Based on his stage play he wrote, writer/director John Patrick Shanley’s DOUBT tells the drama that erupts between a nun and priest when she suspects him of seducing a young black boy in a catholic school.

TORONTO STORIES begins with a boy (Toka Murphy) whot wanders off from Airport Immigration.  The camera follows him while revealing shots of Toronto that include the famous CN Tower, the city’s busiest street intersection and the shopping district.  For those living or familiar with Toronto, the beginning of TORONTO STORIES springs fond memories of familiar sights.  I am sure the filmmakers are intent of delivering a film that justifies the diversity and excitement of this vibrant city.

NOTHING LIKE THE HOLIDAYS marks the second film this year with the word Christmas to open early before the yuletide season.  Every year, two films or so do that but they are often quite terrible films.  This year’s first Christmas film, FOUR CHRISTMASES falls within that category.  This one is worse.

CANVAS is what mentally ill wife and mother Mary Marino (Marcia Gay Harden) turns to, to forget her troubles and to shield herself from the voices she hears.  The dealing with mental illness is the subject of this moving portrait of troubled family life.

This 2008 version of THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL is more a varied adaptation than a remake of the dated 1951 Robert Wise film of the same name.  Though the basic premise is the same (that of an alien warning the earth of its impending destruction unless the people alter their destructive ways), the film is quite different in tone and in feel.