Articles — Original Cin

Since 2017: Career film critics continuing the conversation

What We Leave Behind: An Intimate Cross-Border Family Documentary

What We Leave Behind: An Intimate Cross-Border Family Documentary

By Liam Lacey

ReviewJim SlotekSeptember 29, 2022Tales of cross-border labourers, Netflix documentaries, What We Leave Behind, Iliana Sosa, Ava DuVernay, Julián Moreno, Judy Phu, Monica WiseComment

Original-Cin Q&A: Quick Hits from Dead for a Dollar's Dafoe, Bratt, Waltz, Burke and Walter Hill

Original-Cin Q&A: Quick Hits from Dead for a Dollar's Dafoe, Bratt, Waltz, Burke and Walter Hill

By Bonnie Laufer

InterviewJim SlotekSeptember 29, 2022Dead for a Dollar, Walter Hill, Christoph Waltz, Willem Dafoe, Rachel Brosnahan, Warren Burke, Benjamin Bratt, Western, Drama, Period pieceComment

Smile: When An Upside-Down Frown is the Devil's Playground

Smile: When An Upside-Down Frown is the Devil's Playground

By Thom Ernst

ReviewJim SlotekSeptember 29, 2022Evil grins in movies, Smile, Parker Finn, Kiss of Death, Sosie Bacon, Jessie T. Usher, Kal Penn Comment

Bros: 'Gay Rom-Com' Brings the Funny and the Romance, and More

Bros: 'Gay Rom-Com' Brings the Funny and the Romance, and More

By Jim Slotek

ReviewJim SlotekSeptember 29, 2022Gay romantic comedy, Bros, Billy Eichner, Rom-com tropes, Gay history, Grindr, Luke Macfarlane, Nicholas Stoller, Judd ApatowComment

Dead for a Dollar: Walter Hill’s Old-Fashioned, New-Fangled Western

Dead for a Dollar: Walter Hill’s Old-Fashioned, New-Fangled Western

By Liam Lacey

ReviewJim SlotekSeptember 29, 2022Dead for a Dollar, Walter Hill, Christoph Waltz, Willem Dafoe, Rachel Brosnahan, Warren Burke, Benjamin Bratt, Luis Chavez, Hamish Linklater, Western, Drama, Period piece Comment

The Justice of Bunny King: A Troubled Character Takes Flight on a Soaring Performance

The Justice of Bunny King: A Troubled Character Takes Flight on a Soaring Performance

By Karen Gordon

ReviewJim SlotekSeptember 27, 2022Drama, New Zealand, The Justice of Bunny King, Gaysorn Thavat, Sophie Henderson, Thomasin McKenzie, Essie DavisComment

Pinocchio: Wooden You Know, the 'Live-Action' Remake Would Be Less Real Than the Cartoon?

Pinocchio: Wooden You Know, the 'Live-Action' Remake Would Be Less Real Than the Cartoon?

By John Kirk

ReviewJim SlotekSeptember 26, 2022Pinocchio, Robert Zemeckis, Tom Hanks, Benjamin Evan Ainsworth, Disney animated films remade realistically, Cynthia ErivoComment

Sidney: Oprah-Approved Sidney Poitier Doc as Lovely as the Man it Depicts

Sidney: Oprah-Approved Sidney Poitier Doc as Lovely as the Man it Depicts

By Kim Hughes

ReviewJim SlotekSeptember 23, 2022Sidney Poitier, Sidney, Docuementary, TIFF 2022, Oprah Winfrey, Denzel Washington, Morgan FreemanComment

Lou: Rather Like People, Predictable Stories are Sometimes Hard to Take

Lou: Rather Like People, Predictable Stories are Sometimes Hard to Take

By John Kirk

ReviewJim SlotekSeptember 22, 2022Lou, Netflix, Allison Janney, Antihero, DramaComment

Carmen: The New Priest is a She, and She Has a Guardian Pigeon

Carmen: The New Priest is a She, and She Has a Guardian Pigeon

By Liam Lacey

ReviewJim SlotekSeptember 22, 2022Valerie Buhagiar’s Carmen, Romance set on Malta, Natascha McElhone, Henry Zammit Cordina, Women posing as priests, Steven LoveComment

