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As Of October 1st we have a new Films page.
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Toronto International Film Festival--A Thumbnail Sketch
By Larry Anklewicz
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
The party's over and the stars have gone back home. The Festival has ended and now it's time to take a look back at what happened.
Toronto International Film Festival--Part 2
By Larry Anklewicz
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
I've now had the opportunity to watch a number of the films playing at this year's Toronto International Film Festival and like all years, there are some very good films, and there are some very bad films. From what I've seen, the majority of the films unspooling this week, probably fit into the Good category.
Toronto International Film Festival
By Larry Anklewicz
Friday, September 7, 2007
Toronto, Ont.-It's that time of year again. The Toronto International Film Festival began on Thursday, Sept. 6th and the biggest and best film festival in North America is now officially underway.
Every year the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) shows some 300 Films. The movie studios and distributors are always clamouring to get their films into the festival, and they trot out the biggest stars in Hollywood, bringing them into the city to promote these films. Our entire city goes movie mad for about ten days.
We're going Streaking!
By Liam Brennan
Thursday, August 23, 2007
With summer coming to a close, the back to school season is now in full swing. While most students will concern themselves with registering for the appropriate courses and finding the cheapest textbooks, there are those select few that just can't bring themselves to get off the couch and prepare for the upcoming school year.
Hairspray, Talk to Me, Die Hard, Paul Newman, Al Pacino
By Larry Anklewicz
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Colourful, exciting, full of music, singing and dancing and the funnest film since Grease. Hairspray is two hours of non-stop entertainment that everyone will enjoy and will want to see.
I called it the funnest film since Grease. What I mean is that Hairspray is the most fun film to watch since Grease. It has all the ingredients and they all seem to come together seamlessly into one fun filled package.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Let me start off by saying I am not a big Harry Potter fan. I haven't read any of the books and I've only seen one of the previous films.
But I do love movies, and this is one of the biggest, most popular films of the year.
So as an almost complete novice to the Harry Potter phenomenon, I have to say that I enjoyed this film. It had action, adventure, fantasy, and much more. It moved along quite quickly and you barely noticed that it was almost two hours and twenty minutes long.
The Academy Awards
Monday, March 5, 2007
Although most of the main categories went exactly as predicted, there were a lot of surprises at this year's Academy Awards. Although Best Picture ("The Departed"), Best Director (Martin Scorsese for "The Departed"), Best Actor (Forest Whitaker in "The Last King of Scotland") and Best Actress (Helen Mirren in "The Queen") were all easily predictable, some of the other awards brought a little bit of spice to the event. Everyone expected Eddie Murphy to win the award for Best Supporting Actor for his marvellous work in "Dreamgirls". Instead, Alan Arkin took home the prize for his beautifully nuanced role in "Little Miss Sunshine". Arkin was perfectly cast in this film as the crotchety grandfather who insisted on telling the truth (as he saw it) no matter what the consequences. The award for best animated film also was a bit of a surprise. Everyone believed that "Cars" would win the award in this category. It was a beautiful film, but the heartwarming appeal of "Happy Feet" carried it to the top in its category. How can anyone resist the charm and humour of penguins singing and dancing?
The Genie Awards
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Despite the worse snow storm of the winter hitting the GTA last Tuesday, Feb. 13th, the Genie Awards show was a star spangled event with the biggest names in Canadian cinema in attendance.
The big winners at the Canadian version of the Academay Awards, were two films made in Quebec, The Rocket and Bon Cop, Bad Cop.
But for one of the first times in my memory, both films succeeded in reaching a broad general audience throughout Canada.
Films & DVD's--2006
Saturday, January 6, 2007
Now that 2007 is here, we can look back at a very good year for the film and DVD industry. There were some excellent films and DVDs to enjoy throughout the year and IÕm going to share some of my favourites with you right now. There are three lists of my Top Ten favourites and IÕve classified them under Films, DVDs, and Canadian DVDs. For simplicity, I have decided to list them in alphabetical order.
Apocalypto
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Technically, Apocalypto is an excellent film. It has some beautiful cinematography, the acting is good; and all the technical aspects are first rate.
But--and this is a big but, many of the other elements are seriously flawed.
Volver
Wednesday, December 6, 2006
Oscar buzz has begun. As we approach the December holiday period, more and more prestige films are being released. These are the films the studios believe have a chance for Academy Award nominations and which they have been holding back for a December release so that they will be fresh in the minds of members of the Academy when they vote for the films that should be nominated this year.
