Category: Reviews

Reviews

Joker [Spoiler Review]

While, yes, we already have a review of Joker on our site that does have spoilers, this is going to full spoilers, nothing holding back. When Arianne saw the film before and wrote about it here, there was always a thought that whenever I would see it, I would give my two cents as well.

Well I saw the film on Monday, and I decided that I didn’t want to think about the film anymore, but many people have told me they loved the film and asked me how I felt and didn’t understand why I hated the film. So, join me in trying to find the words to explain why.

Continue reading “Joker [Spoiler Review]” →

Reviews

The Forest of Love [Review]

If you’ve ever wanted to see a Sion Sono film and watch him unleash himself entirely, I’d never thought that you could do so from the comfort of your couch, due to it being a Netflix film. So this gives you no excuse for you to watch the film for yourself. Unfortunately, it’s released on the same day as the Breaking Bad film, I still suggest making time to watch all two and a half hours of The Forest of Love.

Continue reading “The Forest of Love [Review]” →

Reviews

In The Tall Grass [Review]

To say there’s a resurgence of Stephen King adaptations the way some say would make it out like there was a drought of adaptations, which is obviously not the case. The longest gap between adaptations was 1976 to 1980 (Carrie and The Shining respectively) and also 2009 to 2013 (Dolan’s Cadilac and funnily enough, Carrie). We are running through his material at an alarming rate though, as four were made in 2017, and four were made in 2019. And depending on your own opinion, out of the 7 I’ve seen (Doctor Sleep hasn’t been released yet), 6 are great and one is mediocre – and to be fair, Pet Semetery may not be great, but it had some fun stuff.

Continue reading “In The Tall Grass [Review]” →

Reviews

The Laundromat [Review]

The Laundromat marks Steven Soderbergh’s second film released by Netflix in this year alone. This film wasn’t shot on an iPhone like his last two films, Unsane, and High Flying Bird. While visually and stylistically, Laundromat feels like classic Soderbergh, it still is too messy to be continuously enjoyed. Don’t get me wrong, I very much was glad that I got to see The Laundromat on the big screen, and that others will be able to as well. I just personally believed that High Flying Bird should have had the same opportunity. 

Continue reading “The Laundromat [Review]” →

Reviews

Raising Dion [Review]

Netflix has had a monopoly on streaming originals for a while but now that the streaming war has started, their next batch of original will be their make or break moment. It will become a major factor if people will stay or migrate to other services. Raising Dion is part of the next wave of original content that Netflix hopes will keep its customers around. Produced by Michael B. Jordan (Creed, Black Panther) and based on the comic of the same name, Raising Dion tells the story of a widow trying her best to raise her child only to find out he has superpowers. While banking on it’s superhero nature to attract people, Raising Dion is much more than what it looks at first glance.

Continue reading “Raising Dion [Review]” →

Reviews

The Politician [Review]

There’s something fascinating about Ryan Murphy and how he is able to create or produce, shows that are socially relevant and made at the right time. The timely arrival of Glee, the phenomenon that is American Horror Story, the true-crime obsession of American Crime Story and the wonderfully important Pose are just a few examples of how Murphy seem to just know what the audience wants and when. His latest creation, his first one under his new overall deal with Netflix, The Politician reunites him with his frequent contributors Brad Falchuck and Ian Brennan. But if The Politician tries to be a commentary on today’s world, it’s packaging into a funny and witty dramedy more often the none fails to hit the mark. The show ends up getting lost in its own narrative and tries way too hard to be too many things.

Continue reading “The Politician [Review]” →

Festivals, Reviews, TIFF19, Uncategorized

Marriage Story [TIFF19 Review]

Noah Baumbach has created some amazing films, films that have cemented him as one of the great directors of his generation. I remember watching Frances Ha and thinking that this was his best film and that it would take a while for him to do better. Well, Marriage Story did that for me. It’s Baumbach at his best, his strongest. His steady hand is felt throughout and he never falters, navigating the film expertly and creating a devastating look at divorce and how it breaks everyone, even those with the best intention. Baumbach’s craft has never been this tight and it showcases how much he has grown as a filmmaker since his debut. Marriage Story is, in my opinion, his best work to date.

Continue reading “Marriage Story [TIFF19 Review]” →

Festivals, Reviews, TIFF19

Synchronic [TIFF19 Review]

Leading up to May of 2015, I kept hearing about a film called Spring, and it was described as Lovecraft meets the Before trilogy. Anybody who knows me should know this is a film calling my name. I remember missing out a screening of Mad Max Fury Road to see both Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead introduce Spring at a screening in Toronto. Even when the fire alarm went off in the theatre, I still hold that screening close to my heart. In a way, without Spring, there wouldn’t be no Film Queue or no UnderSCENE, or even a version of me who has fallen for film criticism. I have followed their growth as I’ve tried to grow as a writer, and that’s why it pains me to say that Synchronic was their first big-budget film was a (minor) miss.

Continue reading “Synchronic [TIFF19 Review]” →

Festivals, Reviews, TIFF19

The Vast of Night [TIFF19 Review]

The film opens in a room straight out of the 1950s and it’s filled with colour, as we watch a small tv that begins its black and white broadcast. It’s a program that has opening narration akin to The Twilight Zone, or Outer Limits or any science fiction based anthology show from the same time period. The program was called Paradox Theatre, and tonight’s episode was The Vast of Night. Using this as a framing device set up the film perfectly and told me exactly what type of film I was about to watch, but it didn’t tell me it would become my favourite movie of the festival.

Continue reading “The Vast of Night [TIFF19 Review]” →