The next recommendation following my screening of Night of the Hunter for the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book is this Australian western that sees a lawman, Captain Stanley (Ray Winstone) apprehend notorious outlaw Charlie Burns (Guy Pearce) and offers him a deal, he has nine days to track down and kill…
Category: Did You See That?!? (Tv & Film)
Toronto Screenwriting Conference 2016 Day One
Not that I need a break from Hot Docs yet, if ever, but there is a lot going on this weekend, and Sue and I were delighted to be invited back for our fourth time to cover the Toronto Screenwriting Conference. The conference is always amazing, and Sue and I start with the best…
Hot Docs 2016: The Slippers – Morgan White
Movie history, Hollywood dreams, conspiracies, finger-pointing, millions of dollars, back-stabbing, and the most iconic items in cinema history, Dorothy’s ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz are the topics up for perusal in White’s documentary, The Slippers. Having its Canadian Premiere this afternoon at the Lightbox at 3:15pm, the film delves into the world…
Hot Docs 2016: Operation Avalanche – Matt Johnson
It’s right there in the title, Operation Avalanche, it’s a snow job. This faux documentary is played straight, pretending to be a film edited together from film shot by a pair of agents (Matt Johnson and Owen Williams) posing as filmmakers, working on a documentary about the Apollo program at the height of the…
Hot Docs 2016: Credit for Murder – Vladi Antonevicz
In a documentary that plays more like a thriller than a Hot Docs, Antonevicz’s dark entry into this year’s film festival is a stunning ride. Using pacing, framing and structure like a standard Hollywood thriller this one captivatesd as much as it generates hate for it’s ready made villains, Neo-Nazis. When a YouTube video…
Hot Docs 2016: Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World – Werner Herzog
My Hot Docs got under way this afternoon at about 1pm as I settled in for my first screening at the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema, director Werner Herzog’s latest film, Lo and Behold. I was first struck, as I always am, by the amazing turnout this festival has. It should be no wonder of…
Planet of the Apes (2001) – Tim Burton
It’s time for a different vision of Planet of the Apes, as I continue my exploration of the series as I delve into the Sci-Fi Chronicles book. This time around, Tim Burton directs an all-star cast including Tim Roth, Helena Bonham-Carter, Mark Wahlberg, Kris Kristofferson, Michael Clarke Duncan, Paul Giamatti, David Warner and Estella…
Hot Docs 2016: Chatting with The League of Exotique Dancers
The Hot Docs Film Festival gets underway today, and it’s opening night film features some amazing women. Sue and I got to sit down and chat with three of them, the film’s director, Rama Rau as well as burlesque legends, Camille 2000 and Judith Stein. We chatted about the film, feminism, burlesque, stripping, stage…
Deliverance (1972) – John Boorman
The next recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of The Night of the Hunter is this John Boorman classic that turned Burt Reynolds into a star. Lewis (Reynolds) convinces his friends Ed (Jon Voigt), Bobby (Ned Beatty) and Drew (Ronny Cox) to go on a canoe trip…
Sing Street (2016) – John Carney
Sheer joy. There were no other words to express my experience with John Carney’s latest film. Sometimes a film comes along at just the right time in your life, and serves to reminds you of something you’ve always known but you kind of need that obvious callback. And music does that. It doesn’t matter…