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Borat is probably the most controversial film that will be released this year. It is outrageous; it is offensive; it is also one of the funniest films in a long time.
T h e L a s t K i n g o f S c o t l a n d
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
A p o w e r f u l p e r f o r m a n c e b y F o r e s t W h i t a k e r p r o p e l s t h i s f i l m i n t o t h e f o r e f r o n t o f A c a d e m y A w a r d n o m i n a t i o n s .
W h i t a k e r p l a y s I d i A m i n , t h e m a d d i c t a t o r o f U g a n d a d u r i n g t h e 1 9 7 0 s w i t h a n a m a z i n g l y s u b t i t l e a n d s k i l l f u l p e r f o r m a n c e . W h i t a k e r s h o w s A m i n 's s e n s e o f h u m o u r a n d p l a y f u l n e s s , w h i l e a t t h e s a m e t i m e g i v i n g f u l l e x p r e s s i o n t o A m i n 's c r u e l t y a n d t h e l a c k o f v a l u e h e p l a c e d o n h u m a n l i f e .
The Guardian and the Flyboys
By Larry Anklewicz
Saturday, October 7, 2006
The Guardian is the action packed story of the Coast Guard's rescue teams who risk life and limb to save people at sea. It doesn't matter what the conditions--raging hurricanes or blinding blizzards, the rescue teams are constantly on call and prepared to do whatever it takes to save lives in danger.
Toronto International Film Festival Ends
By Larry Anklewicz
Saturday, September 16, 2006
I 've just spent a few weeks watching over 40 films shown at the Toronto International Film Festival. These included a few very good films, some mediocre films and even a couple of films that I walked out of in the middle. This is not something I do very often.
I can 't give you a rundown of every film I saw. I described a few in my last column and I will go through some of the better films now.
Toronto International Film Festival Begins
By Larry Anklewicz
Thursday, September 7, 2006
Well, the 31st edition of the Toronto International Film Festival is under way and it is time to take a look at some of the better films I've seen so far. If you haven't booked your films yet you might want to take a look at these suggestions.
Toronto International Film Festival
By Larry Anklewicz
Friday, August 25, 2006
Festival Time Just Around the Corner
What do Jennifer Lopez, Penelope Cruz, Pierce Brosnan, Reese Witherspoon and Tom Hanks have in common? All of them are expected to attend this year’s edition of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).
Little Miss Sunshine
By Larry Anklewicz
Wednesday, August 9, 2006
If you saw the trailers for Little Miss Sunshine, you would presume that this was a silly comedy that you wouldn’t be interested in seeing. You would have been Wrong! The trailers give a completely distorted impression of this film.
Little Miss Sunshine is a funny film. It is entertaining and heart warming and contains lots of little truisms.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
By Larry Anklewicz
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
The original Pirates of the Caribbean was a big hit, therefore plans moved forward to produce a sequel--Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest. Everyone thought that the sequel would be successful, but this new film has already exceeded all expectations. It enjoyed the biggest opening weekend in film history and it passed the $200 million mark within 8 days of its release.
Superman Returns
By Larry Anklewicz
Thursday, July 6, 2006
Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it’s Superman Returns!Cars
By Larry Anklewicz
Friday, June 16, 2006
Once again, Disney and Pixar have come up with the winning formula.Cars is a magical animated film that will delight children and adults alike.
Over The Hedge
By Larry Anklewicz
Friday, June 9, 2006
Over The Hedge is another excellent film from the animators at Dream Works. This is a film that will entertain the kids and their parents and also has a certain amount of educational value.United 93
By Larry Anklewicz
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
After hanging out at film festivals for a while, it’s good to get back to regular film watching and trying to catch up with all the releases I’ve missed.
Today I want to tell you about two films you should catch before they disappear from the theatres--United 93 and Akeelah and the Bee.
United 93 is an exceptional film. It had me on the edge of my seat all the way from beginning to end. And what makes United 93 even more incredible is the fact that it is true. It really happened!
Film Festival Time in Toronto
By Larry Anklewicz
Wednesday, May 3, 2006
It’s film festival season. Sprockets festival of films for children has just ended; Hot Docs is in the middle of its run; and the Toronto Jewish Film Festival is about to begin.
