Articles — Original Cin

Since 2017: Career film critics continuing the conversation

The Floaters: Sorry, But This Ain’t the Jewish Meatballs

The Floaters: Sorry, But This Ain’t the Jewish Meatballs

By John Kirk

ReviewJim SlotekJuly 7, 2026The Floaters, Comedy, coming of age, Rachel Israel, Jackie Tohn, Sarah Podemski, Aya Cash, Judah Lewis, Nina Bloomgarden, Jake Ryan, Seth Green, Jacob Moskovitz, Steve Guttenberg, Jonathan Silverman, Jewish themesComment

Original Cin Q&A: Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass Lynchpins on Hamming with Jon Hamm

Original Cin Q&A: Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass Lynchpins on Hamming with Jon Hamm

By Bonnie Laufer

InterviewJim SlotekJuly 7, 2026'Weird Al' Yankovic, Penn Jillette, Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass, Comedy, David Wain, Ken Marino, Zoey Deutch, John SlatteryComment

Racewalkers: Big-Hearted Comedy About Athletes Who 'Look Like They Need to Take a Dump in a Hurry'

Racewalkers: Big-Hearted Comedy About Athletes Who 'Look Like They Need to Take a Dump in a Hurry'

By Jim Slotek

ReviewJim SlotekJuly 6, 2026Canadian comedies, Sports comedies, Strange Olympic sports, Racewalkers, Kevin Claydon, Phil Moniz, Robbie Amell, Italia Ricci, Greg Bryk, Sundance Jury Grand Prize, Blue Mountain Film Festival Audience AwardComment

The Isolate Thief: A Teen Survivor of a Civil War-era Fort Finds No Honour Among Thieves

The Isolate Thief: A Teen Survivor of a Civil War-era Fort Finds No Honour Among Thieves

By John Kirk

ReviewJim SlotekJuly 6, 2026Civil War era stories, The Isolate Thief, A lone girl "mans" a fort, Director John Suits, Mackenzie Foy, Sean Bean, Joe Pantoliano, Post-Civil War plunderers, Odeya Rush, Jack KesyComment

Antidiva The Carole Pope Confessions: Doc on Queer Canuck Icon Brings the Props

Antidiva The Carole Pope Confessions: Doc on Queer Canuck Icon Brings the Props

By Kim Hughes

Jim SlotekJuly 2, 2026Antidiva: The Carole Pope Confessions, Michelle Mama, Carole Pope, k.d. lang, Peaches, Rufus Wainwright, Jann Arden, Sebastian Bach, Documentary, Music documentary, Hot Docs '26Comment

Peter Asher Everywhere Man: Doc on Pop Culture Maven is Part Memoir, Part Tribute, All Charming

Peter Asher Everywhere Man: Doc on Pop Culture Maven is Part Memoir, Part Tribute, All Charming

By Karen Gordon

ReviewJim SlotekJuly 1, 2026Peter Asher: Everywhere Man, Music documentary, Documentary, Don Geller, Dayna Goldfine, Pattie Boyd, James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt, Steve Martin, Paul McCartneyComment

Romeria: A Sun-Drenched Spanish Family Reunion Hides Dark Secrets and Shame

Romeria: A Sun-Drenched Spanish Family Reunion Hides Dark Secrets and Shame

By Jim Slotek

ReviewJim SlotekJuly 1, 2026Spanish Films, Cannes International Film Festival, Romeria, Written and directed by Carla Simón, Sun-drenched seaside stories, Orphaned young woman seeks truth about her parents, Llúcia Garcia, Mitch Martin, AIDS era, Family secrets, Alberto Gracia, Autobiographically inspired filmsComment

The Invite: A Between-Couples Comedy with Cringe Laughs and, Ultimately, Honesty

The Invite: A Between-Couples Comedy with Cringe Laughs and, Ultimately, Honesty

By John Kirk

ReviewJim SlotekJune 29, 2026Adult comedy, Between-couples comedy, Director/co-star Olivia Wilde, Seth Rogen, Edward Norton, Penelope Cruz, The Invite, The People Upstairs, Writers Will McCormack and Rashida JonesComment

Couture: French-Speaking Angelina Jolie Anchors an Otherwise Thin Drama

Couture: French-Speaking Angelina Jolie Anchors an Otherwise Thin Drama

By Kim Hughes

ReviewJim SlotekJune 26, 2026Couture, TIFF '25, Alice Winocour, Angelina Jolie, Louis Garrel, Ella Rumpf, Garance Marillier, Vincent Lindon, Anyier Anei, Drama, Fashion, Shot in Paris, Paris, Women's storiesComment

Camp: When Girl Power Gets Scary

Camp: When Girl Power Gets Scary

By Liam Lacey

ReviewJim SlotekJune 25, 2026Camp, Girl Horror, Avalon Fast, Canadian, Horror, Zola Grimmer, Alice Wordsworth, Cherry Moore, Lea Rose Sebastianis, Ella Reece, Austyn Van de Kamp, Sophie Bawks-Smith, Aidan Laudersmith, Izza JarvisComment

