Articles — Original Cin

Since 2017: Career film critics continuing the conversation

Finch: Tom Hanks, a dog and some robots in a post-apocalyptic road movie with heart

Finch: Tom Hanks, a dog and some robots in a post-apocalyptic road movie with heart

By Karen Gordon

ReviewJim SlotekNovember 5, 2021Tom Hanks movies, post-apocalypse, Movies with robot characters, Finch, Caleb Landry Jones, Miguel Sapochnik Comments

Spencer: Christmas at the In-Laws is a 'Royal' Pain in this Dark Immersive Princess Di Fable

Spencer: Christmas at the In-Laws is a 'Royal' Pain in this Dark Immersive Princess Di Fable

By Jim Slotek

ReviewJim SlotekNovember 3, 2021Films about Princess Diana, Spencer, Pablo Larraín, Jackie, Jacqueline Kennedy, Peter Morgan, The Crown, Kristen Stewart, Anne Boleyn, Sally HawkinsComment

Eternals: Marvel's New Wannabe-Avengers Franchise is Too Busy to Be Fun

Eternals: Marvel's New Wannabe-Avengers Franchise is Too Busy to Be Fun

By Karen Gordon

ReviewJim SlotekNovember 3, 2021Marvel Cinematic Universe, Eternals, Chloé Zhao, Angelina Jolie, Kumail Nanjiani, Salma Hayek, Kit Harington, Indie filmmakers gone Marvel Comments

Mondo Hollywoodland: ‘Shrooming in the Dream Factory

Mondo Hollywoodland: ‘Shrooming in the Dream Factory

By Liam Lacey

ReviewJim SlotekNovember 3, 2021Mondo Hollywoodland, Janek Ambros, Chris Bim, Marcus Hart, Comedy, Shot of iPhone, Mondo, Genre films, comedyComment

Original-Cin Q&A: Pablo Larrain Talks About His 'Upside Down Fairy Tale' Diana movie Spencer

Original-Cin Q&A: Pablo Larrain Talks About His 'Upside Down Fairy Tale' Diana movie Spencer

By Bonnie Laufer

InterviewJim SlotekNovember 2, 2021Pablo Larraín, Spencer, Jackie, Experiential movies about tragic iconic women, Princess Diana, Kristen Stewart, The Royal FamilyComment

Gaza mon amour: Sweet Tale About Late-Life Romance Leverages Rarely Seen Setting

Gaza mon amour: Sweet Tale About Late-Life Romance Leverages Rarely Seen Setting

By Karen Gordon

ReviewJim SlotekNovember 2, 2021Gaza mon amour, Arab Nasser, Tarzan Nasser, Hiam Abbass, Salim Daw, Middle East, rom-comComment

29th Rendezvous with Madness Revisits Todd Haynes’ Safe, a '90s Drama Capturing the Anxiety of the Moment

29th Rendezvous with Madness Revisits Todd Haynes’ Safe, a '90s Drama Capturing the Anxiety of the Moment

By Liam Lacey

Review, PreviewJim SlotekOctober 29, 2021Film festivals, Mental health issues, Rendezvous with Madness film and arts festival, Todd Haynes’ masterpiece, Safe, Julianne Moore, Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers’s Kimmapiiyipitssini: The Meaning of Empathy, Anny, Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché, The Last ShelterComment

Snakehead: Sympathy for a Human Trafficker. So, There’s That…

Snakehead: Sympathy for a Human Trafficker. So, There’s That…

By Liam Lacey

ReviewJim SlotekOctober 28, 2021Snakehead, Evan Jackson Leong, Shuya Chang, Jade Wu, Sung Kang, Richie Eng, Immigrant experience, Drama, New York, TIFF 2021Comment

Antlers: Gory, Creepy Horror Conjures Scares Both Literal and Figurative

Antlers: Gory, Creepy Horror Conjures Scares Both Literal and Figurative

By Thom Ernst

ReviewJim SlotekOctober 28, 2021Horror, Guillermo del Toro, Antlers, Scott Cooper, Keri Russell, Jesse Plemons, Graeme Greene, Jeremy T. Thomas, Sawyer Jones, Scott HazeComment

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