A More Rational Woodman?

Irrational Man

(USA, 96 min.)

Written and directed by Woody Allen

Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Emma Stone, Parker Posey, Jamie Blackley

Joaquin Phoenix as Abe and Parker Posey as Rita.
Photo by Sabrina Lantos © 2015 Gravier Productions, Inc. Courtesy SPC/Mongrel

Is Woody Allen showing a change of heart in the latest chapter of his ever-prolific career? After the sunny and unusually optimistic Magic in the Moonlight comes the brainy dramedy Irrational Man. Irrational Man seems like just another “Woody Allen film” on the surface, but a turn late in the game offers a wholly unexpected twist of fate for a leading man in the Woody Allen oeuvre. The film challenges the talky brainiacs who usually gab in existential name-dropping, rambling philosophy, and literary musing by making its protagonist Abe Lucas (a smartly cast Joaquin Phoenix) test the existential conundrums he shares with students in his university lectures. Philosophy class rarely calls for hands on experience, and Irrational Man mischievously challenges the practice of empty rhetoric.

First Trailer for 'Room' Based on the Book by Emma Donoghue

Photo courtesy of TIFF.

Sunday Treat comes early! The first teaser trailer is out for Room! The Canadian/Irish co-pro brings Emma Donoghue’s excellent book to the screen and is set to screen at TIFF and other fests this fall. The trailer reveals more of the story than one expects in a teaser, but it looks as if fans of the book have no need to worry. (Room was recently included in this year's summer movie reading list.) Brie Larson’s performance also looks quite promising!

Rideau Hall Movie Nights Return with 2 Canadian Films

Caroline Dhavernas and Paul Gross star in Passchendaele. 
Chris Large/ eOne Films

Get a double dose of Canadian films at this year’s Rideau Hall Movie Nights! Hosted by Canada’s Governor General David Johnston, the Rideau Hall Movie Nights screen two Canadian films, Passchendaele (2008 Genie winner for Best Film) and The Passion of Augustine, in Ottawa on August 21 and 22. The films will both screen free of charge courtesy of eOne Films. And there will be free popcorn too!

Searching for Spiegelman

Paper Towns

(USA, 109 min.)

Dir. Jake Schreier, Writ. Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber

Starring: Nat Wolff, Cara Delevigne, Austin Abrams, Justice Smith, Halston Sage, Jaz Sinclair

Margo Roth Spiegelman refers to herself as Margo Roth Spiegelman. Not plain Jane Margo. 'Go' is a no go. The mystery thickens since her parents are just "The Spiegelmans." Is “Roth” her middle name or is it some self-attributed prefix like “von”? Margo Roth von Spiegelman. Let’s call her by that name now, too, to make this review a little more John Greeny.

Jean-Marc Vallée's 'Demolition' to Open TIFF in First Wave of Galas and Special Presentations

Jake Gyllenhaal stars in Demolition.
Photo courtesy of TIFF.

The Toronto International Film Festival dropped a strong batch of titles with the first wave of Galas and Special Presentations for the festival, which marks the 40^th anniversary of TIFF. TIFF 2015 opens with Jean-Marc Vallée’s Demolition starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Naomi Watts, and Chris Cooper. I’m very excited for it, since Vallée’s Wild was my favourite film from TIFF 2014 and last year overall. It’s nice to see the festival also launch with a filmmaker who’s been strong rising star from the Canadian film industry, although Demolition comes as a mild surprise since its release date was recently changed to April, but that release date certainly takes pressure off both the film and the festival. Vallée previously won the award for Best Canadian Feature at TIFF for 2005's C.R.A.Z.Y. and 2009's The Young Victoria closed the Festival before earning multiple awards including an Oscar for Best Costume Design.

Spliced and Diced

The Editor

(Canada, 99 min.)

