Blu-Ray Review: The Editor

By Brendan Ross

Those crazy Astron-6 kids have done it again! This time around the Winnipeg collective have made their most ambitious film yet: both a spoof and a love letter to giallo cinema of the 1970s and 1980s. For those not familiar, the term giallo refers to a very specific genre of arthouse-meets-grindhouse thrillers from Italy, recognizable just as much for their beautifully stylized aesthetics as for their bizarrely convoluted story lines and hysterically poor overdubbed dialogue. If you are familiar with the works of Dario Argento, Lucio Fulci, or Mario Bava then you probably know what I’m talking about. If not, go watch Deep Red, The Beyond, and Bay Of Blood right now. I’ll wait here…

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DVD Review: Party Down: The Complete Series

By Brendan Ross

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Blu-Ray Review: Cop Car

By Brendan Ross

Cop Car is a Colorado-set thriller about two rambunctious young boys who discover an abandoned police cruiser and, with an underdeveloped sense of right from wrong, end up taking it for a joyride. Things get sticky when it turns out sheriff Kevin Bacon was only temporarily parking his cruiser while busy disposing of a corpse in the woods. Upon returning to find that his car was highjacked, Bacon sets out to find the young boys responsible before they check the trunk. Dun dunn dunnnnnn.

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Neon Dreams Will Bring Your Neo-Noir Fantasies To Life

By Less Lee Moore

Streets of Fire

If you live in the Toronto area and you love movies, you might already know about The Royal Theatre on College Street. But did you know that every month, programmer Brendan Ross takes over The Royal for one night devoted to the best of neo-noir cinema from the 1970s, 1980s, and beyond? Featuring such classics as Body Double, Risky Business, To Live and Die in L.A., and Streets Of Fire, Ross’s Neon Dreams Cinema Club is one of the city’s best kept cinematic secrets.

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Top Five: TIFF 2015 Picks From Brendan Ross

By Brendan Ross

Green Room

As much as I enjoy watching Willem Dafoe movies and crazy 1980s music videos on YouTube, sometimes I need to break out of my comfort zone. Here are my fave choices from this year’s TIFF lineup. P.S. I may or may not have a man-crush on Ben Wheatley.

GREEN ROOM:

Patrick Stewart as the leader of a white supremacist gang. Do you really need to hear more?

THE LOBSTER:

Dogtooth director Yorgos Lanthimos is back with a film that looks set to satisfy all my existential surrealism AND John C. Reilly needs.

ANOMALISA:

It’s an animated Charlie Kaufman movie for Christ’s sake!

YAKUZA APOCALYPSE:

Because I really want to know what goes on in a Yakuza knitting circle

HIGH-RISE:

Anybody have an extra ticket?

Blu-Ray Review: Miracle Mile

By Brendan Ross

4:00 a.m. A payphone rings outside of an all-night diner in L.A. Our protagonist warily answers it, opening up the line to a frantic missile silo employee lamenting about imminent nuclear destruction set to hit in 70 minutes. Gunshot sounds are heard in the background. A man’s voice takes over the phone.

“Forget everything you’ve just heard and go back to sleep”

This ominously sets the scene for the remaining 70-minute run time of Miracle Mile. The previous 20 minutes, however, set a much different tone.

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Blu-Ray Review: Cherry 2000

By Brendan Ross

The year is 2017 (30 years in the future) and due to some economic turmoil, the United States has essentially turned into a sparsely populated wasteland. Businessman Sam Treadwell (David Andrews), who lives in one of the few remaining civilized communities, comes home after a hard day of businessman work to his “Cherry 2000” (Pamela Gidley), a female love robot. She already has dinner ready for him, and after a healthy dose of preprogrammed ego catering words they are ready to make love. On the kitchen floor. While the future dishwasher runs in overdrive covering the floors, counters, and both of them with soapsuds. Unfortunately, even in the distant future of 2017 electronic water damage still has not been eradicated and Cherry short circuits.

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Concert Review: Shuggie Otis At Lee’s Palace

By Brendan Ross

July 20, 2015
Toronto, ON

You know how sometimes you go see a show with a specific set of songs in mind that you really really want to hear live? You know when you go to that show and none of the songs you “really really want to hear live” get played? You know when that couldn’t possibly matter less and it still ends up being one of the best shows you’ve ever seen?

Hey guys. This was that show.

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NXNE 2015 Review: Jacco Gardner at The Horseshoe Tavern

By Brendan Ross

June 17, 2015
Toronto, ON

It was about a year ago that Jacco Gardner’s debut album Cabinet of Curiosities was introduced to me. I was immediately seduced by its sunny psychedelic melodies, which invoked the 1960s chamber pop style of Syd Barrett, The Zombies, and Love, to name a few. Not the most groundbreakingly original album, no, but it resonated with me instantly and I fell in love. “Clear The Air” very quickly became my 2014 song of the summer.

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