Articles — Original Cin

Since 2017: Career film critics continuing the conversation

Last Jedi: Bigger, better, but - thank the Force! - same as it ever was

By Jim Slotek

ReviewJim SlotekDecember 12, 2017Star Wars, Carrie Fisher, Last Jedi, Mark Hamill, Darth Vader, Rian Johnson

Toronto film critics give best picture thumbs up to The Florida Project

By Jim Slotek

ViewsJim SlotekDecember 10, 2017Awards season movies, Toronto Film Critics Association, Toronto International Film Festival, The Florida Project, Lady Bird, Get Out

Dim the Fluorescents: And You Thought Your Office Had Heavy Drama…

By Liam Lacey

ReviewDecember 10, 2017Canadian films, Dramedy, Claire Armstrong, Naomi Skwarna, Slamdance Festival, Indie films

Hope Springs in Finnish Director’s Crafty Refugee Dramedy

By Liam Lacey

ReviewDecember 7, 2017TIFF, Aki Kaurismäki, drama, comedy, refugees

Chavela: Documentary Distills Acclaimed Singer’s Tumultuous Life

By Liam Lacey

ReviewDecember 7, 2017Documentary, Biography, Chavela Vargas, Hot Docs

The Shape of Water: Guillermo Del Toro’s Epic (and Wet) Love Story Freestyles to Brilliance

By Bonnie Laufer

InterviewDecember 6, 2017Guillermo del Toro, Sally Hawkins, Octavia Spencer, drama, fantasy, Toronto films, TIFF

The Disaster Artist: Life on 'Planet Tommy' (Wiseau)

By Jim Slotek

InterviewJim SlotekNovember 30, 2017The Room, Mockumentary, Comedy, TIFF, James Franco, Dave Franco, Tommy Wiseau, Seth Rogen

Sweet Virginia: A Half-Baked Noir of Few Words

By Karen Gordon

ReviewJim SlotekNovember 30, 2017Canadian, drama, Jamie M Dagg

Engrossing Doc Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story Illuminates Brains Behind Beauty

By Liam Lacey

ReviewNovember 26, 2017Hedy Lamarr, Classic Hollywood, documentary, Sexism

The Man Who Invented Christmas: God bless it, everyone!

By Karen Gordon

ReviewJim SlotekNovember 24, 2017Christmas movies, A Christmas Carol, Christopher Plummer, Dan Stevens, Bharat Nalluri

Original-Cin Q&A: Animated Afghan empowerment story, The Breadwinner

Nora Twomey (The Breadwinner)

InterviewJim SlotekNovember 23, 2017Afghanistan, Women's rights, Animation, Islam, Nora Twomey, The Secret of Kells

Vampires on the Gardiner, Red Spring kicks off fun-fueled Blood In The Snow indie fest

By Jim Slotek

ViewsJim SlotekNovember 22, 2017Independent films, Horror, Fantasy, Sci-fi, Film Festivals, Blood In The Snow

Linklater's Last Flag Flying is a relentlessly sadder Last Detail

By Jim Slotek

ReviewJim SlotekNovember 22, 2017Anti-war, Steve Carell, Bryan Cranston, Laurence Fishburne, Richard Linklater, Iraq

Roman J. Israel, Esq.: Three Movies In One. Enter at Own Risk

By Kim Hughes

ReviewNovember 22, 2017drama, Denzel Washington, Colin Farrell, legal drama, Dan Gilroy

Coco: Mexican Realism Infuses Animated Family Pic with Uncommon Soul

By Kim Hughes

ReviewNovember 21, 2017Disney, Pixar, Animated, Children's films, Mexican

Q&A, Bharat Nalluri: Dickens liked Christmas, religion not so much

By Jim Slotek

InterviewJim SlotekNovember 21, 2017Dickens, A Christmas Carol, Christopher Plummer, MI5, The Little Ice Age

Wonder: Saccharine Family Drama Saved By Merciful Jolt of Quirk

By Liam Lacey

ReviewNovember 17, 2017Julia Roberts, Owen Wilson, Jacob Tremblay, Family drama, young adult novels

Mudbound: Penetrating Period Drama Explores Enduring Racism in America

By Kim Hughes

ReviewNovember 17, 2017drama, Period piece films, Carey Mulligan, Netflix, WWII, Jonathan Banks

Blade of the Immortal: Japanese Genre King Puts Zombie on Overdrive

By Liam Lacey

ReviewNovember 17, 2017Zombie, Japanese films, genre film, Takashi Miike

Paradise? In a Nazi concentration camp?

By Liam Lacey

ReviewJim SlotekNovember 17, 2017Venice Silver Lion Award, World War II, Period romance, Andrey Konchalovskiy