An actor recovering from his addictions experiences disruptive behaviour as he shoots a demonic possession film in The Exorcism. Anthony Miller (Russell Crowe) is a down-on-his-luck actor recovering from a drug and alcohol addiction that has left him in an estranged relationship with his daughter Lee (Ryan Simpkins). Anthony is hired by director Peter (Adam …
film within a film
A stuntman has to try and locate the missing star of his ex-girlfriend’s film in The Fall Guy. Colt Seavers (Ryan Gosling) is one of the best stuntmen in the business, often working a double for action superstar Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). After being injured in a stunt gone wrong, Colt departs into a life …
Quentin Tarantino brings us back to 1969 Los Angeles in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. In February 1969, fading 1950s television star Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) is struggling to find work for himself and his stuntman best friend Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt), other than the various villain of the week roles on TV pilots. …
An actress working on a horror film develops a connection with her deformed co-star in Chained for Life. Mabel (Jess Weixler) is the lead in a horror film directed by a pretentious German director (Charlie Korsmo), which has a number of deformed individuals in the cast, particularly Mabel’s main co-star Rosenthal (Adam Pearson). At first Mabel struggles to …
The story behind the making of the infamous “so bad, it’s good” cult classic The Room is told in The Disaster Artist. Greg Sestero (Dave Franco) is an aspiring actor living in San Francisco. During an acting class in 1998, Greg meets the enigmatic Tommy Wiseau (James Franco) and is struck by his fearless stage presence. They two …
The Coen Brothers play homage to classic Hollywood in the kidnapping comedy Hail, Caesar!. Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin) is the head of production at Capital Pictures, who is supervising the production of multiple motion pictures, the highest profile of which being the biblical epic Hail, Caesar! A Story of The Christ. When the film’s star Baird Whitlock …
A group of friends find themselves trapped in a 1980s slasher film in The Final Girls. Max Cartwright (Taissa Farmiga) is a teenager still mourning the tragic death of her actress mother Amanda Cartwright (Malin Akerman). Max goes with her friends Chris (Alexander Ludwig), Gertie (Alia Shawkat), Vickie (Nina Dobrev), and Duncan (Thomas Middleditch) to a late …
After missing the film when it played last month at Hot Docs, I was happy to get another chance to see the film Mistaken for Strangers when it played as part of the film portion of the NXNE festival this weekend in Toronto. At the centre of the film is the indie rock band The …
I had to wait a week and a half before I was finally able to see Scott Pilgrim vs the World, however the wait has been worth it. This is a film for everyone that loves videogames, Toronto, and everything in between. I don’t think that the film does too much to change peoples opinion …
Who would have thought that in the end it would be Simple Jack that generated controversy? In a film that features Robert Downey Jr. playing an Australian actor, who darkens his skin to play an African American sergeant, the biggest complaint about this film involves a subplot, where Ben Stiller’s character plays a mentally disabled …
It’s time once again for my monthly look at independent film. This month, I went to see the Irish film Once. This film can be classified as a romantic musical. However, unlike most musicals, where singing starts for no apparent reason, this is a more realistic type of musical. The romantic part of the film …