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Portrait of a Lady on Fire, superb, The Assistant, too restrained, Sonic the Hedgehog, fun times

Also Downhill, a weak re-make of a Swedish triumph, and a look-ahead to a documentary festival

At VIFF, new work by Juliette Binoche, Belgium’s Dardenne Brothers and Quebec’s François Girard

Plus a shameful case of indigenous hurt in Canada, an extraordinary mother from Germany and an ancient play made contemporary in both Sicily and Beirut

Yeti meets Smallfoot, and from VIFF, Transit and Colette, both excellent

Plus other VIFF picks: Kingsway, very local, Firecrackers, Parallel’s time shifting, constant dancing at Le Grand Bal and Maria Callas, as she saw herself

Women on an elaborate heist, farm work by women while the men are off to war and a modern gothic horror

Also Jodie Foster patching up criminals and two documentaries about major artists

New films with Annette Bening, Isabelle Huppert and Helen Mirren, one of them not so good

And new and old films in a series for Black History Month

Looking towards the weekend with a few more film picks at VIFF

Including whimsy from Agnès Varda, cynicism from Michael Haneke and a startling transgender actor

Take a break from the summer blockbusters with one of these smaller films new this week

Among them: women’s stories, men’s foibles, fairy tales and a lament for China

George Clooney’s take on Wall Street, Dheepan’s refugee act and four more DOXA picks

  We’ve got two new films in town plus more to see at DOXA and if that’s not enough consider these: It’s Friday the 13th and if that calls for some horror entertainment here are two...

Islamic State massacres 129 people in Paris terror attacks

Islamic State claims responsibility for terror attacks that leave 129 dead in Paris - just one day after striking Beirut.

American Sniper and Stephen Harper make war with words

War hawks and their simplistic "us vs. them" mentality don't make us safer— they put all of us at risk