The Torontonian Reviews: The Paperboy

t’s understood that exceptionally bad movies will attract an audience of camp enthusiasts, but Lee Daniels’ third directing credit is not a “trashterpiece” or “so bad it’s good” or “there’s nothing else on television, honey”. No, it’s just trash: garbage that has been pissed on by raccoons or crocodiles or whatever animal your locale attracts and glossed with the veneer of star power and intriguing trailers. Stay away. Let it die. Just let it shrivel up and die.

The Torontonian Reviews: The Silver Linings Playbook

The film will assuredly please crowds and win hearts in the end—perhaps even Oscar’s—but audiences interested in something more complex should probably look elsewhere.

TIFF12 Review: The Act of Killing

As Anwar and company tell their story about their lives as gangsters it becomes quickly evident that what they have in mind isn’t a thoughtful, introspective reflection on their history, but a glorious, bedazzled, trumped up showcase of themselves positioned as the heroes of this bloody tale of horror, augmented with dancing girls in fancy costumes, the rotund, hairy Herman, dressed in makeup and a sparkly turquoise mermaid dress, gleefully bloody re-enactments of the murders they committed, and a giant concrete fish. It’s a truly bizarre perspective on the slaughter of millions and the role this men had in it, so much so that at times, it’s even a little funny, the sheer audacity and absurdity of it all. Until it’s not.

TIFF12 Review: Ginger & Rosa

The leftist bent of the characters and some heavy-handed nuclear symbolism might seem to imply that director Sally Potter’s reaching for a bigger message here, but really, this is a heavily character-driven story about these two young girls whose lifetime friendship grows threatened as they grow in separate directions, and, especially, a coming-of-age story about Ginger, who learns things along the way that force her to reassess all the things she thought she knew, about her parents, about friendship, and about life.

The View From After TIFF

Good morning, Movienam! I thought I’d start boxing the TIFF experience this morning. It’s a weird time for film festivals. Not just TIFF. But especially at TIFF this year. Literally every single journalist or publicist I talked to – and this year, I ended up spending more time with publicists than journalists, which can be…

The Torontonian Reviews: Comrade Kim Goes Flying

TIFF12 Review: Pieta

TIFF12 Review: Middle of Nowhere

TIFF12 Review: Love is All You Need

TIFF12 Review: To the Wonder

The Torontonian Reviews: To The Wonder

TIFF12 Review: At Any Price

The Torontonian Reviews: End of Watch

The Torontonian Reviews: Storm Surfers 3D

TIFF12 Interview: Tamara Podemski