delivering such a pleasurable little movie that it almost seems unfair to hold his excesses against him – and you wouldn’t want him to cut the cameos from his Marvel buddies. 115 min. NNNN (NW) Kingsway Theatre, Regent Theatre
Flick Finder
NOW picks your kind of movie DRAMA
SATIRE
BIRDMAN
ACTIONER
LISTEN UP PHILIP
Audiences are deeply divided over this surreal story of a former superhero movie star (a magnetic Michael Keaton) making his Broadway debut. You can’t enter the debate unless you see it.
This intense character study stars Jason Schwartzman in a pitch-perfect performance as an unbearably egocentric author who pushes away all the people he cares about most.
JOHN WICK
Keanu Reeves plays a former assassin who goes back into business to avenge the loss of the puppy given to him by his recently deceased wife. More fun than those other actioners, The Equalizer and Fury.
DRAMEDY
LAGGIES
In Lynn Shelton’s insightful feature, a commitmentphobic Seattle woman (Keira Knightley) freaks out at a marriage proposal and hides at the home of a teenager she’s just befriended.
Playing this week How to find a listing
Movie listings are comprehensive and organized alphabetically. Listings include name of film, director’s name in brackets, a review, running time and a rating. Reviews are by Norman Wilner (NW), Susan G. Cole (SGC), Glenn Sumi (GS), Andrew Dowler (AD) and Radheyan Simonpillai (RS) unless otherwise specified. The rating system is as follows: NNNNN Top 10 of the year NNNN Honourable mention NNN Entertaining NN Mediocre N Bomb
Ñ= Critics’ pick (highly recommended)
OFFICIAL SELECTION 2014 OFFICIAL SELECTION
“★★★★★ EXTRAORDINARY.”
Movie theatres are listed at the end and can be cross-referenced to our film times on page 77.
ABCS OF DEATH 2 (various directors) 122 min. See review, page 70. NNN (NW) Opens Oct 31 at Carlton Cinema
– Robbie Collin, The Telegraph
ALEXANDER AND THE TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, NO GOOD, VERY BAD DAY (Miguel
“TWISTED, DARK AND BRUTALLY FUNNY.”
Arteta) sticks to the spirit of Judith Viorst’s picture book while adding its own ingratiating material. After a disastrous day, Alexander wishes for his family to share his misfortune. They face disasters at work, the junior prom, driving tests and the school play, each more manic and derivative as the plot chugs along. 81 min. NN (RS) 401 & Morningside, Beach Cinemas, Coliseum Scarborough, Colossus, Eglinton Town Centre, Grande - Steeles, Humber Cinemas, Queensway, Rainbow Promenade, Rainbow Woodbine, SilverCity Fairview, SilverCity Yonge, SilverCity Yorkdale, Yonge & Dundas 24
– Matt Risley, Total Film
“JULIANNE MOORE IS REMARKABLE.” – Amy Nicholson, LA Weekly
ñALTMAN
(Ron Mann) takes an appropriately cockeyed approach to its subject, asking a number of the late director’s collaborators – among them Lily Tomlin, Michael Murphy, Julianne Moore and Bruce Willis – to define the term “Altmanesque,” then illustrating their answers with stories of his innovative filmmaking methods. 95 min. NNNN (NW) Bloor Hot Docs Cinema, Kingsway Theatre
ANNABELLE (John R. Leonetti) is a thin JULIANNE
MIA
MOORE
WASIKOWSKA
JOHN
ROBERT
CUSACK
PATTINSON
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prequel to The Conjuring that fills in the backstory of the eponymous demonic doll from the first film. In early 70s California, a young couple (Annabelle Wallis and Ward Horton) with a new baby experience some paranormal activity. Director Leonetti generates some suspense and unease, and the film looks good. But the acting is as plastic as the doll, and there are some plot contrivances that will make even the most accepting genre fans roll their eyes. 99 min. NN (GS) 401 & Morningside, Carlton Cinema, Coliseum Scarborough, Colossus, Eglinton Town Centre, Grande - Steeles, Queensway, Rainbow Woodbine, Scotiabank Theatre, SilverCity Fairview, SilverCity Yorkdale
BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP (Rowan Joffe) 92 min. See review, page 72. NN (RS) Opens Oct 31 at Cineplex Cinemas Empress Walk, Colossus, Eglinton Town Centre, Queensway, Yonge & Dundas 24 THE BEST OF ME (Michael Hoffman) is the
latest, clichéd movie of a novel by peddler of moss-covered romance Nicholas
ñDAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES
Sparks, and it hews close to The Notebook. Once again, an older couple trips down memory lane to rekindle the passion of their youth. A chiselled, slightly grey James Marsden and Luke Bracey as his younger self both take their shirts off. 117 min. NN (RS) 401 & Morningside, Canada Square, Carlton Cinema, Cineplex Cinemas Empress Walk, Coliseum Scarborough, Colossus, Eglinton Town Centre, Grande - Steeles, Queensway, SilverCity Yorkdale, Yonge & Dundas 24
(Matt Reeves) harvests the useful plot points of 2011’s clumsy Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes in its first three minutes and never looks back. Where the last one paid lip service to ape/human ethics and rushed through its character development to get to what it thought audiences wanted, Dawn is willing to put in the work, with complex characters on both the human and primate sides. Some subtitles. 130 min. NNNN (NW) Scotiabank Theatre
BIRDMAN OR (THE UNEXPECTED VIRTUE OF IGNORANCE) (Alejandro González
DR. CABBIE (Jean-François Pouliot) is a
Iñárritu) is a near-total fiasco from a filmmaker bent on impressing the world with his prodigious talent, a show-offy drama about a former superhero actor (Michael Keaton) making his Broadway debut by writing, directing and starring in a drama based on the stories of Raymond Carver. It’s a godawful mess. 119 min. NN (NW) Cineplex Cinemas Empress Walk, Cineplex VIP Cinemas Don Mills, Queensway, Varsity
BJÖRK: BIOPHILIA LIVE (Peter Strick-
ñ
land, Nick Fenton) is a film of pop genius Björk’s spectacularly inventive show, which was more art extravaganza than concert, featuring a mind-boggling mashup of unsettling atmospherics, dark melody and electronica and riveting images of nature in action. Too bad there’s no behind-the-scenes action or insights into the star’s creative process, small but significant weaknesses. But Björk? She can do anything. 97 min. NNNN (SGC) Kingsway Theatre
THE BOOK OF LIFE 3D (Jorge R. Gutierrez)
is a phantasmagoric animated folktale centring on a love triangle between best friends who become gambling fodder for after-life gatekeepers. It’s an overpopulated, magnificent mess, where every intricate frame is nuanced and dazzling. 95 min. NNN (RS) 401 & Morningside, Beach Cinemas, Cineplex Cinemas Empress Walk, Coliseum Scarborough, Colossus, Eglinton Town Centre, Grande - Steeles, Humber Cinemas, Queensway, Rainbow Market Square, Rainbow Promenade, Rainbow Woodbine, SilverCity Fairview, SilverCity Yonge, SilverCity Yorkdale, Yonge & Dundas 24
BORN TO FLY: ELIZABETH STREB VS. GRAVITY (Catherine Gund) does little but
feed the ego of the titular 64-year-old “pop action” choreographer. We spend a great deal of time getting familiar with rudimentary background on Streb in a doc that feels more padded than the floor mats her gravity-defying dancers bounce off. 82 min. NN (RS) Bloor Hot Docs Cinema
ñTHE BOXTROLLS
