Brad Pitt

An intense and intelligent psychological thriller, family drama, and sci-fi epic all rolled into one, writer-director James Gray’s Ad Astra is one of the most original and moving big budget pictures of the year.

Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, the ninth (and possibly second to last) film from writer-director Quentin Tarantino is precisely the kind of love letter to old school cinema, television, music, and aesthetics that one would expect from a brainy movie brat with an eye for exceptional visuals and fine details and an ear for snappy dialogue.

Sitting in a downtown Toronto hotel’s health club, dressed in a casual blue top, jeans and flip flops, Christopher Heard looks every bit as comfortable in this surroundings as he would in his own house. This should come as no surprise, as he has recently spent 2 years living in The Royal York hotel as a “Writer in Residence” while completing his latest book The Suite Life – The Magic and Mystery of Hotel Living.

Hollywood royalty walked the red carpet at the Toronto International Film Festival as Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie made a rare appearance on September 9 to promote Pitt’s latest film, Moneyball.

The busy days of the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival have arrived, and I’m frankly living in my bliss. There are hassles and troubles here and there, and it can be annoying managing the schedule, but it’s going great so far.

In honour of next week’s release of Source Code on DVD and Blu-ray, and because it’s one of my favorite topics, this week for DVD Tuesday I’m counting down the ten best time travel movies. From science fiction, action, adventure, and horror, to comedy, and even a romantic comedy or two, these movies cover almost every genre, and I’m ranking them not just on how great the movie is, but also, how well they approach a time travel story.

New this week on Blu-ray and DVD: Will Ferrell and Tina Fey star in the animated Megamind; Robert Downey Jr. and Zach Galifianakis take a wild ride together in Due Date; plus a look at Get Low and Total Recall 2070.

New this week at a theatre near you: Robert Downey Jr. and Zach Galifianakis star in the odd-couple comedy, Due Date; Will Ferrell plays the winningly bad bad-guy in the animated comedy, Megamind; and a look at the political thriller, Fair Game, starring Naomi Watts.

Montreal author Ian Halperin is back with a new book called Brangelina: The Untold Story of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, whichs delves into the lives lived behind the shiny, glossy image set forth by Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt.

Coming out this week on DVD and Blu-ray: blood flies and the Nazis get their due in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds; a bachelor party in Las Vegas goes hilariously wrong in The Hangover; plus a look at The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard, G-Force, and Taking Woodstock.