Films That Matter
First Among Equals
What looks to be the closing note of Denzel Washington and director Antoine Fuqua’s trilogy (a rare thing for both men, as these are the only sequels they’ve ever done), The Equalizer 3 is a much more contemplative form of an action movie... a character with a violent past that is trying to work through it as he enters the final chapters of his life. Opening with a lengthy single take that shows the destruction that Robert McCall (Denzel Washington) can cause, it is a cinematic gem of a piece set in a baddie’s lair in Sicily... a strikingly stylized moment that leaves our lead wounded in body and soul.
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Star Pick with Joel O'Keeffe
Die Hard with AirbourneDie HardDecember 17, 2014I have been lucky enough to meet a lot of interesting and famous people in my life. One such person is rock star Joel O’Keeffe, the lead guitarist and singer of the Australian hard rock and roll band Airbourne, whose song Live It Up went number one in Canada this year (the first of their career in any country). I have been able to spend quite some time with the guys from Airbourne, and as you can probably guess, it did not take long for the conversation to turn to movies. Joel’s favourite film is the legendary action flick Die Hard, which he calls "the greatest film ever!!" He also added that, "Die Hard literally set the benchmark and wrote the book for the ‘One Man vs. heaps of Terrorists’ blockbuster action flick".
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Ice Cream and Blood
Hot FuzzNovember 21, 2013This may seem like an odd combination and strange title, but it is actually the name of a trilogy of British movies (also known as the Cornetto Trilogy – a type of ice-cream in the UK). Directed by Edgar Wright and starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, the films pay comedic homage to different genres. You may ask how the three movies connect together – they do not. All three movies have Pegg and Frost playing completely different characters. The only thing the three motion pictures have in common is that there is a lot of ice-cream and blood in them. One of the benefits of the no-connect trilogy is that you can watch them in any order. Today, I am going to review the second film, 2007's Hot Fuzz.
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Modern-day Fairy Tale
HannaJuly 31, 2013The modern-day fairy tale film seems to have become the typical Disney cookie-cutter movie. They usually follow similar formats: wicked witch captures young girl, princess needs to be rescued or male hero saves the day, yet very few pictures capture the eerie and often scary vibe of the original fairytales that these stories are based on. It is amazing how graphic and frightening the Grimm tales and other similar stories actually are.
