Articles
WIth the imminent release of Gangster Squad, you can guarantee the media will be swarmed with justifications for claiming Ryan Gosling as the bearer of the title “Coolest Person of the Year” (it’s a real thing, and, yes, he won it last year). But writing an article singing the man’s praises would simply be too easy for us hard-hitting journalists here at Grolsch Film Works. Because the real question on everyone’s minds is obviously, just how can he be that perfect? There must be something that isn’t cool about the man. He can’t just be a totally flawless human being? Right…? So,...
When we think about a woman’s place in the world in the dawning of the twentieth century we don’t often think of them as having a lot of power over their own circumstances. Without the ability to vote or to further their own education, they were often defined by who they married and the home they kept (for an excellent illustration of this see TV’s Downton Abbey). As with any rule however, there’s aways an exception and in the case of women who forged their own path, there’s no better example than Mary Pickford. Born right here in Toronto in...
Sean Garrity’s body of work is marked by constant change. His latest film, Blood Pressure, is proof positive of that, wandering far from the broad sex comedy of his previous film My Awkward Sexual Adventure, to the world of mystery, film noir, and intimate psychological thriller. I sat down to talk with Garrity about his work as a filmmaker, and about Blood Pressure, and the questions it raises. Blood Pressure tells the story of a woman who is unhappy with her life, and the lengths she will go to change it. Nicole Westman (played by Michelle Giroux) is a pharmacist,...
For those planning to see the documentary Ballroom Dancer, out now, I imagine you’re going to come away from it feeling a little jealous you can’t quite groove like the professionals. But no worries, we’re here to help: here’s our cinematic masterclass on some fail safe moves to pull on the dancefloor. We can’t guarantee everyone will think you’re cool doing them, even less that people will want to make out with you, but you’ll at least have a blast in the meantime. Before we start, it’s worth noting that we didn’t include any proper musical dance scenes of the likes of...
It’s easy to dismiss the idea of the “Canadian bombshell” because our film industry is relatively young, and perhaps we don’t have the Greta Garbos, Marilyn Monroes or Ava Gardners of Hollywood’s silver screen era. Let’s not even talk about the semi-secretly Canadians, actresses like Rachel McAdams, or Battlestar Galactica‘s sexiest Cylon, Tricia Helfer. Let’s just confine the conversation to Canucks who continue to support the homegrown industry even as their careers have blossomed and perhaps taken them south of the border. For every hot babe archetype that exists in Hollywood or in our collective imaginations, there’s a prime Canadian example. We’re...
For three years now, I’ve had the privilege of working with the TFS team. It’s certainly been a uniquely fun experience for me to share my love of film and Toronto with this team of amazing individuals and with you, the readers. I consider myself a film enthusiast. With no scholastic background in the industry besides criticism and appreciation, I at least know movies. Or I know what I think, and in this day and age, conviction is everything. Writing for this website, I have discovered some rather important details about my character that it may be necessary to point...
I’m super excited about the release of Zero Dark Thirty this week, starring the extremely talented and beautiful Bryce Dallas Howard. No wait, Jessica Chastain. No, Bryce Dallas Howard. Damn it. It’s just really hard to tell those two apart sometimes. To be honest, looking at those two standing next to eachother gives me an uneasy feeling on the level of having to put on a pair of wet denim jeans (which is the WORST). That is until I look at pictures of these other Hollywood look-alikes, which all together make me want to sit in a cupboard in a...
As I was watching the Academy Awards just a little over a week ago, it struck me yet again just how vast the discrepancies are in how the media represents gender. While the pre-show coverage of the red carpet arrivals is devoted primarily to admiring how the women are dressed and coiffed, the actual ceremony itself featured very few women actually accepting awards. In fact, only one of the nine Best Picture nominees this year was directed by a woman, and there were very few women nominated in the majority of the prestigious behind-the-scenes categories like Best Director, Best Original...
We should all see more Japanese films – and TIFF Bell Lightbox’s massive Spotlight on Japan series of programmes makes this easy. A few years ago, my brother broadly introduced me to Asian cinema. We watched violent Korean action movies like Old Boy, Chinese tragedies such as Farewell My Concubine. However, when we watched Japan’s vicious – yet sort of funny – Battle Royale and Visitor Q, I realized that something especially weird and wonderful happens on the Japanese screen. You have a choice of alluring programs: Tokyo Drifters, Japanese Divas and The Catch: Masterworks of Eighties Japanese Cinema. I...
We all know how Quentin Tarantino, cinema’s great magpie, loves to pay homage (or steal) from famous ““ and sometimes obscure ““ movies. Django Unchained is no exception. So to prepare you for his forthcoming western, here are five fun references to other spaghetti western flicks and why Django is unchained. 1. Franco Nero ““ the one and only Django. We’ve all seen the trailer where Jamie Foxx tells an old man at a bar “˜the D is silent’, right? Cult movie fans will understand this in-joke in a flash. Back in 1966 Franco Nero starred as the eponymous hero...
During the lead up to the Oscars every winter, much ink is spilled discussing what studio prestige release is going to win Best Picture and which high profile name will be trumphant in the Best Director/Actor/Actress categories. There are, however, 20 other categories to consider, including Best Live Action Short which actor/writer/director Shawn Christensen knows a thing or two about: his film Curfew is in the running to take home the golden statuette on February 24. The film follows the story of Richie (played by Christensen) who’s depressed and borderline suicidal yet agrees to take care of his nine-year-old niece...
When Samuel L. Jackson pops up midway through Quentin Tarantino’s latest, Django Unchained, as house slave Stephen, you might be forgiven for doing a serious double take. Is it really him? That hairline! Those jowls! Those eyebrows! But it is, and that’s the power of make-up artists for you. While Jackson is just about identifiable, Hollywood history is littered with examples of actors who’ve disappeared under so much make-up that their billing at first seems a mystery. Here’s our pick of the unrecognizables. Who did we miss? Tell us in the comments below. John Hurt in The Elephant Man (David...