Dir. Adam Brooks, Matthew Kennedy; Writ. Adam Brooks, Matthew Kennedy, Conor Sweeney

Starring: Adam Brooks, Matthew Kennedy, Conor Sweeney, Paz de la Huerta, Samantha Hill, Udo Kier, Laurence R. Harvey.

Canada doesn’t have much history with Italian horror, but it does have a firm tradition of strange and unusual films coming out of Winnipeg. Films like John Paizs’ Crime Wave (1985), the films of Guy Maddin, and the collected works of the Winnipeg Film Group root Canada’s cold and dreamy city in a quirky history. One contemporary of the WFG group is the Winnipeg-based VHS and genre-movie loving collective Astron-6, the group behind cult hits such as Manborg, and their latest film The Editor is the culmination of their film geekery. Astron-6 members Adam Brooks, Matthew Kennedy, and Conor Sweeney present this wildly entertaining and sensationally weird Canuck giallo film that might legitimately be one of the strangest films ever to come out of Winnipeg. The Editor lampoons the Italian tradition of splashy/shoddy horror popularized by Daria Argento, Lucio Fulci, and other filmmakers and puts a distinctly Canadian twist on this ultra-violent and super-sexy subgenre. It’s a bloody hoot.

Sherlock, Plain and Tall

Mr. Holmes

(UK/USA, 104 min.)

Dir. Bill Condon, Writ. Jeffery Hatcher

Starring: Ian McKellen, Laura Linney, Milo Parker, Hiroyuki Sanada

Ian McKellen stars in Mr. Holmes.
Photo by Giles Keyte / eOne Films.

“There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact,” writes Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in “The Bascombe Valley Mystery” featuring the iconic detective Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock’s perceptive skills deduce an obvious fact, namely that people sometimes take for granted things that sit directly before them. Mr. Holmes, the latest film by Bill Condon (The Fifth Estate) fails to heed the good advice of its own super sleuth by overlooking the fact that dramatic embellishments sometimes make for better art and entertainment. This work of fan fiction re-imagines the world of Sherlock Holmes as a riposte to the fictions published by Dr. Watson, Holmes’s colleague and, in some ways, nemesis. The film, which adapts the book A Slight Trick of the Mind by Mitch Cullin, presents Mr. Holmes without the deerstalker hat and pipe that make him iconic, and with fewer dramatic embellishments that make him such an enduring character.  Mr. Holmes is Sherlock, plain and tall, but the supposedly truer Sherlock it imagines is nowhere near as interesting as the detective of Doyle’s creation is.

Only the Crumbs Remain

Crumbs

(Spain/Ethiopia/Finland, 68 min.)

Written and directed by Miguel Llansó

Starring: Daniel Tadesse, Salem Tesfaye

Crumbs takes audiences to a world they rarely get to see on film: post-apocalyptic Ethiopia. This Spanish/Ethiopia/Finnish co-production directed by Miguel Llansó creates a mind-bending world with humble resources and plays upon the notion that one person’s trash is another person’s treasure. The film recycles cultural refuse—the crumbs of past civilizations—as one lone warrior named Candy (Daniel Tadesse) trucks around an old Christmas tree and rummages through the leftovers of previous generations in search of a golden ticket to board the spaceship that looms high in the sky. These crumbs, however, are tokens of cultural junk: toys, novelties, and plasticky things worshipped by kids of the 1980s and 1990s. A Michael Jackson record can pay for Candy’s wedding to Birdy (Salem Tesfaye) or it can potentially blast him into space.

An Ode to Papa Bear

Infinitely Polar Bear

(USA, 88 min.)

