The last piece of pie

Back in 1999, the world was introduced to American Pie. It was raunchy, juvenile and, well, hugely influential on popular culture. Words and phrases like, "MILF", "...one summer at band camp...", "...Go trig-boy, it's your birthday!", etc...were all quickly absorbed into the mainstream through this singular cinematic sensation. Well, 13 years later the pie is back with American Reunion. Read More »

This project has the “X” factor

Every generation has their raunchy, teen-fantasy party movie. There is Porky's, Animal House, American Pie, and my personal favourite, Weird Science. But this month, the class of 2012 get their very own ode-to-wishful-thinking...Project X. This docu-style fictional story, based on a true event, hit theatres recently, garnering the number two box office spot (beat out by the kid-friendly, The Lorax). Walking into the theatre, I thought, "Okay, here's another hormone-induced romp that fulfills the desperate desires of today's most pathetic and lonely teens". (That's right...I admit my pre-conceptions about movies. Most critics don't. But I do...so there.) Read More »

The Artist vs. Hugo

So, the Oscars have come and gone for another year. I found this year's nominees and winners to be an interesting collection. Most of the acting awards were awarded to people in films that didn't win anything else. That's rare. But most fascinating was the rivalry between the silent-film, The Artist and Scorsese's Hugo. Read More »

Drive … slowly.

When Drive premiered at this past TIFF, I heard two types of responses. The first (from critics) was, "Brilliant!". The second (from everyday people) was, "Boring!". So, I've been eager to see why this film is so polarizing. Since it just hit VOD and DVD, I decided to cruise on over to my lazy-boy and take Drive for a spin. Read More »

If good looks could kill…

When I first heard about Haywire I assumed it would be like all the other sports-star-turned-movie-star films (i.e., Jean-Claude Vandamme, Steven Segal and Hulk Hogan). But MMA's female champ, Gina Carano, is so beautiful (and frightening) that I couldn't resist checking it out. Plus, I figured with Steven Soderburgh directing, how bad could it be? Read More »

Is it me or do baseball players get paid waaay too much?

Allow me to start by declaring my great disdain for most spectator sports. Baseball, football, hockey...the appeal of all the good ol' American pastimes is lost on me. So, you won't be surprised when I share with you that I also have zero interest in most sports movies. There are the rare exceptions (Field of Dreams, Slap shot, etc...) and for good reason; those are actually good movies. But for the most part I find sports films to be formulaic, contrived and emotionally hyped to the point where you need to shut off your brain to get the full effect. So, I went into Moneyball, starring Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill, with some "mild" reservations. Read More »

The Best 11 of Two Thousand-11!

We are well into the new year and there are a lot of great films I'm looking forward to (can you say, "The Dark Knight Rises"???). But, lately I've been busy recalling all the different movies I saw this past year. So, with this post I'd like to celebrate what I considered to be the best of the best of 2o11. Unfortunately, I was not able to see all the films I wanted to. So this list represents my 11 favourite films of 2011, that I actually watched (and in no particular order)... Read More »

My Netflix Pix: “Breaking Bad”

Boys and girls...one of the best tv shows to come along in the last 10 years has finally been released on Netflix (Canada). Breaking Bad, with Bryan Cranston, is the most original, genre-bending show I've ever come across. Netflix is offering the first three seasons and they are all amazing. (The fourth season just finished airing last month on AMC). Why is Breaking Bad so freakin' awesome? Well, allow me to tell you. Read More »

Kevin Smith made this movie?

Earlier this fall a little know film, Red State, showed up on DVD and VOD. Popular filmmaker, Kevin Smith (Clerks, Chasing Amy, Dogma, etc...) has garnered a fair bit of attention this year with his controversial little film. So, what's it about, you ask? Well, allow me to share. Read More »

Return of the Haggis!

If you haven't heard the sounds of Toronto's Enter the Haggis, then you're a loser. No wait...I'm sorry. That came out all wrong. You are missing out...which means you are not in the know. And that kinda makes you a loser. But don't be sad. There's a cure for you and your nerdy condition. Allow me to introduce the Haggis' latest offering, Whitelake. Read More »