Only seven movies open in Toronto this week, and trust me, it’s a relief. Even if I did end up covering six of them …
ABCs of Death 2: The second anthology is as much of a mixed bag as the first, though the strong ones here are really strong.
Before I Go to Sleep: Nicole Kidman plays a woman with memory problems who finds herself questioning her reality. Rad says not to bother, though.
Force Majeure: Swedish director Ruben Östlund goes all Haneke on the nuclear family in this jet-black comedy of bourgeois manners. I heartily approve this event or product.
Horns: Daniel Radcliffe puts a lot of heart into Alexandre Aja’s magic-realist horror fable — though it doesn’t quite justify the two-hour running time.
Maps to the Stars: David Cronenberg’s toothless Hollywood satire wastes a very talented cast. At least Julianne Moore got an award out of it.
Nightcrawler: Dan Gilroy’s effective if narrow-minded tabloid-television thriller is kept humming by a fantastic Jake Gyllenhaal performance. (Riz Ahmed does some nice work on the sidelines, too.)
Young Ones: Michael Shannon, Nicholas Hoult, Kodi Smit-McPhee and Elle Fanning are ideally cast — if underserved — in Jake Paltrow’s near-future Western.
And that is that. Happy Halloween, everybody! Don’t eat any monsters by mistake.
Horns is only in one theatre? It’s Hallowe’en, and a movie starring a recognizable actor sprouting horns is only opening in one theatre? And, fond memories of the Carlton aside, not even a good theatre. Crap! What gives? I thought I might have to trek downtown to see it, but this is surprising.
VVS released it on VOD earlier this week; the theatrical run feels like more of a courtesy, to be honest.
Thanks. Didn’t even occur to me it would be on demand. I’m working tonight but I know what I’ll be renting for a belated Hallowe’en tomorrow. I know you gave it kind of a middling review, but the trailer looks like fun. (“Damn right, they’re horns!”) I’m surprised whoever decides these things didn’t have enough confidence in it given such an appropriate release date. Worse stuff makes money on Hallowe’en.