Written and directed by Maya Forbes

Starring: Mark Ruffalo, Zoe Saldana, Imogene Wolodarsky, Ashley Aufderheide

Imogene Wolodarsky as Amelia , Mark Ruffalo as Cam and Ashley Aufderheide as Faith .
Photo by Seacia Pavao; SPC/Mongrel

Polar bears, like people, growl when their angry. Cubs can probably tell that Papa Bear doesn’t want to play if he lets out a low grumble, but other cubs might not know when their dad is play fighting if he’s growling at different octaves and levels all the time. A happy growl differs from a mad growl, but they’re growls just the same. It takes a keen cub to learn and understand her father’s growls and writer/director Maya Forbes does just that in her directorial debut Infinitely Polar Bear, which draws upon the filmmaker’s own experience growing up with her bipolar father in Boston while her mom went to school in New York. This layered and observant comedy/drama is a lovely ode to Papa Bear as Forbes guides her onscreen family through a tumultuous coming of age story for them all.

TIFF 2015 Canadian Film Wish List

Sarah Gadon and Malin Buska star in The Girl King.

TIFF announcements are just a week away, so it’s time to send out some festival wish lists! The big names get the first wave of festival shout outs when the Toronto International Film Festival announces the first slate of Galas and Special Presentations next Wednesday. If any Canadian films appear there, expect to see titles such as Remember, Beeba Boys, Hyena Road, Brooklyn (probably a Gala), Room (probably not), and The Witch, while others like Guy Maddin’s The Forbidden Room might appear elsewhere, say, in the Masters slate, if at all. All these films receive mention elsewhere on the blog, so here’s a look at ten Canadian titles Cinemablographer hopes to see unveiled when TIFF names its Canadian titles on August 5^th:

Gyllenhaal Roars in 'Southpaw'

Southpaw

(USA, 123 min.)

Dir. Antoine Fuqua, Writ. Kurt Sutter

Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Forest Whitaker, Oona Laurence, Naomie Harris, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, and Rachel McAdams

Rachel McAdams and Jake Gyllenhaal in Southpaw.
eOne Films.

The song says it all: Jake Gyllenhaal is phenomenal in Southpaw. The Nightcrawler star beefs up for this underdog tale as fallen boxing champ Billy Hope. As Billy trains and gets his groove back to the film’s anthemic theme song “Phenomenal” by Eminem, it’s amazing to see how far Gyllenhaal has come as an actor who transforms himself physically, emotionally, and mentally for each role he plays. His impressive performance alone is reason to see this latest drama from director Antoine Fuqua (Training Day, The Equalizer).

Check the Hellions at the Door

Possessed (Pos eso)

Written and directed by Sam

Starring: Santiago Segura, Anabel Alonso, Josema Yuste, Concha Goyanes

The Spanish animated feature Possessed looks like a kids’ movie, but please check the little hellions at the door. Possessed puts an animated spin on The Exorcist and projectile vomit is the mildest thing that comes out of its mouth. The film features a full-blown hell child, obviously named Damian, and he makes Linda Blair’s Regan look like an angel. This absurd animated film is funny, sick, and twisted.

When Books Bring Baggage

Suite Française

(UK/France/Canada/Belgium, 107 min.)

Dir. Saul Dibb, Writ. Matt Charman, Saul Dibb

Starring: Michelle Williams, Kristin Scott Thomas, Matthias Schoenaerts, Ruth Wilson, Sam Riley, Margot Robbie

Matthias Schoenaerts and Michelle Williams in Suite Française.
eOne Films.

'The Hallow' Brings Old-School Horror

The Hallow

(Ireland, 92 min.)

Dir. Corin Hardy, Writ. Corin Hardy, Olga Barreneche

Starring: Joseph Mawle, Bojana Novakovic

Bojana Novakovic stars in The Hallow

Trees and horror moves have an odd relationship. Branches do nasty stuff in Sam Raimi’s The Evil Dead (1981) and they’re a source of unintentional hilarity in M. Night Shyalamalan’s The Happening (2008), but the trees an unrelenting menace in Corin Hardy’s debut horror flick The Hallow. Unlike Shyamalan’s lumber blunder, though, The Hallow manages a subtle eco message in an unsettling thrill ride. This old-school horror show uses a quick flash of green thinking as the springboard to nightmarish parable about the relationship humans have with their environment.

