1st Reviews

  In 2018, John Krasinski debuted his sophomore feature,   A Quiet Place . Krasinski made a film centred around family and communication. One family must survive these creatures, who are blind but are noise-sensitive creatures. The beauty of the first film comes from the impeccable sound mixing and sound editing because of the silence within the film. The family used sign language for the creatures and to communicate with their deaf daughter. Krasinski let his scenes breathe, and the silence filled the screen creating a unique suspenseful atmosphere. Unfortunately, the sequel,   A Quiet Place Part 2  did not live up to the first instalment. It lacked the character-driven focus of the first film and wasn’t nearly as suspenseful. When more characters are added to assist the leads, it can get quite messy. Krasinski co-wrote and directed both films, but the prequel   A Quiet Place: Day One  is directed by Michael Sarnoski. Sarnoski created depth for the world K...

  “MaXXXine,” the final entry in Ti West’s “X” trilogy, is a stunning and fabulously terrifying sequel that serves as a fitting end to this fantastic series of movies. Like its predecessors, this electrifying third installment is expectedly horrifying and punctuated with equal parts effective scares and welcome comedic relief. This gripping story will have you on the edge of your seat as it takes you on a tour of 1980s-era Los Angeles. “MaXXXine” is al love letter to the sleaze and chaos you could only find at this exact time and place, and the widespread fear and Satanic Panic makes for a perfect backdrop for a movie that’s steeped in every type of sin imaginable. This last hurrah for West and star Mia Goth is certainly the most elaborate and flashiest of the movies. The way that West has been able to expand on the franchise with each entry, simultaneously staying true to the spirit of the films while adding a new layer to the overall story, is masterful. Equally as masterful is G...

Ultraman has been around in television and film properties since the 1960’s. That is a lot of story to potentially catch up on if you are interested in learning about the character. Thankfully, Ultraman: Rising reboots the brand for a new audience. The story follows superstar baseball player; Ken Sato as he is trying to balance his baseball career and protecting Japan from the occasional Kaiju as the new Ultraman. Ken is the second generation Ultraman after inheriting it from his father. Japan also has another defence against the Kaiju, THE KDF but Ultraman must tread lightly during Kauju events because the KDF shoot to kill and have a troubled relationship with Ultraman. Ken does not come off as a likeable or relatable character at the start of the film. He is arrogant, self-centered and harbours a lot of resentment towards his dad but this all changes after Ken accidently gets hold of a Kaiju egg and must now protect and safeguard it from the KDF. This sets Ken straight and puts him ...

  Fancy Dance treads familiar waters in its narrative structure, but is elevated through its authentic portrait of reservation life, and urgent themes surrounding the marginalization of Native peoples. Despite some distracting storytelling flaws, this narrative feature debut from Erica Tremblay is every bit as timely as it ought to be.  The film follows Jax (Lily Gladstone) - a member of the Seneca People, who’s caring for her 13 year old niece Roki (Isabel DeRoy Olsen) in the wake of her sister’s disappearance. This is part coming-of-age story, part mystery and part road movie. It bounces between exploring Jax and Roki’s bond, the missing person’s investigation (or lack thereof) and Roki wanting to embrace her Seneca heritage.  Being helmed by a Native American filmmaker, everything about these characters’ experiences and reservation life feels genuine. Not once did I feel like elements were being exaggerated for dramatic effect or glamorized in a way that shied away fro...

  The Boys'  fourth season   presents a wildly entertaining superhero world, this time bringing us into a post-hope era in which absolute power goes unchecked, unpunished, and even enabled by the masses. The action and humor are yet again filled with shock, wit, and satire, though we find ourselves in a messier season than the last two. The season has a lot of wild moments, and some shock when the stakes are raised and the fragility of democracy thanks to men playing god is revealed. Karl Urban, Antony Starr, and the rest of the cast have plenty of outstanding acting moments. Susan Heyward brings an outstanding dynamic as Sage. But we spend too much time with others, including too many characters needing to feel like the “main character” of their story (what’s the Deep still doing here?). The first three episodes are terrific, particularly the breathtaking season premiere. But later, it lacks that clear direction, objective, and stakes that gave Seasons 2 and 3 their irre...

