Articles — Original Cin

Since 2017: Career film critics continuing the conversation

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The Blackening: Agreeably Silly Comedy-Horror Could Have Been Great

The Blackening: Agreeably Silly Comedy-Horror Could Have Been Great

By Thom Ernst

ReviewJim SlotekJune 16, 2023The Blackening, Tim Story, Grace Byers, Jermaine Fowler, Sinqua Walls, Dewayne Perkins, Jay Pharoah, James Preston Rogers, Juneteeth, Horror comedyComment

The Flash: The Multiverse Madness Invades DC, and It's Still Fun

The Flash: The Multiverse Madness Invades DC, and It's Still Fun

By Chris Knight

ReviewJim SlotekJune 14, 2023The Flash, DC Cinematic Universe, Multiverse plots, Ezra Miller, Ben Affleck, Michael Keaton, Sasha Calle, Supergirl, Michael Shannon, Actors with scandal issuesComment

Elemental: Pixar's Latest Fails to Ignite

Elemental: Pixar's Latest Fails to Ignite

By Jim Slotek

ReviewJim SlotekJune 14, 2023Pixar films, Anthropomorphised "elements", Star-crossed couples, The immigrant experience, Leah Lewis, Ronnie Del Carmen, Shila Ommi, Mamoudou AthieComment

Persian Lessons: Miseducating a Nazi

Persian Lessons: Miseducating a Nazi

By Liam Lacey

ReviewJim SlotekJune 14, 2023Persian Lessons, WWII, Nazis, Vadim Perelman, Ilya Zofin, Wolfgang Kohlhaase, Lars Eidinger, Nahuel Pérez Biscayart, Farsi, One Thousand and One NightsComment

Voices Across the Water: Canoe-Building Doc Surprisingly Absorbing, And Free to Watch

Voices Across the Water: Canoe-Building Doc Surprisingly Absorbing, And Free to Watch

By Kim Hughes

ReviewJim SlotekJune 14, 2023National Film Board of Canada, Voices Across the Water, Fritz Mueller, Teresa Earle, Available Light Film Festival, Yukon, Alaska, Documentary, Canoe building, Canada, CanadianComment

Star Trek Strange New Worlds S2: The Underrated Power of the Short Story

Star Trek Strange New Worlds S2: The Underrated Power of the Short Story

By John Kirk

ReviewJim SlotekJune 13, 2023Star Trek, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Sci fi, Anson Mount, Rebecca Romijn, Ethan Peck, Celia Rose Gooding, Jess Bush, Babs Olusanmokun, Christine Chong, Paul Welsey, Series, Season 2 Comment

Dalíland: A Surreal Love Story, Seen from The Outside

Dalíland: A Surreal Love Story, Seen from The Outside

By Liam Lacey

ReviewJim SlotekJune 8, 2023Dalíland, TIFF 2022, Mary Harron, John C. Walsh, Ben Kingsley, Barbara Sukowa, Christopher Briney, Rupert Graves, Andreja Pejic, Ezra Miller, Suki Waterhouse, Zachary Nachbar-Seckel, adaptation, Biopic, Drama, Historical dramaComment

Squaring the Circle: Superb, Starry Doc Chronicles the Album Covers that Made Rock History

Squaring the Circle: Superb, Starry Doc Chronicles the Album Covers that Made Rock History

By Kim Hughes

ReviewJim SlotekJune 8, 2023Docuementary, Music documentaries, Squaring The Circle: (The Story of Hipgnosis), Anton Corbijn, Aubrey “Po” Powell, Paul McCartney, Roger Waters, Nick Mason, Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, Peter Gabriel, Noel Gallagher, Glen Matlock, Merck MercuriadisComment

Transformers Rise of the Beasts: Latest Installment Seeks to Correct Confusing Continuity

Transformers Rise of the Beasts: Latest Installment Seeks to Correct Confusing Continuity

By John Kirk

Toronto Japanese Film Festival: Yes, they Cannes - Just in Time For an International Premiere

Toronto Japanese Film Festival: Yes, they Cannes - Just in Time For an International Premiere

By Jim Slotek and Liam Lacey

Review, PreviewJim SlotekJune 7, 2023Toronto Japanese Film Festival, Japanese winner of Cannes best actor, Koji Yakusho, Izuru Narushima‘s Father of the Milky Way Railroad, Japanese Academy Awards, BL Metamorphosis, A Man, The Zen Diary, Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre, Lesson in MurderComment