Prairie Noir a Home-Cooked B-Movie

Big Muddy

(Canada, 104 min.)

Written and directed by Jefferson Moneo

Starring: Nadia Litz, Justin Kelly, Rossif Sutherland, David La Haye, James Le Gros, Stephen McHattie

Nadia Litz stars as Martha in Big Muddy.

If central Saskatchewan is the core of Canada, then this country is rotten to the heart. Phyllis Dietrichson and other great femme fatales find a worthy counterpart in the sultry outlaw Martha Barlow (played by Nadia Litz, Monkey Warfare), a gun-totin’ prairie momma who loves horses as much as she loves her only son, Andy (Justin Kelly), in the prairie noir Big Muddy. This unconventional Canuck crime drama boasts a great sense of place with atypical characters for the genre and Canadian cinema alike, and central to this atmospheric thrill is Litz’s smoldering anti-heroine Martha. This is one good home-cooked B-movie.

Aboriginal Filmmakers Reframe NFB Archive in 'Souvenir'

Moving Forward / High Steel

Four Aboriginal filmmakers rewrite Canadian history in Souvenir, which plays as part of the mixed-media exhibit Gazing Back, Looking Forward, at the Aboriginal Pavilion during the 2015 Pan Am/Parapan Am Games in Toronto. The exhibit runs for the next little while and Canadian film fans (or interested parties in general) should see these four innovative works that deconstruct myths created in film. This project features four films from Jeff Barnaby (Rhymes for Young Ghouls), Michelle Latimer (The Underground), Kent Monkman (Group of Seven Inches), and Caroline Monnet (The Embargo Project) in a series that mines the archives of the National Film Board of Canada and reworks fragments of old films to reframe historical representations. The project, produced by Anita Lee (Stories We Tell), challenges the filmmakers to tell their own stories using only the NFB archives and music from artists Tanya Tagaq and A Tribe Called Red. In a collective act of remembering, Souvenir brings a voice that’s been missing from classic Canadian film.

Rom-Com Brings a Trans-Canadian Twist

Two 4 One

(Canada, 77 min.)

Written and directed by Maureen Bradley

Starring: Gavin Crawford, Naomi Snieckus, Gabrielle Rose, Andrea Menard

Gabrielle Rose and Gavin Crawford star in Two 4 One.
Hoggwild Films.

It might not have been shot on an iPhone, but it seems fair to call Two 4 One "the Tangerine of the Canadian film scene." The LGBQT comedy Two 4 One is even more fun than Tangerine, though, as it brings a warm, funny, and down-to-earth rom-com with a trans-Canadian twist. It’s a winner.

Prepare for Upcoming Adaptations with the 2015 Summer Movie Reading List

Carol, The Revenant, Brooklyn, and The Danish Girl are upcoming adaptations for any reading list.

This post is a little late this year since I’ve been reading so many books! I’m currently trucking away on The Light Between Oceans in anticipation of the film from Blue Valentine director Derek Cianfrance starring Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander. (So far so good.) It’s impossible to keep fully on top of upcoming adaptations even though Hollywood seems to be making fewer and fewer page-to-screen projects based on novels. (It’s all comic books these days!) Before anyone has the bright idea of picking up a copy of The Goldfinch, which is more functional as a boat anchor or blunt instrument than as a source of art or entertainment, consider turning the page of one of these ten sources for upcoming films:

Film Cubs

The Wolfpack

(USA, 84 min.)

Dir. Crystal Moselle

Krsna Angulo, Jagadisa Angulo, Bhagavan Angulo, Mukunda Angulo, Narayana Angulo and Govinda Angulo in The Wolfpack, a Video Services Corp release. Photo courtesy of Video Services Corp.

The Angulo brothers had an unconventional upbringing: they grew up in a cave. Their dad locked his six boys up away from the world, up high in a New York City apartment, and refused to let them outside. They experienced life through the light and images flickering throughout their drab, dingy apartment. No, they don’t live in Plato’s cave—they just have the oddest, most devoted film club ever caught on film. Yes, these six boys grew up on a diet of Hollywood flicks and they learned about life through one outlet: the movies.

