REVIEW: The Spanish Prisoner [1998]

Dog my cats. Anyone who’s on social media has seen the “name” memes where your “whatever name” is formed by that of the first pet you owned and your grandmother’s maiden name—or some riff on this pattern. Everyone does it because it’s fun and they’ve been trained like sheep to participate in such activities so their feeds remain pop culturally relevant. But then you hear the jokes about how the meme is perfectly suited to mine a person’s security question answers due to the specific nature of those details being…

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TIFF08 REVIEW: The Brothers Bloom [2008]

“An unwritten life” After seeing the masterpiece that is Rian Johnson’s debut film Brick, I could not wait to see what he had up his sleeve. When I heard his follow-up would be a con artist film featuring Adrien Brody, Mark Ruffalo, and Rachel Weisz, I couldn’t hold in my excitement. Yet upon viewing the trailer, my expectations fizzled ever so slightly, the short clip showing me what looked to be a generic ho-hum story that lacked the originality his first film held in abundance. But let me tell you,…

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REVIEW: Redbelt [2008]

“There’s always an escape” David Mamet is back with his new film Redbelt. After four years away from Hollywood, producing the television show “The Unit,” Mamet has followed up his solid thriller Spartan with a drama of intelligence that only he can capture. Complete with the trademark, metered language—every word timed and delivered with precision—this tale may be billed as a mixed martial arts actioner, but it is so much more. The sport itself lends heavily to the plot for sure, but rather than with its moves and choreography, it…

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REVIEW: The Illusionist [2006]

“Where the dark arts still hold sway” There is a lot of buzz going around movie circles about this being the year of magic. With Christopher Nolan’s The Prestige garnering much anticipation, the lesser-known The Illusionist, by director Neil Burger, hits screens first. Trailers show that while it appears to be the more accurate movie in terms of period and realism, it doesn’t seem to have the flash or grave consequence as Nolan’s film. While The Prestige is a movie about rivalry and mysticism, The Illusionist is a love story…

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