6/27/2012
Films of 2012: The Best So Far
Here are we at the midpoint of 2012. How have the movies
been? Pretty good, I think, although the output of studio films has not been
particularly strong so far this year. (Although I’ll admit that The Avengers has probably caught on more
than any other film released at this point.) 2012 has been a great year for the
indies, though, with plenty of strong films that debuted last year on the
festival circuit expanding their audience in theatrical/home release. The year
has been especially kind to documentary filmmakers, for many quality docs have
made an impact. Perhaps this sense is simply a product of being able to see
more films at Hot Docs this year; regardless, there were enough documentaries
fighting for spots on my list that I considered giving them their own one. I
opted not to, though, since a separate list might seem to diminish their status
to the other films, and this didn’t seem fair since my two favourite films so
far this year – We Are Wisconsin and The Imposter – are both documentaries.
Instead, I offer a list of the fifteen best films so far this year, rather than
separate lists of say, ten and five.
6/26/2012
Oscar Winner 'The Artist' Comes to DVD/Blu-ray
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Uggie! |
What has not been expressed enough about The Artist, though, is that the film is not merely an exercise in nostalgia. Much like Woody Allen looks to the past for inspiration in Midnight in Paris, The Artist shows that film buffs should appreciate the classics, but also recognize silent film as a product of a bygone era. As The Artist demonstrates with the turn in George’s career, there is a danger in refusing to adapt to the times. The Artist is a joyful tribute to the movies, but it also hints that as films progressed from talkies to Technicolor, the medium evolved.
And film lived happily ever after.
Labels:
Oscars,
The Artist,
Uggie
6/25/2012
Last Night
Seeking a Friend for
the End of the World
(USA, 101 min.)
Written and directed by Lorene Scafaria
Starring: Steve Carell, Keira Knightley, Connie Britton,
Martin Sheen, Melanie Lynskey, William Peterson.
Ah, the end of the world is such an intriguing premise…
circa 1998. Around the time when millennium was approaching, the movies brought
out all sorts of memorable films that tapped into the sense that time was nigh.
Armageddon probably remains the most
popular, but the best 'end of the world movie' remains Don McKellar’s Last Night. (And no, I don’t mean the Keira Knightley one.) Last Night is also the first apocalypse
comedy, or at least it’s the first of the millennium-era doomsday films that
was intentionally funny. It’s in a similar vein of laughing in the face of
destruction that the Steve Carell/Keira Knightley comedy Seeking a Friend for the End of the World enters the multiplex just
when the Mayans are predicting the end of days.
Labels:
2012 Reviews,
Keira Knightley,
Steve Carell
6/24/2012
Summer Movie Reading List
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A still from Deepa Mehta's Midnight's Children |
Does this beautiful summer weather make you want to lie down
on the beach with a good book? I know I do! Every year I like to read up on all
the upcoming film adaptations, and summer usually provides the best time to do
so. This year has been a bit of a crash course on reading for me, since I’m
finally getting to crack the spines on some books that piled up while I was finishing my thesis. 2012 has already seen a slew of good page-to-screen
efforts, too, with films like Cosmopolis,
The Hunger Games, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel among the
list of movies with tie-in-editions at your local bookstore. If you have kept
on top of your reading, however, and are looking for some good summer movie
reads, here are 10 books whose pages you should flip through before they get a
makeover at your local movie house. There are five that I've read and recommend and five that we can read together:
6/22/2012
Happy Birthday Meryl Streep!
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Meryl Streep in Postcards From the Edge (Mike Nichols, 1990) |
Meryl Streep turns 63 today.
Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday, dear Meryl,
Happy birthday to you!
Make a wish!
Labels:
Meryl Streep
6/20/2012
Nothing But a Good Time
Rock of Ages
(USA, 124 min.)
Dir. Adam Shankman; Writ. Justin Theroux, Chris D’Arienzo,
Allan Loeb
Starring: Julianne Hough, Diego Boneta, Tom Cruise, Alec
Baldwin, Russell Brand, Paul Giamatti, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Bryan Cranston,
Malin Ackerman, Mary J. Blige.
