Brothers by Blood: Crime Family Revenge Tale Divorced from Genuine Drama
Review, PreviewJim SlotekBrothers by Blood, Jérémie Guez, Matthias Schoenaerts, Crime family, mobsters, Philadelphia, Joel Kinnaman, Ryan Phillippe, Maika Monroe, Paul Schneider, Peter Dexter, film adaptation
The Courier: Cold War-Era Espionage Thriller Adds a Jewel to the Canon
Review, PreviewJim SlotekThe Courier, Cold War, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jessie Buckley, Dominic Cooke, Spy thrillers, Rachel Brosnahan, Merab Ninidze, British, MI6, CIA
The Good Traitor: Fact-Based Nazi-Era Drama Should be Dazzling But Lacks Heft
Review, PreviewJim SlotekThe Good Traitor, Christina Rosendahl, Nazis, World War II, Danish movies, Ulrich Thomsen, Denise Gough, Zoë Tapper, Henry Goodman, Mikkel Boe Følsgaard, Drama, War
The Violent Heart: A young adult film-noir-in-training buried deep in mundanities
ReviewJim SlotekThe Violent Heart, Kerem Sanga, Young Adult melodrama, Murder mystery, Lukas Haas, Mary J. Blige, Jovan Adepo, Grace Van Patten, Jordan Preston Carter, Rayven Symone Ferrell, Kimberly Williams-Paisley
3 1/2 Minutes, 10 Bullets: A look back at the 'Loud Music Trial' that dovetailed with the birth of Black Lives Matter
ReviewJim Slotek3 ½ Minutes, 10 Bullets, Loud Music trial, Shooting deaths of young blacks, Derek Chauvin, George Floyd, Marc Silver, Black Lives Matter movement, George Zimmerman, Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Ferguson, Missouri, Cory Strolla, John Guy, Michael Dunn, Jordan Davis
Nomadland: Beautiful, affecting film has a deep well of compassion for a forgotten fringe of society
By Karen Gordon
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ReviewJim SlotekNomadland, Frances McDormand, Characters on the fringe of society, Homeless on wheels, Linda May, Bob Wells, David Strathairn, Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century by Jessica Bruder, Chloé Zhao, The Rider, Terrence Malick, Kelly Reichardt, Joshua James Richards, Ludovico Einaudi, Richard Linklater, Boyhood
Held: Tepid horror movie about a 'smart house' holding a couple hostage is not that smart
ReviewJim SlotekHeld, Evil AI movies, Jordan Peele’s Get Out, Travis Cluff, Chris Lofing, Jill Awbre, Rez Kempton, Bart Johnson, Housekeeping Monthly’s The Good Wife’s Guide., The Simpson’s House of Whacks episode, Leigh Whannell, The Invisible Man.
Embryo: Middling Chilean Sci-Fi/Horror Repays Viewing Dilignece With Scant Dividends
Review, PreviewJim SlotekEmbryo, Chilean films, Science fiction, Horror, Alien movies, Patricio Valladares, Romina Perazzo, Domingo Guzmán, Cristian Cuentrejo
Senior Moment: A Likeable Love Story for the Aged If Not for the Ages
Review, PreviewJim SlotekSenior Moment, William Shatner, Jean Smart, Christopher Lloyd, Giorgio Serafini, Esai Morales, love story, Palm Springs, Aging, Movies about aging
Quo Vadis, Aida?: Oscar-Chosen Drama on Grim Chapter in Bosnian War Nails Emotional Tenor
Review, PreviewJim SlotekDrama, TIFF 2020, Jasmila Žbanić, Jasna Đuričić, Oscar nominee, Bosnia, Serbia, Bosian War, Quo Vadis, Aida?, 1995 Srebrenica massacre
Sugar Daddy: A budding musician joins the gig economy as a sex worker in this idiosyncratic-yet-familiar film
ReviewJim SlotekSugar Daddy, Movies about sex workers, Kelly McCormack, Wendy Morgan, Shiva Baby, Hilary McCormack, Maria Callas, Ishan Davé, Nicholas Campbell, Colm Feore, Stephan Littger, Her Composition, Rachmaninov, Mozart, The Roches, Marie-Helene L. Delorme, aka Foxtrott, Kaniehtiio Horn
Original-Cin Q&A: Captain Kirk himself, nonagenarian William Shatner talks Senior Moment (the movie and the condition)
By Bonnie Laufer
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InterviewJim SlotekWilliam Shatner, Senior Moment, Christopher Lloyd, Fast-driving seniors, Star Trek III: The Search For Spock), Jean Smart, Nonagenarian actors, Spoken word blues album, Star Trek, Sci-fi conventions, T.J. Hooker, The UnXplained
French Exit: Michelle Pfieffer Riches-to-Rags Drama Leaves a Bitter Taste and Impression
Review, PreviewJim SlotekFrench Exit, Azazel Jacobs, Patrick deWitt, Michelle Pfeiffer, Lucas Hedges, Into the Wild, The Marksman, Riches to rags stories, Paris, Imogen Poots
Shoplifters of the World: Tribute to Alt-Rock Icons The Smiths Tender But Trite
The Canadian Film Festival: Films by emerging Canadian filmmakers find a second-time-around pandemic home on Super Channel
PreviewJim SlotekCanadian Film Festival, Super Channel, Film events streaming during the pandemic, Sugar Daddy, Wendy Morgan, Kelly McCormack, White Elephant, Andrew Chung, Woman in Car, Vanya Rose, Chained, Titus Heckel, Between Waves, Virginia Abramovich, The Last Villains: Mad Dog and the Butcher, Paul “The Butcher” Vachon, The Corruption of Divine Providence, Jeremy Torrie, Events Transpiring Before, During and After a High School Basketball Game, Ted Stenson, Range Roads, Kyle Thomas
The Marksman: Liam Neeson’s Latest Average-Guy-Cum-Hero Actioner True to Form… Sigh
Review, PreviewJim SlotekThe Marksman, Liam Neeson, Robert Lorenz, Clint Eastwood, Action movies, Mexico, Drug cartels, Juan Pablo Raba, Jacob Perez, Mexican border
Godzilla vs. Kong: Like the WWE, enjoyably cartoonish with bigger behemoths and a serviceable story
ReviewJim SlotekGodzilla vs. Kong, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, King Ghidorah, King Kong, Rebecca Hall, Batman vs. Superman, Adam Wingard, Alexander Skarsgård, Brian Tyree Henry, Millie Bobby Brown, Stranger Things, Kaiju
Original-Cin Q&A: Ingrid Veninger on Creating the Ultimate Female Pandemic Collaboration
Review, Preview, InterviewJim SlotekOne (nine), Ingrid Veninger, Female Eye Film Festival, pandemic, Pandemic movies, Female filmmakers, female directors, 2020
Six Minutes to Midnight: Eddie Izzard-Guided WWII Drama Intriguing but Unfulfilling
Nobody: Bob Odenkirk makes a surprising action hero in a trope-filled tale of a milquetoast who fights back
ReviewJim SlotekVigilante violence, Bob Odenkirk, Nobody, High Noon, Falling Down, Death Wish, Ilya Naishuller, Michael Ironside, Characters rediscovering their masculinity, Aleksey Serebryakov, Christopher Lloyd, A History of Violence, Home invasions
