Articles — Original Cin

Since 2017: Career film critics continuing the conversation

Crossing: Odd Couple Road Movie Celebrates the Joys of Ambiguity

Crossing: Odd Couple Road Movie Celebrates the Joys of Ambiguity

By Liam Lacey

ReviewJim SlotekJuly 26, 2024Crossing, Drama, Georgian, Istanbul, Levan Akin, Mzia Arabuli, Lucas Kankava, Deniz Dumanli, Levan Bochorishvili, Ziya Sudancikmaz, LGBTQ+, LGBT issues Comments

The Fabulous Four: Definitely Not Fabulous, But Uplifting and Fun

The Fabulous Four: Definitely Not Fabulous, But Uplifting and Fun

By Kim Hughes

ReviewJim SlotekJuly 26, 2024The Fabulous Four, Comedy, Jocelyn Moorhouse, Bette Midler, Susan Sarandon, Megan Mullally, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Bruce GreenwoodComment

Deadpool & Wolverine: Marvel Actioner Brings Wolvie Home

Deadpool & Wolverine: Marvel Actioner Brings Wolvie Home

By John Kirk

ReviewJim SlotekJuly 24, 2024Deadpool & Wolverine, Disney, Shawn Levy, Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Superheroes, Action, Adventure, Marvel Cinematic UniverseComment

Charlie Hustle & The Matter of Pete Rose: Portrait of a Shame Icon

Charlie Hustle & The Matter of Pete Rose: Portrait of a Shame Icon

By Liam Lacey

ReviewJim SlotekJuly 24, 2024Charlie Hustle & The Matter of Pete Rose, Sports documentaries, Baseball, Pete Rose, ControversyComment

Time Bandits: Taika Waititi Picks Terry Gilliam’s Pocket But It’s Still His Film

Time Bandits: Taika Waititi Picks Terry Gilliam’s Pocket But It’s Still His Film

By John Kirk

ReviewJim SlotekJuly 24, 2024Time Bandits, Remake, Reboot, Lisa Kudrow, Kal-El Tuck, Taika Waititi, Jemaine Clement, Apple TV, Streaming series, Sci fiComment

Original-Cin Chat: Wil Wheaton on Star Trek: Prodigy and the Return of Wesley Crusher

Original-Cin Chat: Wil Wheaton on Star Trek: Prodigy and the Return of Wesley Crusher

By John Kirk

InterviewJim SlotekJuly 23, 2024Wil Wheaton, Wesley Crusher, Star Trek: Prodigy, Season Two, Sci fi, SeriesComment

Exhuma: South Korean Ghost Story Out-Conjures The Conjuring

Exhuma: South Korean Ghost Story Out-Conjures The Conjuring

By Thom Ernst

ReviewJim SlotekJuly 21, 2024South Korean horror films, Supernatural investigators, Exhuma, Writer/director Jang Jae-hyun, Kim Go-eun, Lee Do-hyun, The Conjuring, Choi Min-sikComment

National Anthem: A Drag Rodeo Romance that Tenderly Bucks Expectations

By Chris Knight

ReviewJim SlotekJuly 18, 2024Movies about gay rodeos, Trans love stories, National Anthem, Writer/director Luke Gilford, Charlie Plummer, Robyn Lively, Eve Lindley, Rene Rosado, International Gay Rodeo AssociationComment

Original-Cin Chat: A Vampire, Alien and a Fish-Man Enter a Toronto Bar - And They're All Doug Jones

Original-Cin Chat: A Vampire, Alien and a Fish-Man Enter a Toronto Bar - And They're All Doug Jones

By John Kirk

InterviewJim SlotekJuly 18, 2024Actors specializing in playing non-humans, Doug Jones, Star Trek: Discovery, What We Do in The Shadows, The Shape of Water, Pan’s Labyrinth, Kelpian-Vulcan wedding, Baron Afanas, Tara RoslingComment

Twisters: Storm und Drag

Twisters: Storm und Drag

By Kim Hughes

ReviewJim SlotekJuly 18, 2024Twisters, Sequel, Action-adventure, Lee Isaac Chung, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Glen Powell, Anthony Ramos, Disaster moviesComment

Widow Clicquot: Fact-Based Drama About Champagne's Chief Woman (Ahem) Sparkles

Widow Clicquot: Fact-Based Drama About Champagne's Chief Woman (Ahem) Sparkles

By Kim Hughes

ReviewJim SlotekJuly 18, 2024Widow Clicquot, TIFF 23, Drama, fact-based drama, Thomas Napper, Haley Bennett, Tom Sturridge, Ben Miles, Paul RhysComment

