That Burning Feeling: Movie Review

Familiar romantic comedy clichés drag down the fresh and funny start.

A romantic comedy about sexually transmitted diseases sounds off-beat enough that it just might work, and it almost does. That Burning Feeling starts off funny enough. Adam Murphy (Paulo Costanzo) is the right-hand man for an unscrupulous real estate mogul, played by John Cho. Their complete lack of ethics coupled with the belief that who they are and what they do is so important is funny.		2013 Directed by: Jason James Screenplay by: Nick Citton Starring: Paulo Costanzo, John Cho

Night Moves: Movie Review

Dark and gripping atmosphere filled with guilt and paranoia permeate this tale of activism.

Josh (Jesse Eisenberg) and Dena (Dakota Fanning) are two young environmentalists. They’re activists who want to change the world with one big plan. But Night Moves presents that big plan in a small way, focusing entirely on the characters and their actions and becomes so much bigger than an “environmental movie.” This is more universal than being about eco-terrorists. This is about anybody who commits a crime and thinks they’re righteous.		2013 Directed by: Kelly Reichardt Screenplay by: Jon Raymond, Kelly Reichardt Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Dakota Fanning and Peter Sarsgaard

Life After Beth: Movie Review

Life, death, Beth and funny zombies.

Some films blur the lines between good and evil, right and wrong, or friends and lovers. Life After Beth blurs the line between life and death. Even Beth herself explains that there’s alive and then there’s dead, and you can’t be both. If you could be both, things would get pretty bad, and weird. Especially weird.		2014 Directed by: Jeff Baena Screenplay by: Jeff Baena Starring: Dane DeHaan, Aubrey Plaza

The Captive: Movie Review

Not captivating enough for a crime thriller.

Atom Egoyan’s second thriller this year and another one about crimes against children. The Captive starts with the kidnapped Cassandra being held captive by the perpetrator himself. It’s an odd way to start the film with the audience knowing who did it. The why he did it is pretty clear too, he’s a creep. It’s hard to create suspense when the audience knows who the authorities are trying to catch.		2014 Directed by: Atom Egoyan Screenplay by: Atom Egoyan, David Fraser Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Scott Speedman, and Rosario Dawson

Calvary: Movie Review

The dark past of the Catholic Church turned into a darkly comedic tale of morality.

Calvary starts dark and never lightens up, but gives you plenty of humour and food for thought along the way. Father James (Brendan Gleeson) is a Catholic priest in a small village in Ireland. The opening confessional has one of his parishioners telling him they’re going to kill him in exchange for the molestation that he experienced at the hands of a priest when he was a young boy. Father James is innocent, but does that make him a good person?		2014 Directed by: John Michael McDonagh Screenplay by: John Michael McDonagh Starring: Brendan Gleeson