In theatres this week...
Exodus: Gods and Kings
Ridley Scott's new film pits Christian Bale and Joel Edgerton against each other, as Moses and Ramses, in the well-known (and also Heston-treated) Biblical tale of brothers at war set in Ancient Egypt.
The film hasn't fared well in the ratings game – it has just a 26 per cent approval on Rotten Tomatoes right now – despite its star power and $140 million budget.
In his review published Friday, The Atlantic's Christopher Orr writes:
"There are giant crocodiles and chariot chases and tidal waves and quite possibly the most bewildering array of accents – both genuine and affected – ever to be collected in a single motion picture... This is a film that aspires to be an action flick, a character study, and a theological meditation, and fails on each count."
The Imitation Game
Although it was released in November and has been on the tips of critics' tongues since it won TIFF's top prize in September.
The film stars Benedict Cumberbatch as famous English code-breaker Alan Turing, co-stars Keira Knightley, and has received its share of Oscar attention and rave reviews – the Toronto Star's Peter Howell calls it "one of the best films of 2014".
"No code breaking is necessary to suss the Oscar odds of The Imitation Game, a handsome and stirring film of Second World War ingenuity that also succeeds as cracking good entertainment," Howell writes.
"It combines historical fact (or a reasonable facsimile thereof) with the dynamics of a thriller, since the lives of Allied multitudes depend on wresting intel advantage from the Nazis."