Articles — Original Cin

Since 2017: Career film critics continuing the conversation

Vortex: Into The Dark Again With Gaspar Noé, This Time With Empathy

Vortex: Into The Dark Again With Gaspar Noé, This Time With Empathy

By Liam Lacey

ReviewJim SlotekMay 9, 2022Vortex, Films about dementia, Cannes, Gaspar Noé, Françoise Lebrun, Dario Argento, Alex Lutz, Kylian Dheret, Drama, Set in ParisComment

Petite Maman: Magic Afoot in Generational Tale About Mother-Daughter Bonds

Petite Maman: Magic Afoot in Generational Tale About Mother-Daughter Bonds

By Karen Gordon

ReviewJim SlotekMay 6, 2022Céline Sciamma, Petite Mama, Supernaturalism, Grandparent-grandchild generational bonds, Joséphine Sanz, Gabrielle Sanz, Nina MeurisseComment

Nitram: Acclaimed Fact-Based Drama on Australian Tragedy Soars on Riveting Performances

Nitram: Acclaimed Fact-Based Drama on Australian Tragedy Soars on Riveting Performances

By Karen Gordon

ReviewJim SlotekMay 5, 2022Drama, fact based drama, Australia, Nitram, Shaun Grant, Justin Kurzel, Caleb Landry Jones, Judy Davis, Anthony LaPaglia, Essie Davis, Sean Keenan Comment

Peace by Chocolate: A Sweet, Light Confection About a Real-Life Refugee Success Story

Peace by Chocolate: A Sweet, Light Confection About a Real-Life Refugee Success Story

By Jim Slotek

ReviewJim SlotekMay 5, 2022Films about Syrian refugees, Canadian films, Peace by Chocolate, Jonathan Keijser, Ayham Abou Ammar, Hatem AliComment

Stanleyville: Odd Directorial Debut Like an Episode of Survivor… Only Weirder and Less Fun

Stanleyville: Odd Directorial Debut Like an Episode of Survivor… Only Weirder and Less Fun

By Thom Ernst

ReviewJim SlotekMay 5, 2022Stanleyville, Canadian feature debut, Drama, Maxwell McCabe-Lokos, Julian Riching, Susanne Wuest, Adam Brown, Christian Serritiello, George Tchortov, Cara RickettsComment

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness: Saving the universes, one trope at a time

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness: Saving the universes, one trope at a time

By Jim Slotek

ReviewJim SlotekMay 3, 2022Marvel multiverse, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Benedict Cumberbatch, Benedict Wong, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Sam Raimi, Elizabeth OlsenComment

Hot Docs ‘22: Even More Brief Encounters With the Best Told Real-Life Stories on the Planet

Hot Docs ‘22: Even More Brief Encounters With the Best Told Real-Life Stories on the Planet

By Original-Cin Staff

ReviewJim SlotekApril 30, 2022Hot Docs 2022, Attica, Relative, SAM NOW, Sexual Healing, Shabu, documentary, Film Festival, Documentary Film Festival, My Two VoicesComment

Children of Sin: Bible-Thumping Horror We've Seen Before

Children of Sin: Bible-Thumping Horror We've Seen Before

By Thom Ernst

ReviewJim SlotekApril 30, 2022Horror movies, Children of Sin, Christopher Wesley Moore, Jo-Ann Robinson, Keni Bound, Jeff Buchwald, Lewis Hines, Meredith MohlerComment

Original-Cin Q&A: Director of How Saba Kept Singing, on the Strength and Spirit of Holocaust Survivors

Original-Cin Q&A: Director of How Saba Kept Singing, on the Strength and Spirit of Holocaust Survivors

By Bonnie Laufer

InterviewJim SlotekApril 28, 2022How Saba Kept Singing, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Chelsea Clinton, Sara Taksler, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, David Wisnia, Avi Wisnia, Stories of Auschwitz, Holocaust Remembrance DayComment

Memory: Liam Neeson plays a hitman with memory problems, in another forgettable thriller

Memory: Liam Neeson plays a hitman with memory problems, in another forgettable thriller

By Jim Slotek

ReviewJim SlotekApril 28, 2022Liam Neeson, Actors turned action heroes, Taken, Memory, Remakes of European films, Guy Pearce, Alzheimer'sComment

