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Bruce Demara, Toronto Star

  1. 5 Broken Cameras 2012 Israeli filmmaker Guy Davidi helps shape all of the footage into a compelling and very personal documentary, helping to craft the eloquent commentary in Burnat's voice that knits it all together. full review
  2. Bernie 2012 Bernie isn't a particularly likeable guy and Black's opaque performance never lets us get beneath the surface to find a character we might actually care about. full review
  3. Citadel 2012 While Foy's efforts to create his own distinct modern urban mythos are ambitious, the result isn't entirely satisfying. full review
  4. Dangerous Liaisons 2012 [A] lusty and sumptuous retelling of the classic pre-French Revolution novel, Les Liaisons Dangereuses. full review
  5. House at the End of the Street 2012 A thriller with a twisted ending that feels clumsy, laboured and unconvincing throughout. full review
  6. How to Survive a Plague 2012 Presents a valuable template for how grassroots activism can temper societal prejudice and challenge governmental indifference in the face of a mysterious and remorseless killer. full review
  7. Lovely Molly 2012 Sanchez ratchets up the tension incrementally - things heard and not quite seen - creating a mood of unease that graduates in stages into full-blown horror. full review
  8. Red Lights 2012 A clever thriller, bolstered by three great performances. full review
  9. Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale 2012 An ambitious, blood-soaked retelling of an uprising by Taiwanese natives against Japanese occupiers. full review
  10. Bones Brigade: An Autobiography 2011 An exhaustive - no, make that exhausting - look at a team of young skateboarders ... full review
  11. Dirty Girl 2011 Dirty Girl broadcasts its intent to be edgy and subversive - poking fun throughout at small-town, conservative attitudes toward sex and morality - without ever achieving subversion. full review
  12. Judy Moody and the NOT Bummer Summer 2011 Were parents ever this indulgent? Were guardians ever this permissive? Were childhood summers ever this carefree? No, no and no. full review
  13. Like Crazy 2011 Those seeking a fresh take on romance will find Like Crazy almost existentially tepid. full review
  14. Mysteries of Lisbon 2011 Based on the sprawling 19th-century novel by Camilo Castelo Branco, Chilean director Raul Ruiz renders an equally sprawling tale filled with love and war, violence and vengeance and the search for identity. full review
  15. No Strings Attached 2011 What elevates No Strings Attached above the average (usually awful) romantic comedy is a decent script, the sure hand of veteran director Ivan Reitman and the likeable performances of stars Portman and Kutcher. full review
  16. Tatsumi 2011 Singaporean director Eric Khoo's stylishly impressive homage to the mangaka, converting his memoir, A Drifting Life, into a cinematic work employing animation that is true to Tatsumi's original work. full review
  17. True Legend 2011 full review
  18. We Were Here 2011 It is both a testament to the fallen and a series of life lessons from five brave survivors, lessons about finding the best in ourselves in the worst of times. full review
  19. Marwencol 2010 Director Jeff Malmberg sees something in Hogancamp that he wants all of us to see, an imperfect human scarred by horrific trauma who nonetheless finds a reason to live. full review
  20. Senna 2010 Real life eclipses fiction in delivering a tale that combines heroism, villainy, suspense and a surprising amount of emotional resonance. full review
  21. The Whistleblower 2010 It reminds us that there are those, in war or in peace, who will always seek to degrade and exploit, with a precious few others to speak out against injustice. full review
  22. The Hunting Party 2007 Politics aside, The Hunting Party is a breezy, occasionally bumpy ride that ultimately becomes a satisfying journey. full review