1st Reviews

  Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die is a boldly original science fiction adventure, bound to be one of the most unique movies you’ll see this year. It’s wonderfully strange, often beautifully shot and filled with strong performances by its impressive ensemble. So, how does such an inspired movie with so much working in its favour manage to feel so uninspired in everything it’s trying to say? We’re in the thick of AI and anti-AI content right now, and we’ve seen plenty of stories that tackle this ultra-relevant subject matter. This movie puts a quirky, time travelling spin on the dangers of AI, with pointed satire to drive its message home without question. The problem is, everything that’s being said here, we’ve seen and heard a thousand times before. It’s an important topic in today’s world, but this horse has just about been beaten to death. Don’t get me wrong - this movie has a lot of fun with how its commentary is laid out, but it can’t quite compensate for the recycled “AI is ba...

  It’s been a long time coming, but Sam Raimi has finally exhumed his distinctly gnarly, wildly energetic horror career. Not only is Send Help a welcome return to form for the director, but it continues to help shake January’s long-standing reputation as a “horror dumping ground”.  Think Castaway, but instead of a FedEx employee and a Volleyball, you’ve got an extreme narcissist and a borderline psychopath. Throw in Raimi’s unmistakeable filmmaking style and you get a wildly entertaining movie that seamlessly pairs survival horror with side-splitting comedy. Raimi may not have penned the script, but his directorial DNA is all over the film. Uncomfortable close ups, ridiculously goofy gore, and a few well-placed jump scares bring a welcome horror edge to what might’ve been a more standard thriller in other hands.  There’s a small supporting cast in the first act, but once we reach the island, this becomes the Dylan O’Brien and Rachel McAdams show. The commitment they bring...

  Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien are employee and conceited millionaire boss who are forced to survive together after a plane crash leaves them stranded on an island. Sam Raimi embraces his horror/thriller roots with humor more clever than his past entries, and an exciting structure that pulls out another surprise every time you think the concept is about to wear out. McAdams is always such a delight in any role she graces, but this may be one of her best performances — a woman whose lack of validation from others in her life turns into the ability to make horrific decisions. O’Brien is delightfully awful yet there’s a pity to the way he is unable to carry himself like a mature, generous human being. The CGI has a few distractingly bad moments, but that also contributes to the film’s silliness that it finds within the dark situations it finds, and then escalates. It’s a survival thriller that’s not a full on comedy, or a full on horror film, but has a bit of it all. The more the ...

  Last summer, I watched what I believed to be one of the best films to come out of the year 2023. In her directorial debut, Korean-Canadian playwright, Celine Song captures an interesting perspective on how love and identity can transform over the course of a person’s life. Past Lives , follows a young Korean playwright – based loosely off Song herself – as she is confronted with having to choose between a love from her past and the love from her present, and asks audiences to consider the forms in which love shapes, breaks, and re-shapes us back into the people we have become and will continue to become as we grow old.  The film’s plot is grounded by one evocative question: does the love sparked within a past version of who we once were exist long enough within us to be re-ignited? Past Lives does well to answer this question through the concept of In-Yun , an ancient Buddhist concept which states that interactions between two people throughout their current lives are rewar...

  Dearest Gentle Readers,   The long-awaited season for Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson) finding a wife is finally here. After reading  An Offer From a Gentleman  by Julia Quinn, it’s safe to say that the majority of the adaptation in Part One is fairly similar, with some much-needed updates.  The second Bridgerton brother has become a fan favourite for his charm, wit and zest for life. Benedict is an artist and sees things through different perspectives. He wants to enjoy the small things that matter because the wonder of the world is much more fascinating than the repetition of soirees and balls within Mayfair.  Many things have changed in the ton since last season. The Queen Charlotte (Golda Rosheuvel) has taken Penelope Bridgerton, aka Lady Whistledown (Nicola Coughlan), into her circle. She wants the hot gossip first before the new issue of Whistledown is printed, leaving Penelope to work double time in appeasing the Queen, even at balls.  This...

  The Rip is all the evidence you need that a great cast can elevate an otherwise run-of-the-mill movie. Without its impressive A-list roster, this would’ve likely been lost among a crowd of forgettable January dumping ground releases. Throw Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and a handful of other extremely talented actors into the mix, though, and now you’ve got something worth watching.  While there are exceptions that prove the rule, a lot of these police/cartel thrillers are interchangeable when it comes to their cookie-cutter story beats. The Rip breaks exactly zero molds, but it also doesn’t feel as uninspired as it could’ve. There are enough surprises to keep things engaging, and the tension - which the movie often hinges on - is appropriately high strung. The action is punchy and loud, which is no surprise coming from Director Joe Carnahan. While I do have minor issues with some of the sequences feeling a bit choppy in how they were shot and edited, the action is solid and packs...