  Back in September of 2023, Poolman made headlines when it premiered at TIFF. Unfortunately, those headlines included audience walkouts, as well as nearly universal panning from both critics and the general public. Is Chris Pine’s directorial debut so bad that it warrants leaving the theatre mid movie? I personally don’t think so, even if it is a great big mess.  Pine attempts to blend a noir detective story with a vibey stoner hangout flick. It’s been done before - just look at The Big Lebowski, which was clearly a big inspiration here. Unfortunately, he doesn’t strike a balance and the whole flow of the movie gets thrown off. The plot is insanely convoluted as it plucks ideas and plot points from about a dozen better movies. The more casual moments are more successful, but give the movie an aimlessness that further dilutes the story it’s trying to tell.  So much of the runtime is taken up by characters yapping nonsense at each other. It’s amusing, sure, but it’s hard t...

  Written and directed by Jeff Nichols, “The Bikeriders” is a fictional story inspired by Danny Lyon’s photo-book of the same name. Now, if you think that a 100 page book consisting mainly of photographs sounds like it would be a difficult to adapt into a nearly two hour feature film, then you would be correct. Nichols does a great job of capturing the aesthetic of a 1960s American biker gang, but past the surface level visuals this movie doesn’t have much to offer in terms of plot or characters. Majorly lacking on both fronts, “The Bikeriders” is remarkably shallow. It’s like the movie equivalent of watching someone do a burnout. The gas gets revved, the exhaust coughs up a lotto smoke and loud noises, people think it looks really cool…but nothing actually happens. A crime-thriller that features the least amount of crime or thrills I’ve ever seen, this movie cold have easily been edited down to a solid 90 minutes. With just a half hour of runtime left things finally begin to heat ...

  Pixar has created an impossibly high standard for themselves. We get a few less than great movies recently and everyone proclaims they’ve “lost their touch”. Inside Out 2 is here to prove their touch is still very much intact. It may not reach the heights of their very best efforts, but it’s a worthy sequel, and a welcome return to greatness for the studio.  Many questioned the necessity of this film, as the first is one of Pixar’s best and didn’t seem to warrant a sequel. I would actually argue the opposite. This film is a beautiful companion piece that further expands on the brilliant ideas of the original. It was never going to match the same level of surprising originality, but it avoids retreading familiar territory by jumping ahead to a new chapter of Riley’s life. Doing this allows the film to show us several new emotions, and explore the increasingly complicated range of feelings we experience growing up.  Something Pixar has always excelled at is handling compl...

Inside Out 2  certainly doesn’t reinvent what it inherited from its predecessor, but it certainly expands on it — and when your predecessor is one of the most brilliant animated movies in Pixar’s history, who are we to complain? The beautiful animation builds the corners of the world (or should I say, Riley’s brain) with endless captivation. The visual look and feel of the first film was a huge part of what made it so magical and immediately timeless, and this movie captures that with a new breath of life. The world-building is also filled with clever puns and fun corners that we may often relate to. Amy Poehler again commands the ship as captain of this film’s cast of emotions, and newcomer Maya Hawke is terrific as Anxiety, who shakes things up for Riley and the emotions in a frustratingly messy way. Who would’ve thought? Ayo Edebiri also shines as Envy, as does Adèle Exarchopoulos as Boredom. Seeing the emotions come into conflict and/or work together to act and react in the bes...

  Nine years ago, Pixar introduced us to Riley, a young girl who is trying to grow with change happening with herself and her family. Her emotions; joy, anger, sadness, fear and disgust help her through these difficult times.   Now two years, Riley is 13 and is going through new life changes physically and emotionally as she tries to grip with the reality that the rest of her life relies on how the next weekend goes. All of these changes spark new emotions to grow inside of her.  It is a tough time for Riley that she must overcome. It is a snapshot in time that is probably a big emotional trigger for audiences as well as we go on this journey with Riley. Taking the incredibly intricate memory world that was established in the first film, the sequel makes a few minor additions that allow it to feel familiar but still fresh enough to keep us engaged. Many of these new additions are some of the funniest moments in the entire series.  With more emotions and human charact...

