Robert De Niro

About My Father is a motion picture spawned straight from the act of a stand-up comedian, and it shows.

A passable bit of lighthearted family entertainment, the slapstick “battle of the ages” comedy The War with Grandpa requires all who watch it to tap into their inner tween.

Joker, director and co-writer Todd Phillips’ dark and violent attempt to tell the origin story of one of the nastiest comic book villains of all time, is, like the character at the centre of it all, hard to define, but leaves an indelible impression.

Everyone involved with the dreadfully unfunny comedy The Comedian is better than this. It’s the rare kind of spectacular failure where everyone involved with the film should have realized that what they were making was garbage before the cameras even rolled. It’s a hackneyed premise drawn out to unconscionable lengths and run into the ground by people acting oblivious to the fact that these characters aren’t interesting, endearing, sympathetic, or funny.

The crowds were lining the street as director David O. Russell and the cast of Silver Linings Playbook walked the red carpet at Roy Thomson Hall for the film’s debut at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival.

Jason Statham, Clive Owen and Robert De Niro star in what I can only call one of the most testosterone-filled movies I’ve seen some time, and as far-fetched as it seems at times, it’s apparently based on a true story.

This is a busy week for Blu-ray and DVD releases as five major releases arrive on store shelves, including: Martin Scorsese’s intense Taxi Driver celebrates its 35th anniversary; Disney debuts the original Tron and Tron: Legacy on Blu-ray; Narnia comes to life once more in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader; plus a look at the IMAX movie, Hubble.

Opening this weekend in theatres: Simon Pegg and Nick Frost star in the sci-fi comedy, Paul; Bradley Cooper unleashes the power of his mind in Limitless; and Matthew McConaughey plays cat and mouse against his own client in The Lincoln Lawyer.

Happy New Year, movie fans. Ringing in the new year are a hand full of new movies which debut on DVD and Blu-ray this week. This week’s big releases include: Robert Rodriguez’s grindhouse extravaganza, Machete, starring Danny Trejo; Steve Carell and Paul Rudd star in the comedy, Dinner For Schmucks; and a look at Jay Roach’s horror film, The Last Exorcism.

Opening this week, just in time for the holidays: Jeff Bridges stars in the Coen brothers’ Western, True Grit; Jack Black is off to the land of the wee folk in Gulliver’s Travels; Robert De Niro and Ben Stiller are back for another round in Little Fockers; plus a look at Barney’s Version.