Articles — Original Cin

Since 2017: Career film critics continuing the conversation

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Blindspotting: Ambitious Dramedy A Smart (if Messy) Look at Race and Class

By Liam Lacey

ReviewJuly 26, 2018Daveed Diggs, Rafael Casal..., Oakland, first feature, Comedy-drama, Hamilton

Shock and Awe: Iraq War Newspaper Drama Meanders and Fizzles

By Liam Lacey

ReviewJuly 26, 2018Rob Reiner, Woody Harrelson, Tommy Lee Jones, Newspapers, 9/11, Drama, War

Mission: Impossible - Fallout: An action-film greatest-hits of death-defying, always-escapable predicaments

By Liam Lacey

ReviewJim SlotekJuly 25, 2018Mission: Impossible - Fallout, Tom Cruise, Simon Pegg, Christopher McQuarrie, Actors doing stunts, Action films

Streaming Site MUBI Screens Best (and Bleakest) of Emerging Canuck Cinema

By Liam Lacey

Views, ReviewJuly 21, 2018MUBI, streaming service, Canadian film, Werewolf, Mass for Shut-ins, How Heavy This Hammer, The Stairs, Still Night, Still Light, Maison du bonheur

Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again: Same Old but with ABBA Songs So What’s Not to Love?

By Kim Hughes

ReviewJuly 20, 2018sequel, musical, Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Colin FIrth, Amanda Seyfried, Stellan Skarsgård, ABBA

The Equalizer 2: Lame Sequel Ramps Ups the Action, Dumbs Down the Premise

By Liam Lacey

ReviewJuly 20, 2018Denzel Washington, Antoine Fuqua, sequel, action-adventure, Melissa Leo, remake

Hot Docs Weekend Roundup: Nazi Film Trove Revealed, Chinese Hero Shortchanged

By Liam Lacey

ReviewJuly 18, 2018Hot Docs, Nazi, Chinese dissidents, Udo Kier

Eighth Grade: A YouTube-age girl's touching voyage through pre-high-school hell

By Karen Gordon

ReviewJim SlotekJuly 18, 2018Elsie Fisher, Eighth Grade, YouTube, Bo Burnham, Internet, Social Media, Sundance films

Under the Tree: Icelanders behaving badly makes for dark, deranged social satire

By Jim Slotek

ReviewJim SlotekJuly 18, 2018Icelandic films, Social satire, Cruelty to animals, suicide, Divorce, Sex videos, Domestic violence

Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far On Foot: Much tragically told but not explained about provocative cartoonist Callahan

By Jim Slotek

ReviewJim SlotekJuly 18, 2018Cartoonist, John Callahan, Quadriplegia, Gus Van Sant, Joaquin Phoenix, Jack Black, Jonah Hill, Offending material

Sorry to Bother You: Wickedly Clever Comedy Hits Contemporary Targets

By Liam Lacey

ReviewJuly 13, 2018Lakeith Stanfield, Danny Glover, satire, comedy, Boots Riley, Get Out, Armie Hammer

Whitney: Family-Sanctioned Doc Tells Familiar Tale of Success and Excess

By Kim Hughes

ReviewJuly 13, 2018Documentary, Kevin Macdonald, Whitney Houston, Music

Three Identical Strangers: A compelling tale of nature, nurture and unscrupulous science

By Liam Lacey

ReviewJim SlotekJuly 12, 2018Documentary, Triplets, Nature versus nurture, Tim Wardle, Jewish issues, Media sensations

Hey, I CAN smell what The Rock is cooking!: A hot mess called Skyscraper

By Jim Slotek

ReviewJim SlotekJuly 12, 2018Dwayne Johnson, Action films, Die Hard, The Towering Inferno, Giant office towers, Neve Campbell, Hong Kong, Summer blockbusters

Mary Shelley: Classic Feminist Novel Inspires So-So Feminist(ish) Movie

By Liam Lacey

ReviewJuly 11, 2018Frankenstein, Horror, Elle Fanning, Drama, TIFF 2017, Bel Powley, Percy Bysshe Shelley

American Animals: Fact-Based Heist Drama Blurs Fact and Fiction, Comes Up Short

By Liam Lacey

ReviewJuly 11, 2018Bart Layton, Ann Dowd, Blake Jenner, Jared Abrahamson, fact-based drama, Heist movies

Leave No Trace: Homeless dad-and-daughter tale, an affecting breaking-point metaphor

By Karen Gordon

ReviewJim SlotekJuly 9, 2018Debra Granik, Winter's Bone, PTSD, Ben Foster, Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie, Homelessness, Father daughter dramas

Always At The Carlyle squanders its Old World saga on modern celeb sizzle

By Karen Gordon

ReviewJim SlotekJuly 9, 2018Manhattan society, Old World glamour, Legendary hotels, The Carlyle, Anthony Bourdain, Princess Diana, George Clooney, Documentaries, Matthew Miele

22 Chaser: Realist drama about a Toronto tow-truck driver could use a jump-start

By Liam Lacey

ReviewJim SlotekJuly 6, 2018Canadian movies, Tow truck drivers, Realist drama, Brian J Smith, Rafal Sokolowski, Moral ambivalence, Crooked Cops, Aidan Devine, Raoul Max Trujillo

Boundaries: Starry Road-Trip Movie Has Heaps of Heart but Lacks Thrust

By Kim Hughes

ReviewJuly 4, 2018Comedy-drama, Road trip, Christopher Plummer, Vera Farmiga, Peter Fonda, Christopher Lloyd