1st Reviews

Banks makes some great choices with the action in this film. There was good tension to build up to the reveal of the bear in certain scenes. There are subtle movements that make you feel that something is lurking, and then the bumping score would add to the surprise of the bear attack. The kills are the most important aspect of this film. Those kills were inventive, bonkers and hilarious. Limbs were flying off, and the bear brutally attacked people differently. The more cocaine the bear found, the more you began rooting for her. Once we find that the bear is a woman (thanks to Eddie saying it aloud when she collapses on top of him), the story about motherhood and protecting their young no matter what becomes even more prevalent as they near the end.  Cocaine Bear  is a high-octane, hilarious action-thriller that will put a big smile on your face. It’s just dumb fun because of how absurd the concept is. The cast all work together quite well, and the characters get to the forest...

  In his sophomore directorial feature, Dave Franco shifts genres, moving from thriller to rom-com with ease, yielding equally solid results. Written by Franco and wife Alison Brie, Somebody I Used to Know is funny, relatable and far more mature than it appears at first glance.   The movie isn’t without a few rom-com tropes that give it a sense of been-there-done-that, but it’s able to shake that staleness off through well written characters. Just as we all are in real life, the people in this movie are flawed, and sometimes make selfish decisions. Even though they’re charming to watch, they aren’t always entirely likeable. It gives each of them a bit more substance, and a lot more relatability.  A rom-com only works when the spark is believable between the two leads. Alison Brie and Jay Ellis have charming on-screen chemistry, but it’s the dynamic between other characters that elevates the film as a whole. Normally, a character like Kiersey Clemons’ Cassidy would be writ...

  Getting old is not easy for anyone. As we get older, we also see our parents get older and often, more hard-headed and harder to reason with, especially when it comes to advancing technology.  iMordecai tells the story of a Holocaust survivor, Samel Mordecai trying to navigate life at an old age while balancing his personal and family drama. Played by recent Oscar-nominated actor, Judd Hirsch; Samel's life completely changes after his son gets him a phone upgrade that allows Samel to explore the world in new ways. I personally connected to this story a lot with a similar story with my dad as I tried transitioning him to a new touch phone but his stubborn self wanted to revert back to a flip button phone because the touch phone was too complicated. You can't teach old dogs new tricks.  Director, Martin Samel's directorial debut is a wonderful tribute to adulthood, fatherhood, and old age. This love letter to his family resonates with the per...

  This third instalment to the  Ant-Man  franchise has some strong elements, but it ultimately suffers from the same overused formula. The humour, family dynamics and the relationship between Cassie (Kathryn Newton) and Scott (Paul Rudd) are the things that hold this film together. These key things are what make the  Ant-Man  franchise so special. They are the only family unit in the MCU that many have grown with. Rudd’s humour is also the main thing that sets his character apart from the rest of the films because it’s so different. Unfortunately, we can’t rely on the familiar for the film as a whole to work. For some reason, this felt like you were walking into the middle of a conversation, and no one was giving you enough information to make you understand why anything was happening.  Review by: Amanda Guarragi  3/5  #marvel #antman #disney #movie #toronto

  It’s hard to think of a movie that gives off the “independent film” vibe more than Of an Age. The budget for this movie, the second from writer / director Goran Stolevski, looks as though it were $500. Maybe $800 if I were being generous. When you pair the cheap looking visuals with shaky, frantic camerawork, the majority of which are extreme closeups on no-name actors without a stitch of makeup, you get a movie that has the overall look and feel of a student film. During the entirety of this movie’s run I repeatedly thought, “is it too much to ask for one clear, non-choppy shot?” The bizarre commitment to extreme closeups had me noticing things I never would have noticed before such as how star Elias Anton looks like Austin Butler in Elvis if they didn’t put any makeup on him. The makeup department did him so dirty and seemingly didn’t put a touch of concealer on Anton. Sorry to harp on it but when the movie is extreme closeups 90 per cent of the time and the dialogue is indecip...

M. Night Shyamalan is a filmmaker who excites me. Not because I think he makes great movies, but because he’s completely unpredictable in terms of the genre, tone and quality of his films. He’s made more flops than hits, but he’s a unique storyteller, and once in a while he delivers a winner. Knock at the Cabin isn’t one of them, but it comes close.  The concept is relatively straightforward, especially for a Shyamalan movie. The absence of any game-changing twists is somewhat refreshing, but the conclusion lacks the wild unpredictability the director is known for. I kept waiting for the rug to be pulled from beneath my feet, but it never happened. However, Shyamalan does make excellent use of the film’s single location, with plenty of canted angles, close ups and shallow depth of field that give a constant sense of unease.  There’s a genuinely exciting thriller in here, but it’s diluted by some odd story beats and a lot of contrived tension. Despite a relatively lean runtime ...

Sharper is the latest thriller from AppleTV+, filled with twists, turns and double-crosses galore. Despite a strong cast and its slightly unconventional structure, this movie isn’t nearly as sharp as it would like you to believe it is.  Breaking chronological order to give us the story in character focused chapters is perhaps the best thing Sharper has going for it. This splits up the narrative flow nicely, purposely leaving story gaps to keep the audience guessing. Each new chapter adds context to what came before, and creatively builds toward a complete story.  Unfortunately, once you see past this gimmick and look at the story as a whole, it leaves a lot to be desired in the way of originality or ingenuity. The unorthodox narrative structure is an engaging way to unravel this twisty thriller, but the plot isn’t interesting enough for that structure to work to its full potential. This film takes so much time throughout these chapters, setting each piece in place, that when i...

  In this final instalment, Magic Mike takes his last dance as he follows a wealthy socialite named Max (Salma Hayek), who hires him to do a special job for her. Max is in the middle of a divorce, and she wants to reclaim who she is. In doing so, she wants to revamp the outdated play in place at The Rattigan Theatre to something more empowering. She wants Mike to help recapture the magic of the night they spent together through dance. By creating a story dipped in female fantasy. Women’s desires are all wrapped up in this one play that Max and Mike design. Mike teaches intimacy, consent, connection and appreciation of women through dance. There is no stripping without an intimate connection with women in the audience, and that’s what makes  Magic Mike’s Last Dance  so entertaining to watch.  Channing Tatum and Salma Hayek have incredible chemistry together. It felt so natural and playful that their relationship was so believable as business partners and lovers. Steve...

Brandon Cronenberg has made a name for himself with a unique brand of disturbing science fiction. His last film, Possessor, was among my favourites of 2020, so naturally, I was excited about his next endeavour.  Infinity   Pool  is another unsettling entry in his filmography, albeit not quite the provocative vision I was expecting. That’s not to say this movie isn’t disturbing -  trust me, it really is. The pops of graphic violence and explicit imagery are shocking but don’t feel gratuitous, fitting naturally within the story. It’s just not as thematically or narratively complex as the concept should have allowed. It’s consistently intriguing but rarely does it become truly fascinating or thought-provoking. Still, Cronenberg’s distinct directorial style elevates even the most ordinary of scenes, and his visual creativity really shines through, especially during the film’s trippier sequences. The way he’s able to make a location feel tangible, but also slightly detach...