Unidentified: A Tricky If Uninspired Saudi Crime Who-Done-It

Unidentified: A Tricky If Uninspired Saudi Crime Who-Done-It

By Liam Lacey

ReviewJim SlotekJune 25, 2026Unidentified, TIFF '25, Saudi Arabia, Haifaa Al Mansour, Brad Niemann, Mila Al Zahrani, Shafi Al Harthi, Fatma Al Shareef, Abdullah Al Qahtani, Arabic, Women's livesComment

Supergirl: A Super Powered 'Bad Girl' Grows Up Amid Echoes of Guardians of the Galaxy

Supergirl: A Super Powered 'Bad Girl' Grows Up Amid Echoes of Guardians of the Galaxy

By John Kirk

ReviewJim SlotekJune 24, 2026Updated super-heroes, DC Cinematic Universe, Supergirl, Kara Zor-El, Producer James Gunn, Milly Alcock, Superpowered teen rebel, David Corenswet, Eve Ridley, Matthias Schoenaerts, Jason Momoa Comment

The Death of Robin Hood: A Masterful Reimagining of a Familiar Tale

The Death of Robin Hood: A Masterful Reimagining of a Familiar Tale

By Karen Gordon

ReviewJim SlotekJune 18, 2026The Death of Robin Hood, Michael Sarnoski, Hugh Jackman, Jodie Comer, Murray Bartlett, Noah Jupe, Faith Delaney, Drama, FAbleComment

Leviticus: & The Evils of Eating Shellfish and Wearing Mixed Fabrics

Leviticus: & The Evils of Eating Shellfish and Wearing Mixed Fabrics

By Thom Ernst

ReviewJim SlotekJune 18, 2026Leviticus, Adrian Chiarella, Joe Bird, Stacy Clausen, Gay themes, Australian films, Horror, Drama, Directorial debutComment

We're Nothing At All: Psychological Thriller Examines Perpetrators' Lives in a Hong Kong Bus Bombing

We're Nothing At All: Psychological Thriller Examines Perpetrators' Lives in a Hong Kong Bus Bombing

By Alice Shih

ReviewJim SlotekJune 18, 2026Hong Kong films, 50th Hong Kong International Film Festival, We’re Nothing at All, Anson Kong, Ansonbean, Cantopop boy band stars turned actors, Dark social reality behind a bus bombing, Filmmaker Herman Yau, Asian LGBTQ+ issues Comment

Toy Story 5: Sweeter than Ever, As the Toys Fight to De-Zombify a Digital-Age Child

Toy Story 5: Sweeter than Ever, As the Toys Fight to De-Zombify a Digital-Age Child

By Karen Gordon

ReviewJim SlotekJune 17, 2026Toy Story 5, Lost childhood, Co-writer/director Andrew Stanton, Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Greta Lee, Conan O’Brien, Analog toys versus the InternetComment

Disclosure Day: Aliens Are Among Us, and Spielberg Has Cameras Rolling

Disclosure Day: Aliens Are Among Us, and Spielberg Has Cameras Rolling

By Karen Gordon

ReviewJim SlotekJune 11, 2026Disclosure Day, Steven Spielberg, David Koepp, Sci fi, Action, Aliens, Emily Blunt, Eve Hewson, Colman Domingo, Colin Firth, Josh O’ConnorComment

Another World: A Hong Kong Animated Feature of a Dark Japanese Fable is an Asian Hit

Another World: A Hong Kong Animated Feature of a Dark Japanese Fable is an Asian Hit

By Alice Shih

ReviewJim SlotekJune 11, 2026Japanese stories turned into Chinese animation, Another World, Golden Horse Award, Acceptance of the Afterlife, Japanese novel "Sennenki: Thousand-year Journey of an Oni", Polly Yeung, Tommy Kai Chung Ng, Suet-Ying Chung, Louis Cheung Comments

This Ordinary Thing: Celebs Tell the Stories of Those Who Did the Righteous Thing

This Ordinary Thing: Celebs Tell the Stories of Those Who Did the Righteous Thing

By Liam Lacey

ReviewJim SlotekJune 10, 2026This Ordinary Thing, Nick Davies, documentaries, Holocaust, F. Murray Abraham, Eric Bogosian, Ellen Burstyn, Stephen Fry, Marcia Gay Harden, Jeremy Irons, John Leguizamo, Lily Tomlin, David Strathairn, Bebe Neuwirth, Helen MirrenComment

The Furious: Everybody Was Kung-Fu Fighting

The Furious: Everybody Was Kung-Fu Fighting

By Liz Braun

ReviewJim SlotekJune 10, 2026The Furious, TIFF '25, Martial arts, Asian cinema, Kenji Tanigaki, Miao Xie, Brian Le, Joe TaslimComment