Articles — Original Cin

Since 2017: Career film critics continuing the conversation

The Starling Girl: Strong Performances Elevate Familiar Coming-of Age Drama

The Starling Girl: Strong Performances Elevate Familiar Coming-of Age Drama

By Thom Ernst

ReviewJim SlotekMay 18, 2023The Starling Girl, Laurel Parmet, coming of age, Eliza Scanlen, Lewis Pullman, Jimmi Simpson, Wrenn Schmidt, Austin Abrams, Kyle SecorComment

Insanity: Doc about Mental Illness Chronicles a Stark Societal Fail

Insanity: Doc about Mental Illness Chronicles a Stark Societal Fail

By Kim Hughes

ReviewJim SlotekMay 18, 2023Insanity, Wendy Hill-Tout, Kristin Booth, mental illness, Canadian, DocumentaryComment

Original-Cin Q&A: Rom Com Writer, Star Explore Arranged Marriage Though Modern Lens

Original-Cin Q&A: Rom Com Writer, Star Explore Arranged Marriage Though Modern Lens

By Bonnie Laufer

InterviewJim SlotekMay 18, 2023What’s Love Got to Do with It?, TIFF 2022, Shekhar Kapur, Emma Thompson, Shazad Latif, Lily James, rom-com, Cross Cultural, British, Jemima Khan, Arranged marriageComment

Retrograde: Young Woman Challenges Traffic Ticket and Her World Collapses in This Wry Comedy

Retrograde: Young Woman Challenges Traffic Ticket and Her World Collapses in This Wry Comedy

By Liam Lacey

ReviewJim SlotekMay 17, 2023Wry Canadian comedy, Retrograde, Adrian Murray, Fighting traffic ticket bureaucracy, Molly Reisman, Sofia Banzhafv, Meredith Heinrich, Bessie ChengComment

Fast X: Latest Chapter in Relentless Racing Franchise Sputters and Stalls

Fast X: Latest Chapter in Relentless Racing Franchise Sputters and Stalls

Thom Ernst

ReviewJim SlotekMay 17, 2023Fast X, Franchise, Fast & Furious franchise, Louis Leterrier, Vin Diesel, Ludacris, Tyrese Gibson, John Cena, Leo Abelo Perry, Jason Momoa, Charlie Theron, Michelle Rodriguez, Helen Mirren, Car racingComment

The Eight Mountains: Brotherly Love at High Altitude, Presented as Intimate Epic

The Eight Mountains: Brotherly Love at High Altitude, Presented as Intimate Epic

By Liam Lacey

ReviewJim SlotekMay 17, 2023Movies about male friendships, The Eight Mountains, Felix van Groeningen, Charlotte Vandermeersch, Luca Marinelli, Martin Eden, Elena Lietti, Alessandro Borghi, Elisabetta Mazzullo, Living a life of travel or the sanctity of homeComment

Master Gardener: Paul Schrader's Race Drama-Slash-Love Story Fails to Blossom

Master Gardener: Paul Schrader's Race Drama-Slash-Love Story Fails to Blossom

By Liz Braun

ReviewJim SlotekMay 15, 2023Master Gardener, Paul Schrader, Sigourney Weaver, Joel Edgerton, Quintessa Swindell, Race issues, Race and privilege, May-December, White supremacistsComment

Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie - An Unflinching Close-Up of An '80s Whirlwind, Then and Now

Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie - An Unflinching Close-Up of An '80s Whirlwind, Then and Now

By Liam Lacey

ReviewJim SlotekMay 13, 2023Michael J. Fox, Parkinson’s Disease, Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie, Davis Guggenheim, Alcoholism, Tracy Pollan, Canadian Hollywood stars Comment

Crater: Kinda like Stand by Me but Nicer… and Set in Space

Crater: Kinda like Stand by Me but Nicer… and Set in Space

By John Kirk

ReviewJim SlotekMay 12, 2023Crater, Disney+, Kyle Patrick Alvarez, John Griffin, Isaiah Russell-Bailey, Billy Barratt, Orson Hong, Thomas Boyce, Scott “Kid Cudi” Mescudi, McKenna GraceComment

BlackBerry: Canada's We-Invented-the-Smartphone Tale Has Corporate America Flavour

BlackBerry: Canada's We-Invented-the-Smartphone Tale Has Corporate America Flavour

By Chris Knight

ReviewJim SlotekMay 11, 2023BlackBerry, Jay Baruchel, Saul Rubinek, Glenn Howerton, Matt Johnson, Canada, adaptationComment

