Staff
Get Him to the Greek
2010 (Nicholas Stoller) 14A, 108 min
Starring: Elizabeth Moss, Jonah Hill, Rose Byrne, Russell Brand
North American audiences got a taste of British superstar Russell Brand last year when he appeared in Forgetting Sarah Marshall as girlfriend-stealing rock god Aldous Snow, and Hollywood was wise enough to turn the show over to him for this not-quite sequel (although Sarah Marshall does make a brief appearance). This time he’s due for a comeback—if a music company gofer (Hill) can shepherd his hedonistic and easily distracted charge to L.A. for the big show. Writers Stoller and Jason Segel (now working on The Greatest Muppet Movie Ever Made) balance gross-out (Hill spends a lot of time wearing his own vomit) with smart comedy, but the film rides on Brand’s magnetism, as he fleshes out one of the funniest, and surprisingly complex, characters of the year.
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Just Docs Media Festival
2010 STC, 120 min
Find out what will inspire what the next generation of filmmakers at this digital cinema festival sponsored by Bishop Marrocco Thomas Merton C.S.S. The Revue Cinema is one of three screening venues for the school, located at Dundas and Bloor St. W. The festival is designed to encourage young videographers and animators in the production of justice- and ethics-based videos. Visit http://www.justdocsfestival.com/ for more information
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Sweet Smell of Success
1957 (Alexander Mackendrick) PG, 96 min
Starring: Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis
J.J. Hunsecker (Lancaster), a powerful and ruthless Broadway columnist for the New York Globe, can make or break reputations with ease. He coerces sycophantic publicist Sidney Falco (Curtis) into trying to destroy the reputation of an up-and-coming jazz musician in love with Hunsecker’s sister. Brilliant acting, James Wong Howe’s exceptional camera work and a powerful jazz score make this dark story of seamy wheeling and dealing an uncomfortable yet compelling experience. Hunsecker’s character was inspired by Walter Winchell, the newspaper and radio commentator who invented the gossip column and commanded a readership of some 50 million people before television challenged print’s hegemony.
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Witness for the Prosecution
1957 (Billy Wilder) PG, 116 min
Starring: Charles Laughton, Marlene Dietrich, Tyrone Power
No question, Charles Laughton steals the show as ailing but canny brandy-nipping, cigar-smoking barrister Sir Wilfred Robarts, while his real-life wife Elsa Lanchester plays a perfect foil as his puritannical nurse. The plot is pure Agatha Christie with requisite red herrings and plot twists. Wilder’s fast-paced directing, coupled with the powerful cast, including the inscrutable, hollow-cheeked Dietrich, keep the courtroom scenes perking. Nominated for six Oscars, Witness and many other exceptional films were bested by The Bridge on the River Kwai.
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