Cowboys: Tender Drama About Trans Kid Checks Boxes But Misses Wider Mark
I Blame Society: Mockumentary Better as Film Critique than As a Black Comedy
Skyfire: Things go boom the same in any language, and the next Irwin Allen just may be Chinese
ReviewJim SlotekDisaster movies, Irwin Allen, Skyfire, Jason Isaacs, Hannah Quinlivan, The Poseidon Adventure, The Towering Inferno, The Impossible, Simon West, Chinese adaptations of Hollywood genres, The Tower, Tidal Wave
Toronto Black Film Festival: An eclectic collection of starkly different Black experiences, connecting the past to the present
Preview, ReviewJim SlotekToronto Black Film Festival, Black Lives Matter, Foster Boy, Shaquille O'Neal, Youssef Delara, Matthew Modine, Louis Gossett Jr., Shane Paul McGhie, Truth to Power: Barbara Lee Speaks for Me, John Lewis, Shirley Chisholm, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Stateless, Removal of Dominican Republic citizenship, Elsa Joubert, The Long Journey of Poppie Nongena, Clementine Mosimane, #LANDoftheBRAVEfilm, Elize de Wee, Dope Is Death, Dr. Mutulu Shakur
Paradise Cove: Movie of the Week-ish Thriller Not Thrilling (Movie of the Weak Maybe?)
Sator: The unbearable tightness of waiting for a demon in the woods
ReviewJim SlotekDemonic possession, Horror films set in the woods, Sator, Jordan Graham, “Automatic writing.”, Gabriel Nicholson, Paganism, Michael Daniel, Rachel Johnson, June Peterson
A Glitch in the Matrix: Reality Not the Only Thing Put to the Test in Wonky Documentary
Two of Us (Deux): French tale of women in love, coming out on the far side of 60, is a small gem
By Karen Gordon
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Greenland: It's the end of the world, and Gerard Butler knows how to work it
ReviewJim SlotekExtinction event movies, Armageddon, Deep Impact, Greenland, Gerard Butler, Oumuamua, Ric Roman Waugh, Angel Has Fallen, Homeland Security, Morena Baccarin, Roger Dale Floyd, Scott Glenn
Falling: Viggo Mortensen’s Triple-Threat Family Drama Just Too Raw to Handle
By Karen Gordon
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Review, PreviewJim SlotekDrama, Falling, TIFF 2019, Viggo Mortensen, Lance Henriksen, Laura Linney, David Cronenberg, Toronto, Movies about dementia, Directorial debut
More Than Miyagi: The Pat Morita Story - Snapshots of an Asian-American actor's uphill climb and unhappy ending
ReviewJim SlotekMore Than Miyagi: The Pat Morita Story, Celebrity documentaries, Pat Morita, The Karate Kid, Happy Days, Collision Course, Jay Leno, Kevin Derek, Evelyn Gerrero-Morita, Sally Marr, Whites playing Asian, Mickey Rooney, Katharine Hepburn, Marlon Brando, Mr. T and Tina, John Avildsen, Toshiro Mifune, Ralph Macchio, William Zabka, Martin Kove, Cobra Kai, Henry Winkler, Don Most, Marion Ross
Rams: Aussie Remake of Brilliant Icelandic Sheep Drama Herds Its Own Distinct Flock
By Linda Barnard
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Review, PreviewJim SlotekRams, remake, Australian, Icelandic, Sam Neill, Michael Caton, Jeremy Sims, Miranda Richardson, Sheep, Farmers
Jiu Jitsu: Say Hello to the First (Maybe Worst) Really Bad Film of The Year
Review, PreviewJim SlotekJiu Jitsu, Terrible, Bad film, Nicolas Cage, Alain Moussi, Marie Avgeropoulos, Science fiction, Alien, Alien invasion
The Dig: A pleasingly British period drama about the urge to make history by unearthing it
By Karen Gordon
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ReviewJim SlotekBritish archeology, Anglo Saxon artifacts at Sutton Hoo, The Dig, Netflix, Carey Mulligan, Ralph Fiennes, Ipswich Museum, British Museum, Ken Stott, Lily James, Ben Chaplin, John Preston, Johnny Flynn, Mike Eley, Director Simon Stone
The Little Things: Throwback Cop Drama Has Ample Star Power, Little Logic or Originality
Review, PreviewJim SlotekThe Little Things, John Lee Hancock, Denzel, Jared Leto, Rami Malek, The Blind Side, Police procedural, Police drama, Los Angeles, murder mystery
Penguin Bloom: After the emotional wallowing, a magpie steals what's left of the show
ReviewJim SlotekPenguin Bloom, Sam Bloom, Movies about overcoming physical disability, Glendyn Ivin, Naomi Watts, The Walking Dead’s Andrew Lincoln, Jacki Weaver, Magpies, Therapy animals, Griffin Murray-Johnston, Para-kayaking
Acasă, My Home: Riveting Doc Follows Family Rejecting, Then Forcibly Accepting, Urban Life
By Linda Barnard
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The White Tiger: A caustic and cynical comic answer to Slumdog Millionaire
ReviewJim SlotekThe White Tiger, Ramin Bahrani], Novelist Aravind Adiga, Slumdog Millionaire, Laurence Sterne’s Tristram Shandy, Adarsh Gourav, Relationships between servants and employers, Rags to riches stories, Man Push Cart, Chop Shop, Goodbye Solo, Swaroop Sampat, Mahesh Manjrekar, Rajkummar Rao, Priyanka Chopra Jonas
CRAVE CORNER: Ruth Bader Ginsburg biopic brings great woman's life into focus
ReviewJim SlotekCrave, On the Basis of Sex, Felicity Jones, Armie Hammer, Kathy Bates, Justin Theroux, Sam Waterson, Biopic, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Mimi Leder, U.S. politics
Identifying Features: Dark, Lyrical Mexican Film Brings Beauty and Horror to Bear
