Bruce Kirkland
Tomatometer-approved critic
Movies reviews only
| Rating | T-Meter | Title | Year | Review |
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Live by Night (2016) |
Live by Night is a solid, interesting but sprawling and often overwrought gangster picture. - Toronto Sun
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| Posted Jan 13, 2017
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Silence (2016) |
Silence requires a leap of faith in its own right. The film is both repetitive and thrilling; it is boring and exhilarating; it will test your patience and expand your mind. Silence is loud, in an astonishingly quiet way. - Toronto Sun
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| Posted Jan 05, 2017
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Fences (2016) |
Serious or not, many films are merely entertainments and are easily forgotten, even if they succeed. But a serious film such as Fences is a privilege to see, not just as a dramatic entertainment but because it reverberates long after it ends. - Toronto Sun
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| Posted Dec 22, 2016
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Assassin's Creed (2016) |
Assassin's Creed slays me: I have rarely had so much fun watching something so stupid. - Toronto Sun
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| Posted Dec 20, 2016
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Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) |
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story does exactly what it is supposed to do by incrementally expanding the Star Wars universe that we already know. - Toronto Sun
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| Posted Dec 13, 2016
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Lion (2016) |
Unless you are an utterly immovable cynic, the Australian melodrama Lion will coax out tears of sadness and of pure joy. - Toronto Sun
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| Posted Dec 08, 2016
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Allied (2016) |
A bitter disappointment. - Toronto Sun
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| Posted Nov 22, 2016
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Moana (2016) |
Paying respect and homage to the Polynesian culture and its ancient mythology, the Walt Disney animation Moana is as culturally rich as it is entertaining. - Toronto Sun
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| Posted Nov 22, 2016
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The Edge of Seventeen (2016) |
The Edge of Seventeen is charming, thoughtful, a little crazy, often funny and sometimes touching in a very real way. It makes you feel that the high school movie genre still has merit, even in Hollywood hands. - Toronto Sun
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| Posted Nov 17, 2016
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Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016) |
While it falters and even bogs down at moments in the storytelling, Beasts is a dazzling spectacle overall and more often spellbinding than not. - Toronto Sun
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| Posted Nov 16, 2016
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Ouija: Origin of Evil (2016) |
Ouija: Origin of Evil is sadly derivative, totally stupid, routinely cheeseball and ultimately disappointing. - Toronto Sun
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| Posted Oct 20, 2016
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Kevin Hart: What Now? (2016) |
I would strongly suggest that only those people who are already on-board with Hart's profane, raucous, scatological and often rude family humour go to see this film. If you feel neutral or negative already, - Toronto Sun
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| Posted Oct 13, 2016
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The Accountant (2016) |
In the end, with all its tortuous twists, The Accountant still does not add up. - Toronto Sun
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| Posted Oct 13, 2016
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The Girl on the Train (2016) |
The only reason to endure this dismal story is to watch Blunt strut her stuff. - Toronto Sun
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| Posted Oct 06, 2016
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Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (2016) |
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is worth a visit. Just don't stay too long. It could be dangerous for your health. - Toronto Sun
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| Posted Sep 29, 2016
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Snowden (2016) |
While the drama here is straight forward and conventional, Stone turns a brilliant trick by visually showing how computer spying is conducted. We do not have to understand how it works to appreciate what it does -- because Stone skillfully shows us. - Toronto Sun
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| Posted Sep 15, 2016
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Sully (2016) |
It may not be a classic, but it is enormously crowd-pleasing for the story and its reminder that ordinary people can do extraordinary things in a crisis. - Toronto Sun
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| Posted Sep 08, 2016
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Suicide Squad (2016) |
[It was up to Ayer] to revitalize...the DC franchise. He has done just that, with a singular vision, an unbridled passion and a creative vengeance that is so bold and so bad (in a colourfully good way) that it leaves viewers breathless. - Toronto Sun
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| Posted Aug 03, 2016
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The Legend of Tarzan (2016) |
While The Legend of Tarzan is hardly going to become legendary, it is strong entertainment with an interesting socio-political background. - Toronto Sun
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| Posted Jun 30, 2016
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Free State of Jones (2016) |
Free State of Jones is a great opportunity lost. - Toronto Sun
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| Posted Jun 23, 2016
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Central Intelligence (2016) |
I like Central Intelligence, even when it is being stupid. - Toronto Sun
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| Posted Jun 16, 2016
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Finding Dory (2016) |
Finding Dory is delightful throughout, dazzling during its many highlight scenes and just a tad disorienting on rare occasions. - Toronto Sun
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| Posted Jun 16, 2016
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Me Before You (2016) |
Me Before You will jerks some tears, maybe even from cynics. - Toronto Sun
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| Posted Jun 02, 2016
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Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016) |
Alice, of Alice in Wonderland fame, is dead to me now. Alice Through the Looking Glass has killed her off as a viable character for a movie. - Toronto Sun
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| Posted May 26, 2016
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The Nice Guys (2016) |
It creates great on-screen chemistry between Gosling and Crowe - as brute adversaries who partner up as private eyes to solve a criminal conspiracy. And it blows your mind with its sense of absurdity - even while making the crime caper count. - Toronto Sun
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| Posted May 19, 2016
