Welcome back, Critical Canadian, welcome back.

Welcome back readers I had to take last week off due to bruising all the ribs down my left side. Expect the reviews to be every week Friday at 11pm PST.  The Critical Canadian is becoming a podcast featuring exciting bonuses! Stay tuned for that.

The film "Dogtooth" inhabits a very interesting space. It takes place, for the most part, behind the walls of a mansion in Greece the kids are home-schooled and on the surface are polite and well mannered. However, that is about as far as normalcy extends in this film. The father has gotten it into his mind that outside world is corrupt. Therefore, he has to domesticate his family to prevent the world from corrupting them. This is when the situation begins to spiral wildly out of control. This movie really asks the question: How much of what our parents taught us is true? The movie is Funny, chilling and thought provoking well worth the watch.

"Another Year" centers around a very rare thing a happily married couple in this world of one night stands, social networking and self indulgence it seems we so rarely get it right. This film is a great example of how being around such people can be an oasis in the maelstrom of existence. Few of us are as wonderful people as Tom and Gerri, but I think that it is worth striving to be more like them caring, calm and gentle like your backyard at dusk in the summer warm and comfortable. This film made me smile. I'd recommend watching it with someone you love. Thanks, Kat and Simon for suggesting I watch this movie it was great.

I am going to  confess something to you readers. I know you may have a hard time believing this, but I did not  have strictly pure intentions when I went to see "Sucker punch" in fact, my motivation was along the lines of Emily Browning is gorgeous, and I wouldn't mind watching her put on sexy outfits and look angst ridden for two hours while workmen replace the drywall at my house. Needless to say I wasn't expecting much in the way of a script, and I wasn't disappointed the story is essentially a troubled young woman is institutionalized in a mental hospital by her evil stepfather where she becomes a magical stripper..... no, I'm not kidding. Script aside the visuals are fantastic the director "Zack Snyder" also directed "The 300" and you really do see some amazing eroticized violence I was surprised at a few of the choices not to exploit the actresses in the film the character baby doll is clearly established as being twenty years old when she is checked into the hospital and during her numerous acrobatic moves that cause her skirt to flip up and expose her knickers, they are black and preserve some small sliver of her scant modesty this transmutes the film from exploitative to merely exhibitionistic. However, it does definitely fall short of empowering which I can tell was what they were aiming for. My advice is to wait for it to come to Netflix or DVD and watch it with the sound off terrible, terrible dialogue.

I saw Studio 58's production of "1984" last Friday on opening night courtesy of my uncle,(Thanks Uncle Len!) It's a faithful adaptation of Orwell's book the acting was superb and the actors playing Julia and Winston were very comfortable in the many scenes where physical contact was required if I were to quibble about anything it's that the actor playing Winston Alex Ferguson was, in fact, a little too handsome, whereas I thought Julia was well played by Amy Hall-Cummings arrogant, slightly petulant and sexual. I'd highly recommend you go see it. "1984" runs until April 3rd at The Cultch.