Screening today at the Hart House theatre at 9:30pm is this masterful, and highly enjoyable documentary that plays like a Cold War thriller. The year is 1985. The place, Romania, a country under strict control by its socialist/communist government, there’s one television channel for the nation, and it broadcasts nothing but state propaganda. The…
Category: Did You See That?!? (Tv & Film)
Hot Docs 2015: The Barkley Marathons – The Race That Eats Its Young – Annika Iltis & Timothy Kane
This evening at the Isabel Bader theatre there were laughs and applause at one of the most entertaining documentaries surely to grace the screen at Hot Docs this year had its first screening. Paired with the delightful, Born To Be Mild short directed by Andy Oxley, which showcased some rather intentionally uninteresting people in England….
Hot Docs 2015: Jesus Town USA – Julian Pinder and Billie Mintz
Screening today at the Isabel Bader theatre at 9:15pm is this documentary that plays more like a feature film in its construction than a documentary, it has that wonderful mockumentary Christopher Guest feel to it. The setting is a small town in Oklahoma, not so very far from the Holy City of the Wichitas, a…
Hot Docs 2015: The Queen of Silence – Agnieszka Zwiefka
Screening today at the ROM theatre at 7pm, is this beautiful, joyous and heartbreaking film… With an objective eye, Zwiefka plunges into the reality of an illegal, tiny Roma slum on the outskirts of a Polish suburb. Families struggle to survive, living in their shanty town, their children dumpster-diving for clothes and toys, while their parents…
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (1949) – Tay Garnett
So far, my purchase of the Sci-Fi Chronicles book has been well worth it, I’ve watched some great films, have added books to my bedside pile, rediscovered favorites and stumbled across new ones… like this one. Based ever so loosely on the tale by Samuel Clemens, Mark Twain himself, this time travel tale from…
The Virginian (2014) – Thomas Makowski
Also available from Anchor Bay today is this updated, gritty reimagining of the classic television series, The Virginian. As I love a good western, I settled into take a look at this one, and quickly discovered that it contains pretty much all the tropes and moments you would expect from the generic western. There’s the…
Avenged (2013) – Micheal S. Ojeda
Releasing from Anchor Bay today, was this supernatural revenge thriller, that surprised me with how much I enjoyed it. I thought it would be a little enjoyable, but I found myself really getting into this one. Zoe (the lovely Amanda Adrienne) is a deaf/mute girl on a road trip to spend some time with her…
The Newsroom: Season 2
HBO knows how much I love my Aaron Sorkin dramas, and were kind enough to let me catch up on a Season 2 blu-ray before the third and final season (sad sigh) is released in June. So this past weekend, I settled in to watch the 9 episode season, and relive all those fantastic…
Last Tango in Paris (1972) – Bernardo Bertolucci
As we return to the drama genre in the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book, I settled in for the next title to have a look at, this classic Bertolucci film starring Marlon Brando and Maria Schneider. In turns dark, morose and sensual, Bertolucci has crafted a film about loss, sex turning to desire…
The Road (2009) – John Hillcoat
We jump genres now in the Great Movies – 100 Years of film book, and I dive into Sci-Fi-Fantasy-Horror (though I would argue they could all be separate categories. The first title, Metropolis (such a gorgeous film), and almost all of its recommendations, I have reviewed previously for the blog, so the one recommendation left…
