Articles — Original Cin

Since 2017: Career film critics continuing the conversation

Reel Asian Film Festival: Scammers, Robocalls, Drag Queens, Samurais and Sewage

Reel Asian Film Festival: Scammers, Robocalls, Drag Queens, Samurais and Sewage

By Liam Lacey

PreviewJim SlotekNovember 7, 2023The Queen of My Dreams, The Taste of Mango, Okiku and the World, Small Fry, In Flames, Starring Jerry as Himself, Q, Seagrass, Relics of Love and War, Baby Queen, The Reel Asian Film International Film Festival, TIFF 23Comment

Butcher’s Crossing: Obsession and Greed Furnish this Home on the De-ranged

By Thom Ernst

ReviewJim SlotekNovember 6, 2023Butcher’s Crossing, Gabe Polsky, Nicolas Cage, Fred Hechinger, Jeremy Bobb, Xander Berkeley., Paul RaciComment

Original-Cin Q&A: Creators of For All Mankind Talk Season Four, and Greed Taking Over After Mars

Original-Cin Q&A: Creators of For All Mankind Talk Season Four, and Greed Taking Over After Mars

By Bonnie Laufer

InterviewJim SlotekNovember 6, 2023For All Mankind, Alternate timeline drama, The Space Race, Creators Matt Wolpert and Ben Nedivi, Mars colonization, Greed in spaceComment

Priscilla: Elvis’ Wife Was Lonesome Many Nights, and Director Sofia Coppola Has Proof

Priscilla: Elvis’ Wife Was Lonesome Many Nights, and Director Sofia Coppola Has Proof

By Karen Gordon

ReviewJim SlotekNovember 3, 2023Priscilla, Biopic, Priscilla Presley, Elvis Presley, Sofia Coppola, Jacob Elordi, Cailee Spaeny, Drama, adaptationComment

Verona: Ontario-Set Coming of Age Drama Languid and Lovely

Verona: Ontario-Set Coming of Age Drama Languid and Lovely

By Kim Hughes

ReviewJim SlotekNovember 3, 2023Verona, Canadian feature debut, Sebastian Back, Kat Khan, Andy Marshall, Yanna McIntosh, Eric McDonald, Basia Wyszynski, Drama, Coming of ageComment

Hands That Bind: Creepy and Unsettling Prairie Gothic with Paranormal Overtones

Hands That Bind: Creepy and Unsettling Prairie Gothic with Paranormal Overtones

By Chris Knight

ReviewJim SlotekNovember 2, 2023Prairie Gothic suspense, Hands That Bind, Cow mutilations, Landon Liboiron, Nicholas Campbell, Paul Sparks, Susan Kent, Bruce Dern, Canadian writer/director Kyle ArmstrongComment

Original-Cin interview: Canadian Bugs Bunny Eric Bauza Lures Us to Cali (Via a Left Turn at Albuquerque)

Original-Cin interview: Canadian Bugs Bunny Eric Bauza Lures Us to Cali (Via a Left Turn at Albuquerque)

By John Kirk

InterviewJim SlotekNovember 2, 2023Canadian voice actors, Looney Toons characters, Bugs Bunny, Eric Bauza, Space Jam: A New Legacy, California tourism project, Keeping Up with the Canadians, Canadians in HollywoodComment

Rustin: Spotlighting the Dandy Hero of The Civil Rights Movement

Rustin: Spotlighting the Dandy Hero of The Civil Rights Movement

By Liam Lacey

ReviewJim SlotekNovember 2, 2023Rustin, TIFF 23, Civil Rights Movement, American Civil Rights, George C. Wolfe, Colman Domingo, Chris Rock, Glynn Turman, Netflix, Jeffrey Wright, Aml Ameen, Martin Luther King, Maxwell Whittington-Cooper, Da‘Vine Joy RandolphComment

Beyond Utopia: Doc About North Korea Escapees Scary for Viewers and Protagonists

Beyond Utopia: Doc About North Korea Escapees Scary for Viewers and Protagonists

By Chris Knight

ReviewJim SlotekNovember 2, 2023Beyond Utopia, Documentaries, North Korea, Madeleine Gavin, Kim Jong-un, Kim Seungeun, Refugees, Political argumentsComment

Original-Cin Q&A: Fingernails director Christos Nikou on Love Apps and Annie Murphy's Dance Moves

Original-Cin Q&A: Fingernails director Christos Nikou on Love Apps and Annie Murphy's Dance Moves

By Bonnie Laufer

InterviewJim SlotekOctober 31, 2023Techno dating, Fingernails, Sci-fi romantic drama, Jessie Buckley, Riz Ahmed, Jeremy Allen White, Annie Murphy, Toronto International Film Festival, Christos Nikou, Apple TV+Comment