Ottawa International Animation Festival Announces Short Films

Theodore Ushev's Sonámbulo is among the Canadian titles at OIAF '15.

Here’s some news that I missed while I was at the cottage this weekend: the Ottawa International Animation Festival announced their massive list of shorts for the upcoming edition of the festival. OIAF 2015 once again features five competition programs of shorts, plus the Canadian and International Showcases, Student Showcases, and Kidstuff. OIAF 2015 brings a total of 144 short films to Ottawa, plus 3 features, and 4 programs of specialty screenings (titles TBA).

Trailer for Deepa Mehta's 'Beeba Boys'

Director Deepa Mehta goes in a new direction in Beeba Boys. The Oscar-nominee for Water and director of the excellent Salman Rushie adaptation Midnight's Children takes a different turn with the urban crime drama Beeba Boys, and Canadian distributor Mongrel Media unveiled the first trailer for the film, which comes to theatres October 16. Beeba Boys stars Bollywood star Randeep Hooda alongside Canuck actors Sarah Allen and Paul Gross with Wes Anderson regular Waris Ahluwalia among the ensemble. Beeba Boys is the final of the Canadian films rumoured to be the TIFF opener to get a trailer (the others are Paul Gross's Hyena Road and Atom Egoyan's Remember). Mehta previously opened TIFF 2005 with Water before going on to be Canada's submission and nominee for Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars. Any bets on which of the three could be the opener, or is this rumour just a rumour?

The Alien Outback

Strangerland

(Australia/Ireland, 112 min.)

Dir. Kim Farrant, Writ. Michael Kinirons, Fiona Seres

Starring: Nicole Kidman, Hugo Weaving, Joseph Fiennes, Maddison Brown, Nicholas Hamilton

Nicole Kidman is no stranger to the strange and unusual, even in her home and native land. The Aussie actress finds herself in a psychosexual sandstorm in the Australian outback in Kim Farrant’s fascinating drama Strangerland. Kidman gives her best performance since Rabbit Hole as Catherine Parker, the mother struggling through the horrifying experience of losing both her children to the vast and uncertain wilderness. Parker and Rabbit Hole’s Becca Corbett are both mothers in various stages of grief, but Kidman gives an altogether different turn here as Catherine unravels in the sweltering desert heat. Strangerland looks and feels like a science fiction film at times as director Kim Farrant turns the setting that should provide a safe haven for the Parkers into a land of uncertainty and terror, and Kidman is eerie and intimate, a paradox like the setting itself.

Samuel L. Jackson, Plane, No Snakes.

Big Game

(Finland/Germany/UK, 85-ish min.)

Written and directed by Jalmari Helander

Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Onni Tommila, Ray Stevenson, Mehmet Kurtulus, Victor Garber, Ted Levine, Felicity Huffman, Jim Broadbent

There are no snakes in the aircraft of Big Game, but there are ample slimy creatures to make Samuel L. Jackson get off the muthafuggin' plane. Jackson plays the President of the United States of America on the run from some would-be assassins in the ridiculously entertaining Big Game. The POTUS finds himself the prized buck on this international hunting expedition in which writer/director Jalmari Helander shows that co-productions can be just as loud, wild, stupid, and fun as Hollywood blockbusters try to be. Screw artsy-fartsy international affairs: the guilty-pleasure tent pole has officially gone global.

'Tangerine' is Ripe and Raw

Tangerine

(USA, 89 min.)

Dir. Sean Baker, Writ. Sean Baker, Chris Bergoch

Starring: Kitana Kiki Rodriguez, Mya Taylor, Karren Karagulian, James Ransone, Mickey O’Hagen

Mya Taylor and Kitana Kiki Rodriguez in Tangerine, a Video Services Corp release.
Photo courtesy of Video Services Corp.

