Articles — Original Cin

Since 2017: Career film critics continuing the conversation

A Mouthful of Air: Starry Saga about Depression Lovely to Observe But Lacking Topical Heft

A Mouthful of Air: Starry Saga about Depression Lovely to Observe But Lacking Topical Heft

By Karen Gordon

ReviewJim SlotekOctober 28, 2021A Mouthful of Air, Drama, Themes of depression, Paul Giamatti, Amy Irving, Finn Whitlock, Amanda Seyfried, Amy Koppelman, adaptationComment

Roh: What Happens in the Malaysian Jungle Stays in the Malaysian Jungle

Roh: What Happens in the Malaysian Jungle Stays in the Malaysian Jungle

By Jim Slotek

ReviewJim SlotekOctober 28, 2021International Oscar nominees, Malaysian movies, Roh, Horror films set in the woods, Emir Ezwan, Paganism, Farah Ahmad, NamronComment

Original-Cin Q&A: Zombie Heistmeister Zack Snyder and Scream-King Matthias Schweighöfer Talk Up Army of Thieves

Original-Cin Q&A: Zombie Heistmeister Zack Snyder and Scream-King Matthias Schweighöfer Talk Up Army of Thieves

By Bonnie Laufer

InterviewJim SlotekOctober 28, 2021Army of the Dead, Army of Thieves, Zombie heist comedy, Zack Snyder, Matthias Schweighöfer, Ruby O. FeeComment

Last Night in Soho: Things Are Great When You're Downtown - Afterwards, Not So Much

Last Night in Soho: Things Are Great When You're Downtown - Afterwards, Not So Much

By Jim Slotek

ReviewJim SlotekOctober 27, 2021Time hopping movies, Swinging '60s London, Thomasin McKenzie, Anya Taylor-Joy, Last Night in Soho, Edgar Wright, Diana Rigg, ghost storiesComment

Snakehead - Original-Cin Q&A: How the Asian Community Stepped Up for a Movie About Real-life Gangster Sister Ping

Snakehead - Original-Cin Q&A: How the Asian Community Stepped Up for a Movie About Real-life Gangster Sister Ping

By Bonnie Laufer

InterviewJim SlotekOctober 26, 2021Movies about female Asian gang leaders, Snakehead, Evan Jackson Leong, Sister Ping, Jade Wu, Shuya Chang Comment

The Capote Tapes: Truman Capote Doc Titillating and Weirdly Trying in Equal Measure

The Capote Tapes: Truman Capote Doc Titillating and Weirdly Trying in Equal Measure

By Kim Hughes

ReviewJim SlotekOctober 25, 2021The Capote Tapes, documentary, TIFF, Ebs Burnough, Kate Harrington, Sally Quinn, Dick Cavett, Colm Tóibín, Jay McInerney, 20th CenturyComment

Wife of a Spy: Japan’s Brutal History Viewed Through a Hitchcockian Lens

Wife of a Spy: Japan’s Brutal History Viewed Through a Hitchcockian Lens

By Liam Lacey

ReviewJim SlotekOctober 22, 2021Japanese, Thriller, Hitchcockian, Wife of a Spy, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Ryôta Bandô, Yû Aoi, Issey Takahashi, Period piece Comment

The Electrical Life of Louis Wain: Lovely Biopic of Long-Forgotten Artist a Visual Delight

The Electrical Life of Louis Wain: Lovely Biopic of Long-Forgotten Artist a Visual Delight

By Kim Hughes

ReviewJim SlotekOctober 22, 2021The Electrical Life of Louis Wain, Will Sharpe, TIFF 2021, Benedict Cumberbatch, Claire Foy, Toby Jones Comment

The French Dispatch: Wes Anderson, Beaucoup Trop

The French Dispatch: Wes Anderson, Beaucoup Trop

By Liam Lacey

ReviewJim SlotekOctober 21, 2021The French Dispatch, Wes Anderson, Bill Murrray, Owen Wilson, Edward Norton, Tilda Swinton, Timothée Chalamet, Saoirse Ronan, Adrien Brody, Frances McDormand, Jeffrey Wright, Elisabeth Moss, Benicia del Toro, Lea SeydouxComment

The Harder They Fall: Changing the Western Complexion with Real-Life Black Outlaws and Gunslingers

The Harder They Fall: Changing the Western Complexion with Real-Life Black Outlaws and Gunslingers

By Liam Lacey

ReviewJim SlotekOctober 21, 2021Black cowboys and gunslingers, The Harder They Fall, Jonathan Majors, Regina King, LaKeith Stanfield, Delroy Lindo, Jeymes Samuel, Idris ElbaComment

