-
“Noviembre” Is a Gripping Tour De Force That Turns History Into Harrowing Theatrical Experience | ForReel
•
On November 6th, 1985, a left-wing guerrilla group called Movimiento 19 de Abril (M-19, for short) stormed the Palace of Justice in Bogotá, Colombia. The intent was to hold the Justices of the Supreme Court hostage and force a trial against President Belisario Betancur. What happened instead was one of the deadliest attacks in…
-
Meadowlarks Review: TIFF 2025 | That Shelf
•
In Canada, we like to think of ourselves as progressive and inclusive and, relative to other nations today, we most likely are. That hasn’t always been true; our history is littered with heinous events and policies that persecuted the Indigenous peoples of this country. One of the main efforts to erase Indigenous identity and…
-
“Burning” and the Art of Captivating Storytelling | ForReel
•
Storytelling has been a part of the human experience since the dawn of time. From cave paintings to campfire stories to novels to film, at our core, we want and need to tell stories, and our memory is key to the process. What we write is informed by our remembered experiences, as is how…
-
Spike Lee Retrospective: “Inside Man” | ForReel
•
Spike Lee is best known for racially and politically charged dramas like Do the Right Thing, He Got Game, Da 5 Bloods, and BlacKkKlansman. While these are some of the films that he might be best remembered for, he was not above more studio-friendly fare. In 2006, he also made one of the slickest…
-
Eenie Meanie Is a Perfect Work Night Movie | Awesome Friday!
•
Heist movies are fun. There are few things as satisfying in cinema as a well-executed plan coming to fruition, and the thieves that execute said plan making their getaway into the sunset. It’s even better if they’re driving a cool car, and get to do a bunch of cool stunts. Eenie Meanie, the directorial…
-
DEVO Are Fearlessly Unique, but Their Netflix Documentary Isn’t | Exclaim!
•
The story of DEVO is one of art and protest. For many, it doesn’t feel this way; the band’s one enduring hit seems to be, on its surface, one of their silliest. An uptempo hit with nonsense lyrics encouraging people to solve their issues by “whipping it,” it also satirizes late-’70s and early-’80s American optimism and…
-
East of Wall: An Endearing Story of Loss and Redemption | KeithLovesMovies
•
The old west was a place of wonder and possibility, where one could hop on a horse with little more than the clothes on their back and a few supplies and head out to find their destiny. The new West has lost this. Now a land of established farms and ranches, one might head…
-
Weapons Review: Zach Cregger Weaves a Horrifying, Hilarious, Human Story of Trauma and Grief | Awesome Friday!
•
Weapons is not a subtle film. It is not difficult to draw a line from its premise -that one night at 2.17 in the morning, 17 children from the same elementary school class woke up, got out of bed, walked out the front door of their homes, and vanished into the darkness like a…
-
Foreigner Review: A Slick, Bubblegum Horror About Immigrant Experiences | That Shelf
•
Starting a new life in a new city is difficult. Moving takes time, money, and effort. You leave your support circle behind, and start fresh in a new place with few—if any—friends. It is a challenge, to say the least. Then consider that younger people also have to go to a new school in a new…
-
Lurker Review: Théodore Pellerin and Archie Madekwe Shine in an Exploration of Obsession | Awesome Friday!
•
Obsession is one of the great literary themes. One person in a position of power, another aspiring to attain it, a relationship between them evolving from fascination to camaraderie and into something else. Alex Russell, writer on such series as The Bear, Interior Chinatown, and Beef, takes on this classic setup in his first feature film, Lurker. …
-
‘Buffet Infinity’ Review – A Mildly Chaotic But Unique and Singular Film | Movies We Texted About
•
There are movies, and there are movies, and then there are the wild and experimental films that use the cinematic form to tell a story in a way that only filmmaking can. Buffet Infinity is one of this third type. Set in a small town in Alberta, Canada, Buffet Infinity plays out as a series of local news…
-
Marvel’s Eyes of Wakanda is Fun, Thoughtful, Gorgeous, and Too Short | Awesome Friday!
•
Marvel is, according to most, at a bit of a crossroads. We spent a few years saturated in their stories post-Avengers: Endgame, and that time has left most of us a bit jaded thanks to what felt like a focus on quantity over quality. In 2025, they’ve promised to get back to a focus…
-
A Familiar Narrative Holds “The Bearded Girl” Back | ForReel
•
There was a time when we regarded circuses with awe. – when we’d file into circus grounds to see trapeze acts and contortionists, and wonders from far-off lands. But those days are largely in the past now. The Bearded Girl is a coming-of-age story set among the remnants of those days. Centred on a…
-
Dog of God Review: A Beautifully Animated Nightmare | That Shelf
•
The wonderful thing about animation is that it can be used to tell any kind of story. Too often, we deem animated films as somehow lesser than or relegate them to being just for kids even some of the most creative and inspiring films of late are animated. Into the Spider-Verse, Flee, Mad God, and last year’s Flow, to…
-
‘The Naked Gun’ Recaptures the Magic of Zucker, Abrahams, and Zucker | Awesome Friday!
•
Spoof comedy is incredibly hard to get right in large part because one must be incredibly smart to write it. It sounds counterintuitive, but some of the dumbest jokes you can think of require razor-sharp instincts and wit, and those things don’t grow on trees. It’s not just that fart jokes require excellent timing;…