On Screen

Smart reviews for the visually obsessed. On Screen features film reviews and festival coverage, spotlighting cinematic craft, storytelling and standout performances.

  • Review: The only thing not veiled in ‘Deep Web’ is its agenda (Includes first-hand account)

    Much like a city has a seedy underbelly, the Internet is home to an array of back alley dealings. It serves as the perfect marketplace for secret and illegal transactions, offering anonymity and opportunity for unlimited growth. However this type of business isn’t conducted on the public or surface network; it happens on a hidden level that requires special access and is constructed specifically to provide protections to its users. It’s called the Deep Web, which is also the title of a documentary that explores this mysterious realm and the persecution of a young man who harnessed its power.

  • Review: ‘Ted 2’ hasn’t grown up as much as it thinks, which isn’t all bad (Includes first-hand account)

    Many children wished their favourite toy was alive and often pretended it was living while playing, but apparently only one little boy won that lottery: John Bennett animated his stuffed bear, Ted. Obviously you can’t discard a self-aware toy as you would others, so John and Ted grew up together to become beer-drinking, pot-smoking slackers. Best friends and “thunder buddies” for life, the two are there for each other through thick and thin. And in Ted 2, it gets pretty thin.

  • Review: ‘Deli Man’ is full of flavour and heart (Includes first-hand account)

    Food is not just a source of nourishment. It’s a way of life. It defines a culture and the people that belong to it. And of course, there’s a right way and a wrong way of doing it that is subject to change depending on the person performing the evaluation. Deli Man explores the rise of the delicatessen in New York and the rest of North America from the perspective of its purveyors and patrons.

  • Review: ‘Inside Out’ has all the feels (Includes first-hand account)

    It’s human nature to wonder what other people are thinking or how they’ve come to feel the way they do, but it’s often impossible to determine the correct answer without some assistance from the person in question. Moreover it’s generally believed every person is the sum of their experiences, but what does that mean? Leave it to the people at Pixar to come up with an entertaining, animated response that may not be true but is definitely more fun than the reality. Inside Out goes inside the head of a little girl to show just how our personalities work and why we sometimes feel the way we do.

  • Review: ‘Me and Earl and the Dying Girl’ is year’s best movie contender (Includes first-hand account)

    While some of the best remembered teen movies are comedies, some of the most resonant narratives have been dramas in which youths are forced to come to terms with some difficult aspect of living beyond the typical adolescent heartbreak. Executed incorrectly and the tale is an overwrought mess of emotions or wholly superficial. Conversely, if done properly, the film will have a lasting impact that affects and stays with audiences. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is an exceptional example of the latter that currently stands as one of the best movies of the year.

  • Review: ‘Jurassic World’ forgot to cultivate its entire realm (Includes first-hand account)

    Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park was a monumental release. Based on the book of the same name by Michael Crichton, the pair created an epic action-adventure-science-fiction picture that wowed audiences with its incredible special effects and grand story concept. For those two hours in 1993, dinosaurs became real. Now more than 20 years later, Hollywood has once again decided to reach back in time for its latest movie idea, recreating the fantastic park for a new generation. However Jurassic World may impress audiences fresh to the series, but fans of the original franchise will likely be less dazzled.

  • Review: ‘Dark Star: H.R. Giger’s World’ expands on the artist’s legacy (Includes first-hand account)

    Many artists gain notoriety after their death. While their lives are chronicled, it’s often through a posthumous biopic in which it’s necessary the artist be portrayed by some actor who mimics their ability for the screen. However more documentary filmmakers have been taking the opportunity to record their talents and tales while the subject is still alive and able to share a first-hand account. Though Dark Star: H.R. Giger’s World is being released after the artist’s death, it’s still a privileged instance in which a notoriously private figure opened his life for the film.

  • Review: ‘Sunshine Superman’ soars to great documentary heights (Includes first-hand account)

    While extreme sports are regularly being taken to new levels, the actual practice of pushing the limits and testing boundaries has existed for several decades. And it generally starts with someone asking, “What else could we do?” Sunshine Superman chronicles the life of a man who asked that question in the ‘70s after regular skydiving became too humdrum.

  • Review: ‘Patch Town’ turns a childhood amusement into a sinister plot (Includes first-hand account)

    Children often want to believe their toys, particularly dolls, are real. In fact advertisers tell children they practically are and come from a magical world or toymaker that gives them life for which you are now responsible. But eventually kids grow out of such make-believe ideas and gradually the toys themselves. In Patch Town, this notion is more than a possibility but a horrific way of life for an entire population that exists unaware of their true origin.

  • Review: Nothing secret about ‘Spy’s witty humour (Includes first-hand account)

    The world of espionage is rife with possibilities for smooth and charming agents, but it also has the potential for sharp humour. The latter can be a bit dicey in terms of quality, particularly depending on the type of comedy used — too many pratfalls, bathroom jokes or forced wit can rapidly drag a movie down. There are prominent examples of good and bad films, so Spy had a 50/50 chance of being genuinely entertaining (or alternatively, absolute torture).

  • Review: ‘Big Muddy’ is mired by a single flaw (Includes first-hand account)

    It’s easy to cross the line from just getting by to greed. The grind of having to repeatedly work/hustle/rob just to make ends meet becomes tiring; especially when an end is within view. Of course retirement is dependent on one last, big score. The burden of possibility is more than some can bear and it causes them to be reckless. Such is the case in Big Muddy when everything that could go wrong does.

  • Review: ‘I Am Big Bird’ is a delightful record of the character and man (Includes interview)

    There are certain aspects of childhood that carry through from one generation to the next. Since its inception, Sesame Street has been one of those pieces. Created by The Muppets originator Jim Henson, the show was intended to entertain and teach a young audience. Human characters would interact with the Muppet personalities and demonstrate valuable life and educational lessons. Though the furry, fuzzy and feathered creatures became international sensations, little was known about the people who operated them allowing them to maintain their anonymity in spite of being worldwide stars. I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story sheds some light on the man who’s brought life to the lovable yellow bird and his grouchy friend for nearly 50 years.