Eternal Spring: Canada’s Oscar Nom is a Moving But Flawed Animated Documentary

Eternal Spring: Canada’s Oscar Nom is a Moving But Flawed Animated Documentary

By Liam Lacey

ReviewJim SlotekSeptember 22, 2022Chinese persecution of Falun Gong, Eternal Spring, Canadian animated documentary, Academy Award for Best International Feature Film, Jason Loftus, Daxiong, Li Hongzhi, Falun Gong hijacking of Chinese TVComment

Blonde: Much-Hyped Marilyn Monroe ‘Reimagining’ Stylish but Tawdry

Blonde: Much-Hyped Marilyn Monroe ‘Reimagining’ Stylish but Tawdry

By Kim Hughes

ReviewJim SlotekSeptember 22, 2022Blonde, Marilyn Monroe, Andrew Dominik, Netflix, Biopic, Bobby Cannavale, Adrien Brody, Ana de Armas, Joyce Carol Oates, AdaptationComment

Bandit: A Bloated Tale of Canada’s Flying Bank Robber

Bandit: A Bloated Tale of Canada’s Flying Bank Robber

By Liam Lacey

ReviewJim SlotekSeptember 21, 2022Movies about real-life Canadian criminals, The Flying Bandit, Gilbert Galvan Jr., Bandit, Allan Ungar, Josh Duhamel, Mel Gibson, Elisha Cuthbert Comments

Don't Worry Darling: Gossip Aside, this Stepford Wives Offspring Stands Shakily On Its Own Merits

Don't Worry Darling: Gossip Aside, this Stepford Wives Offspring Stands Shakily On Its Own Merits

By Jim Slotek

ReviewJim SlotekSeptember 21, 2022Movies with offscreen controversy, Don’t Worry Darling, Olivia Wilde, Florence Pugh, Harry Styles, Chris Pine, Movies where reality is an illusion, The '50s Comment

True Things: Ruth Wilson as A Woman Undone, Half-Willingly

True Things: Ruth Wilson as A Woman Undone, Half-Willingly

By Liam Lacey

ReviewJim SlotekSeptember 20, 2022True Things, Ruth Wilson, Tom Burke, British, Drama, female gazeComment

Original-Cin Q&A: Feature first-timer Sanaa Lathan on her hip-hop TIFF debut On the Come Up

Original-Cin Q&A: Feature first-timer Sanaa Lathan on her hip-hop TIFF debut On the Come Up

By Bonnie Laufer

InterviewJim SlotekSeptember 20, 2022Movies from Young Adult novels, On the Come Up, Hip-hop movies, Sanaa Lathan, Jamila C. Gray, Films that played TIFF 22Comment

That’s a Wrap! What We Loved and Loathed at TIFF ‘22

That’s a Wrap! What We Loved and Loathed at TIFF ‘22

By Original-Cin Staff

TIFF ’22: What To See at This Year’s Fest, Round 8

TIFF ’22: What To See at This Year’s Fest, Round 8

By Original-Cin Staff

PreviewJim SlotekSeptember 16, 2022TIFF 2022, Special Presentations, TIFF Docs, Driving Madelaine, The Colour of Ink, Brother, Clement Virgo, Capsule reviews, Walk Up, The Gravity, Platform, V/H/S/99, Midnight Madness, Empire of Light, No BearsComment

See How They Run: Meta-Treatment of Agatha Christie's Oeuvre is Fact-Based Fun

See How They Run: Meta-Treatment of Agatha Christie's Oeuvre is Fact-Based Fun

By Karen Gordon

ReviewJim SlotekSeptember 15, 2022Agatha Christie comic homage, See How They Run, Sam Rockwell, Saoirse Ronan, The Mousetrap, Adrien Brody, David Oyelowo, Tom George, Mark Chappell, Tom StoppardComment

Pearl: Ti West's Post-Modern Slasher Trilogy Reaches Its Bloody Mid-Point

Pearl: Ti West's Post-Modern Slasher Trilogy Reaches Its Bloody Mid-Point

By Thom Ernst

ReviewJim SlotekSeptember 15, 2022Ti West horror trilogy, Pearl, X, MaXXXine, Mia Goth, Matthew Sunderland, Tandi Wright, David Corenswet, TIFF Midnight Madness moviesComment