Is there a film out right now more relevant than Tangerine? This drama is one of the sensations of this year’s Sundance Film Festival because it was shot entirely on an iPhone 5, but there’s so much more here than just a formal novelty. Tangerine is a force of life that shouts in a vibrant fluorescent glow of the streets of LA. The film doesn’t always work as the story and some supporting performances lag, but Tangerine is notable as a breakthrough in independent filmmaking. It’s even more important for the raw and authentic glimpse it gives into the trans community as director Sean Baker takes his phone to the streets and captures the lives of trans sex workers with bracing non-judgemental urgency. The film breaks barriers on several levels.

Contest! Win 'October Gale' on DVD!

Hope everyone is enjoying some quality time at the cottage this summer! Oscar nominee Patricia Clarkson (who turns out to be a real badass with a shotgun) finds her trip to cottage country turned upside down in October Gale, the new thriller from director Ruba Nadda. October Gale is now on home video from Pacific Northwest Pictures just in time to watch at the cottage this summer (provided you lock your doors!). Answer the trivia below for your chance to win a DVD of October Gale!

Contest! Win a Run-of-Engagement Pass to See 'Strangerland'!

Academy Award winner Nicole Kidman takes on another brave and challenging role in Strangerland! The Sundance hit opens in Toronto this Friday from Pacific Northwest Pictures and then in Ottawa (at The Mayfair!) and Vancouver on July 17. Put your Nicole Kidman smarts to the test and enter to win a run of engagement pass to see Strangerland when it hits theatres!

Rehab: The Amy Winehouse Story

Amy

(UK, 127 min.)

Dir. Asif Kapadia

Featuring: Amy Winehouse, Mitch Winehouse, Blake Fielder-Civil, Juliette Ashby, Lauren Gilbert

Amy Winehouse – Somerset House July 2007. Copyright: Rex Features

“Jules, this is so boring without drugs,” says Amy Winehouse during one of the many heartbreaking moments of Amy, the tragic documentary about the short but significant life and career of the British songstress. Amy Winehouse makes this sad lament for sobriety at a time when she should be celebrating. As her friend, Juliette Ashby, recounts in the film, Winehouse had just won a slew of Grammys including Record of the Year for “Rehab,” and, ironically, the star pulled her friend backstage and said that the night wasn’t the high it could have been since she had to experience it through the dull lens of clear-headedness. “Rehab” best defines the sad mass of contradictions that was the power and appeal of Amy Winehouse, but this shrewd archival doc by Asif Kapadia (Senna) breaks down the myth of Amy Winehouse and shows audiences how much they got her wrong.

Love is in the Cards

My Ex-Ex

(Canada, 100 min.)

Dir. Nathaniel Warsh, Writ. André Bharti

Starring: Katherine Barrell, André Bharti, Ray Galletti, Emily Alatalo, Tamara Duarte, Randall Edwards, Alistair Forbes, Luba Goy

Take a deck of Tarot cards and shuffle them. Draw a few.

Ottawa Int'l Animation Festival Announces Feature Films

Over the Garden Wall

The first films are out for this year’s Ottawa International Animation Festival! OIAF released the titles for the 2015 feature competition, and this year’s festival features a trio of films that offer a range of animated art for Ottawa filmgoers. The line-up for the competitive programme includes the 2D computer animated Over the Garden Wall (a popular Cartoon Network miniseries), the mixed form docu-drama The Magic Mountain (which looks really impressive), and the devilish Spanish farce Possessed (which looks really fun). More titles will be announced soon when the shorts competitions and showcases fill up with animated oddities from around the world!

