Inside Job

Filmmaker Mark Donne took to the stage of the East End Film Festival Opening Gala to reassert an unabashed love for his country, inadvertently echoing author JK Rowling’s previous definition of a patriot as someone who gives back to their nation, invests in its potential and favours those less fortunate. The villains of his documentary and opening film The UK Gold do not abide by this compassionate idiom, nor do they care to defend or justify their actions. Rejected outright by the tax avoiders whom he deigned to document, Donne instead took his camera to the likes of Channel 4’s Jon Snow, Private Eye’s Richard Books and UK Uncut’s Danielle Paffard, to have them chronologically chart the spiralling calamity of tax avoidance and its far-reaching consequences.

Chasing Madoff Directed by Jeff Prosserman 2011, USA/Canada, 90 mins. Here are three facts that, taken together, recommend this film. One: Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme bilked investors to the tune of billions. Two: in 1999, it took trader Harry Markopolos about five minutes to uncover the fraud and begin reporting Madoff to the Security and …

Are you already sick of Oscar coverage? Tough luck, ’cause Justine and Simon have some thoughts on the major categories at this year’s festivities, so if you’re planning an Oscar pool – well, maybe look elsewhere, ’cause frankly Simon’s batting average isn’t all that great. (Just ask his wallet.) Anyway, in this first installment, they’ll …

————– Montreal’s greatest arthouse and foreign-film fest, the Festival du Nouveau Cinéma, is back, and this year’s selection is particularly dense, with a rich selection of international prestige pictures as well as freakish low-budget wonders for fringe-dwellers. For anyone who’s overwhelmed, here are a few picks to help make your scheduling a little easier. Enter …

With a mostly disappointing summer season (and that includes you Cannes Film Festival) its time to quit complaining and start looking forward.  There is a multitude of new directors to watch our for and some surprisingly daring studio fare. Many of the films on the list are just being speculated to be released by the end of …