Written reviews and video reviews.
Who’s Laughing Now? With all due respect to The Substance, Joker: Folie à Deux is the year’s most audacious film — just not for the reasons you might expect. The fact that Folie à Deux is a musical isn’t even the film’s biggest swerve. Director Todd Phillips takes the billion-dollar formula from 2019’s Joker and …
Joker: Folie à Deux Review: Who Gets the Last Laugh? Read More »
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. It’s what’s on the inside that counts. Beauty is only skin deep. We’ve all had these ideological platitudes ingrained in us from the moment we can speak. Everyone agrees that we shouldn’t judge a person’s value based on their attractiveness — good looks have nothing to do …
The Substance Review: An Unhinged Look at the Dark Side of Stardom Read More »
As the 49th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival wraps, it’s fair to say it’s been another stellar year for festivalgoers. This year’s TIFF slate featured a whopping 278 films. Nobody can watch all 278 titles in 11 days, but that won’t stop me from screening films from sunup to well past midnight. Here’s …
Every Oscar season, cinephiles argue that the “Best Acting” awards are really the “Most Acting” awards. They claim that actors aren’t always rewarded for their most heartfelt and nuanced performances, but rather for bold, intense, or flashy roles that scream, “Look at how much acting I’m doing.” This thought crossed my mind more than once …
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Review: Burton and Keaton Let Loose the Juice Read More »
As a child of the ‘80s, The Muppets were pop culture royalty to me. I grew up watching Sesame Street in the mornings and The Muppet Show at night. On special days my mother took me to afternoon matinees to watch The Muppets on the silver screen. I always took their popularity for granted but …
Jim Henson: Idea Man Review: “Celebrational Muppetational” Read More »
For the past decade, Indonesian filmmakers have delivered a steady stream of endlessly rewatchable horror movies and action flicks. So, no matter how many films I have to cover in a week, I always make time for the latest Indonesian genre flick. Director Kimo Stamboel first landed on my radar at TIFF 2016 when his …
Dancing Village: The Curse Begins Review: KKN’s Sinister Prequel Read More »
You could describe Sasquatch Sunset as a story about a family taking a really long walk and technically, you wouldn’t be wrong. The film chronicles a year in the life of a roving family of Sasquatches portrayed by Riley Keough, Jesse Eisenberg, Christophe Zajac-Denek, and Nathan Zellner. The creatures spend their days trekking through the …
Since I watch hundreds of films a year, I’ve learned to keep my viewing schedule flexible. I juggle late-night binges with 10am press screenings and mid-week movie dates with my wife. Even though I can enjoy a movie anytime and anyplace, one of my favourite film-watching experiences only happens on Saturday nights. That’s because there’s …
Sting Review: An Eight-Legged Extra-Terrestrial Weaves Chaos Read More »
“I’ve been scared in my lifetime but I’ve never had anything scare me like this before.” — Charlie Hickson If you love a great mystery, then it’s worth making time for Netflix’s eerie new series, Files of the Unexplained. Produced by Vox Media, Files of the Unexplained is an eight-part investigative docuseries delving into strange …
Files of the Unexplained: Episode 01 — File: Pascagoula Alien Abduction Review Read More »
There’s nothing quite like the thrill of watching a great horror movie for the first time. The classics seize your attention from the opening frame and refuse let go until the credits roll. Writer-director Jae-hyun Jang’s horror-mystery Exhuma establishes a thrilling tone right out the gates. And for the first 15-minutes, I sat there believing …
