Nobody: Bob Odenkirk makes a surprising action hero in a trope-filled tale of a milquetoast who fights back
ReviewJim SlotekVigilante violence, Bob Odenkirk, Nobody, High Noon, Falling Down, Death Wish, Ilya Naishuller, Michael Ironside, Characters rediscovering their masculinity, Aleksey Serebryakov, Christopher Lloyd, A History of Violence, Home invasions
Shiva Baby: Sex, Death and A Buffet Table in Strong Debut Feature
By Linda Barnard
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Review, PreviewJim SlotekShiva Baby, Emma Seligman, TIFF 2020, Rachel Sennott, Polly Draper, Fred Melamed, Dianna Agron, Comedy, Jewish funereal tradition, Coming of age, Generation Z, Sex and death
SLAXX: Killer jeans, demonic denim, the sinister-hood of the traveling pants - whatever you call it, it's a hoot
ReviewJim SlotekNovelty horror films, Demonic blue jeans, SLAXX, Elza Kephart, Possessed inanimate objects, Peter Strickland, In Fabric, Romane Denis, Sehar Bhojani, Brett Donahue
Enhanced: Familiar Mutants Among Us… But Duller Than Ever
I Am Lisa: Mean girls discover karma is a howling b--tch in this low-rent/low-expectations lycanthropic revenge tale
ReviewJim SlotekWerewolf movies, Female revenge films, I Am Lisa, Mean Girls, Ginger Snaps, Kristen Vaganos, Carmen Anello, Manon Halliburton, Frances McDormand, Shawn Eric Jones, Wolf, Patrick Rea, Eric Winkler
Iron Mask: Jumbled Schwarzenegger/Jackie Chan Period Piece May Watch Better While High
Review, PreviewJim SlotekIron Mask, Jackie Chan, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Actioner, Period piece films, Oleg Stepchenko, Fantasy, Yuri Kolokolnikov, Jason Flemyng, Yao Xington, CGI
Doors: Weird End-of-Days Sci-Fi Thriller Nods to Stanley Kubrick… and Breakfast Club
Review, PreviewJim SlotekDoors, Sci-fi, Saman Kesh, Jeff Desom, Dugan O'Neal, Breakfast Club, Stanley Kubrick, 2001: A Space Odyssey, David Hemphill, Darius Levantè, Kyp Malone.
Rose Plays Julie: Revenge Thriller Tackles Adoption/Identity Issue with Powerful Results
Wojnarowicz: Remembering a Voice of Protest and the New York AIDS-Generation Art Scene
Review, PreviewJim SlotekWojnarowicz, documentary, New York, New York art scene, 1980s, '80s AIDS epidemic, Chris McKim, Keith Haring, Fran Lebowitz, David Wojnarowicz
The Father: Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman in a multi-layered masterpiece about aging
ReviewJim SlotekFilms about aging and dementia, The Father, French play La Pere, Florian Zeller, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Olivia Colman, Christopher Hampton, On Golden Pond, Make Way for Tomorrow, Brad Anderson, Christopher Nolan, Awards season, Oscar Best Picture nominees
Food Club: Danish dramedy about seniors rediscovering life via Italian cooking has heart despite Hallmark moments
By Karen Gordon
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ReviewJim SlotekMovies about senior women's lives, Danish movies, Movies about Italian cooking, Food Club, Kirsten Olesen, Stina Ekblad, Kirsten Lehfeldt, Michele Venitucci, Anne-Marie Olesen, Barbara Topsøe-Rothenborg
Enforcement: Muddled but Forceful Danish Cop Drama Echoes Current Issues in Throwback Style
Review, PreviewJim SlotekAnders Ølholm, Jacob Møller, Enforcement, Danish films, Cop drama, Immigrant experience, Police violence, Simon Sears, Jacob Lohmann, Tarek Zayat
Violation: Canadian thriller replaces the tawdry in the rape-revenge genre with bleak, arty atmosphere
ReviewJim SlotekRape-revenge thrillers, Promising Young Woman, Madeleine Sims-Fewer, Violation, Best Canadian Feature Vancouver Film Critics Circle, Lars von Trier, Dusty Mancinelli, Obi Abili, Jesse LaVercombe, Roseanne Liang, Shadow in the Cloud, Digital TIFF Bell Lightbox
Above Suspicion: Reality-based, Kentucky fried noir is a curious failure and an overreach for Emilia Clarke
ReviewJim SlotekMovies set among Southern drug dealers, Above Suspicion, Game of Thrones’ Emilia Clarke, Jennifer Lawrence in Winter’s Bone, Phillip Noyce, Jack Huston, Johnny Knoxville, Ozark, Justified, Austin Hébert, Thora Birch, Sophie Lowe, Chris Gerolmo, Joe Sharkey
Crisis: Drama About the Opioid Calamity Less Intense than Real Headlines
Review, PreviewJim SlotekCrisis, Drama, Opioid crisis, Nicholas Jarecki, Gary Oldman, Armie Hammer, Evangeline Lilly, Lily-Rose Depp, Michelle Rodriguez, Kid Cudi, fact-based drama
F.T.A.: Fonda and Sutherland's '72 anti-USO show holds up as companion piece to today's Vietnam film flashbacks
Review, ViewsJim SlotekF.T.A., Jane Fonda, Anti-Vietnam War sentiment in the army, The Trial of the Chicago 7, Judas and the Black Messiah, Da Five Bloods, Donald Sutherland, Dalton Trumbo’s 1938 anti-war novel, Johnny Got His Gun., Alan Myerson, The Committee, Holly Near, Rita Martinson, Pamela Donegan, Len Chandler, Francine Parker
Sacrilege: Strong Female Characters get Wasted (Literally) in Suspense-less Horror
Review, PreviewJim SlotekSacrilege, Horror, David Creed, Tamaryn Payne, Emily Wyatt, Sian Abrams, Naomi Willow, Paganism, Nightmares, British, Thriller, Midsommar
Hawk and Rev Vampire Slayers: Proving Even Super Low-Budget Can be Super-Fun
Come True: Unforgettable nightmare imagery in this 'dream-logic' twist on Elm Street
ReviewJim SlotekDream-based horror movies, Canadian horror movies, Come True, Anthony Scott Burns, Vincenzo Natali, Cube, Splice, Nightmare on Elm Street, Julia Sarah Stone, Christopher Heatherington, Landon Liboiron, Depictions of hell, Hieronymus Bosch
Death of a Ladies’ Man: Nice Try but Alas, Only Leonard Cohen Gets to be Leonard Cohen
