1st Reviews

  The popularity of Indiana Jones has made Harrison Ford a household name. To have Indy and Han Solo under your belt is something special. Ford’s nonchalant attitude and dry sarcasm have made these characters beloved by all. There’s a magic that Steven Spielberg brought to   Raiders of the Lost Ark  that can’t be replicated. And that goes with many action films from the 80s/90s. So to carry out the story of Indiana Jones past the perfect ending in   The Last Crusade  almost felt like a disservice to the franchise.   Kingdom of the Crystal Skull  didn’t do well, and now   Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny  feels like a revival. The question is: Will the new generation care about Indiana Jones?   In this fifth instalment, director James Mangold opens in the middle of World War II with a de-aged Harrison Ford. They are trying to secure this artifact so it won’t land in the Nazi’s possession, but they find out it’s a fake. While taken ho...

  Legacy sequels are tricky. They’re tasked with pleasing a long-standing fan base, while also giving audiences something fresh and modern. Dial of Destiny is Indy’s second crack at a legacy sequel, and while it learns from many of the last entry’s mistakes, it doesn’t innovate in ways you’d expect from a 40+ year old franchise.  Seeing Harrison Ford don the iconic whip and hat once again sent a wave of nostalgia coursing through my veins. The aging action hero has been done many times before, but Ford really fits the bill here. He plays Indy’s internal struggle quite well. Torn between wanting to hang up his hat, and upholding a self-appointed responsibility to keep his family and friends safe. Indy has lived a life full of adventure, love, and loss. Ford conveys all of that beautifully with an outstanding final performance. Phoebe Waller Bridge brings her signature witty and comedic energy to contrast Ford’s crotchety demeanour, making for an unlikely but very entertaining d...

  The world has gone through difficult times for the past three years, and people are beginning to understand how it has affected them mentally in its aftermath. Wes Anderson’s   Asteroid City  acts as an exploration of emotional expression through different perspectives. Hinting at what everyone had gone through during unprecedented times. Apart from being structured as a play within a play, the one location of ‘Asteroid City’ acts as a quarantine space for everyone who gets stuck visiting. On a smaller scale, there is a Junior Stargazer/Space Cadet convention in the city, which brings teens and their parents to this desert space. Anderson’s cooky screenplay and gorgeous symmetrical framing make audiences question almost everything about life.   Like any Anderson film, his style is the most prominent, and the production design is glorious. There is symmetry within the frame that only his pristine eye can capture. Director of Photography Robert D. Yeoman beautifully ...

Sometimes it takes really terrible and traumatic events to bring a family together. The good Side of bad follows a young girl named Florence who is going through some serious mental health issues. She is the youngest of three children with her sister Sara and brother Peter. We learn that she did not have the greatest childhood and for the most part, does not have a stable parental figure as her mother has been battling dementia for many years and has mostly looked up to her sister as a mother.  When we meet the siblings, they don't seem to be in each other's lives much and seem to be living on their own and even in different cities. When Florence seems to be going through some mental health issues, the family rallies together to try and help their youngest sibling. Things get much worse for all three siblings before it gets better but isn't that exactly how life is? Lexi Simonsen gives a great performance as Florence. Having to demonstrate such a large...

  Billed as a super raunchy, R-rated comedy, No Hard Feelings isn’t nearly as raunchy or funny as it could’ve been. However, despite falling short of its comedic potential, the movie delivers some great laugh out loud moments, and a handful of surprisingly sweet ones too.  Jennifer Lawrence clearly understood the assignment, delivering a performance that is equal parts sexual, vulgar and vulnerable. Being such an established and high profile actress, there are some places she’s willing to go with her performance (especially physically) that really shocked and impressed me. Andrew Barth Feldman plays awkwardly against her crass personality, making for an unlikely, but kind of cute duo. Although they work well together on screen, the progression of their relationship is not all that convincing. Their developing feelings and changes of heart mostly feel forced in service of the predictable direction the plot is heading. Sure, the situational conflicts provide laughs in the moment...

  Warner Bros and DC have had it rough the past couple of years as they have been trying to get their heroes off the ground. They have attempted to create their universe, but due to studio interference and a regime change, things haven’t gone according to plan.   The Flash  has been a film in the making for the past nine years and has had plenty of changes. A major one is the personal life of their lead actor Ezra Miller getting into trouble in multiple countries. While watching this film, it’s impossible not to feel uncomfortable watching Ezra portray the hero. The film has been tainted because of Miller. It’s hard to believe that they will remain in the role moving forward.  Director Andy Muschietti brought horror elements to  The Flash,  and it was nice to see what he could do with Batman. Everything to do with the character of The Flash was mishandled. It was also a poorly executed multiverse storyline. Barry Allen (Miller) travels back in time using th...

  The first Extraction elevated a run-of-the-mill plot with a handful of slick action sequences, making for a decently entertaining, if somewhat forgettable movie. This sequel improves on the first in just about every way possible. It’s got bigger, bolder action, and a character driven story where the stakes aren’t just higher, but more personal too.  The story doesn’t really rise above standard action movie fare, but the character work is much better this time around. Hemsworth gives another strong performance as Tyler Rake. In between all the shooting, stabbing and punching, he’s given a chance to show off his emotional chops, conveying Rake’s past burdens quite effectively. Golshifteh Farahani steps up with a much more integral role, giving Hemsworth a run for his money in total badassery.  The action is some of the best I’ve seen so far this year, including a show-stopping “oner” that runs a staggering 21 minutes. This sequence ranks among the most impressively execut...

