It’s the weekend again, and that means Film Focus. Here’s Mike Laidman with what’s new in local theaters.
The Oscar nominations were announced just this past week, and that means that some of the big nominees are going to be seeing a jump in attendance.

While last week’s The Revenant led the nominations, The Big Short, our first movie of the week, was right up there with five nominations, including Best Picture.

Also this week is Steve Jobs, the second of two films to be released over the past couple years following the death of the iconic Apple co-founder.

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Mike Laidman

Welcome to another edition of Film Focus. I’m Mike Laidman.

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The Big Short (2015, Adam McKay)
Four people take on the big banks for their greed.

The Big Short is a movie about finance, which might put some people off. However, it approaches this serious, complicated subject with an impressive attention to detail -- and manages to deliver a well-acted, scathingly funny indictment of its real-life villains in the process.

In the mid-2000s, four denizens of the world of high-finance predict the credit and housing bubble collapse, and decide to take on the big banks for their greed and lack of foresight.

The movie has won accolades for both its cast and humour. With a cast that includes Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Brad Pitt, and Ryan Gosling, the acting is solid throughout. But the dark, acidic humour might catch audiences by surprise.

Financial jargon is made accessible, and the pure entertainment value for adults makes this a movie not to be missed.


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Steve Jobs (2015, Danny Boyle)
A look backstage as three Apple products are launched.

In Steve Jobs, Michael Fassbender stars as the titular character, a man who needs no introduction.

The movie takes us behind the scenes of the digital revolution, to paint a portrait of the man at its epicenter. The story unfolds backstage at three iconic product launches, ending in 1998 with the unveiling of the iMac.

A great cast, a solid script, and a well-focused storyline are the features of this interpretation of Jobs’ life. It’s neither a pure biopic, nor pure entertainment, but still successfully straddles the line between the two.

It never quite found it’s audience when it first opened overseas, so it will be interesting to see how it performs here. Audiences might be weary of Jobs-films; Jobs, starring Ashton Kutcher, was released in 2013 to poor reviews. There’s no doubt that this more recent version is overall the better film, but sometimes it takes more than that.