Reviews by Vickie

I'm one of Moviepie's staff writers, and I've been reviewing films and film festivals — including TIFF, the (now-defunct) Worldwide Short Film Festival, and Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival — here for more than 20 years. I'm based in Toronto, and although I'll sit through just about any genre (except horror), my absolute fave films are documentaries: I see 50+ at Hot Docs every year! That said, I've also seen You've Got Mail more than 100 times (a conservative estimate!) and quote from it almost daily.

Pitch Perfect (2012)

Pitch Perfect (2012)

A funny, fabulous, feel-good romp right from the get-go, Pitch Perfect takes the standard competition-comedy formula and applies to the world of collegiate a cappella groups. At the center of this harmonic convergence is Beca (Anna Kendrick, delivering a deliciously dry and droll performance), a Barton University freshman with...

Vickie
Total Recall (2012)

Total Recall (2012)

Beckinsale is Lori, the mild-mannered-wife-turned-ruthless-government-agent in this updated, CGi-heavy version of the 1990 film of the same name, and both are based on a short story by Philip K. Dick. Lori is married to factory worker Doug Quaid (Colin Farrell), and they live quite happily in a dystopian society...

Vickie
The Odd Life of Timothy Green (2012)

The Odd Life of Timothy Green (2012)

Jennifer Garner and Joel Edgerton co-star as happily married Cindy and Jim Green, who have given up the hope of having children after numerous fertility treatments fail to yield results. After an evening spent mourning the loss of their planned future and imagining what their dream child would have...

Vickie
The Bourne Legacy

The Bourne Legacy

Yet, there it is, hitting screens with a clunk thanks to a meh leading man, a needlessly confusing plot and the kind of storytelling that would be great if you were hoping to nod off for a while, but not at all great if you’re trying to convince people...

Vickie
The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)

The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)

Honestly, this is a bonafide summer blockbuster that totally lives up to its hype, successfully reboots an already-successful franchise and actually outdoes its not-so-distant predecessors. Under the skilled and surprisingly adept-given-his-past-credits guidance of director Marc Webb (500 Days of Summer), this version of the Spider-Man tale takes all the...

Vickie
Sparkle

Sparkle

Set in Detroit in the 1960s, the film purportedly centers on its titular songstress (Sparks), the youngest of three sisters who start to ascend the musical ranks in the Motor City before their path to stardom hits a whole lot of rocky patches. Eldest sister Sister (Carmen Ejogo, who’s...

Vickie
Ghosts of the Abyss 3D (2003)

Ghosts of the Abyss 3D (2003)

Clocking it at around an hour, the 3-D documentary is, nonetheless, impressive and surprisingly moving. The film follows actor Bill Paxton (who was in Cameron’s Titanic) as he, Cameron and a team of historians, scientists and Russian dive experts trek to the North Atlantic for an unprecedented deep, deeeeep...

Vickie
Snow White and the Huntsman (2012)

Snow White and the Huntsman (2012)

Sprawling in scope and Tolkiensian in execution, Snow… takes the classic fairy tale and turns it into a grittier, darker story about the titular tomboyish princess (a miscast Kristen Stewart, who can’t seem to shake the air of apathy from her performances), who’s imprisoned, and then hunted, by her...

Vickie
Savages

Savages

Anchored in the gruesomely violent world of Mexican drug cartels – who don’t take kindly to interlopers, competition or the word “no” – the film is based on Don Winslow’s novel of the same, and tells the story of best buds Chon (Taylor Kitsch) and Ben (Aaron Johnson). Chon’s...

Vickie
Ruby Sparks

Ruby Sparks

Paul Dano stars as Calvin, a once-lauded wunderkind author whose debut novel became a global sensation but who’s battled sophomore syndrome – and severe writer’s block tinged with loneliness – in the decade or so since hitting it big. A benign writing exercise from his shrink (Elliott Gould) then...

Vickie
People Like Us (2012)

People Like Us (2012)

In a performance that is powerful and yet beautifully nuanced, Elisabeth Banks walks away with every scene she’s in and proves herself a formidable acting talent in a way she never has before. Inspired by true events, the film tells the story of Sam (Chris Pine), a salesman up...

Vickie
Brave (2012)

Brave (2012)

Here’s one of my favorite things about this grrrrl-power, action-comedy from Pixar: I honestly had no idea what it was about when I sat down to watch. The filmmakers, voice actors and studio have done an excellent job keeping plot details tightly under wraps, so all I knew going...

Vickie