Toronto Star

A surprisingly fresh movie about a story we all know very well.

Posted Nov 24, 2017

3.5/4

The Breadwinner (2017)

The Breadwinner is a well-crafted and inspiring story with an important message about female empowerment, embodied in heroic Parvana, something people of all ages should embrace.

Posted Nov 24, 2017

3.5/4

Last Flag Flying (2017)

While Last Flag Flying has moments of lightness and levity, it's ultimately a sombre and moving tale about the trials that life throws in our path and how we move on with a little help from our friends.

Posted Nov 24, 2017

3.5/4

Coco (2017)

Every step of the way in Coco is a visual and sonic delight.

Posted Nov 21, 2017

3/4

Roman J. Israel, Esq. (2017)

Washington turns this seemingly unsympathetic character into a figure to embrace on the screen and to remember at awards time - the actor once again courts serious consideration at the Oscars.

Posted Nov 21, 2017

3.5/4

Paradise (Ray) (2017)

Konchalovskiy presents this grimly contemplative tale appropriately in black and white, drawing powerful performances from all three principals, especially Yuliya Vysotskaya as Olga.

Posted Nov 16, 2017

2.5/4

Bill Nye: Science Guy (2017)

Bow-tied brainiac Bill Nye gets a sympathetic treatment from admiring filmmakers in this non-shocking doc.

Posted Nov 16, 2017

3.5/4

Thelma (2017)

The ending is a little shy of perfection but Thelma remains a tantalizing gem.

Posted Nov 16, 2017

3/4

Wonder (2017)

It's a film that's going to touch a lot of people in all the right ways with a life-affirming message about looking beyond the obvious differences to see the person behind the mask.

Posted Nov 16, 2017

3.5/4

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)

McDonagh knows how to get good characters into a story but not always how to get them out of it. This time he's considerably more focused, letting McDormand's ferocious mother-bear of a performance, her best since Fargo, drive the narrative.

Posted Nov 16, 2017

1.5/4

Justice League (2017)

The film is marginally better than last year's sour and dispiriting Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, but that's like saying that dental surgery is preferable to passing a kidney stone.

Posted Nov 15, 2017

2/4

Daddy's Home 2 (2017)

Sean Anders, the returning director and co-writer (with Brian Burns and John Morris), runs out of gas at the halfway mark.

Posted Nov 9, 2017

3/4

My Friend Dahmer (2017)

It seeks not to excuse Dahmer but rather to illuminate his sociopathy.

Posted Nov 9, 2017

3.5/4

Jane (2017)

Goodall has left her mark on the world and this documentary ably and engagingly celebrates that legacy.

Posted Nov 9, 2017

4/4

Lady Bird (2017)

The delightful and insightful Lady Bird achieves flight in its own unique way, just like the aerodynamically unorthodox ladybug the title tips to.

Posted Nov 9, 2017

2/4

Murder On The Orient Express (2017)

Kenneth Branagh's remake of Murder on the Orient Express is billed as a motion picture. But it might better be thought of as a two-hour moving selfie of the director, who is also the lead star.

Posted Nov 9, 2017

3/4

Dina (2017)

There are moments of humour in a gently affecting story that celebrates the ordinariness of its subjects.

Posted Nov 3, 2017

3.5/4

God's Own Country (2017)

Combining gritty realism with poignancy, the result is a film that is exceptionally moving.

Posted Nov 3, 2017

3/4

Novitiate (2017)

Leo's impassioned acting makes a supporting role seem like a leading one.

Posted Nov 3, 2017

3/4

The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017)

Performances are solid all round, but the standout is Irish actor Keoghan. Shy and lonely one moment, utterly blood-chilling the next, he's a mesmerizing presence on this screen of menace.

Posted Nov 3, 2017

3.5/4

The Square (2017)

It's laugh-out-loud funny and occasionally just plain silly. But it asks a serious question that seems more urgent with every passing day: "How much inhumanity does it take before we access your humanity?"

Posted Nov 2, 2017

3/4

Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

Thor: Ragnarok is more fun than a barrel of winged monkeys, but man, do we have questions.

Posted Nov 2, 2017

1.5/4

A Bad Moms Christmas (2017)

The success last year of Bad Moms made a sequel as inevitable as Christmas overindulgence. The combination of the two may lead to indigestion.

Posted Nov 1, 2017

3/4

California Typewriter (2017)

There are two ready-made audiences for this doc and both will benefit from seeing it.

