Yet another young adult novel gets squashed into a bland, Saturday afternoon time-waster. Brenton Thwaites ( Oculus ) stars as young adult Jonas in a grey-colored world where emotions are seeped out of people’s lives via medication, resulting in a harmonious but humdrum existence for all. Jonas is chosen to …
Read More »Ballet Boys review
When a ballet teacher pushes her students for more “Attack!” in Kenneth Elvebakk’s frustrating documentary about teenage boys yearning for a life in ballet, you know how she feels. Elvebakk follows three Oslo boys as they try to locate their centre of balance. The lads are affable and talented but …
Read More »Attila Marcel review
The imaginative whimsy of Belleville Rendez-Vous and The Illusionist is both present and correct in Sylvain Chomet’s live-action debut, a gentle charmer with dark elements in which music plays a pivotal role. So does the mutely expressive Guillaume Gouix, on double duty as both the silent piano prodigy trying to …
Read More »Mystery Road review
Imagine a racially charged Outback Chinatown and you have the measure of this terrific Aussie noir written, shot, directed, edited and scored by Ivan Sen. As Aaron Pederson’s aboriginal detective returns home to investigate a murder, he discovers a township driven by corruption, where the fug of meth and malaise …
Read More »WolfCop review
Lowell Dean’s fun, fondly made creature feature has more going for it than its awesome title: a WolfCop rap, for starters. Yes, it’s Teen Wolf for the DV horror generation, but there are decent performances from loser policeman-turned-lycanthrope Leo Fafard and co, and some fun, Simpsons -y asides. “Remember what …
Read More »Madden NFL 15 review
The new generation of consoles has been kind to Madden. While the PS4 and Xbox One version of last fall’s Madden NFL 25 only features slightly upgraded visuals from its last-gen counterparts, its significant gameplay improvements won over hardened football fans. Less than a year later, Madden 15 arrives as …
Read More »Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls review
Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls feels less like the series finale of your favorite TV show and more like an exciting one-off episode. And as far as expansions go, that’s totally fine. If you’ve been playing D3 again in anticipation of all the new content, you might be left wanting. …
Read More »Lilting review
Between Skyfall and his planned Freddie Mercury biopic, Ben Whishaw proves his mettle in a chamber drama about language and loss from debut writer/director Hong Khaou. Whishaw gives his heartfelt all to Richard, a man mourning his boyfriend’s death. When he reaches out to his partner’s ageing mum (Cheng Pei-Pei) …
Read More »Delight review
Often in cinema people get over bereavement with a focus on the constructive, positive things in life. Delight takes a somewhat different tack: the main character (Jeanne Balibar) starts shagging her dead lover’s son (Gavin Fowler). And that’s about it, kicking in when Balibar’s former war photographer ends up in …
Read More »Northwest review
A small-time burglar gets in over his head in this Copenhagen crime drama, one so familiar you’d think writer/director Michael Noer had penned the story on the back of your hand. Casper (Gustav Dyekjær Giese) is a streetwise thief who gets a chance to advance when he falls in with …
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