

Written by Jared Stern, Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen

Directed by Akiva Schaffer

Hitting Blu-Ray and DVD this week from Fox Home Entertainment is the action comedy that disappointed at the box office this summer, The Watch. Hurt due to a truncated advertising campaign and name change to avoid all possible ties with the real life Trayvon Martin incident, The Watch finally gets its chance to be seen on home video. But can the combined comedic chops of Stiller, Vaughn, Hill, Ayoade (director of last year’s brilliant Submarine) and Forte along with director, and one-third of the comedy troop of The Lonely Island, Akiva Schaffer, deliver the comedy of the year?

Evan (Stiller) seems to have it all together. He has a lovely wife Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  November 17, 2012 | Categories: Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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