Posted Oct 27, 2017

2/4

Wonderstruck (2017)

Haynes struggles to connect all the dots. Wonderstruck reaches for the stars and falls short.

Posted Oct 27, 2017

3.5/4

Faces Places (Visages, villages) (2017)

[A] delightful, artful road trip ...

Posted Oct 27, 2017

2.5/4

Suburbicon (2017)

I'm inclined to give Suburbicon a mild thumbs up.

Posted Oct 26, 2017

2.5/4

Thank You for Your Service (2017)

Hall's direction and script are efficient and to the point. The actors all acquit themselves well, but always with a grim sense of reality that the film seeks to really drive home.

Posted Oct 26, 2017

3/4

Human Flow (2017)

Murray Whyte

Ai Weiwei has made something beautiful: Human Flow is neither indulgent nor pedantic, but clear-eyed in its view of the enormity of the crisis too vast for most of us to comprehend.

Posted Oct 20, 2017

3.5/4

Una (2017)

This is a film that could easily divide opinion along gender lines. What everyone will agree on is that it raises troubling but important questions.

Posted Oct 20, 2017

2.5/4

Take Every Wave: The Life of Laird Hamilton (2017)

At a long two hours, the film gets as repetitive as the tide.

Posted Oct 20, 2017

3.5/4

Only the Brave (2017)

Kosinski lets the story unfold at a measured pace - so much so that by the time we reach the climactic scene, we're unprepared for what unfolds. As a result, it's even more devastating and effective.

Posted Oct 20, 2017

1/4

The Snowman (2017)

Such abundant talent, yet what we get on the screen is like a snow cone made with horse urine.

Posted Oct 19, 2017

3.5/4

Breathe (2017)

This is a film that rises above the doldrums. It inspires in the best way, in large part because it's based on a true story.

Posted Oct 19, 2017

1/4

Leatherface (2017)

The best horror movies leave the most frightening elements to an audience's imagination. Leatherface is not one of those movies.

Posted Oct 19, 2017

3.5/4

78/52: Hitchcock's Shower Scene (2017)

Essential viewing, even if you have to watch through your fingers.

Posted Oct 13, 2017

3/4

BPM (Beats Per Minute) (120 battements par minute) (2017)

A valuable and heartfelt document ...

Posted Oct 13, 2017

2/4

Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House (2017)

The furtive figure history knows best as Watergate snitch Deep Throat gets a movie treatment more suited to the printed page than the big screen.

Posted Oct 13, 2017

2.5/4

Goodbye Christopher Robin (2017)

Although a decent enough film touching on important themes, its emotional resonance falls a little short of satisfying.

Posted Oct 13, 2017

3/4

The Foreigner (2017)

Chan ... remains a likeable everyman hero type that the audience roots as he navigates his world through a labyrinth of violence and betrayal.

Posted Oct 13, 2017

4/4

The Florida Project (2017)

Alexis Zabe's rapturous cinematography reminds us that magic is where you find it. You don't need a golden ticket to Mickey's kingdom, although you can see it from here.

Posted Oct 12, 2017

3/4

Happy Death Day (2017)

What makes Death Day feel so fresh is that this is all played with a whopper of a wink, pulled off by the considerable comedic talents of star Jessica Rothe, who successfully juggles the horror/comedy mash-up.

Posted Oct 12, 2017

2/4

My Little Pony: The Movie (2017)

Most of the film feels like an exercise in creating enough plot to hit the 90-minute mark.

Posted Oct 5, 2017

2/4

Great Great Great (2017)

Linda Barnard

Kolasky is an actor to watch for.

Posted Oct 5, 2017

3/4

Loving Vincent (2017)

A visually arresting and worthy tribute to a genius.

Posted Oct 5, 2017

3.5/4

Rebel in the Rye (2017)

A faithful and often moving look in the life of J.D. Salinger, a warts-and-all portrayal that succeeds in large part because of a dynamically persuasive performance by Nicholas Hoult.

Posted Oct 5, 2017

3/4

Lucky (2017)

What's a five-letter word meaning "great performance"?

Posted Oct 5, 2017

2.5/4

The Mountain Between Us (2017)

It's diverting stuff, for the most part.

Posted Oct 5, 2017

4/4

Blade Runner 2049 (2017)

Blade Runner 2049 is one of the brainiest films to come out of Hollywood in a long while, asking more questions about the meaning of life than it answers.

Posted Oct 5, 2017

1.5/4

Flatliners (2017)