My review of Surf’s Up is now up at CT Movies. Read more

Looking for reviews of Not the Messiah, the oratorio based on Monty Python’s Life of Brian (1979) which premiered in Toronto last Friday? Here are a few for your reading pleasure. First, John Terauds of the Toronto Star: Not the Messiah (He’s a Very Naughty Boy) felt like a time capsule of the best of 1970s British humour, with the old double-entendres and verbal shtick neatly laid out in sealed glass cases. . . . On stage with the TSO... Read more

The newest issue of BC Christian News is now online, and with it, my film column, which looks mainly at Spider-Man 3, but also touches on Shrek the Third and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End. The paper also includes an edited version of my summer-movie preview article for Faith & Friends. Read more

The official website for Indiana Jones IV has confirmed that Cate Blanchett and Ray Winstone are in the new movie, as is John Hurt, whose name I have not seen on these lists before — but not Sean Connery, who has issued a statement making his non-involvement official (“retirement is just too damned much fun”, etc.). Connery does wish cast and crew all the best, though, and he gives “Junior” some advice, including: “Demand that the critters be digital”. Reading... Read more

Chris Knight of the National Post notes that three of the top six movies at the North American box office last weekend happened to revolve around pregnant women (and a pregnant ogre). In Shrek the Third, the pregnancy represents a reasonably happy addition (or set of additions) to a reasonably happy marriage. But in Waitress, the marriage is a distinctly unhappy one, and in Knocked Up, there is no marriage at all — in fact, beyond the original one-night stand,... Read more

That story about Mike Figgis “shooting a pilot”? Didn’t happen. Read more

It might seem like old news now, but my review of Spider-Man 3 is now up at ChristianWeek; a slightly longer version is in the current issue of BC Christian News, which is not yet online. Read more

Josh Hurst is taking a break from his Reel News column for CT Movies this week, so I contributed this week’s item, which synthesizes various stories I’ve linked to here before regarding films made in Nigeria, Kenya and Rwanda. Read more

Here are the figures for the past weekend, arranged from those that owe the highest percentage of their take to the Canadian box office to those that owe the lowest. Away from Her — CDN $711,944 — N.AM $3,253,000 — 21.9%Georgia Rule — CDN $2,310,000 — N.AM $18,109,000 — 12.8%Fracture — CDN $4,800,000 — N.AM $38,052,000 — 12.6%Spider-Man 3 — CDN $31,910,000 — N.AM $318,264,000 — 10.0%28 Weeks Later — CDN $2,620,000 — N.AM $26,577,000 — 9.9%Shrek the Third —... Read more