ImagineNATIVE Festival: Catching Up With an Historic Indigenous Film Wave

ImagineNATIVE Festival: Catching Up With an Historic Indigenous Film Wave

By Liam Lacey, Thom Ernst & Jim Slotek

Review, PreviewJim SlotekOctober 19, 2021ImagineNATIVE and Media Arts Festival, National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, Beans, Ste. Anne, Night Raiders, Kimmapiiyipitssini: The Meaning of Empathy., Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, Portraits From A FireComment

Dune: Denis Villeneuve Goes Big and Finds Clarity En Route to Delivering a Previously 'Unfilmable' Epic

Dune: Denis Villeneuve Goes Big and Finds Clarity En Route to Delivering a Previously 'Unfilmable' Epic

By Jim Slotek

ReviewJim SlotekOctober 19, 2021Dune, Frank Herbert, David Lynch, Denis Villeneuve, Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Movie that inspired Star WarsComment

Original-Cin Chat: Dune Director Denis Villeneuve on Adapting the “Unadaptable”

Original-Cin Chat: Dune Director Denis Villeneuve on Adapting the “Unadaptable”

By Karen Gordon

InterviewJim SlotekOctober 19, 2021Dune, Denis Villeneuve, Denis Villeneuve’s Dune, Timothée Chalamet, Javier Bardem, Oscar Isaac, Rebecca Ferguson, TIFF 2021, Venice Film Festival, Science fiction, Adaptation, Frank Herbert sci-fi novelComment

Knocking: Art-House Horror Mesmerizes While Paying Homage to Greats of the Genre

Knocking: Art-House Horror Mesmerizes While Paying Homage to Greats of the Genre

By Thom Ernst

ReviewJim SlotekOctober 18, 2021Knocking, Cecilia Milocco, Frida Kempff, Horror, Art house movies, homage, Films about solitude and madnessComment

Halloween Kills: Two really good Michael Myers movies in a row is a little much to axe for

Halloween Kills: Two really good Michael Myers movies in a row is a little much to axe for

By Thom Ernst

ReviewJim SlotekOctober 15, 2021Halloween slasher series, Halloween Kills, David Gordon Green, Rob Zombie, Jamie Lee Curtis, Anthony Michael Hall, Will Patton, John Carpenter Comment

The Old Ways: Offbeat Thriller About Exorcism Buoyed by Irreverent Humour

The Old Ways: Offbeat Thriller About Exorcism Buoyed by Irreverent Humour

By Thom Ernst

ReviewJim SlotekOctober 15, 2021The Old Ways, Christopher Alender, Brigitte Kali Canales, Sal Lopez, Julia Vera, Andrea Cortés, Thriller, Exorcism moviesComment

The Velvet Underground: Todd Haynes Doc Captures the NYC Cult Stars in Full Splendour

The Velvet Underground: Todd Haynes Doc Captures the NYC Cult Stars in Full Splendour

By Kim Hughes

ReviewJim SlotekOctober 15, 2021Todd Haynes, The Velvet Underground, Rock movies, documentary, Lou Reed, John Cale, Mo Tucker, New York City, The Sparks Brothers, Sterling Morrison, Cult Bands, Andy Warhol, The FactoryComment

Demigod: In Horror Movies At Least, There's a Reason Americans Shouldn't Travel

Demigod: In Horror Movies At Least, There's a Reason Americans Shouldn't Travel

By Thom Ernst

ReviewJim SlotekOctober 15, 2021Horror movies with Americans abroad, Demigod, Villages with pagan secrets, Miles Doleac, Rachel Nichols, The Wicker Man, MidsommarComment

Dear Future Children: Young women in Chile, Uganda and Hong Kong fight for a better tomorrow

Dear Future Children: Young women in Chile, Uganda and Hong Kong fight for a better tomorrow

By Liam Lacey

ReviewJim SlotekOctober 14, 2021International youth activists, Franz Böhm, Dear Future Children, Hot Docs’ Audience Award, Chinese crackdown in Hong Kong, Greta Thunberg, Malala YousafzaiComment

Mass: Intense Drama Explores Horrors of School Shootings Through Parental Lens

Mass: Intense Drama Explores Horrors of School Shootings Through Parental Lens

By Kim Hughes

ReviewJim SlotekOctober 14, 2021Mass, Drama, Jason Isaacs, Martha Plimpton, Reed Birney, Ann Dowd, Mass shootingComment