  Am I OK?  doesn’t reinvent the wheel for female-led indie dramedies, but makes a strong case for how much Dakota Johnson has seriously always belonged in these kinds of films (look no further than  Cha Cha Real Smooth ). She and Sonoya Mizuno have a charming and delicate friendship in which one of them is seriously not sure if she’s OK with her overall life these days. As a 32-year-old woman drifting through life and just discovering her true sexuality, Johnson makes her character universally relatable when it comes to the confusion, loneliness, and desperation/stuck-ness that Lucy goes through. Mizuno also clearly belongs in more leading roles, so I only hope this is yet another example for Hollywood as to her leading talents. It may not offer something exceptional or unique to itself, but the directors and writer of  Am I OK?  make a film that’s unapologetically about female friendships, queerness, and that funny, odd sadness many of us experience in differe...

  After nearly two years of waiting, Amazon’s smash hit is back for its penultimate season. These eight episodes are as gleefully violent, sexually diabolical and politically ruthless as you’d expect from The Boys, even when the plot sometimes loses its way through the carnage.  This season slows things down a bit, while setting the stage for its eventual conclusion. Showrunner Eric Kripke is sticking to his original five season plan, which is admirable given how wildly successful the show is. However, with the endgame in sight, this batch of episodes can’t help but feel like somewhat of a bridge season. That’s not to say it’s uneventful or doesn’t deliver what fans have come to expect from the show. There’s just a lot up in the air right now, and eight episodes simply isn’t enough time to accomplish everything it tries to. Despite being overcrowded and having a less focused trajectory, The Boys still knows how to show its audience a bloody good time. The season follows Victor...

  After the intense finale from season 3, The Boys pick up the pieces and regroup with their new friends at the CIA. With Victoria Newman in the Vice-President seat and Homelander on trial for murder, The team has their hands full; the clock is ticking, and the stakes have never been higher.  The V abuse has caught up to Butcher and his health is on a dramatic decline but that is not stopping him from trying to achieve his goals, even if he is being sidelined by The Boys. With the help of an old friend, Kessler (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) he is doing whatever he can to protect Ryan. Fans of Supernatural will be happy to see another alum in action as he brings his usual charm that viewers know and love to The Boys universe. The deep, black Noir and A-Train have always had the least amount of screen time and character development each season but thankfully this season really pushes them all in new directions.  Homelander is dealing with his trial but that is not stopping him...

  Much like Glen Powell’s disguise donning character, Hit Man is something quite different that it initially lets on. Richard Linklater has given us a funny, sexy, thrilling and best of all surprising movie that maximizes on its stars’ chemistry to deliver a total crowd pleaser.  If you haven’t watched the trailer for this movie - don’t. That’ll make for the best possible viewing experience. There are a handful of surprises that, if they’re able to catch you off guard, take this movie to the next level. I love it when a film takes a different path than I was expecting, and this one does exactly that. The entire first hour, while still very good, doesn’t have a ton of momentum. I found myself wondering where it was leading, but once the pieces fell into place, it all clicked. The time spent fleshing out the characters and strengthening their chemistry is crucial to how invested you’ll be in the second half.  We’ve all pretended at some point in our lives. Whether it’s havi...

  29 years ago, Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, at the peak of their careers, made an action comedy that became an instant hit. With Smith’s charm and Lawrence’s perfect comedic timing, the duo brought a refreshing chemistry to the genre.  When director Michael Bay was at the helm, the action sequences were far-fetched and not realistic. The  Bad Boys  franchise always had off-the-wall action sequences, but more importantly, the sibling nature of Mike’s (Smith) and Marcus’s (Lawrence) relationship, made audiences come back for more.  Once you understand what you’re getting out of a  Bad Boys  movie, you will appreciate all the zaniness of what they have to offer. Co-directors, Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah have carried on the “Bayhem” in  Bad Boys: Ride or Die,  and solidified themselves as great action directors.  When it comes to action franchises, there always has to be something that sets them apart from the rest.  Mission: Imp...