Original-Cin Q&A: BlackBerry Stars Talk Tech and the Curse of Perfection

Original-Cin Q&A: BlackBerry Stars Talk Tech and the Curse of Perfection

By Bonnie Laufer

InterviewJim SlotekMay 10, 2023Jay Baruchel, Glenn Howerton, Canada, BlackBerry, True Story, Matt Johnson, Mike Lazaridis, Jim Balsillie, Research in MotionComment

Book Club: The Next Chapter - Over-70 Sexcapades and an Awful Lot of Prosecco

Book Club: The Next Chapter - Over-70 Sexcapades and an Awful Lot of Prosecco

By Jim Slotek

ReviewJim SlotekMay 9, 2023Comedies starring older actresses, 80 For Brady, Book Club: The Next Chapter, Jane Fonda, Diane Keaton, Candice Bergen, Mary Steenburgen, Don Johnson, Romantic comedies set in Italy, Giancarlo Giannini, Bill HoldermanComment

The Muppets Mayhem: This Time, It's All About the Music, Man!

The Muppets Mayhem: This Time, It's All About the Music, Man!

By John Kirk

ReviewJim SlotekMay 8, 2023The Muppets, The Muppets Mayhem, The Electric Mayhem, Doctor Teeth, Animal, Lilly Singh, Anders Holm, Jim Henson, Tahj MowryComment

Carmen: Dance, Spectacle and a Thin Thread of a Plot

Carmen: Dance, Spectacle and a Thin Thread of a Plot

By Liam Lacey

ReviewJim SlotekMay 3, 2023Carmen, Contemporary telling of 19th Century opera and novella, Benjamin Millepied, Melissa Barrera, Paul Mescal, Rossy de Palma, Jörg Widmer, Violent danceComment

Original-Cin Q&A: Star Rebecca Ferguson Talks Up Apple TV+'s New Dystopian Series Silo

Original-Cin Q&A: Star Rebecca Ferguson Talks Up Apple TV+'s New Dystopian Series Silo

By Bonnie Laufer

ReviewJim SlotekMay 3, 2023Post-apocalyptic thrillers, Silo, Hugh Howey, Graham Yost, Rebecca Ferguson, Common, Rashida Jones, Tim Robbins, Mysterious subterranean environment, Apple TV+’Comment

Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3: Rocket Raccoon Gets His Emotional Spotlight

Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3: Rocket Raccoon Gets His Emotional Spotlight

By John Kirk

ReviewJim SlotekMay 2, 2023Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3, Rocket Raccoon, James Gunn, Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Chukwudi Iwuji, Bradley Cooper, MCUComment

A Small Light: Anne Frank's Protectors Wonderfully Portrayed as Both Ordinary and Heroic

A Small Light: Anne Frank's Protectors Wonderfully Portrayed as Both Ordinary and Heroic

By Karen Gordon

ReviewJim SlotekMay 2, 2023A Small Light, The couple who hid Anne Frank, Miep Gies, Bel Powley, Otto Frank, Liev Schreiber, The Nazis in Amsterdam, Noah Taylor, Tony Phelan, Joan RaterComment

Hot Docs '23: Barry Avrich on the Supreme Court's Force of Nature, Rosalie Abella

Hot Docs '23: Barry Avrich on the Supreme Court's Force of Nature, Rosalie Abella

By Jim Slotek

Jim SlotekApril 29, 2023Supreme Court of Canada, Colourful and progressive judges, Rosalie Abella, Without Precedent: The Supreme Life of Rosalie Abella, First Jewish woman on the Supreme Court, Irving Abella, Employment EquityComment

Peter Pan and Wendy: Same Story, But the Lost Kids and the Darker Edges Are Softened by Fairy Dust

Peter Pan and Wendy: Same Story, But the Lost Kids and the Darker Edges Are Softened by Fairy Dust

By Karen Gordon

ReviewJim SlotekApril 28, 2023Peter Pan and Wendy, Disney live-action remakes of animated classics, David Lowery, Toby Halbrooks, Diverse casting, Alyssa Wapanatâhk, Ever Anderson, Alexander Molony, Yara Shahid, Jude LawComment

Sisu: Finnish Action Director Leaves Hollywood Behind in His Blood-Spattered Wake

Sisu: Finnish Action Director Leaves Hollywood Behind in His Blood-Spattered Wake

By Thom Ernst

ReviewJim SlotekApril 27, 2023Finnish action films, Sisu, Jalmari Helander, Underdog versus Nazis, Jorma Tommila, Aksel Hennie, Onni Tommila, Big Game, Rare ExportsComment