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Wrapping Up the 1980s (2009 Sep 03)

After spending more than a half-year wading through memories, recollections, and movies from the period of 1980 through 1989, I have had an opportunity to take a new look at an old decade. Personally, it represented my coming of age - I grew up ...

Wolverine Versus the Pirates (2009 Apr 10)

Let me start with a disclaimer: In no way do I condone or support the illegal downloading of copies of the Wolverine work print. Although I am fully cognizant of where and how to download it, I have not done so nor will I do so in the future. ...

Where the Links Are (2009 Jul 10)

How the Web has changed in just a few years…I have noticed that e-mail is fast becoming passé. It takes some remembering to recall when it was the newest, hottest thing in communication. Now, it's often viewed as a step up from the telegraph. ...

Welcome to the Forums (2009 Feb 14)

Regular readers of ReelThoughts know that, for about a year, I have struggled with the concept of somehow making ReelViews interactive. Reader opinion was split: about half of the e-mails I received encouraged me to go in this direction. The other ...

Watching and Waiting (2009 Mar 03)

Can there be a March blockbuster? This is a question that hangs over Hollywood, casting its shadow into every nook and cranny. Even those who don't care a whit about Watchmen as a film recognize that the implications of its success (or lack thereof...

Turkey Day! (2009 Bottom 10) (2009 Nov 26)

The year's not over yet, but let's pretend. Thanksgiving, with its image of turkeys, is just too good a day to pass up for reflecting on the junk of the past year. Let's reserve late December for remembering what was good about the year gone by (...

Torrents and the TARDIS (2009 Dec 13)

If you were to ask a random group of Hollywood executives what the greatest problem facing the industry is, three out of four would probably say "piracy." They would cite, chapter and verse, the overinflated numbers being circulated about how much ...

TIFF #9: Crime & Punishment in the U.K. (2009 Sep 18)

There's nothing quite like a U.K. crime thriller to get the blood flowing. They're a little different than U.S. pictures from the same genre - grimmer and grittier, usually. Less romanticizing of things. More brutal. More bloody. This year's ...

TIFF #8: Deceptions (2009 Sep 17)

Curious random thought: Having spent some time staring at the huge screens in the (relatively) new Scotiabank and AMC theaters, I have come to the inescapable conclusion that they are as large (or larger) than the screen in the supposed "IMAX" ...

TIFF #7; Lies, Damn Lies, and Capitalism (2009 Sep 16)

It's getting to that time in every festival when things start winding down - midweek. The bloom is off the rose, so to speak. The best and biggest films are in the rearview mirror. Crowds are dwindling. There are no longer lines at the box office. ...

TIFF #6: Surreality (2009 Sep 15)

Film festivals have a reputation as being places where dramas and documentaries dominate. While there's some truth to this, there are plenty of opportunities for those who prefer films outside the realm of traditional festival fare. The Midnight ...

TIFF #5: Dante, Portman, and Hicks Disappoint (2009 Sep 14)

It seems like forever since we've heard from director Joe Dante. Back in the '80s, he was one of the kings of teen-oriented thrillers, with titles like Gremlins and Innerspace on his resume. He continued working into the '90s but with increasingly ...

TIFF #4: Two Clooneys and Two Coens (2009 Sep 13)

George Clooney and the Coen Brothers: perfect together. Except this year, they're not. Clooney is here in two films and the Coens (both of them, working as a pair as usual) are also at Toronto, but their projects are not related. Also here is ...

TIFF #3: Reel People (2009 Sep 12)

It's not unusual for a festival to showcase period pieces providing semi-fictionalized accounts of famous people's lives. This year brings three such high-profile productions to Toronto. Those are Bright Star, Jane Campion's autopsy of the tragic ...

TIFF #2: Controversy's Groom (2009 Sep 11)

September 11. The ghosts of years and festivals past. Last year, due to the early coming of Labor Day, I was home before the anniversary - the first time that happened since 2001. This year, the festival is just getting underway. It's difficult ...

TIFF #1: The Leaves of Fall (2009 Sep 10)

Summer is over. The kids are back in school. The nights are getting longer, the days shorter. Baseball is moving inexorably toward the playoffs; football season has begun. Heat is escaping from the northern hemisphere like air through the slow ...

TIFF #11: Lights Off, Lightbox On (2009 Sep 20)

The Varsity is once again showing mainstream fare. The Elgin and Roy Thompson Hall are quiet. The airport is buzzing as the lasts guests and festival-goers wait for their planes. The critics are dotting the final i's and crossing the final t's of ...