Film Friday: “Public Enemy Number One” / Torontoist

“Though Michael Mann has many fans, it would be inaccurate to call us one. Sure, we consider his version of Manhunter to be pretty much the best (Brian Cox’s chillingly reserved Hannibal ‘Lecktor’ far better than Anthony Hopkins’ later scenery chewing). Mann’s recent thrillers have all been turgid, reaching an absolute nadir with Miami Vice—the kind of film you’d imagine would send the series creator into conniptions if that wasn’t, absurdly, Mann himself.”

Published by mathewkumar, on July 3rd, 2009. Filed under: Columns, Torontoist • No Comments

Film Friday: “The Transformer Experience” / Torontoist

“What an incredible week for cinema it is if you’ve got a genuine interest in the representation of women in film. It’s the kind of week you could write an entire research paper on. First of all we’ve got Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, which uses Michael Bay’s ever-so-male gaze to stare at Megan Fox with the same kind of lust with which it stares at the vehicles the Transformers turn into—an empty collection of moving parts that are probably good for a ride.”

Published by mathewkumar, on June 26th, 2009. Filed under: Columns, Torontoist • No Comments

Film Friday: “Weak One” / Torontoist

“Weirdest news of the week? That Lars Von Trier’s much-talked-about-at-Cannes horror film Antichrist is receiving a video-game adaptation. How utterly bizarre.”

Published by mathewkumar, on June 19th, 2009. Filed under: Columns, Torontoist • No Comments

Film Friday: “Away We Depart” / Torontoist

“Perhaps it’s not handsome, but there’s a weird sort of gratification when you read an article or review that agrees with something you’re already thinking. Such as Jason Anderson’s review in Eye of Away We Go, where he notes that ‘Even the least discerning and most pliant indie hipsters may have cringed at the poster for Away We Go. That cutesy, post-Juno graphic-design cocktail of photo, illustration and hand-drawn type was more than enough to indicate the movie’s target demographic even if star John Krasinski wasn’t pictured looking like a guy who sells merch at a Fleet Foxes show.’”

Published by mathewkumar, on June 12th, 2009. Filed under: Columns, Torontoist • No Comments

Film Friday: “Drag Me Up” / Torontoist

“This year’s blockbuster season seems to have dragged on interminably already, but it’s finally starting to look (tee hee) up, with the long-awaited release of Pixar’s latest, Up, today. Their first in 3D, we’ve wondered if they’ve chosen such a vertically minded project because the form of 3D projection used tends to look better when things are moving up and down rather than horizontally; not that that would make that much difference to the quality of the film.”

Published by mathewkumar, on May 29th, 2009. Filed under: Columns, Torontoist • No Comments

Film Friday: “The Limits of Salvation” / Torontoist

“It’s Terminator Salvation week! This year’s franchise reboot that we were most looking forward to (we’ve always just liked Terminator more than Star Trek), though when we say “looking forward to” we mean “trepidatious about any new film directed by that glossy hack, McG.” (Seriously—who calls themselves “McG”? And then expects people to call him that even when they know him personally, as heard in that famous Christian Bale tape?)”

Published by mathewkumar, on May 22nd, 2009. Filed under: Columns, Torontoist • No Comments

Film Friday: “Angels and Demons and I” / Torontoist

“This week most of the cinematic excitement is kept for Cannes—after all, those lucky sods have already been able to see Pixar’s latest film, Up!—so there’s not very much that is likely to excite us otherwise (apart from the Inside Out festival, of course, as covered by our own Johnnie Walker).”

Published by mathewkumar, on May 15th, 2009. Filed under: Columns, Torontoist • No Comments

Film Friday: “Up and Atom” / Torontoist

“Seems like the only release anyone cares about this week is the J.J. Abrams Star Trek reboot, a release notable simply for the number of people we know that have come out of the woodwork as massive Trekkies—possibly feeling that now it’s safe, as with a hot young cast (including the brilliant Simon Pegg, pictured above playing Scotty as a tramp) it may now finally be “cool” to like Star Trek. Or so they can be prepared to yell about how terrible the new film is for featuring a hot young cast. One or the other, probably.”

Published by mathewkumar, on May 8th, 2009. Filed under: Columns, Torontoist • No Comments

Film Friday: “The Ghosts of Wolverine’s Past” / Torontoist

“This week’s most eagerly hyped is X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which has famously been available as an illegal download for ages. So we could have seen it, if we weren’t completely uninterested in the idea of watching a work print of a film on our laptop… or really just the idea of a Wolverine film in general (though having said that, we do look forward to seeing how Ryan Reynolds manages as Deadpool).”

I’ve also begun coverage of Hot Docs on Torontoist this week.

Published by mathewkumar, on May 1st, 2009. Filed under: Columns, Torontoist • No Comments

Film Friday: “He’s Got a Big Face” / Torontoist

“For most cinephiles not still captivated by the Toronto Jewish Film Festival, this week will simply serve as preparation for Hot Docs—NOW, in fact, used its movie section feature as an vague attempt to help you plan—but if you really can’t wait to see a documentary there’s always earth, the first film from Disney’s new, stomach-turning ‘Disneynature’ brand.”

My title is a reference to Harry Hill.

Published by mathewkumar, on April 24th, 2009. Filed under: Columns, Torontoist • No Comments
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