Toronto Real Estate Agents | Julie Kinnear

Julie here, and yes I am a confessed movie and Oscar superfan. This movie was one I was really looking forward to,although I got the sense that it was going to be a dark story line. My rule for all movies is to not know anything about it prior to going to see, other than hearing whether its good or deserves a razzy! (Hence the reason why I try not to give away the story line in my reviews!) You just knew Doubt would be a great film with Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman as the leads. Two stellar actors that never ever go wrong. I was pleasantly surprised that not all the characters in this were dark and dreary. It was actually a fascinating story as it unravelled, and the character development was excellent, despite it being filmed in very few settings in the middle of a cold winter in New York in the early 60's. The acting nominations from the Oscars is well deserved, including Amy Adams and Viola Davis for best supporting roles. Worth going to see. As a little aside, Mary and I actually saw it at the newly reopened independent (and still old school) Kingsway Theatre. Let's hear it for "Whiz" or whomever has taken on this new venture - it is a benefit to the community.

• Rating: ****½

As reviewed by Julie, I went to see this over the holidays. I hadn't heard much about it except that it was getting positive reviews and it featured Brad Pitt! Who knew it would be 3+ hours! It really was a pretty good flick, the pacing did remind me of the movie Forrest Gump. I thought the make up was stellar - Brad through the ages was truly remarkable. They kinda dragged on the first half of the movie, the last half seemed to fly by. Cate Blanchette is a gifted gifted actor and is terrific once again. I am not sure that Brad is the best actor this year - good for him for the nod, probably because he is essentially in every scene. Not sure this movie rocked my world, surprised about the # of nominations to tell you the truth!

• Rating: ***½