A whopping heat wave is spreading across the land. It’s hot
enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk (but given the humidity, it might boil
faster), so the air-conditioned multiplex is the place to be. Moreover, just
when one is sweating for escapism, Rock
of Ages brings harmless, groovy, family-friendly fun to the big screen.
This new musical by Adam Shankman (Hairspray)
is a welcome respite in a season that’s been serving mostly dark meat, and
while Rock of Ages might not be the
year’s most substantial film– if your favourite musical is Une femme est une femme then this film probably isn’t for you – it
provides just the right thing for anyone looking to beat the heat and have a
good time. Rock of Ages is simply two
hours of toe-tapping, fist-pumping, dance-in-your-seat fun.
6/14/2012
On Prometheus and Viral Videos
Prometheus
(USA, 124 min.)
Dir. Ridley Scott, Writ. Jon Spaiht and Damon Lindelof.
Starring: Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron,
Idris Elba, Logan Marshall-Green, Guy Pearce.
The name Prometheus comes from Greek mythology. Prometheus,
whose name means “forethinker,” played a crucial role in the crafting of the
human race. The gist of his story is that it didn’t work out. It is thus an odd
but appropriate irony that Prometheus
honours its namesake. The god of forethought might have helped this
blockbuster, since the elements of advance buzz and anticipation might be the
film’s main downfall.
6/12/2012
Cronenberg Smells a Rat
Cosmopolis
(Canada/France, 108 min.)
Written and directed by David Cronenberg
Starring: Robert Pattinson, Sarah Gadon, Paul Giamatti, Juliette
Binoche, Emily Hampshire, Kevin Durand, Samantha Morton, Jay Baruchel.
“A rat became the unit of currency.”
-Zbigniew Herbert.
David Cronenberg smells a rat. Its name is Capitalism. The
rat, as the epitaph that opens both the novel and film adaptation of Cosmopolis suggests, is the new unit of
currency. Capitalism, aka the rat, thrives on currency, on trade, and commerce. It
also breeds rats. It’s a self-fueling machine; however, as rats proved as the
unit of trade during the Black Death, all such currency has an inevitable downturn.
So, too, does Capitalism. As Cronenberg suggests in beautifully cerebral film Cosmopolis, Capitalism is the vile rat of the new millennium and
its day has come.
To Be a Kid Again
Moonrise Kingdom
(USA, 94 min.)
Dir. Wes Anderson, Writ. Wes Anderson, Roman Coppola
Starring: Jared Gilman, Kara Hayward, Edward Norton, Bruce
Willis, Bill Murray, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton, and Bob Balaban.
It looks like Wes Anderson has found his niche. Moonrise Kingdom, which might one day be
seen as the exemplary Wes Anderson film, makes a strong follow-up production to 2009’s Fantastic Mr. Fox. Fox is an animated fairy-tale based on a
story by Roald Dahl, aka the master of children’s lit. Moonrise Kingdom, on the other hand, takes Anderson back to his
live-action roots, but Moonrise still
has the fanciful whimsy that makes Fox
such a charmer. An enchanting tale of child’s play, Moonrise Kingdom magically captures the joy and innocence of
childhood.
6/10/2012
WSFF 2012: Best of the Fest
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Withering Love is my pick for 'Best of the Fest' |
Another year of WSFF has come to a close. I really enjoyed
attending/covering the CFC Worldwide Short Film Festival again. I know that I
complained a few times that the programming was a bit too dark, but I realize
that is not necessarily a bad thing, since the films were generally strong
overall and they offered a good snapshot of a collective sense of what’s going on in
the world of filmmaking. I did not *quite* make my goal of seeing everything in
the festival, but I did manage to see 148 films. Pretty darn good, I think.
Although it was hard to limit my list of the best of the fest to ten, it was an
obvious choice for my top spot: Withering
Love by Samanou Sahlstrøm. Perhaps the only disadvantage to the
darkness of the programmes was that nothing could match the beautiful,
gratifying bleakness and grittiness of this film. To be fair, Margo Lily and Kali the Little Vampire were also heavy favourites and I found
myself recommending them throughout the festival.
