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‘Sicario: Day of the Soldado’ Review: Una Continuación Satisfactoria

Jason Gorber — Thu, 28 Jun 2018 19:00:16 +0000

It was inevitable that ‘Sicario: Day of the Soldado’ would pale in comparison to the masterpiece it’s a sequel to. Under the direction of Stefano Sollima (best known for helping translate ‘Gomorrah’ to a TV series), the follow-up focuses on a new kind of war of terror, taking the hitman storyline into new and even...

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‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ Review: Rian Strikes Back

Philip Brown — Wed, 13 Dec 2017 13:00:32 +0000

The new ‘Star Wars’ trilogy has finally found its own voice and identity. After the nostalgia-fueled tears and cheers of J.J. Abrams’ relentlessly crowd-pleasing (and pandering?) ‘The Force Awakens’, oddball genre mashup artist Rian Johnson (‘Brick’, ‘Looper’) cracked the code and found a new direction for those adventures in a galaxy far, far away. Yes,...

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‘A Perfect Day’ Review: Charmingly Scattershot

Philip Brown — Fri, 26 Feb 2016 17:00:32 +0000

Fernando León de Aranoa’s latest feature chronicles the odd and frequently unexplored lives of foreign aid workers. It’s a messy and tonally inconsistent little flick. However, in this particular case that’s not necessarily a criticism. The movie goes for a darkly comedic look at the madness of offering help in a war zone, where all...

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‘Sicario’ Review: Blunt Force

Philip Brown — Fri, 02 Oct 2015 13:00:28 +0000

Bleak, vicious and unrelenting, ‘Sicario’ is a Hollywood thriller by which all other entries in the genre should be measured this year. It’s proof that artful, socially conscious films can still qualify as mainstream entertainment with plenty of white-knuckle excitement. Director Denis Villeneuve’s latest feature just might be his best. The Montreal maverick behind such...

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TIFF Journal: ‘Sicario’

Philip Brown — Fri, 11 Sep 2015 18:00:49 +0000

A brutal, brilliant and culturally relevant thriller, Denis Villeneuve’s ‘Sicario’ announces itself with a punch to the gut of cinematic bravado. Roger Deakins’ evocative and immaculate camerawork pulls the audience toward a drug house on the Mexican border that a task force literally crashes into. At first, it seems like the location might be a...

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The Trailer Park: Wrong Place, Wrong Time

M. Enois Duarte — Wed, 19 Aug 2015 19:00:54 +0000

This week’s set of movie trailers offers a selection of movies with a common theme. All of them find main protagonists caught in situations more dangerous than initially expected. ‘The Hateful Eight’ Finally, after long talks and countless rumors over the past couple years, Quentin Tarantino will bring his latest rowdy production to the big...

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‘Escobar: Paradise Lost’ Review: Lost and Never Found

Philip Brown — Fri, 16 Jan 2015 16:00:44 +0000

The only reason that ‘Escobar: Paradise Lost’ was made and the only reason to ever consider watching it is the fact that someone had the ingenious idea of casting Benicio Del Toro as the notorious Colombian cocaine king Pablo Escobar. Del Toro is every bit as good as you’d hope in the title role. Unfortunately,...

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‘Inherent Vice’ Review: A Hazy Noir Masterpiece

Philip Brown — Tue, 23 Dec 2014 20:00:29 +0000

Set in early 1970s Los Angeles and very much indebted to the auteur-driven masterpieces that came out of Hollywood in that era, ‘Inherent Vice’ is a stoner detective art film. You might even be tempted to call it the first of its kind, were it not for the fact that Robert Altman’s ‘The Long Goodbye’...

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TIFF Journal: ‘Escobar’

Philip Brown — Thu, 18 Sep 2014 19:00:12 +0000

So you get to make a movie about the notorious Colombian cocaine king Pablo Escobar and even get the dependably excellent Benicio Del Toro to play the title role. How could anyone possibly screw that up, right? Well, how about making the movie about the lone Canadian in Escobar’s life rather than any of those...

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‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ Review: Space Madness

Philip Brown — Fri, 01 Aug 2014 13:00:47 +0000

Marvel Studios expands out of superhero yarns and into the realm of goofy space opera with ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’. The movie is a rip-roaring adventure that’s silly without feeling slight, and dark without feeling morbid. The only problems are the occasionally distracting creeks in Marvel’s now very familiar formula. Thankfully, only a madman would...

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Another Tale of Good Ideas Gone Wrong

Josh Zyber — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 13:00:00 +0000

Consider this a follow-up to recent stories about how ‘Robin Hood’ went from a great high-concept idea to a tepid ‘Gladiator’ clone, and Shia LaBeouf speaking out about the failings of two of his biggest box office hits. This week, ostensibly to promote the new DVD and Blu-ray editions of ‘The Wolfman‘, Hollywood’s legendary monster-maker...

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