The OIAF 2015 features are:

Full Trailer for Paul Gross's 'Hyena Road'

Writer/director Paul Gross in Hyena Road, in theatres October 9

A full trailer is out for Paul Gross’s Hyena Road and it looks intense! Elevation Pictures released the trailer today for the upcoming Afghanistan-set/Jordan-shot drama starring Gross, Rossif Sutherland, Clark Johnson, Allan Hawco and Christine Horne. The film looks very impressive, both for its scope and production, and is one of the Canadian films previously reported by Screen to be circling the opening night slot for the Toronto International Film Festival. (The others are Atom Egoyan’s Remember and Deepa Mehta’s Beeba Boys.) Gross previously opened the 2008 fest with Passchendaele, but Hyena Road will probably be one of the bigger Canadian productions of the year regardless of where it lands at the fest. The film opens in theatres October 9.

Contest! Win Tickets to See 'Southpaw' Across Canada! (CONTEST CLOSED)

Put up your mitts and get ready for the knockout punch of Southpaw! Southpaw stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Rachel McAdams in this hotly anticipated new boxing drama from director Antoine Fuqua (Training Day). Southpaw opens in theatres on July 24 from eOne Films, but readers across Canada can win tickets to a sneak peek! Answer the trivia below to win tickets! (And don’t forget that there’s still time to enter to win tickets to the Canadian Premiere of Southpaw with Jake Gyllenhaal and Rachel McAdams in attendance!)

Go West, Young Man

Slow West

(UK/New Zealand, 84 min.)

Written and directed by John Maclean

Starring: Kodi Smit-McPhee, Michael Fassbender, Ben Mendelsohn, Caren Pistorius

Michael Fassbender and Kodi Smit-McPhee in Slow West.
Courtesy Soda Pictures.

The American West is a young country, but it’s no place for young men. Rough outlaws, new frontiers, lawlessness, and gunslinging call for seasoned experience and not for youthful idealism. The westerner is a seasoned old salt (see: Clint Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones) and the Wild West is a place for sunsets instead of sunrises. Young Scottish whippersnapper Jay (The Road’s Kodi Smit-McPhee) learns the lessons of the West the hard way in Slow West, the solid new western from writer/director John Maclean. Maclean, making his feature debut here after delivering great shorts like Pitch Black Heist, which one can stream here, provides a lean, mean, and rugged western with Slow West. The film deservedly scored the Grand Jury Prize for World Cinema at Sundance this year, and this wholly un-American western takes a marksman’s aim at the myth and lore behind Manifest Destiny romps of the genre.

Win Tickets to the Canadian Premiere of 'Southpaw' with Jake Gyllenhaal and Rachel McAdams in Attendance! (CONTEST CLOSED)

Put up your mitts and get ready for the red carpet! eOne Films is hosting the Canadian premiere of Southpaw, the hotly anticipated new drama starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Rachel McAdams. Both stars will be in Toronto for the Canadian premiere on July 9 before the film opens theatrically on July 25 from eOne Films, and if you want a chance to attend the premiere with the stars, you are in luck! Answer the trivia below to win tickets! (There will be a fan pit, but please check your boxing gloves at the door.)

The Lady with the Dog

Gurov and Anna

(Canada, 112 min.)

Dir. Raphaël Ouellet, Writ. Celeste Parr

Starring: Andreas Apergis, Sophie Desmarais, Marie Fugain, Carlo Mestroni, Éric Bruneau

“Time goes fast, and yet it is so dull here!” she said, not looking at him.

         -The Lady with the Dog, Anton Chekhov

A Lost Cause

The Search

(France, 135 min.)

Written and directed by Michel Hazanavicius

Starring: Bérénice Bejo, Annette Bening, Maxim Emelianov, Abdul-Khalim Mamatasuiev

Michel Hazanavicius’s The Search is a lost cause. The writer/director of The Artist follows up his smash sleeper hit and Best Picture Oscar winner with a film that couldn’t be further from the charm and whimsy of his 2011 sensation. It's not quite his post-Oscar Catwoman, but it's close enough. If The Artist is a delightful ditty that reminds audiences of their love for film, then The Search is a protracted bore that’ll have moviegoers wondering why they don’t spend more time outside in the sun. It’s a terrible and pointless film.