Without further ado, here are my picks for the Top Ten films
of the 2012 CFC Worldwide Short Film Festival in alphabetical order:
Worldwide Short Film Festival Award Winners
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Edmond was a Donkey - winner for Best Canadian Film |
The winners were announced today for the 2012 Worldwide
Short Film Festival. The awards were handed out at the annual awards picnic at
the Canadian Film Centre, with over $65 000 in cash and prizes awarded to
filmmakers. The award winners were chosen from the films screened in the
Official Selection programmes and they were deliberated by the festival jury,
which comprised of director Jean-Marc Vallée (Café de flore), Shane Smith (Director of Public Programming at TIFF
Bell Lightbox), director Iain Gardner (whose film The Tannery won Best Animated Short at last year’s WSFF), Susanne
Folkesson (acquisition exec. For UR), and Ian Marnarine (2012 Genie winner for Doubles with Slight Pepper).
The winners are:
Bravo!FACT Award for Best Canadian Short:
★Edmond was a Donkey (Dir. Franck Dion)
Deluxe Award for Best Live Action Short:
★The Factory/A Fábrica
(Dir. Aly Muritaba, Brazil)
Best Animated Short:
★ The Maker (Dir. Christopher Kezelos,
Australia)
Panasonic Award for Best Documentary Short:
★ Eighty Eight (Dir. Sebastian Feehan, UK)
Honourable
mention: Remember Me My Ghost (Dir.
Ross McDonnell, Ireland)
Deluxe Award for Best Performance in a Live Action Short:
★ Miss Ming
in My Sweetheart
Kodak Award for Best Cinematography in a Canadian Short:
★ Christophe
Collette, Gravity of Centre
Best Experimental Short:
★Gravity of Centre (Dir. Thibaut Duverneix, Canada)
Honourable mention: Moving Stories (Dir. Nicolas Prevost,
Belgium)
As winners for Best Live Action and Best Animated film
respectively, The Factory and The Maker are now eligible for Academy
Award nominations. Best of luck to them – they’re worthy choices (see my Top
Ten soon!) and I think that they have the goods to make it through the next few
hurdles. You’ll remember that The Tannery
made it quite far last year, so let’s keep some fingers crossed. Edmond was a Donkey is now eligible for
a Genie nomination because it won Best Canadian Short, and I’m sure it will
bring The NFB the same kind of attention they got last year for Wild Life and Dimanche. The award choices are good overall, although I would have
bumped Remember Me My Ghost up for
the win and I would have considered other actresses over Miss Ming, but the
subject matter and sentimentality of her film make her an easy choice.Out of 91 possible films to choose from, though, I think the jury did well.
The award winners
screen tonight at the Bloor Cinema at 7:15.
WSFF Days 4 & 5: "Stranger in a Stanger Land", "Scene not Herd", Master Class with Jean-Marc Vallee
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Ursus |
Screening on Days 4 and 5 of the CFC Worldwide Short Film
Festival was the Official Selection “Stranger in a Strange Land.” A programme
that arguably offers the widest appeal in the festival, “Stranger” includes one
of the more diverse line-ups. It has a few dark tales to be sure, but they have
some release and catharsis. There are some comedies here, too, so the laughs
can all come out of hiding.
Labels:
2012 Reviews,
Cafe de Flore,
Shorts,
WSFF
6/09/2012
WSFF: CFC Short Dramatic Films
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Parkdale |
Since the Worldwide Short Film Festival is an impressive
undertaking by the Canadian Film Centre, it’s understandable that the fest has
a programme to spotlight the latest works by CFC students. This year’s “CFC
Short Dramatic Films” offers four films, running about fifteen minutes each,
which give festivalgoers a glimpse at new talents that have arrived on the
Canadian film scene.