Without Precedent: The Supreme Life of Rosalie Abella - The Colourful Conscience of Our High Court

Without Precedent: The Supreme Life of Rosalie Abella - The Colourful Conscience of Our High Court

By Jim Slotek

ReviewJim SlotekJune 7, 2023Supreme Court of Canada, Rosalie Abella, Barry Avrich, Without Precedent: The Supreme Life of Rosalie Abella, Brian Mulroney, Irving Abella, Employment equity, Colourful judicial figuresComment

The Wrath of Becky: Becky Could Have Been More Wrathful

The Wrath of Becky: Becky Could Have Been More Wrathful

By John Kirk

ReviewJim SlotekJune 6, 2023The Wrath of Becky, Horror, Revenge, Sequel, Drama, Matt Angel, Suzanne Coote, Lulu Wilson, Seann William Scott, Denise Burse, Jill Larson, Courtney Gains, Michael Sirow, Aaron Dalla Villa, Kate Siegel Comment

The Boogeyman: G-Rated Scares and Dreary Vibe Mar Stephen King Adaptation

The Boogeyman: G-Rated Scares and Dreary Vibe Mar Stephen King Adaptation

By Thom Ernst

ReviewJim SlotekJune 1, 2023The Boogeyman, Horror, Stephen King, Rob Savage, Sophie Thatcher, Vivien Lyra Blair, Chris Messina, David Dastmalchian, AdaptationComment

Close to Vermeer: The Next Best Thing to Being There

Close to Vermeer: The Next Best Thing to Being There

By Liz Braun

ReviewJim SlotekJune 1, 2023Close to Vermeer, Documentary, Suzanne Raes, Dr. Gregor Weber, Jonathan Janson, Abbie VandivereComment

Bones of Crows: Fact-Based Drama Depicts the Horrors of Residential Schools

Bones of Crows: Fact-Based Drama Depicts the Horrors of Residential Schools

By Kim Hughes

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse: A Packed House of Comic Book Creatives Says 'Excelsior!'

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse: A Packed House of Comic Book Creatives Says 'Excelsior!'

By John Kirk

ReviewJim SlotekJune 1, 2023Marvel multiverse, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Miles Morales, Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Oscar Isaac, Jason Schwartzman, Ultimates Universe, Phil Lord, Chris Miller Comment

Toronto Jewish Film Festival: The 'Cine-gogue' is Open, Dim the Lights!

Toronto Jewish Film Festival: The 'Cine-gogue' is Open, Dim the Lights!

By Original-Cin Staff

Review, PreviewJim SlotekMay 31, 2023Toronto Jewish Film Festival, The Man in The Basement, Queen of the Deuce, Burning Off the Page, Without Precedent: The Supreme Life of Rosalie Abella, Concerned Citizen, Shalom Putti, The Delegation, Shttl, VishniacComment

About My Father: America's 'Hottest Comedian' Makes a Lukewarm Debut (despite DeNiro)

About My Father: America's 'Hottest Comedian' Makes a Lukewarm Debut (despite DeNiro)

By Thom Ernst

ReviewJim SlotekMay 26, 2023Meet the Parents-premised fims, About My Father, Sebastian Maniscalco, Stand-up comics in movies, Robert De Niro, Leslie Bibb, Kim Cattrall, David Rasche, Laura TerrusoComment

Inside Out Film Fest: A Filmic History of Funding Gay Toronto, and Other Highlights

Inside Out Film Fest: A Filmic History of Funding Gay Toronto, and Other Highlights

By Liam Lacey

ReviewJim SlotekMay 25, 2023Inside Out Film Festival, LGBTQ+, Gay, Lesbian, Trans, I Used to Be Funny, Runs In the Family, Commitment To Life, Norwegian Dream, 20, 000 Species of Bees, A Queer’s Guide to Spiritual Living, Leilani’s Fortune, Before I Change My MindComment

Mission Kandahar: Progressive Script Can’t Disguise Its Hell-Is-Other Countries Premise

Mission Kandahar: Progressive Script Can’t Disguise Its Hell-Is-Other Countries Premise

By Thom Ernst

ReviewJim SlotekMay 25, 2023Mission Kandahar, Ric Roman Waugh, Gerard Butler, Navid Negahban, Ali Fazal, Bahador Foladi, American, TerrorismComment