.  Over the years, Pixar has been known for stunning 3D animation and heartfelt stories that can resonate with adults and children alike. They did have a string of successful films. But lately, they are having trouble capturing the same magic as they used to. In Disney Pixar’s  Elemental,  we meet a family from Fireland who is trying to make a living on the outskirts of Element City. Element City acts like the capital, and the accepted community consists of Earth, Water, and Air. The story of Bernie (Ronnie Del Carmen), Ember (Leah Lewis), and Cinder (Shila Ommi) plays out as an immigrant story that has the potential to be impactful. However, the film began to falter when co-writers John Hoberg, Kat Likkel and Brenda Hseuh decided to throw in a love story of star-crossed lovers.   Director Peter Sohn opened the film with promise. It felt like a strong origin tale for the characters. Bernie’s dream was to open up his shop, and Ember’s dream was to take over the shop f...

Sometimes a movie hits closer to home than you’re comfortable with. I moved to Burlington - the city in which this film takes place - in the early 2000’s at the age of 14. My mother was a single parent, doing her best to make ends meet. As for me, I just loved to lose myself in movies. They were my passion and my escape when life got tough. So much of “I Like Movies” feels like a chapter of my own life, and although it isn’t my favourite film of the year, it’s certainly the most special.  The movie follows 17 year old Lawrence - a social outcast at his high school, who has lofty ambitions to become the next great filmmaker. He’s extremely narcissistic, and really not very likeable. He’s got his guard up, and in a way, so does this film. I found it hard to get into his headspace at first, and it was kind of off-putting. I’m pretty sure that was Writer/Director Chandler Levack’s intention, because once you break through that wall, it’s impossible not to relate and empathize.  Is...

  2023: The year of corporation and product based biopics. Air, Tetris, BlackBerry, and now… Flamin’ Hot. Yeah, we really got a feature length film about those spicy little corn snacks you know and love. Hold on, though. Don’t be so quick to brush this movie off like Cheeto dust from your fingers. This underdog story has enough flavour to make for a nice little treat.   The movie isn’t really about the iconic chili-dusted snack at all. No, this (partly) true story follows the son of a Mexican immigrant, who was filled with enough passion, determination and drive to carve a name for himself in the American food industry.  Richard Montañez was a janitor at Frito Lay, and saw potential for the company’s next big product. Despite facing discrimination for his race and lowly job status, he kept fighting. Being told from Richard’s perspective gives this movie the personal and heartfelt angle it needs to be a real crowd-pleaser. The stakes couldn’t be lower for Frito L...

When a comedy opens with a disclaimer as nonsensical as, “the following is based on true events…that never happened” you know you’re in for a raucous good time. That’s exactly what “The Blackening” is. Less than five minutes into the movie this horror-comedy lived up to its genre. The movie is legitimately spooky and legitimately silly almost like an entry from the “Scary Movie” franchise but the best possible version of one of those movies.  The premise of the movie - that friends staying in a cabin who are being stalked by a killer must rely on their knowledge of Black culture and horror movies to survive - is such a great idea for a horror-comedy. The execution of “The Blackening” is mostly successful, with the energetic performances of the talented cast carrying the movie through the subpar writing. The script was tight and full of laughs, it just needed some fine tuning. Inconsequential drama among friends, egregious exposition and obvious twists easily could have been left ou...

  At what point is whistleblowing justified? Is it ever? What if it’s for the good of your country?  Reality  tells the true story of an NSA translator being investigated by the FBI for leaking classified documents. Its hyper-accurate retelling of real events makes for occasionally dry viewing, but it doesn’t make what happened any less unnerving.  The entire movie takes place over the course of a few hours, recounting the FBI’s questioning of  Reality  Winner (Sydney Sweeney) and the search of her home. Every bit of dialogue is pulled directly from audio recordings, which makes this one of the most accurate true stories you’ll ever see. Because of this approach, it often feels closer to a reenactment than a film, but that accuracy lends a sobering authenticity to it all. There are no embellishments or creative liberties here. Just the facts, the exact way they unfolded.  The film serves as an acting showcase for Sweeney, as we see her cycle through a ...

  The   Transformers  franchise has had some hits and misses over the years, but nothing stuck after Dark of the Moon. Director Michael Bay has had its moments, but there’s only so much you can do with the same robots fighting for the cause with the government…again. When the first   Transformers  film was released in 2007, the technology was well beyond what people had imagined and was impressive for the time. Now, it’s almost as if it all feels overdone and oversaturated that a film about fighting robots doesn’t make a move at the box office like it used to. After some dull instalments, excluding   Bumblebee,  the release of   Rise of the Beasts  almost feels like too much of a push to revamp the franchise.  Director Steven Caple Jr. takes audiences back to the 90s with a new faction of Transformers - the Maximals - joining the Autobots as allies in the battle for Earth. The design for the Maximals looked good. But the issue is that th...