Labels:
2012 Reviews,
Canadian Film,
Shorts,
WSFF
6/08/2012
WSFF Day 3: "Superfans", "All Tomorrow's Parties", "Someone to Watch Over Me"
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Life and Freaky Times of Uncle Luke |
Day three of the Worldwide Shorts Film Festival included three
screenings of Official Selection programmes: “Superfans,” “All Tomorrow’s Parties”and“Someone
to Watch Over Me.” As with the other Official Selections, the films in these
three programmes slant heavily towards the scale of dark, edgy, and
provocative. I tend to like my films on the dark side, though, so that’s fine;
however, since many of the shorts tread similar lines, it’s hard for them to
stand out from the pack, especially when films like Withering Love and Margo Lily
set the bar for dramatic films of such a tone. There were a few standouts
in the day, though: not only for their refreshing tone, but also for the
tangible authenticity that set them apart from the rest.
Labels:
2012 Reviews,
Shorts,
WSFF
6/07/2012
WSFF Day 2: "Family Compact", "Creative Control"
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Turbulence |
After the great opening night screening of “Award Winnersfrom Around the World” followed by a fun after-party at the C-Lounge, the CFC
Worldwide Short Film Festival continued its good run of shorts into the second
day of the festival. The first screening of the day that I attended was the Official
Selection “The Family Compact.” Although “Family” might not be as strong
overall as some of the other line-ups in the Official Selection, there are a
few standouts among these films that show the darker side of family dynamics.
Labels:
2012 Reviews,
Shorts,
WSFF
6/06/2012
WSFF: The Night Shift
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Odette |
Here’s something that should satisfy the Midnight Madness
crowd in the months leading up to TIFF! The CFC Worldwide Short Film Festival
offers one night of gruesome mayhem with “The Night Shift.” Horror fans can
enjoy blood spattered fun from dusk ’til dawn in this one night triple-bill.
It’s a true evening of horror!
Labels:
2012 Reviews,
Shorts,
WSFF
6/05/2012
WSFF: Slap 'N' Tickle
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Anti-reproductive Mating Ritual |
Lock up the kids and throw away the key! This is one night
at the movies that’s strictly 'adults only'. Often one of the more popular
attractions at the CFC Worldwide Short Film Festival (i.e. buy your ticket
soon), “Slap 'N’ Tickle” is the programme that celebrates the
sins of the flesh in one quick-n-dirty night of R-rated cinema. This year’s
selection at “Slap N’ Tickle” is a good mix of frank portrayals of sexuality
along with some of the giggly stuff that's sure to tickle your funny boner.
In one night, festivalgoers can enjoy a giant orgy on the big screen with
cougar lesbians, popsicles, electric guitars, puppets, and a chauvinist pig
from Brazil.
Labels:
2012 Reviews,
Shorts,
WSFF
WSFF: Celebrity Shorts
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Friend Request Pending |
Advertised as having “more famous faces than an episode of Celebrity Rehab,” “Celebrity Shorts”
boasts more A-listers, Oscar-winners, and top-tier talent than any other
program in the CFC Worldwide Short Film Festival. Thanks to familiar faces and novelty,
“Celebrity Shorts” is arguably the most popular program at the fest. It
might also be the best program to introduce casual moviegoers to the world of
shorts. And just remember the golden rule of short film: if you don’t like something,
there is always the comfort of knowing that it will be over in a few minutes.
They’re called “shorts” for a reason, after all.
Labels:
2012 Reviews,
Judi Dench,
Michael Fassbender,
Shorts,
WSFF
6/04/2012
Intimacies: The Cinema of Ingrid Veninger
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Ingrid Veninger and daughter Hallie Switzer (left) in i am a good person... |
There's a really exciting film event in Ottawa this week, so it's too bad that I've already booked the week to be in Toronto for the CFC Worldwide Short Film Festival. Anyways, one of the CFC alum, Ingrid Veninger, will be presenting some of her work at the Canadian Film Institute, including her newest film i am a good person/ i am a bad person. (I missed the film at TIFF and had really wanted to see it, too.) The event should prove enlightening for anyone who wants to see the small, personal type of filmmaking that that has long been the core of Canadian filmmaking. (Hence the title, Intimacies.) A Q&A with Miss Veninger should interest Canadian film fans because she is arguably the reigning queen of 'do-it-yourself' filmmaking in Canada: it would be great to hear her perspectives on the potential for innovative filmmakers when the Canadian film industry is undergoing so much change.