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X-Men: Apocalypse (2016) |
Piece by piece, Singer fits this ninth film in the franchise (which includes Deadpool) into the X-Men universe like a master puzzle maker. He does it so well, at least in terms of storytelling, that the X-Men franchise still has a vigorous future. - Toronto Sun
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| Posted May 12, 2016
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Money Monster (2016) |
The film could be better -- and it should be better, considering the depth of the talent involved. - Toronto Sun
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| Posted May 12, 2016
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Captain America: Civil War (2016) |
If you do not count Guardians of the Galaxy -- because it remains an eccentric outlier -- Civil War now easily ranks as the best movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. - Toronto Sun
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| Posted May 03, 2016
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Precious Cargo (2016) |
The stupid plot, dismal dialogue, moral turpitude and dispiriting torpor of this movie makes watching it utterly pointless. - Toronto Sun
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| Posted Apr 28, 2016
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The Huntsman: Winter's War (2016) |
The Huntsman: Winter's War is as beautiful as its macho lead actor Chris Hemsworth is handsome. The movie is also as vacuous, silly and boring as Hemsworth is awkward and awful in the title role. - Toronto Sun
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| Posted Apr 21, 2016
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The Jungle Book (2016) |
Walt Disney Studios' splendid new version of The Jungle Book is utterly charming, absolutely gorgeous and perhaps too terrifying for the youngest and most impressionable children. - Toronto Sun
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| Posted Apr 14, 2016
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Barbershop: The Next Cut (2016) |
As politically savvy as it is raucous and funny, Barbershop: The Next Cut is a stylish cut above its predecessors. - Toronto Sun
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| Posted Apr 14, 2016
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Criminal (2016) |
Criminal is a screwed-up mess as a story and as an action movie with a so-called moral lesson in it. In fact, the more I think about it, the less I like it. - Toronto Sun
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| Posted Apr 14, 2016
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Hardcore Henry (2015) |
The relentless action flick Hardcore Henry is totally nuts and a lot of fun for freaks. - Toronto Sun
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| Posted Apr 07, 2016
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Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) |
Half of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is brilliant. Unfortunately, the other half of Zack Snyder's epic-length superhero movie is so bloated that it blunts the effect of the good stuff. - Toronto Sun
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| Posted Mar 22, 2016
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Chi-Raq (2015) |
Never subtle, always strident and absolutely necessary. - Toronto Sun
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| Posted Mar 17, 2016
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Zootopia (2016) |
The result is a slam-dunk candidate for best animated feature in next year's Oscars. But the pleasure now comes in appreciating the sumptuous artistry. - Toronto Sun
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| Posted Mar 03, 2016
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Zoolander No. 2 (2016) |
An incoherent and idiotic mess. - Toronto Sun
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| Posted Feb 11, 2016
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How to Be Single (2016) |
Turning the usual boy-meets-girl conventions topsy-turvy -- and letting women decide whether it is better to be with, or move on from the men in their lives -- is refreshing and interesting. - Toronto Sun
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| Posted Feb 11, 2016
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Hail, Caesar! (2016) |
Stacked with an all-star cast led by George Clooney, Josh Brolin and Scarlett Johansson, and packed with 1950s details about how the Hollywood studio system operated in all its self-indulgent glory in that era, Hail, Caesar! is a sly satire. - Toronto Sun
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| Posted Feb 04, 2016
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The 5th Wave (2016) |
This American movie is wretchedly written and badly directed and edited. - Toronto Sun
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| Posted Jan 21, 2016
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The Revenant (2015) |
There is so much to like and admire and study closely, including DiCaprio's mature, committed, ruthless and yet empathetic performance. - Toronto Sun
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| Posted Jan 07, 2016
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The Hateful Eight (2015) |
The Hateful Eight is a crackling yarn with a deep well of meaning and socio-political commentary. - Toronto Sun
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| Posted Dec 23, 2015
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Joy (2015) |
David O. Russell brings his Joy to the world with a wonky sense of humour and the genius of young actress Jennifer Lawrence. - Toronto Sun
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| Posted Dec 21, 2015
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Sisters (2015) |
You feel that there is a good and maybe even a meaningful comedy here. But it never gets its act together. - Toronto Sun
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| Posted Dec 17, 2015
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Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) |
We get to spend a lot of fun and/or dramatic time with Ford's Solo, while Ridley's Rey and Boyega's Finn give us a pair of dynamic new heroes to follow in future Star Wars Episodes. - Toronto Sun
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| Posted Dec 16, 2015
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In the Heart of the Sea (2015) |
It is mounted as a handsome period piece in period style, except for the modern special effects to make the close-ups of the whale look real. But it is also a bridge to modern thinking and a desperately thrilling adventure story. - Toronto Sun
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| Posted Dec 10, 2015
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Creed (2015) |
Creed is not just a knockout boxing movie, it coaxes Rocky Balboa off the mat and revives an iconic American hero. - Toronto Sun
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| Posted Nov 24, 2015
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The Good Dinosaur (2015) |
The Good Dinosaur is a good movie for young audiences -- and for parents who want to share a prehistoric moral fable with their children. - Toronto Sun
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| Posted Nov 24, 2015
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The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2 (2015) |
The Hunger Games, which kicked off in a blaze of guts 'n' glory in 2012, ends now with a sad whimper, along with a lot of big bangs signifying nothing. - Toronto Sun
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| Posted Nov 20, 2015
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