Articles — Original Cin

Since 2017: Career film critics continuing the conversation

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So Much Tenderness: Powerful Immigrant Story Showcases Director’s Cinematic Gift

So Much Tenderness: Powerful Immigrant Story Showcases Director’s Cinematic Gift

By Karen Gordon

ReviewJim SlotekJune 29, 2023So Much Tenderness, Lina Rodriquez, TIFF 2022, Noëlle Shöenwald, Natalia Aranguren, Francisco Zaldua, Canadian, Immigrant experience, Movies set in Toronto, Drama Comment

The Last Rider: The All-American Comeback Tale of 'Clean' Cyclist Greg LeMond

The Last Rider: The All-American Comeback Tale of 'Clean' Cyclist Greg LeMond

By Liz Braun

ReviewJim SlotekJune 29, 2023Professional cycling, 1989 Tour de France, Greg LeMond, Kathy LeMond, Cyrille Guimard, Perico Delgado, The "doping" era of cycling, Lance ArmstrongComment

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny: Action Aplenty in Awesome Homage to the Series

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny: Action Aplenty in Awesome Homage to the Series

By Karen Gordon

ReviewJim SlotekJune 27, 2023Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Franchise, Action-adventure, James Mangold, Harrison Ford, Toby Jones, Mads Mikkelsen, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Antonio Banderas, Franchise finales Comments

Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken: When Dreamworks Dunks on Disney

Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken: When Dreamworks Dunks on Disney

By John Kirk

ReviewJim SlotekJune 26, 2023Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken, Animation, Dreamworks Animation, Kirk DeMicco, Lana Condor, Toni Collette, Jaboukie Young-White, Annie Murphy, Sam Richarson, Jane Fonda, Will Forte, Children's films Comment

No Hard Feelings: Raunchy Jennifer Lawrence Comedy Silly but Fun

No Hard Feelings: Raunchy Jennifer Lawrence Comedy Silly but Fun

By Kim Hughes

ReviewJim SlotekJune 23, 2023No Hard Feelings, Gene Stupnitsky, Jennifer Lawrence, Andrew Barth Feldman, Laura Benanti, Natalie Morales, Matthew Broderick, Comedy, Fish out of water, Kyle MooneyComment

Blue Jean: Ace Debut Feature Chronicles Troubling Times for Gays in Thatcher’s Britain

Blue Jean: Ace Debut Feature Chronicles Troubling Times for Gays in Thatcher’s Britain

By Chris Knight

ReviewJim SlotekJune 23, 2023Blue Jean, Georgia Oakley, Rosy McEwen, Kerrie Hayes, Lucy Halliday, Gay rights, Thatcher's Britain, first feature, British, DramaComment

Asteroid City: Wes Anderson Does Wes Anderson as Only Wes Anderson Can

Asteroid City: Wes Anderson Does Wes Anderson as Only Wes Anderson Can

By Karen Gordon

ReviewJim SlotekJune 22, 2023Asteroid City, Wes Anderson, Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Jeffrey Wright, Liev Schreiber, Tilda, Bryan Cranston, Adrien Brody, Rupert Friend, Americana, Story within a story, Edward Norton, Willem DafoeComment

Subtraction: Double Trouble for Married Iranian Doppelgängers

Subtraction: Double Trouble for Married Iranian Doppelgängers

By Liam Lacey

ReviewJim SlotekJune 22, 2023Subtraction, Iranian film, doppelgangers, Mani Haghighi, Amir Reza Koohestani, Taraneh Aidoosti, Navid Mohammadzadeh, Drama, political allegoryComment

Secret Invasion: Messing with Our Heads

Secret Invasion: Messing with Our Heads

By John Kirk

ReviewJim SlotekJune 19, 2023Secret Invasion, Disney+, Ali Selim, Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn, Cobie Smulders, Don Cheadle, Olivia Colman, Emilia Clarke, Dermot Mulroney, Marvel, Sci fi, Comic Book adaptationComment

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