Da 5 Bloods: Spike Lee squeezes a mini-series worth of contrivances to get us from Vietnam to Black Lives Matter
ReviewJim SlotekSpike Lee, Da 5 Bloods, Vietnam War, Black Lives Matter, Muhammad Ali, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Angela Davis, Kevin Willmott, Danny Bilson, Paul De Meo, Delroy Lindo, Clarke Peters, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Norm Lewis, Chadwick Boseman, Jonathan Majors, Johnny Nguyen, Mélanie Thierry, Jean Reno, Newton Thomas Sigel, Terence Blanchard, The Chambers Brothers, Marvin Gaye
Original-Cin Q&A: Palestinian director Elia Suleiman talks about his absurdist approach to inflammatory reality
Review, InterviewJim SlotekElia Suleiman, It Must Be Heaven, Palestinian filmmaker, Absurdist social comment, Guy Sprung, Gael Garcia Bernal, Cannes Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, Movies released online during pandemic, Yasmine Hamdan, Keystone Cops, Buster Keaton, Jacques Tati
The King of Staten Island: Judd Apatow and Pete Davidson squeeze tenderhearted comedy out of dark reality
By Karen Gordon
Read More
ReviewJim SlotekJudd Apatow, Pete Davidson, The King of Staten Island, Saturday Night Live alumni, Dave Sirus, Marisa Tomei, 9/11, Bel Powley, Maude Apatow, Bill Burr, Steve Buscemi
Shoot to Marry: Toronto Filmmaker’s Madcap Search for Love Yields Laughs… and Gravity
Searching Eva: Deliberately surface-deep portrait of an anxiety-stricken influencer passes off superficiality as art
Judy & Punch: Fearlessly Dark Fable Powered by Puppets, Performance… and Fearsome Payback
ReviewMirrah Foulkes, Mia Wasikowska, Damon Herriman, Judy & Punch, Medieval, Black comedy, Drama, Dramedy, Puppets, Marionettes, Vice
The Rabbi Goes West: Soul-saving Hasidim in Montana face neo-Nazis to the right, 'reform' Jews to the left
ReviewJim SlotekThe Rabbi Goes West, Chaim Bruk, Chabad Lubavitch, Bozeman, Montana., Orthodox Jews, Reform and Conservative Jews, Small town Judaism, Gerald Peary, Amy Geller, mezuzah, Whitefish, Montana, Radical white supremacists, Richard Spencer
Becky: Surly teen girl versus neo-Nazis thriller proves it's not just looks that can kill
ReviewJim SlotekBecky, Teen girl revenge movie, Jonathan Milott, Cary Murnion, Lulu Wilson, Star Trek: Picard, Kevin James, White power skinhead villains, Joel McHale, Amanda Brugel, Robert Maillet
Phoenix, Oregon: Likeable Dramedy about Midlife Rebirth Comforting if Conventional
Review, PreviewGary Lundgren, Phoenix Oregon, James Le Gros, Jesse Borrego, Lisa Edelstein, Diedrich Bader, Kevin Corrigan, Comedy, Bowling, Bowling movies, The Big Lebowski, Sideways
Rescuing Rex: An often harrowing look at where those rescue dogs came from, and how they got that way
ReviewJim SlotekInternational rescue dogs, Leora Eisen, Rescuing Rex, TVO documentary, Nicole Simone, Redemption Paws, Mary Choi, Adopt-a-Doggie, Taiwan, Texas, Lack of regulation in dog trafficking, Baby Boomers vs Millennials
Online Toronto Jewish Film Festival kicks off, ironically, with a Skype-based troubled marriage story
By Linda Barnard
Read More
Preview, ReviewJim SlotekToronto Jewish Film Festival’s online fest, Film festivals reacting to COVID-19, Keren Ben Rafael, The End of Love, Judith Chemla, Give Me Liberty, Those Who Remained, Short Lily, 1950s comic book illustration pioneer Lily Renée Phillips, Dayan: The First Family, Bully. Coward. Victim. The Story of Roy Cohn
Raising the Dead: Savvy Doc Puts George A. Romero’s 1968 Horror Classic in Fresh Light
Preview, Review, InterviewHollywood Suite, George A. Romero, documentary, Raising the Dead: Re-Examining Night of the Living Dead, Ryan Mains, Duane Jones, Kyra Schon, Roger Ebert, Geoff Pevere, Dawn of the Dead, Night of the Living Dead, Horror, Zombies, Cult Classic
Space Force: A comic slow burn, but a nicely grounded Steve Carell series based on a real life ridiculous idea
ReviewJim SlotekSpace Force, Steve Carell, The Office, Parks and Recreation, Greg Daniels, Donald Trump, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Nancy Pelosi', John Malkovich, Jimmy O. Yang, Diana Silvers, Tawny Newsome, U.S. returning to space, Netflix series
Original-Cin Q&A/review: Bruce McDonald on that Easter Egg in Pontypool, and casting two Stephen McHatties in Dreamland
Review, InterviewJim SlotekBruce McDonald, Pontypool, Dreamland, Post-credit Easter Eggs, Stephen McHattie, Tony Burgess, Underworld dramas, Hit-men, Vampires, Juliette Lewis, Henry Rollins, Chet Baker, Belgium, Wallonia, Luxembourg City
The Trip to Greece: Steve Coogan/Rob Brydon Foodie Franchise Finale Hits the Spot
Military Wives: Formulaic Dramedy from Full Monty Director Pleasant but Dull
The Painter and the Thief: Unsettling Norwegian doc considers art for art's sake, and the possible damage done
Capone: Weird Biopic of Infamous Gangster Like Rubbernecking A Wreck Despite Tom Hardy
Beyond Moving: A South African child street-performer's problematic journey to ballet's global stages
Upload: Enjoyably quirky series set inside a digital afterlife, where your credit rating still matters
ReviewJim SlotekDigital life after death, Upload, Amazon Prime series, The Office, Greg Daniels, Space Force, Robbie Amell, Stephen Amell, Jordan Johnson-Hinds, Corporate satire, Andy Allo, William B. Davis, Rhys Slac, Kevin Bigley, Elizabeth Bowen, Allegra Edwards