Cora Bora: Megan Stalter Would’ve Been Funnier with a Better Script

Cora Bora: Megan Stalter Would’ve Been Funnier with a Better Script

By Liz Braun

ReviewJim SlotekJuly 16, 2024Cora Bora, Comedy, Hannah Pearl Utt, Rhianon Jone, Megan Stalter, Jojo T. Gibbs, Ayden Mayeri, Manny JacintoComment

The Dead Don't Hurt: Black Hats and Grey Morals in Viggo Mortensen's Western Revenge Tale

The Dead Don't Hurt: Black Hats and Grey Morals in Viggo Mortensen's Western Revenge Tale

By John Kirk

ReviewJim SlotekJuly 15, 2024Contemporary 'Old West' movies, The Dead Don’t Hurt, Actors directing themselves, Viggo Mortensen, Toronto International Film Festival, Vicky Krieps, Danny Huston, Garret Dillahunt, Western revenge talesComment

Original-Cin Chat: The Dead Don't Hurt's Viggo Mortensen on Why the Old West is All in the Details

Original-Cin Chat: The Dead Don't Hurt's Viggo Mortensen on Why the Old West is All in the Details

By John Kirk

InterviewJim SlotekJuly 14, 2024Contemporary 'Old West' movies, The Dead Don’t Hurt, Actors directing themselves, Viggo Mortensen, Toronto International Film Festival, Vicky Krieps, Danny Huston, Garret Dillahunt, Western revenge talesComment

Fly Me to the Moon: A Rom-Com with an Almost-Faked Moonshot and a Moral About Gullibility

Fly Me to the Moon: A Rom-Com with an Almost-Faked Moonshot and a Moral About Gullibility

By Liz Braun

ReviewJim SlotekJuly 11, 2024Moon hoax comedy, NASA rom-com, Scarlett Johansson, Channing Tatum, Woody Harrelson, Directed by Greg Berlanti, The marketing of the Apollo program, Apollo 1Comment

Touch: Memories of a Lost Love Play Out At Their Own Sweet, Icelandic Pace

Touch: Memories of a Lost Love Play Out At Their Own Sweet, Icelandic Pace

By Jim Slotek

ReviewJim SlotekJuly 10, 2024Icelandic films, Films taken from Icelandic novels, Touch, Director Baltasar Kormákur, Novelist Ólafur Jóhann Ólafsson, Egill Ólafsson, Palmi Kormákur, Kôki, Masahiro Motoki, Love stories set in multiple countriesComment

Longlegs: The-Devil-Made-Them-Do-It FBI Procedural Uses Nic Cage to Quick, Wicked Effect

Longlegs: The-Devil-Made-Them-Do-It FBI Procedural Uses Nic Cage to Quick, Wicked Effect

By Jim Slotek

ReviewJim SlotekJuly 9, 2024Police procedural-themed horror, Longlegs, Nicolas Cage, Satanic serial killer, Director Oswald Perkins, Maika Monroe, Demon possession, Psychic crime solving, Blair Underwood, Glam rockers T. RexComment

MaXXXine: Horrormeister Ti West and Muse Mia Goth Hit a Hollywood High With Trilogy's End

MaXXXine: Horrormeister Ti West and Muse Mia Goth Hit a Hollywood High With Trilogy's End

By Thom Ernst

ReviewJim SlotekJuly 5, 2024Indie horror films, Director Ti West, MaXXXine, Horror trilogy, Mia Goth, Serial killer The Night Stalker, Seamy side of Hollywood, Elizabeth Debicki, Michelle Monaghan, Giancarlo Esposito, Kevin BaconComment

KILL: The Name Says It All, As Bollywood Goes Full Die-Hard-On-a-Train

KILL: The Name Says It All, As Bollywood Goes Full Die-Hard-On-a-Train

By Thom Ernst

ReviewJim SlotekJuly 4, 2024Bollywood action films, KILL, Director Nikhil Nagesh Bhat, Die Hard on a train, Action star Lakshya, Raghav Juyal, Toronto International Film Festival, Midnight Madness People's Choice AwardComment

Valley of Exile: When Coping with War is 'Women's Work'

Valley of Exile: When Coping with War is 'Women's Work'

By Liz Braun

ReviewJim SlotekJuly 4, 2024Women coping with the Syrian Civil War, Valley of Exile, Writer-director Anna Fahr, Bekaa Valley, Siege of Homs, Najwa Kandakji, Joy HallakComment