Out in Theaters: ‘THE CONJURING 2’
'The Conjuring 2 'understands the virtue of patience in a way that most studio horror films do not and the result is all the scarier for it. Building on the…
REVIEW
FESTIVAL
SIFF ’16 Capsule Review: ‘LIFE, ANIMATED’
There’s no debating the value of Roger Ross William‘s accomplishment. In Life, Animated – a touching documentary centered on late-onset autism “victim” Owen Suskind and how he remarkably rediscovers language through animated Disney films – he has given voice to the voiceless (technical ingenuity had him pioneer a groundbreaking method to illicit confessionals from Owen)....
REVIEW
Out in Theaters: ‘WARCRAFT’
Paying lip service to fans foaming at the mouth and flipping the general public the bird, 'Warcraft' is a profoundly dumbfounding clusterf*ck of fantasy derivation and nerd-centered jabber-mouthing. Wowing in…
FESTIVAL
SIFF ’16 Capsule Review: ‘THE LURE’
As dark and psychosexual a rock opera about mermaids that could be imagined, Poland’s The Lure is a melodramatic fairytale plumped with melodic house music, chilling surrealism and dripping monster fangs. Two all-singing, all-stripping sea-born sisters populate seedy dance-halls and sudsy clubs with their the croon of their siren lullabies, flirting with the idea of first...
FESTIVAL
SIFF ’16 Capsule Review: ‘CARNAGE PARK’
Mickey Keating‘s Carnage Park starts in admirably economic fashion, rending down its slim cast to even slimmer form with a dead-eyed, high-pitched, Bible-thumping Pat Healy tagging human targets with his handy sniper rifle beset with all the rage and judgement of the Old Testament guy upstairs. Ashley Bell plays opposite as the desert-set horror’s shrieky...
REVIEW
Out in Theaters: ‘TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: OUT OF THE SHADOWS’
A generally unpleasant experience from start to finish, 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows' applies an early stranglehold on the audience, smashing and bashing them with strobing lights,…
FESTIVAL
SIFF ’16 Capsule Review: ‘ALONE’
This shantytown import from South Korea sees a voyeur stalked and killed by criminals before seemingly being reincarnated and forced to live out his attack over and over again under different circumstances. Structured a bit like a choose your own adventure book when you keep running into the wrong ending and starting over, Alone covers...
REVIEW
Out in Theaters: ‘POPSTAR: NEVER STOP NEVER STOPPING’
The Lonely Island find comedy excellence in ‘Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping’’s sardonic song parodies but the trip from one performance to the next has an unfortunate tendency to flatline…
FESTIVAL
SIFF ’16 Capsule Review: ‘WEINER’
The political arena is an ugly, soul-sucking vortex before you add a sexting scandal. Weiner, the inflammatory expose from Josh Kriegman and Elyse Steinberg, documents how fiery liberal congressman Anthony Weiner’s NYC mayoral campaign went up in flames, engulfed by public outrage following ironically weiner-centric indiscretions. The pair offer up a poignant critique of media’s...
FESTIVAL
SIFF ’16 Capsule Review: ‘TAG’
Sion Sono’s Tag is a maelstrom of WTF; an absolutely bonkers satire of feudal sexual tensions in his home nation of Japan, characterized by an absolutely unpredictable, heady plot wormhole that snakes from killer wind to murderous schoolteachers, wedding assassins to a simple foot marathon. Accomplished with keen wit, unnerving cinematic bravado and a healthy...