Tyson: 7 out of 10. In 1993, I recorded a Tyson documentary entitled "Fallen Champ".  I can't tell you how many times I watched that doc.  Before the Buster Douglas fight, I thought Tyson was invincible.  That was his 38th fight. We all know what happened next.  Buster Douglas, a

The Young People's Theatre, or Lorraine Kimsa Theatre for Young People (LKTYP) as it's now known, hosted the North American premiere tonight of The Monster Under the Bed.  I was lucky enough to catch it from the first row with my kids, who wore their pyjamas to this giant PJ

Run Fatboy Run: 6.5 out of 10. We actually sat down to watch Crank: High Voltage.  I liked Crank enough to give it 6.5 out of 10, so I figured the sequel might be worth a shot.  I was wrong. We couldn't get through 20 minutes of Crank:

Crazy Heart: 8.5 out of 10. Crazy Heart reminded me a great deal of The Wrestler.  Both films are about a down and out former great who meets a good woman and attempts to resolve issues with their offspring.  The Wrestler, which I very much liked, had an open

Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel: 4 out of 10. I'm not going to lie, I don't like seeing old friends like David Cross, Jason Lee and Wendie Malick like this, but this movie wasn't made for me.  It was made for the kids. My wife and I took 17

Up in the Air: 8 out of 10. I've heard from a few trustworthy souls that this is a perfect movie.  It's not that good.  Don't get me wrong, I'm giving it 8 out of 10 because... well, because it's lovely, but it's far from perfect. Then again, it does

Star Trek: 8 out of 10. If I had written this review a year ago, it would actually be relevant.  As it stands, the vast majority of people who will ever see Star Trek have already done so.  As a result, I'm strictly writing this for the non-Trekkie hold-outs. Last

Avatar: 9 out of 10. We'll keep this review brief. Avatar is as good as you've heard, if not better.  You're essentially drawn into an alien world and you're not released for 162 minutes.  And then you're sorry you have to leave. I tried to see it in IMAX 3D,

Knowing: 6 out of 10. Some reviewers I know and trust loved this film, so my expectations were a little higher than they'd normally be for a Nick Cage sci fi movie.  It's not a bad movie.  In fact, it's kind of neat in spots, and practically thought provoking, but

Fantastic Mr. Fox: 8.5 out of 10. In a word, this film is fantastic.  Betcha didn't see that coming, eh? This is one of those rare films that fulfils both the 35-year old and the 7-year old.  I can personally attest to this.  It nails both audiences in terms

The Astronaut Farmer: 3 out of 10. I hated The Astronaut Farmer.  Rotten Tomatoes has it at 58% and I find that shocking.  The Astronaut Farmer is the worst kind of cinema and should be avoided at all cost. It's good to have dreams.  When this Farmer chap decides he's

Wendy and Lucy: 7 out of 10. I must confess, I had never heard of Wendy and Lucy.  My wife essentially ordered me to watch it and for 80 minutes I was drawn into Michelle Williams' character's world. Michelle Williams is fantastic in this, by the way.  This ain't no

Anvil! The Story of Anvil: 9 out of 10. I've been looking forward to this one. It just seemed like my kind of documentary.  I'm happy to report it was well worth the wait. Anvil! The Story of Anvil is awesome!!!1!1!! Read this little synopsis and tell me

Son of Rambow: 6.5 out of 10. Much like Where the Wild Things Are, which I saw the previous day, Son of Rambow is about the wonders of a child's imagination.  It's a very cute and charming little British film about a sheltered boy who is shown a pirated

Where the Wild Things Are: 6.5 7 out of 10. I've been looking forward to this Spike Jonze adaptation of Maurice Sendak's book since I first saw that great trailer featuring Arcade Fire's "Wake Up".  But luke-warm reviews removed the urgency.  Yesterday, on a rare afternoon without kids to

Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father: 9 out of 10. "Dear Zachary" is a documentary by Kurt Kuenne for the son of his close friend Andrew Bagby who was murdered by Newfoundlander Shirley Jane Turner.  It is the best film I've seen this year. Watching "Dear

Paul Blart: Mall Cop: 2.5 out of 10. Wow. That was bad.  It wasn't so bad it's good bad.  It was the bad bad.  The comedy without a single laugh or compelling moment bad. I'm giving it a 2.5 because my 7-year old seemed to really enjoy the

Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project: 7.5 out of 10. Full disclosure: I've always loved Rickles.  He's the best of the insult comics, and I love insult comics.  Rickles is damn funny, and I love funny. Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project is a great little documentary by John

Yes Man: 6 out of 10. I think Jim Carrey is now making the same movie over and over again.  They have these silly and simple premises, such as "Jim Carrey can't tell a lie" or "Jim Carrey says yes to everything", and then hilarity ensues. Ok, it's not quite

Changeling: 6.6 out of 10. Clint Eastwood has made several better films than this, but even if Changeling doesn't measure up to Unforgiven, Million Dollar Baby and his other superior movies, it's still a great deal better than most of the slop out there. Angelina Jolie plays the primary

Vicky Cristina Barcelona: 7 out of 10. There was a time when I could bank on Woody Allen for one smart comedy a year.  You could set your watch by his consistency.  These days, he's hit and miss, but Vicky Cristina Barcelona is a hit. It's light and easy.  It's

Passchendaele: 4 out of 10. When I wrote about the Passchendaele trailer back in March of 2008, I mentioned how much I was looking forward to seeing the film.  The most expensive Canadian film project of all time about the 10th Battalion, CEF in the First World War at the

Smart People: 4 out of 10. Smart People is a pretentious piece of crap.  At 95 minutes, I thought it would never end. The voice Dennis Quaid puts on to seem pompous is so annoying, I wanted to kick his ass, but not in an engaging, effective way.  He was

Toronto Stories: 6 out of 10. Last December, the PR folks behind this Canadian indie film contacted me and asked me to help promote it.  They sent me the DVD to review, but in typical Canadian indie film promotion fashion, the DVD had no audio. I let my contact know

Step Brothers: 6.5 out of 10. Roger Ebert, your job is safe.  This movie reviewing thing is hard.  I recently watched a Coen Brothers film I had high hopes for, thought it was okay and punished it with a 6.5 out of 10 rating.  Then, I watched this