This year’s edition of House of Cards, the Netflix political drama now in its fourth season, largely lives up to expectations. The 13-part series, based on a book by Michael Dobbs and developed for television by Beau Willimon, gets off to a lumbering and disappointing start, but gathers strength as it moves along. By the […]
From 1947 to 1957, approximately 35,000 Holocaust survivors immigrated to Canada, bringing with them a fierce desire to begin their lives anew. Among the arrivals were my parents, David and Genya, who landed in Canada in February of 1948. Fresh from a displaced persons camp in southern Germany, they arrived in Halifax by ship from […]
Bryan Buckley’s dark comedy, The Bronze, which opens in Canada on March 18, is a rollercoaster of a ride, rife with emotions and replete with an engaging cast of characters. At its center is Hope Ann Greggory (Melissa Rauch), an American gymnast who lives on her laurels and can’t adjust to her mundane life after […]
Medically-assisted suicide finally may be legalized in Canada, following a unanimous Supreme Court ruling last September that Canadian adults have a right to end their lives with the help of physicians. With this historic verdict, Canada’s parliament may yet enact legislation allowing terminally ill Canadians to end their lives in dignity. Kathy Wardle, I’m certain, would […]
Anwar al-Awlaki was a lucky guy, at least until his luck ran out. Born into an elite Muslim family from Yemen, he was a member of the lucky sperm club. His father, Nasser, was a government minister and president of a university. Anwar, his son, was superbly educated and possessed the gift of the gab. […]
As Allied armies battered the Wehrmacht on all fronts toward the close of World War II, German Chancellor Adolf Hitler issued an order that all cultural artifacts the Nazis had looted from Jewish collectors, museums and churches should be destroyed. These ran the gamut from paintings and drawings to sculptures and illuminated manuscripts, all worth a […]
Thirty six years have elapsed since the release of Michael Apted’s moving biopic, Coal Miner’s Daughter, starring Sissy Spacek as the American country singer Loretta Lynn. Spacek won an Academy Award for her portrayal of Lynn, whose rags-to-riches story evoked high emotion. Nearly four decades on, at the age of 83, Lynn — a member […]
The classic disaster movie, with its thrills and chills, is a perennial Hollywood staple. The Wave, directed by Roar Uthaug, comes to us from an unexpected source — Norway. Scheduled to open in Canada on March 4, it’s based on an actual incident in 1934 during which a Norwegian town was flooded and destroyed by […]
The Toronto International Film Festival’s subscription series, Food on Film, will be back for a fifth season starting on March 2. Bringing together film fans, foodies and chefs, it will be hosted by author James Beard and culinary photographer Naomi Duguid. Fusing culinary themes with cinema and culture, it’ll present six screenings followed by discussions. Here’s […]
Family secrets can be toxic and embarrassing, and in the worst-case scenario, they can also be extremely divisive. The secret in Shemi Zarhin’s The Kind Words — due to be screened by the Toronto Jewish Film Festival’s Chai Tea & A Movie series on Sunday, February 28 at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. at the Cineplex […]