The Water Diviner Review

Russell Crowe gives a nice try but gets no cigar in this maudlin rehash of a horrendous moment in history. Russell Crowe comes out swinging with his narrative fiction feature directorial debut but fouls out as this war story drops off the deep end into the irretrievably maudlin. Screenwriters Andrew Knight and Andrew Anastasios are

Hot Docs Toronto: The Bells – an Intimate Portrait by Jessica Edwards

The Bells was a band known for signature vocal harmonies and the hit songs “White Dove” and “Stay Awhile”. In 1965 South African sisters Jackie and Anne Ralph were performing with their trio in small town Quebec when they first laid eyes on Cliff Edwards and his band. The electricity was palpable. The girl’s manager

Review: Wire, ‘Wire’

1977 is widely considered the year punk exploded, with classic releases from the likes of Sex Pistols, The Clash and Ramones. Towards the end of the year, Wire appeared with their debut record Pink Flag, approaching the punk attitude in fresh and unique way which went on to influence a multitude of modern genres including

Ex Machina : Alex Garland on Robots, Sex and Power

Ex Machina is a film for our times. It’s a cautionary tale about the potential future trajectory of artificial intelligence and our fear of it. Computers and robots are facts of life today, but their level of sophistication in 2015 may seem awfully primitive in the future as AI gains more and more footholds. It

Review: Squarepusher ‘Damogen Furies’ Album

Tom Jenkinson, better known as Squarepusher, is constantly blowing our minds, and consequently probably blowing our ear drums out as well. With each new release, he tweaks his sound, and like any good musician, he tries to push himself forward and does something new each time. “Damogen Furies” is his first solo LP in three

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Review: Speedy Ortiz ‘Foil Deer’

It is said brevity is the soul of wit, Northampton, Mass. based four piece Speedy Ortiz definitely bring that thought to mind with their second studio album “Foil Deer.” The group’s raw meets Pop sound coalesced with vocalist Sadie Dupuis’ audaciously clever lyrics have made Speedy Ortiz a much buzzed new band out of the

True Story Review

Ripped from the headlines, it is not as good as “Capote,” but close enough. Debut feature director Rupert Goold pulled one out of the hat with this amazingly entertaining dual of wits, and lies, between two men who are world class in the art of deception. At the heart of the film is the weakness

About Elly Review

This pot-boiler takes the viewer by surprise after a slow start, but the start is too long and the surprise too short. In the midst of a jocular college reunion, the young, beautiful and mysterious guest Elly (Taraneh Alidousti) disappears without a trace. In the wake of her disappearance, her true story emerges to the

Cannes 2015: Andrew Cividino’s Sleeping Giant Stands Tall

Writer director Andrew Cividino’s coming-of-age film Sleeping Giant has just been announced as Canada’s first feature film entry in competition at the Cannes Film Festival next month. It is part of Semaine de la Critique, the Directors’ Fortnight, competing for the prestigious Camera D’Or award. Sleeping Giant, made for just $60,000 was inspired by Cividino’s’

Ex Machina Review

A B-movie that tried to be something better but stayed a B-movie. Writer/director Alex Garland’s sci-fi flick is the latest in a long line of slipshod Hollywood treatments of artificial intelligence. This tale starts with a pseudo “imitation game” in which Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson) has been chosen to determine which is the real person and