Released: September 20, 2013. Directed by: Denis Villeneuve. Starring: Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Terrence Howard. Runtime: 153 min. Thought-provoking and engaging, "Prisoners" represents a type of film that I I love. It asks the question: What would you do if your child was kidnapped? What lengths would you go to get them back? Thanksgiving for [...]
Month: September 2013
Box Office Predictions: September 27-29
I'll start off with "Baggage Claim," one of the four major theatrical releases of the weekend. It's coming to the lowest amount of theatres of the bunch (1800), but it could make a decent amount of money this weekend. These sort-of generic romantic comedies are usually popular with the African American crowd, but the only [...]
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009)
Released: September 18, 2009. Directed by: Phil Lord, Chris Miller. Starring: Anna Faris, Bill Hader, Bruce Campbell. Runtime: 90 min. "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" is, I'll admit, much better than I thought it would be. I had no interest in seeing it when it was initially released, because it sounded a bit too [...]
TIFF 2013 Review: Canopy
"Canopy" is a World War Two film set during the Japanese invasion of Singapore in 1942. The film follows an Australian fighter pilot who is shot out of his plane, and wakes up in the treetops, suspended by his parachute. He must set out on a perilous journey to find sanctuary in this foreign jungle. [...]
Getaway (2013)
Released: August 30, 2013. Directed by: Courtney Solomon. Starring: Ethan Hawke, Selena Gomez, Jon Voight. Runtime: 90 min. I like a good action movie as much as the next movie critic. But that's the key word: good. A good action film, "Getaway" is not. After former race car driver Brent Magna (Ethan Hawke) comes home [...]
Box Office Predictions: Sept. 20-22
I don't know what "Battle of the Year" is doing in theatres at this point in time, after dance films are so past their prime. And this looks way generic and familiar. Movies similar to this open at $11.06 million. "Magic Mike" is the highest-grossing dance film with a $113.7 million domestic run (and its [...]
TIFF13 Review: The Sacrament
Ti West sends his movie regulars into an isolated village called Eden Parish. Patrick's (Kentucker Audley) sister has been missing for six months, but out of the blue, he receives a mysterious letter from her (Amy Seimetz). It tells him to take an airplane to somewhere, where there will be a helicopter to bring him [...]
Elysium (2013)
Released: August 9, 2013. Directed by: Neill Blomkamp. Starring: Matt Damon, Jodie Foster, Sharlto Copley. Runtime: 109 min. In the prologue, it is said that the earth has been ruined by pollution, and only the wealthiest of people could escape. The rich now call Elysium their home, a place where the air is healthy and [...]
Box Office Predictions: September 13-15
"Insidious" has a good reputation, and add in the fact that its sequel is opening on Friday the 13th, as well as the fact that horror films have performed very well this year, I think "Insidious Chapter 2" is poised to do easily double what the original did back in April 2011. The original opened [...]
TIFF 2013 Review: All is By My Side
John Ridley's "All is By My Side" takes a bio pic route less travelled by, depicting how Jimi Hendrix became the rock n' roll icon he is, not a totally different part of someone's life - like their legacy or death (like "The Last of Robin Hood," a film also at the festival). That's one [...]