Labels:
Canadian Film,
Modra,
Ottawa Arts
WSFF: Date Night!
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Lunch Date |
Of all the programmes I attended at last year’s edition of
the CFC Worldwide Short Film Festival, the most enjoyable had to be “Date Night.” Screening within Toronto’s CN Tower, “Date Night” makes festivalgoing
an event. A night out includes an hour and a half of short films, plus a ride
up the tower for dessert at Horizon’s restaurant as well as access to the Look
Out and Glass Floor of the Tower. I had the pineapple turnover for dessert last year (recommended),
but the trio of crème brûlées looked the most decadent. For a non-Torontonian
who had never actually been to the CN Tower, “Date Night” offered a pretty
sweet deal. Running at $25 a ticket, the event is a real bargain if one
considers that the same ticket for a ride up the CN Tower regularly costs $23.99 sans
movie and dessert! Whether you’re on a date, going stag, or simply being a
bargain hunter, “Date Night” is sure to be a highlight of WSFF 2012.
Labels:
2012 Reviews,
Shorts,
WSFF
6/03/2012
Where Did We Go Wrong?
Where Do We Go Now?
(Lebanon/France, 100 min.)
Dir.
Nadine Labaki; Writ. Nadine Labaki, Jihad Hojeily, Rodney Al Haddad, Thomas
Bidegain.
Starring: Nadine Labaki, Layla Hakim, Yvonne Maalouf,
Sasseen Kawzally.
Very few films have the ability to rouse a collective cry of
"WTF!". It happened last year when Madonna tried to direct, or more recently when
Nicole Kidman performed a golden shower on Zac Efron. As far as festivals go,
however, the reigning “huh?” moment remains the day that Nadine Labaki’s Where Do We Go Now? came out of nowhere
and won the Cadillac People’s Choice Award at last year’s Toronto International
Film Festival. Where Do We Go Now?, a
true sleeper hit, beat out acclaimed favourites like The Artist, The Descendants,
A Separation, Monsieur Lazhar and
more. It’s a testament to the influence that awards have, since a film that was
on very few radars became a film to watch. After seeing Where Do We Go Now?, however, TIFF-goers might scratch their heads
and ask for a list of names of patrons who gave the film a five on their
ballot.
Labels:
2012 Reviews,
TIFF
WSFF: Official Selection - Love Hurts
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Parachute |
Looking for some shorts to see with that special someone?
Well, let the lovebirds do their PDA atop the CN Tower at “Date Night” because
these films offer the harder side of love that doesn’t find its way onto
Hallmark cards. The honeymoon’s over in the CFC Worldwide Short Film Festival
Official Selection “Love Hurts,” but not before offering some pretty good
films.
Labels:
2012 Reviews,
Shorts,
WSFF
6/02/2012
WSFF: Official Selection - Who's Your Dada?
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The Big Tree |
Guy Maddin
fans unite! The Worldwide Short Film Festival Official Selection “Who’s Your
Dada?” opens with the black and white acid trip The Big Tree (Canada, 5
min.), which clearly owes a debt of inspiration to the eccentric Winnipeg
formalist. Directors Andrew Struthers and Pasheabel Hart craft a tale from the
lunatic fringe about a lumberjack, a fair maiden, a cast of singing woodland
creatures. Don’t expect the “Happy Working Song” from Enchanted: this is Bambi
gone bananas. With its clever use of tone and style, The Big Tree proves that The
Artist is as original as a bologna sandwich. Bologna sandwiches, though,
might provide the kind of manly fuel for the cast of the next film, Men
of the Earth (Australia, 10 min.). Directed by Andrew Kavanagh, Men of the Earth shows what’s actually
going on in those busy construction sites filled with the men in the bright
orange shirts. Men of the Earth
boasts some showy and precisely orchestrated direction and cinematography – not
to mention some truly impressive Steadicam work – and it offers a nice homage
to the men on the road.