Hot Docs ‘22: More Brief Encounters With the Best Told Real-Life Stories on the Planet

Hot Docs ‘22: More Brief Encounters With the Best Told Real-Life Stories on the Planet

By Original-Cin Staff

ReviewJim SlotekApril 27, 2022Don't Come Searching, Hot Docs 2022, Framing Agnes, I Didn't See You There, Make People Better, My Old School, Navalny, The Art of Silence, The Exiles, The Killing of a Journalist, We Feed PeopleComment

Hot Docs '22: Director Reg Harkema on Comedy Punks, and which Kid in the Hall is like Danzig

Hot Docs '22: Director Reg Harkema on Comedy Punks, and which Kid in the Hall is like Danzig

By Jim Slotek

InterviewJim SlotekApril 27, 2022The Kids in the Hall, Reg Harkema, The Rivoli, Comedy documentaries, Hot Docs 22, The Kids in the Hall: Comedy Punks, Bruce McCulloch, Dave Foley, Kevin McDonald, Mark McKinney, Scott ThompsonComment

Hot Docs '22: Brief Encounters With the Best-Told, Real-Life Stories on the Planet

Hot Docs '22: Brief Encounters With the Best-Told, Real-Life Stories on the Planet

By Original-Cin Staff

Review, PreviewJim SlotekApril 26, 2022Hot Docs 2022, A House Made of Splinters, Beautiful Scars, Bernie Langile Wants To Know What Happened To Bernie Langile, Blue Island, Delikado, Million Dollar Pigeons, Scrap, Unloved: Huronia’s Forgotten ChildrenComment

The Sadness: Not Technically a Zombie Movie, But Gory Enough For Greatness

The Sadness: Not Technically a Zombie Movie, But Gory Enough For Greatness

By Thom Ernst

ReviewJim SlotekApril 26, 2022Zombie-esque epidemics, The Sadness, Rob Jabbaz, Taiwanese films, Regina Lei, Berant Zhu, Tzu-Chiang WangComment

Hot Docs '22: Batata Director on Life at a Lebanese Potato Farm/Refugee Camp through Syria and ISIS

Hot Docs '22: Batata Director on Life at a Lebanese Potato Farm/Refugee Camp through Syria and ISIS

By Jim Slotek

InterviewJim SlotekApril 26, 2022Hot Docs, Films about Syrian refugees, Batata, Noura Kevorkian, Raqqa, documentaries, Docs shot over 10 years or more, Syrian-Lebanon relationshipComment

A Taste of Hunger: Film about Restauranteurs Fraying Over Elusive Michelin Star Could Use More Salt

A Taste of Hunger: Film about Restauranteurs Fraying Over Elusive Michelin Star Could Use More Salt

By Karen Gordon

ReviewJim SlotekApril 26, 2022Danish films, Films about restaurateurs, Michelin-star mania, A Taste of Hunger, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Katrine Greis-Rosenthall, Christoffer BoeComment

Hot Docs '22: Our Picks for the World’s Biggest & Best Documentary Film Festival

Hot Docs '22: Our Picks for the World’s Biggest & Best Documentary Film Festival

By Original-Cin Staff

Original-Cin Q&A: Jennifer Baichwal’s Latest Eco-Expose Launches Hot Docs '22 Festival

Original-Cin Q&A: Jennifer Baichwal’s Latest Eco-Expose Launches Hot Docs '22 Festival

By Bonnie Laufer

Jim SlotekApril 25, 2022Comment

Navalny: Portrait of an Enemy of Tyranny, and the Unraveling of a Political Poisoning

Navalny: Portrait of an Enemy of Tyranny, and the Unraveling of a Political Poisoning

By Liam Lacey

ReviewJim SlotekApril 22, 2022Navalny, Documentary, Alexei Navalry, Bellingcat, CNN, Hot Docs 2022, thrillerComment

The Automat: A Warm Memory of a Dining Concept that Defined a Century of American Culture

The Automat: A Warm Memory of a Dining Concept that Defined a Century of American Culture

By Karen Gordon

ReviewJim SlotekApril 22, 2022Americana, The invention of fast food, The Automat, Mel Brooks, Lisa Hurwitz, Carl Reiner, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Colin Powell Comment