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Out in Theaters: ‘GRANDMA’

“Time passes – that’s for sure” – an Eileen Myles quote that opens the film Grandma and could have just as easily come spilling from the churlish mouth of Lily Tomlin’s titular character. After all, Tomlin’s Elle Reid is no stranger to her own passing time. In her words, “I’m rapidly approaching 50” (Elle’s deadpan is matched only by her sense of irony –  Tomlin has around rounded her third quarter-century.) Her thick sheen of sarcasm is persistently cutting and deeply riotous and between the sharp writing and Tomlin’s pitch-perfect comic timing, there’s many good reasons to see Grandma. Forget that Tomlin’s name will be thrown all up and down the Oscar buzz aisle because award or no, her presence here is absolutely aces. Read More

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Out in Theaters: ‘PAWN SACRIFICE’

Chess players be mad crazy. This is the conceit of Edward Zwick’s latest film, Pawn Sacrifice. Telling the tale of Bobby Fischer‘s rise to the title of Chess World Champion, Zwick washes away the taste of Bobby Fischer the puny, prodigal chessmaster like with a mind-erasing swill of Everclear, replacing it with Bobby Fischer, megalomaniac, paranoid, delusional, dedicated anti-Semite. His competition, Boris Spassky, does not fare much better. These dudes ‘r’ nuts. Read More

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SOUTH PARK “Stunning and Brave” Recap

This week on South Park: Principal Victoria is fired after one of her elementary student’s refers to the act of rape as a “hot Cosby”. Addressing a cafeteria packed with parents and students, Victoria’s replacement, PC Principal, vows to clamp down on the school’s rampant bigotry whilst calling out Mr. Garrison for telling his 4th grade class that women without wombs should get AIDS tests (in Mr. Garrison’s defense, he was a lesbian when he said that). Read More

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Out in Theaters: ‘BLACK MASS’

Black Mass is a stage upon which Johnny Depp has revived his career, and little more. As the film’s malevolent heavy and famed criminal overlord “Whitey” Bulger, Deep is borderline excellent, brooding and prowling around the screen like a silverback gorilla. On the streets, he’s equally guerrilla, taking down his enemies as well as former-confidantes-turned-rat in maelstroms of cold-shelled slugs. And though Deeps is admirable as the callous and cold Jimmy Bulger, the film itself overwhelmingly replicates its star’s unenviable personality traits in its cinematic aura, resulting in a film that’s even more callous and cold than the iconic gangster at its center. Read More

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Out in Theaters: ‘EVEREST’

Human beings simply aren’t built to function at the cruising altitude of a 747. At 29,000 feet, you body is literally dying. Lack of oxygen becomes a toxic, poisoning the brain and forcing your body to shut down non-vital organs. At such heights, it’s near impossible to breathe without a tank of O. Beholding Everest on a proper IMAX screen, I too found myself gasping for air. It’s literally breathtaking. Read More

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FEAR THE WALKING DEAD “The Dog” Review

The action’s heating up, as three families in AMC’s Fear The Walking Dead leave this world behind, encroaching further into the iconic ruin of the Walker-infested wasteland.

“Civilization is like a thin layer of ice upon a deep ocean of chaos and darkness.” – Werner Herzog

 The most striking moment from an episode full of suspense, melodrama, and exploding heads was a quiet one. Travis Manawa (Cliff Curtis) and his first family, with another family, the Salazars, in the back of his pick-up, making his way to Madison’s (Kim Dickens) house. As the worried families drive in silence, the sprawling bejewelled nighttime carpet of Los Angeles is plunged into darkness, as the power outage takes hold and spreads.

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TIFF ’15 Review: ‘WOMEN HE’S UNDRESSED’

Women He’s Undressed, Gillian Armstrong’s new documentary about Hollywood costume designer Orry Kelly, opens over an unnaturally-saturated view of a blue sky, with a quote from actress Fanny Brice: “Let the world know who you are because sooner or later, if you are posing, you will forget the pose; then where will you be?” The stage is thus set for a bio-documentary that will reveal some hidden aspect of its subject, guaranteeing an interested viewer who will surely be surprised – and likely touched – by the revelation to come. Read More

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TIFF ’15 Review: ‘MAGALLANES’

Primary Peruvian exports include non-monetary gold powder, cooper ores, concentrates, cathodes and non-crude oil. You can now add to the list supremely compelling cinema as Magallanes, the product of first-time Peruvian director Salvador del Solar, is a true festival stunner. Soaked in a gleeful amount of real world suspense and intensified by rich dramatic character work from its apt principal cast, the slow-but-steady-building drama-thriller is a certifiable symphony of hard-won victories – both from a narrative and practical standpoint.   Read More

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DVD Review: ‘THE SEVEN FIVE’

Synopsis: In the late 1980s and early ‘90s Brooklyn, New York was the murder capital of America and ground zero for the crack cocaine epidemic. One man, Michael Dowd, led his crew on a rampage through the streets of East New York, robbing dope dealers at gunpoint, burglarizing homes and becoming involved in the biggest drug ring the city had seen. That man, and his cronies, were all police officers.  Labeled “The Dirtiest Cop Ever,” Dowd turned his department’s 75th precinct into a hotbed of corruption, both protecting and robbing drug dealers while lining his own pockets to the pointing of busting with cash and drugs. His arrest in 1992 led to the largest police corruption scandal in NYC history.” Read More

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TIFF ’15 Review: ‘DER NACHTMAHR’ (The Nightmare)

If you wiggle a pencil fast enough, it appears soft. Rubbery. Made of flesh. It’s only when you reach out and touch the pencil that you realize it’s made of hard wood. In a film, we cannot reach out, we cannot exert force or physical contact, so we rely on cues that the filmmaker plants within the picture; clues that help us distinguish the realm of the real from that of the imaginary. Der Nachtmahr  (The Nightmare) is an exercise in distinguishing the real from the imagined through the lens of what is essentially ET’s aborted fetus. Read More