(Anthony Stacchi, Graham Annable) are ghoulishlooking, sewer-dwelling creatures whose behaviour mimics that of raccoons (they rummage through trash) and Despicable Me’s Minions (they mumble and build stuff). They’re adorable, while the humans bent on exterminating them are ghastly. A hilarious visual treat from the Laika studio (Coraline, ParaNorman). 96 min. NNNN (RS) Colossus, Eglinton Town Centre, Queensway, Yonge & Dundas 24
BOYHOOD (Richard Linklater) is the
ñ
best American movie I’ve seen in years – and one of the very best movies about America ever made, capturing the maturation of Texas kid Mason (Ellar Coltrane) from first grade through leaving for college. If I see another movie more ambitious, more honest or more illuminating this year, I’ll be stunned. 164 min. NNNNN (NW) Carlton Cinema, Kingsway Theatre
ñCHEF
(Jon Favreau) is 20 minutes too long and a hair too manipulative, but writer/director/star Favreau is intent on
lively comedy with a strong premise, brisk pace, appealing cast and timely theme. When a newly minted Delhi doctor moves to Canada, where his credentials aren’t recognized, he finds himself running an illicit clinic in the back seat of his taxi. 104 min. NNN (Andrew Dowler) Colossus, Eglinton Town Centre, Queensway, Yonge & Dundas 24
DRACULA UNTOLD (Gary Shore) is an ori-
gin story for Vlad the Impaler (Luke Evans). It’s dull, grey and rather pointless, the prologue to a modern Dracula movie stretched out to feature length. Some subtitles. 92 min. NN (NW) 401 & Morningside, Carlton Cinema, Cineplex Cinemas Empress Walk, Coliseum Scarborough, Colossus, Eglinton Town Centre, Grande - Steeles, Queensway, Rainbow Market Square, Rainbow Woodbine, Scotiabank Theatre, SilverCity Fairview, SilverCity Yonge, SilverCity Yorkdale
THE DROP (Michaël R. Roskam) is a crime
drama about a Brooklyn bartender (Tom Hardy) drawn into a world of trouble when he rescues an abused puppy and befriends a woman (Noomi Rapace) with a threatening ex (Matthias Schoenaerts). There’s not enough plot for a feature, but I’d have happily watched another hour of Hardy playing with that puppy. 106 min. NNN (NW) Rainbow Promenade
THE EQUALIZER (Antoine Fuqua) reunites
the ever-formidable Denzel Washington with Training Day director Fuqua for a pulpy, sadistic big-screen update of a barely remembered 80s TV series. Up until the overheated climax, it’s even reasonably entertaining. 131 min. NNN (NW) 401 & Morningside, Canada Square, Carlton Cinema, Cineplex Cinemas Empress Walk, Coliseum Scarborough, Colossus, Eglinton Town Centre, Grande - Steeles, Queensway, Scotiabank Theatre, SilverCity Fairview, SilverCity Yorkdale
ETERNITY: THE MOVIE (Ian Thorpe) follows a naive songwriter (Barrett Crake) who starts the blue-eyed soul band Eternity with a womanizer saxophonist (Myko Olivier). A small segment of the LGBTQ audience may find this fun – the 80s clothes are a hoot, the song lyrics ridiculous, and the gay innuendo constant – but it’s mostly just crass. 92 min. NN (SGC) Carlton Cinema
ñFORCENNNNMAJEURE
(Ruben Östlund) 118 min. See interview and review, page 70. (NW) Opens Oct 31 at TIFF Bell Lightbox
FURY (David Ayer) follows the crew of an American tank – among them Brad Pitt, Shia LaBeouf and Logan Lerman – making its way into Germany in April 1945. Director Ayer actively tries to top the brutality and gore of Saving Private Ryan, making it feel like a swaggering corrective to the old-fashioned pleasures of George Clooney’s recent The Monuments Men. Some subtitles. 134 min. NNN (NW) 401 & Morningside, Beach Cinemas, Cineplex Cinemas Empress Walk, Cineplex VIP Cinemas Don Mills, Coliseum Scarborough, Colossus, Eglinton Town Centre, Grande Steeles, Humber Cinemas, Queensway, Rainbow Market Square, Rainbow