Articles — Original Cin

Since 2017: Career film critics continuing the conversation

Hearts Beat Loud: Nick Offerman sweetly dials down as dad, vinyl seller and wannabe rock star

By Jim Slotek

ReviewJim SlotekJune 20, 2018Nick Offerman, Toni Collette, Ted Danson, Kersey Clemons, Vinyl record stores, Father daughter dramas, Spotify

The Cleaners: How social media outsourced censorship to Third World sweatshops

By Jim Slotek

ReviewJim SlotekJune 19, 2018Documentary, Social media, Facebook, Russian interference in U.S. elections, Myanmar, Turkey, Duterte, Mark Zuckerberg, Political polarization

Tag: Lame Game Comedy Proves More Can Be Less in a Post-Hangover World

By Liam Lacey

ReviewJune 14, 2018Jon Hamm, Jeremy Renner, Hannibal Buress, Ed Helms, Isla Fisher, comedy

Superfly: Gangsta Remake More Like Music Video than Proper Reimagining

By Liam Lacey

ReviewJune 14, 2018Trevor Jackson, Atkins Estimond, Director X, remake, Michael K. Williams

Chinese-born, Toronto-raised animator Domee Shi takes a bow for Pixar's Bao

By Bonnie Laufer

InterviewJim SlotekJune 12, 2018Pixar, animated shorts, Chinese culture, dim sum, Empty nest syndrome, Incredibles 2, Pete Docter, Brad Bird, Domee Shi

Incredibles 2 lightens the mood in a world gone super-serious

By Jim Slotek

ReviewJim SlotekJune 12, 2018Disney Pixar, The Incredibles, Samuel L. Jackson, Craig T. Nelson, Brad Bird, Superheroes, Animated features, Kidflicks

Original-Cin Q&A w/The Incredibles 2's Brad Bird: 'You throw a rock now and you'll hit a superhero'

By Bonnie Laufer

InterviewJim SlotekJune 12, 2018Brad Bird, Disney Pixar, The Incredibles, Samuel L. Jackson, Superheroes, Animated features, Kidflicks

Breakthroughs Film Festival: Sharp Shorts from Women of the World

By Kim Hughes

Views, ReviewJune 12, 2018Breakthroughs Film Festival, Film Festivals, Toronto, Women's rights, Women's relationships, Female filmmakers

Ocean’s 8: Female-Fronted Heist Dramedy Good as the Sum of its Parts

By Kim Hughes

ReviewJune 7, 2018Mindy Kaling, Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter, Sarah Paulson, Steven Soderbergh

Hereditary is the creepy apex of a golden era of smart horror films

By Karen Gordon

ReviewJim SlotekJune 7, 2018Horror, Psychological horror, Toni Collette, Ari Aster, Occult, Insanity, Gabriel Byrne, Alex Wolff

Original-Cin interview: Hereditary's Ari Aster is a cinephile who told crew to "feel the evil"

By Liam Lacey

InterviewJim SlotekJune 6, 2018Ari Aster, Horror, Psychological horror, Hereditary, Toni Collette, Peter Greenaway, Bobbi Lurie, Edward Albee, Demonic possession

The Accountant of Auschwitz: When being there is a war crime

By Jim Slotek

Jim SlotekJune 6, 2018documentaries, Hot Docs 18, Nazi War Criminals, John Demjanjuk, Oskar Groning, Auschwitz, Holocaust

Hotel Artemis: Jodie Foster chews hard on preposterous premise in a dark, guilty pleasure

By Jim Slotek

ReviewJim SlotekJune 6, 2018Science fiction, Crime drama, Jodie Foster, Jeff Goldblum, Dave Bautista, Drew Pearce

Toronto Japanese Film Festival: From the harrowing "lost" Hiroshima to the light-hearted mysticism of Kamakura

By Jim Slotek

Views, ReviewJim SlotekJune 5, 2018Japanese films, Hiroshima, Fukushima, Yokai, Nuclear disasters, Anti-war, Toronto Japanese Film Festival

Original-Cin Q&A: Won't You Be My Neighbor's Morgan Neville on Mister Rogers, his counsel to Yo-Yo Ma and his beautiful legacy

By Bonnie Laufer

InterviewJim SlotekJune 5, 2018Documentaries, Fred Rogers, Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, Won't You Be My Neighbor, PBS, Morgan Neville, 20 Feet From Stardom, Children's televsion, Presbyterian

First Reformed: Ethan Hawke Soars in Masterful Drama about Trampled Faith

By Kim Hughes

ReviewJune 1, 2018Ethan Hawke, Paul Schrader, Amanda Seyfried, TIFF 2017, drama

Let the Sunshine In: Sober Meditation on Love Lurks Beneath Frothy French Rom-Com

By Liam Lacey

ReviewMay 31, 2018Claire Denis, French film, Gérard Depardieu, DRama, Juliette Binoche

M/M: Thriller Set in Pulsing Berlin Gay Scene Borrows Widely, For Better or Worse

By Liam Lacey

ReviewMay 31, 2018Erotic thriller, Canadian, Drew Lint, Antoine LaHaie, Nicolas Maxim Endlicher, Edgar Alan Poe

Shoe's on the other foot when rich white people are profiled in Black Cop

By Jim Slotek

ReviewJim SlotekMay 31, 2018Racial profiling, Police shootings of blacks, Halifax, PTSD, Cory Bowles, Trailer Park Boys, Toronto International Film Festival

Adrift: Lost-at-Sea Drama Buoyed by Cast but Sunk by Odd Narrative Choices

By Kim Hughes

ReviewMay 31, 2018Sam Claflin, Shailene Woodley, lost at sea, Baltasar Kormákur, shipwreck, drama