Articles — Original Cin

Since 2017: Career film critics continuing the conversation

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The Insult: Lebanon’s Complex History Fires Film’s Ambitions… With Mixed Results

By Liam Lacey

ReviewJanuary 25, 2018TIFF 2017, Lebanon, Oscars 2018, Foreign language films, Foreign-language Oscar

Maze Runner: The Death Cure - So are we done killing teenagers now?

By Jim Slotek

ReviewJim SlotekJanuary 25, 2018Young adult novels, post-apocalypse, The Maze Runner, Hunger Games, Divergent, Will Poulter

'Hillbilly gothic' Hollow In The Land: a decalcified Winter's Bone

By Liam Lacey

ReviewJim SlotekJanuary 23, 2018Hillbilly gothic, Winter's Bone, Glee, Dianne Agron, working-class crime drama, Scooter Corkle, Jared Abrahamson

12 Strong: When Superheroes Go to War (Things Blow Up!)

By Liam Lacey

ReviewJanuary 18, 2018War, Action, American, Chris Hemsworth, Michael Shannon, 9/11, Afghanistan, Jerry Bruckheimer

In The Fade & Forever My Girl: Love Stories With Very Different Outcomes

By Kim Hughes

ReviewJanuary 18, 2018Drama, Romantic comedy, Oscars, TIFF 2017, love story

Den of Thieves: 'Genius' bank robbers, rogue cops and implausible deniability

By Jim Slotek

ReviewJim SlotekJanuary 18, 2018Crime, Heist movies, Gerard Butler, LAPD movies, Los Angeles, Bank robberies, O'Shea Jackson Jr.

Remember Obama's White House? The Final Year is a doc that makes us... sad

By Liam Lacey

ReviewJim SlotekJanuary 17, 2018Political documentaries, Obama administration, Ben Rhodes, Samantha Power, John Kerry, Trump, Clinton

No white-hats, black-hats or cartoon savages in the brutally violent Hostiles

By Jim Slotek

ReviewJim SlotekJanuary 17, 2018Westerns, Native-American portrayals, Christian Bale, Scott Cooper, Wes Studi, Cheyenne, Apaches

Proud Mary: Ain’t Nothing To Be Proud About

By Liam Lacey

ReviewJanuary 12, 2018Taraji P. Henson, Drama, crime drama, Danny Glover

The Commuter: Liam Neeson Thriller Galls with What Might Have Been

By Kim Hughes

ReviewJanuary 11, 2018thriller, Liam Neeson, Vera Farmiga, Jonathan Banks, Jaume Collet-Serra, crime drama

Mountain: A doc to watch because it's there

By Jim Slotek

ReviewJim SlotekJanuary 10, 2018Documentaries, Mountain climbing, Travelogue, Extreme sports, Willem Dafoe, Everest, Sherpas

Aida's Secrets: A 'displaced persons' camp baby-boom sparks a parent-search 60 years on

By Jim Slotek

ReviewJim SlotekJanuary 10, 2018Documentary, Holocaust, Jewish cinema, Lost relatves, World War II, Bergen-Belsen Displaced Persons Camp, Alon Schwarz

Insidious: The Last Key's timid ghostbuster doesn't pass in-spectre

By Jim Slotek

ReviewJim SlotekJanuary 5, 2018Horror, Blumhouse, Insidious, Lin Shaye, Haunted houses, demons

Phantom Thread: Day-Lewis' terrific swan-song disrobes the artistic process

By Liam Lacey

ReviewJim SlotekJanuary 5, 2018Award season movies, Daniel Day-Lewis, Paul Thomas Anderson, Dress designing, Psychological drama, Lesley Manville, Vicky Krieps

The Post: Spielberg's political flashback is Trump-comfort for Nixon survivors

By Liam Lacey

ReviewJim SlotekJanuary 4, 2018Awards season movies, journalism, Vietnam War, Pentagon Papers, Donald Trump, Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg

Original-Cin's bests and worsts of '17: The good, the bad & the fugly

By Jim Slotek, Kim Hughes, Liam Lacey, Karen Gordon and Bonnie Laufer

ReviewJim SlotekDecember 26, 2017Year end 2017, Best and worst movies 2017, Guillermo del Toro, Tom Cruise, The Emoji Movie, Matt Damon, Frances McDormand, Get OUt

Alexander Payne's Downsizing: Big ideas, little payoff

By Jim Slotek

ReviewJim SlotekDecember 23, 2017Alexander Payne, Matt Damon, Kristen Wiig, Hong Chau, Science fiction, Global warming

I, Tonya: A trailer-park Rashomon with stellar performances and bitter laughs

By Jim Slotek

ReviewJim SlotekDecember 22, 2017Tonya Harding, Nancy Kerrigan, Awards season movies, Figure skating, Dark comedies

Molly's Game: High-stakes poker drowns in Sorkin's verbiage, but Chastain shines

By Jim Slotek

ReviewJim SlotekDecember 22, 2017Aaron Sorkin, High stakes poker, Molly Bloom, Jessica Chastain, Michael Cera, Organized crime, Gambling