Disney’s latest live action remake of one of their own animated classics, The Little Mermaid, is another bit of wading into the shallow end of the creativity pool.
Jacob Tremblay
The Death and Life of John F. Donovan doesn’t play like a work from one of the most confident filmmakers in the world today. It comes across more like three films of varying quality stuffed uneasily and unconvincingly into a single package.
If you have no moral objections to watching a trio of potty-mouthed twelve year old boys delivering jokes most forty year olds and frat boys would think twice about making, the energetic and relentless comedy Good Boys will make for an enjoyable, but exhausting experience.
Filmmaker Colin Trevorrow continues his misguided obsession with Speilbergian themes with The Book of Henry, a unwieldy mash-up of a tear jerker and a YA potboiler that suggests maybe the Jurassic World and upcoming Star Wars filmmaker would be better off sticking to megabudget productions than smaller independent films. Like his debut film, Safety Not Guaranteed, Trevorrow proves that he has little to no clue how human beings interact with the world around them, and the left field twists of The Book of Henry come across as some of the most shamelessly manipulative storytelling gambits in recent history because it’s so hard to buy into a story this equally emotionally top heavy and logically implausible.
Tonight’s a big night in Toronto for film and television as the gala for the Canadian Screen Awards brings Canada’s stars and filmmakers together at the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts. Awards have been handed out throughout the week, but tonight’s trophies cover the big categories, including Best Performances for film and television, Fan Choice awards, and Best Dramatic and Comedy Series.