The Holdovers: Giamatti's Grinch of a Teacher Gets the Best Lines in a Tale of Three Sad Souls

The Holdovers: Giamatti's Grinch of a Teacher Gets the Best Lines in a Tale of Three Sad Souls

By Jim Slotek

ReviewJim SlotekOctober 30, 2023Christmas movies, Movies about teachers, Movies set in the '70s, The Holdovers, Alexander Payne, Paul Giamatti, Sideways, Dominic Sessa, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Movies about damaged peopleComment

Freelance: John Cena/Alison Brie 'Action Rom-Com' Lacks Rom, Com and Pulse

Freelance: John Cena/Alison Brie 'Action Rom-Com' Lacks Rom, Com and Pulse

By Chris Knight

ReviewJim SlotekOctober 27, 2023Freelance, Pierre Morel, John Cena, Juan Pablo Raba, Alison Brie, Action, Rom-comComment

Five Nights at Freddy's: Five Minutes Is More Than Enough for this Fans-Only Horror Film

Five Nights at Freddy's: Five Minutes Is More Than Enough for this Fans-Only Horror Film

By Thom Ernst

ReviewJim SlotekOctober 26, 2023Movies based on video games, Five Nights at Freddy’s, Amusement park animatronics, Josh Hutcherson, Piper Rubio, Mary Stuart Masterson, Elizabeth Lail, Matthew Lillard, Replacement directors, Emma Tammi, Chris Columbus Comments

The Delinquents: Ramblingly Funny Argentinian Heist Movie is a Masterpiece of Slow Cinema

The Delinquents: Ramblingly Funny Argentinian Heist Movie is a Masterpiece of Slow Cinema

By Chris Knight

ReviewJim SlotekOctober 26, 2023Argentinian films, Unusual heist movies, The Delinquents, Rodrigo Moreno, Daniel Elías, Esteban Bigliardi, Criminals with morals, Pappo’s BluesComment

The Killer: Slaying in True David Fincher Fashion

The Killer: Slaying in True David Fincher Fashion

By Liz Braun

ReviewJim SlotekOctober 25, 2023The Killer, David Fincher, Andrew Kevin Walker, Luc Jacamon, Alexis Nolent, Tilda Swinton, Michael Fassbender, Action, Assassin stories, Hired guns, DramaComment

Toronto After Dark Film Fest Post-Mortem: Still Bonkers at Age 17

Toronto After Dark Film Fest Post-Mortem: Still Bonkers at Age 17

By Thom Ernst

ViewsJim SlotekOctober 24, 2023Toronto After Dark Film Festival, Indie horror film festivals, It’s a Wonderful Knife, Founder/artistic director Adam Lope, Late Night with the Devil, The Last Exit, Joely Richardson, Canadian short horror films, Scott Riopelle’s Soul Proprietor, Daniel’s Gotta Die, Sweden UFOComment

Dicks The Musical: Half-cocked Spoof Fails to Rise to the Occasion

Dicks The Musical: Half-cocked Spoof Fails to Rise to the Occasion

By Thom Ernst

ReviewJim SlotekOctober 19, 2023Dicks: The Musical, Larry Charles, TIFF 23, Aaron Jackson, Josh Sharp, Meagan Mullally, Bowen Yang, Megan Thee Stallion, Nathan Lane, Comedy, Sexual identity, The Parent TrapComment

Pain Hustlers: Finding the Funny in Fentanyl isn't What the Doctor Ordered

Pain Hustlers: Finding the Funny in Fentanyl isn't What the Doctor Ordered

By Chris Knight

ReviewJim SlotekOctober 19, 2023Based-in-fact comedy filmmaking, Adam-McKay, Pain Hustlers, David Yates, Wells Tower, Opioid crisis, Andy Garcia, Emily Blunt, Chris Evans, Unprincipled pharma marketing, Catherine O'Hara Comment

Original-Cin Q&A: The Creators of Dicks: The Musical, on 'Going There' with Nathan Lane and Friends

Original-Cin Q&A: The Creators of Dicks: The Musical, on 'Going There' with Nathan Lane and Friends

By Bonnie Laufer

InterviewJim SlotekOctober 19, 2023John Waters inspired sex camp, Dicks: The Musical, Josh Sharp, Aaron Jackson, TIFF Midnight Madness movies, Nathan Lane, Megan Mullally, Borat director Larry Charles, Bowen YangComment

Anatomy of a Fall: Did He Jump or Did She Push?

Anatomy of a Fall: Did He Jump or Did She Push?

By Liam Lacey

ReviewJim SlotekOctober 19, 2023Anatomy of a Fall, Palme d’Or at Cannes, TIFF 23, Justine Triet, Sandra Hüller, Milo Machado Graner, Samuel Theis, Swann Arlaud, Camille Rutherford, Antoine Reinartz, Drama, European, legal drama, Courtroom dramaComment