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“The Creator”; A Visually Beautiful Yet Narratively Deficient Sci-Fi Film | ForReel
If there has been an inescapable topic of 2023, it has been Artificial Intelligence (AI). We’ve seen large language models grow by leaps and bounds in the last year, and Hollywood writers and performers striking – at least in part – over the idea of using AI in creating film and television. AI has always
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VIFF 2023: I’m Just Here for the Riot, Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe, & The Royal Hotel | Awesome Friday Podcast
The 2023 Vancouver International Film Festival has drawn to a close, and this week, we’re talking about three films we saw as part of the fest: I’m Just Here for the Riot is a documentary about the 2011 Stanley Cup Riot in Vancouver, our hometown. Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe is a documentary about
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VIFF 2023: “The Royal Hotel”; A Feminist Tale Of Harrowing Proportions | ForReel
So Liv and Hanna are left to fend for themselves among these horrible men. Three stand out: Matty (Toby Wallace, Finestkind), the fun one who wants to be friends but also wants to get Hanna into bed. Teeth (James Frecheville), the slow one who thinks he’s being chivalrous by sitting at the bar and waiting
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Loki Season 2 Review: More Fun Shenanigans in the MCU’s Sacred Timeline | That Shelf
For his part, Hiddleston slips back into Loki like a glove he’s been wearing all his life, this time with more concern for both Sylvie and the universe at large. Di Martino as Sylvie gets to play with relief and frustration as she’s dragged back into the fray. Their relationship after last season’s betrayal has
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Flora and Son & The Creator | Awesome Friday Podcast
This week on the show, we dive into two movies in which our opinions are nearly mirror images of one another. Join us for discussions of Flora and Son, and The Creator! Link: https://awesomefriday.ca/2023/10/podcast-flora-and-son-the-creator/
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VIFF 2023: ‘Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person’ Brings Fresh Blood to Familiar Themes | Exclaim!
The coming-of-age story is a well-worn tale, but one that still has a lot of mileage if a filmmaker can find a new angle. Director Ariane Louis-Seize has found one with her new film Humanist Vampire Seeing Consenting Suicidal Person, casting the existential angst and ennui of being a teenager onto the eternal youth of a 68-year-old vampire
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No One Will Save You & The Fall of the House of Usher | Awesome Friday Podcast
This week, we’re diving into two horror titles! Join us for the new Disney+/Hulu alien home invasion film No One Will Save You and then Mike Flanagan’s latest for Netflix, The Fall of the House of Usher. Join us! Link: https://awesomefriday.ca/2023/09/podcast-no-one-will-save-you-the-fall-of-the-house-of-usher/
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The Fall of the House of Usher Review: Mike Flanagan Remixes Edgar Allan Poe with Excellent Results | That Shelf
Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most influential and vital voices in horror, penning some of the most influential works of the genre in his short 40 years of life. His work drips with emotionality, love, loss, regret, fear, and longing. He helped establish the damp, decaying tone and mood that we now understand
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No Hard Feelings & Talk To Me | Awesome Friday Podcast
Greetings programs! We’re back with another summer catch-up episode! Join us as we dive into No Hard Feelings with Jennifer Lawrence, and then stick around for this year’s big summer horror breakout, Talk To Me. Join us! Link: https://awesomefriday.ca/2023/09/podcast-no-hard-feelings-talk-to-me/ On this week’s patron chat, we’re taking on Drew Barrymore’s disastrous decision to go back to work despite the
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The Meg 2: The Trench & El Conde | Awesome Friday Podcast
Greetings programs! This week, Matthew and Simon catch up with another summer blockbuster, diving headfirst into the sea with The Meg 2: The Trench and then visit South America with the upcoming satire El Conde. Join us! Link: https://awesomefriday.ca/2023/09/podcast-the-meg-2-the-trench-el-conde/ This week on the bonus show, Simon asks which is the best and most important decade for film, and
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The Last Voyage of the Demeter & Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem | Awesome Friday Podcast
Greetings programs! Join us this week as we catch up with two summer movies, The Last Voyage of the Demeter and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem! Link: https://awesomefriday.ca/2023/09/podcast-the-last-voyage-of-the-demeter-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-mutant-mayhem/
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Past Lives & Reinventing Elvis | Awesome Friday Podcast
Greetings programs! This week, Rachel subs in for Simon again, and she and Matthew take on the A24 critical darling Past Lives and the new documentary Reinventing Elvis, which explores the story of the ’68 comeback special. Link: https://awesomefriday.ca/2023/08/podcast-past-lives-reinventing-elvis/ This week, I ask Rachel about remakes that are better (or as good as) their original
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‘Ahsoka’ Thankfully Transcends ‘Star Wars’ Nostalgia | Exclaim!
It’s fair to say that Disney+‘s various Star Wars shows have been a mixed bag. While the fan base remains rabid, the shows have not all been met with acclaim — some are critically loved (such as Andor), and others not so much (The Book of Boba Fett or Obi-Wan Kenobi). What the best of them have in common is they
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“Birth/Rebirth” Doesn’t Have Enough to Bring It to Life | ForReel
…writer-director Laura Moss instead delivers a film with a fascinating twist on the Frankenstein story – at least in theory. Judy Reyes plays Celi, the mother in this story, and Marin Ireland plays Rose, the morgue technician and mad scientist. Each of them is excellent in this story, at times handling a lot of specific
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Ahsoka, Season 1, Episodes 1 & 2 | Awesome Friday Podcast
Greetings programs! We’re here slightly off schedule to talk about the new Star Wars adventure, Ahsoka! Starring Rosario Dawson, Natasha Liu Brodizzo, and Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ahsoka picks up a decade after Star Wars Rebels ended and promises to take the characters we already love on a new adventure in the Star Wars Universe. Join us! Link: https://awesomefriday.ca/2023/08/podcast-ahsoka-season-1-episodes-1-2/ This week’s bonus chat is
I am a Rotten Tomatoes-approved, freelance film & television critic and podcast host from Vancouver, Canada! I am a co-founder of the Cascadia Film & Television Critics Association and a voting member of the International Film Society Critics, Pandora International Critics, and the Online Film & Television Association.
I maintain bylines at Exclaim!, Awesome Friday!, That Shelf, ForReel, Movies We Texted About, KeithLovesMovies, and I can be heard regularly on the Contra Zoom Podcast and The LAMBCast.