Labels:
2012 Reviews,
Canadian Film,
Christopher Plummer,
Shorts,
WSFF
WSFF: Official Selection - Iron Ladies (Includes Contest!)
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Exode |
No doubt inspired by the wave of girl power stimulated by
Meryl Streep’s recent Oscar winner, the Worldwide Short Film Festival Official
Selection “Iron Ladies” offers plenty of femme-centric short films. The series has
much to offer in portraying the lives of girls and women (to steal a title from
Alice Munro) both in coming-of-age stories and retrospective reflections. “Iron
Ladies” opens with What a Young Girl Should Not Know (Canada, 5 min.), which is an
experimental film by Emily Pickering of York University. What intertwines live action and animation, with shots of a young
girl running playfully as myths of femininity are revealed in stitched title
cards. By using these sewn images, Pickering offers an impressive structuralist
approach of using images of “girliness” in order to deconstruct ideas of
femininity.
Labels:
2012 Reviews,
Shorts,
WSFF
"I'm awfully sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you."
Snow White and the
Huntsman
(USA, 127 min.)
Dir. Rupert Sanders; Writ. Evan Daugherty, John Lee Hancock,
Hossein Amini.
Starring: Kristen Stewart, Charlize Theron,
Chris Hemsworth, Sam Spruell, Sam Claflin, Ian McShane, Bob Hoskins, Ray Winstone,
Nick Frost.
The second adaptation of Snow
White and the Seven Dwarfs to hit theatres in 2012 (after the Julia Roberts
farce Mirror Mirror, which I’ll admit
I didn’t see), Snow White and the
Huntsman is a darker, more contemporary revamp of the classic story. This
is Snow White by way of The Lord of the Rings with a detour through
Game of Thrones. The story of the
girl who is saved by true love’s kiss benefits from a modern sensibility that
teaches girls not to be damsels in distress; it also benefits from the keen eye
of a producer who aims for the wide audience of gender neutrality. A screening
of Snow White and the Huntsman boasts
a bipolar lineup of previews, going from The Katy Perry movie to The Bourne Legacy to Les Misérables to Ice Age 4. This film is clearly a difficult sell when it comes to
marketing. It’s more of an action movie than a fairy tale, so SWATH might appeal more to male
audiences that may not be keen on convincing their buds to buy a ticket to see Snow White.
Labels:
2012 Reviews,
Charlize Theron,
Kristen Stewart,
SWATH
6/01/2012
WSFF: Opening Gala - 'Award Winners From Around the World'
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Trotteur, winner of Quebec's Prix Jutra |
The CFC
Worldwide Short Film Festival revs things up by offering two free screenings
before the festival (ie: “Christmas in June” and “Flick-Nic”), but the festival
officially begins with the opening night gala screening of “Award Winners From
Around the World.” Every festival benefits from a strong screening on opening night, and this programme gets WSFF 2012 off to a good start. As the title suggests, WSFF starts a new year of shorts by
showcasing the films that stood tallest in the world of short film circa 2011. So get your passport ready and prepare to fill it with the golden ink of
award-show glory.
Labels:
2012 Reviews,
Shorts,
WSFF
Fucking Terrible
Piranha 3DD
(USA, 83 min.)
Dir. John Gulager, Writ. Patrick Melton & Marcus Dunstan
and Joel Soisson
Starring: Danielle Panabakar, Matt Bush, David Koechner,
Chris Zylka, David Hasselhoff, Christopher Lloyd.
Forget James Cameron. Forget Martin Scorsese. The key to making
a good 3D movie is not a visionary director. As Piranha 3DD shows, the magic ingredient for 3D goodness is a pair
of big jiggly boobs. Piranha 3DD takes
‘tits and ass’ entertainment to the third dimension. The only difference
between seeing this film and visiting your local titty bar is that one does
need to be nineteen to enter. (One also need not leave a tip.) This movie
shamelessly exploits the latest cash-cow in cinematic entertainment for the
sake of an easy buck: Piranha 3DD is
the sorriest excuse for a movie since From
Justin to Kelly.
Labels:
2012 Reviews,
turkeys
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