1st Reviews

  They say imitation is the highest form of flattery. The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is Guy Ritchie doing his best Quentin Tarantino impression. This may be a poor man’s Inglorious Basterds, but its sleek Richie-fication of true WW2 events offer enough popcorn entertainment to be a worthy endeavour.  Based on Winston Churchill’s recently declassified documents from the Second World War, the movie follows a team of mercenaries as they attempt to take out a fleet of German U-boats. Henry Cavill leads this band of gentlemen (and a lady) as they make their way through Nazi encampments, dropping bodies like it’s going out of style. There are several different pieces of the plan that need to align in order to achieve success, as the film jumps between various stages of their top secret mission.  This is a Guy Ritchie movie, after all, so it’s chock full of all the witty banter you’d expect. The men are suave, the women are seductive, and the chemistry amongst the cast is...

  After a long hiatus, Cobra Kai is back with its first part of its final season. Silver was such a destructive force in season five that it took the combined efforts of the whole cast to unite against him. Things might be calm now with Eagle Fang and Miagi -Do working together but that All hangs in the balance with the looming sekai Tekai.     Over the past six season, team Miagi- Do has grown significantly with a large cast of talented fighters but drama unfolds when the information about the sekai tekai is revealed and everyone learns that only six fighters per team are allowed to attend as well as a male and female captain per team. This news once again sparks drama as the competition within the team heats up once again.  Miagi -Do has more students than ever but the season surprisingly balanced all of these characters and further develops them well in just five short episodes. Some writing tactics are starting to feel very repetitive with the constant in-fightin...

  The merc with the mouth makes his big, bloody debut in the MCU, and he’s brought a 20th Century friend along for the ride. Deadpool & Wolverine isn’t the “Marvel Jesus” the studio needed to course correct its cinematic universe, but it never pretends to be that type of movie. This is, instead, a violent, foul mouthed and hilarious romp that reminds us how much fun comic book movies can be. Maybe that’s what the MCU really needs.  Marvel’s convoluted multiverse is actually the perfect playground for a Deadpool movie. Cameos can often feel like cheap ploys to distract fans from a film’s flaws, but that’s not the case here. There are a ton of familiar faces that pop up, but those appearances go hand in hand with Deadpool’s signature fourth wall busting and meta humour. They also make sense in the larger context of what this movie is about, serving a purpose in the story. The story itself is nothing special, and certainly isn’t some sort of big creative jolt that’s going to ...

Step aside, Tom Cruise. There’s a new action star in town, and her name is June Squibb. Thelma puts a clever senior’s spin on the spy thriller genre, with a hilarious and heartwarming look at the challenges of growing old.  This movie excels in its high-stakes depiction of a relatively low-stakes series of events. An elderly woman is defrauded by a telephone scam (something that happens countless times each day in real life), so she takes it into her own hands to track down and reclaim her money. She enlists the help of an old friend to help her traverse the city streets in search of those who wronged her.  The thing is, she’s over 90 years old, and the movie never lets you forget it. It’s shot, edited, scored and paced like a Mission: Impossible flick, but always abides by its characters’ age related limitations.  It would be easy for this to stray into spoof territory, and feel like one big joke at the expense of the elderly. It never does, though. It’s a lot of fu...

  Deadpool continuing into the larger MCU, and with a larger sandbox to reference and joke with, only feels right, with the character reminding us that anything and everything in the world of entertainment need not be taken so seriously. Excitingly, it’s not just the convergence of the Fox Marvel heroes and the MCU, but also Hugh Jackman’s return as Wolverine, whom Deadpool has already poked fun of in his films. The film asks, what if two people who can’t die and have no temper but are polar opposites need to get along (but can’t)? That buddy comedy aspect drives the film, as do the multiverse-level visuals. In addition to Reynolds’ increasingly impressive commitment to one of the most foul-mouthed heroes to ever wear spandex, and Jackman’s rage-filled but emotionally charged take on a Wolverine different from the one we parted ways from in  Logan , Emma Corrin shines and never feels lesser than the two A-listers when on screen with them. Corrin gives a delightfully cruel and ...

  In 2016, (when 20th Century Fox was its own studio),   Deadpool  became the first Rated-R superhero to break box office records. Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds), who was re-introduced to audiences as the “Merc with a Mouth,” became a beloved character. Wilson is a character who can be a “one-trick pony,” and exhaust people with the constant jokes, and outlandish behaviour. To this day, the first   Deadpool  is the only time they had the perfect balance. In Shawn Levy’s,   Deadpool and Wolverine,  Wilson feels like a recycled character, and his motivation to become part of the Avengers to win Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) back felt tired. Wilson has always been sensitive, even if he is cocky, and makes terrible decisions. You root for Wilson because deep down he is a good person. He just got dealt a bad deck of cards, and he’s trying to make the most of it. After watching this third instalment, it’s safe to say that Wilson has now become a secondary character...

We are thrilled to announce the 1st Reviews team will be at TIFF 2024 covering all the biggest films and red carpets.  The 49th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival is set to dazzle audiences with this year’s lineup of 63 films from the  Gala  sponsored by Dyson, and  Special Presentations  programmes. In addition to films from directors Jacques Audiard, Edward Berger, Gia Coppola, Mike Leigh, Morgan Neville, Walter Salles, Athina Rachel Tsangari, and Jia Zhang-Ke to name a few, this year’s films are also bringing many of the world’s most beloved stars to the TIFF red carpet, including Amy Adams, Riz Ahmed, Cate Blanchett, Andrea Bocelli, Will Ferrell, Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Alicia Vikander, Pharrell Williams, and Robbie Williams amongst many others over the 11 days of the Festival. The Gala and Special Presentations programmes are recognized for celebrating the very best of contemporary cinema across all genres and styles, from all corners...