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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 aren’t trying too hard to be Star Wars. Where The Mandalorian seems intent on reminding audiences every episode that it’s Star Wars — with references, cameos and callbacks to other entries in the franchise — a show like Andor tells a good story set in the same cinematic universe. Critics…
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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 language and difficult emotions; the film itself, however, is a disappointing misfire. Link: https://thisisforreel.com/home/movie-review-birth/rebirth-doesnt-have-enough-to-bring-it-to-life
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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 a little different: On the main show, we’ll be talking about Star Wars: Ahsoka, but we can’t talk about that until a little later in the week. We still recorded our bonus chat for you, though, in which Simon asks about what movies benefit from…
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They Cloned Tyrone & Joy Ride | Awesome Friday Podcast
Greetings, programs, and welcome to another edition of the Awesome Friday Podcast. This week on the show, we’re taking on her recent Netflix release, They Cloned Tyrone, and the still-in-cinemas Joy Ride. Simon also gets Matthew talking about the recent musical episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, which is why the episode runs a little over time. Link: https://awesomefriday.ca/2023/08/podcast-they-cloned-tyrone-joy-ride/ Greetings patrons! This week is a little different in that the conversation is mostly about traditional holiday viewing, both winter and summer. We hope you enjoy it! Link: https://www.patreon.com/posts/august-13th-chat-87645683
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The 2023 Fantasia Film Festival | Awesome Friday Podcast
Greetings programs! This week, we dive head first into the 2023 Fantasia Film Festival. We’ve each seen a number of films, and we’re going to talk about a number of them, including Hundreds of Beavers, Birth/Rebirth, Satan Wants You, A Disturbance in the Force, With Love and a Major Organ, Aporia, Sympathy for the Devil, and River. Join us! Link: https://awesomefriday.ca/2023/08/podcast-fantasia-film-festival-2023/ This week’s supporter bonus conversation involves which live-action films we’d like to see remade with animation, and then we dive into Westerns. Support starts at just CAD $2/month, and all levels of support get access. Link: https://www.patreon.com/posts/august-6th-bonus-87292532
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Oppenheimer & Barbie | Awesome Friday Podcast
Greetings programs! This week we’re getting caught up in the fascination that is gripping the nation. That’s right, it’s the Barbenheimer episode! Both Oppenheimer and Barbie are being hailed as being some of the best filmmaking of the year. Do we agree? Yes, yes we do, and listen in to find out why! Link: https://awesomefriday.ca/2023/07/podcast-oppenheimer-barbie/ Greetings patrons! This week’s bonus chat starts with the ongoing strikes, moves into Canadian comedy, and then Simon asks what Star Trek’s winning formula is, and Matt asks what’s holding Star Wars back from being great lately. Link: https://www.patreon.com/posts/july-30th-2023-86930526
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The Witcher Season 3, Volume 2 Starts Strong and Ends Flat | That Shelf
If you recall, when I reviewed the first part of the season one month ago, I said, “It feels like this season will be made or broken by the final three episodes, releasing in late July. That’s not to say that it isn’t good, just that it doesn’t offer anything as new or compelling as the first two seasons did. A proper ending might supply those things.” This, my friends, is exactly the ending I anticipated. Unfortunately, the series continues for two more episodes. Link: https://thatshelf.com/the-witcher-season-3-volume-2-starts-strong-and-ends-flat/
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Oppenheimer Review: Christopher Nolan Explores the Price of Knowlege in One of the Best Films of the Year | ForReel
Fans of Nolan’s work will not be surprised that he accomplishes this with multiple overlapping narratives. The first follows Oppenheimer from his early university days to the Trinity test, the second is the security hearing that followed a few years later and left him in disgrace, and the third follows the confirmation hearing of Lewis Strauss, a key figure in the Atomic Energy Commission later nominated for Secretary of Commerce in 1959. Each of these stories tells a distinct part of the story and illuminates the others as they proceed in true Nolan fashion. They don’t come together to form…
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Barbie | The LAMBCast
The Lamb Community chose this as the new feature that they wanted covered for July. They appear to have chosen wisely because this was the biggest opening of the year, and a marketing success across the board. This week the Lamb contributes to the marketing behemoth that “Barbie” has become by discussing the films merits, faults, politics, music and dance numbers. […] Barbie and Ken face an existential crisis and must travel to the real world to deal with it. Jeanette Ward and Matthew Simpson face the same crisis so that’s why they decided to join the show. Cinema Recall…
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Asteroid City & Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1 | Awesome Friday Podcast
Greetings programs! This week, we dive head first into the world of Wes Anderson with Asteroid City, and then we jump off a cliff with Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1. Join us! Link: https://awesomefriday.ca/2023/07/podcast-asteroid-city-mission-impossible-7/
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The 50 Greatest Films Directed by Canadians (#244) | Contra Zoom
A few weeks ago CBC released a poll conducted by them where industry professionals and critics voted to help make a list of the Greatest 50 Films Directed by Canadians. Both Dakota and Rachel voted on the list, with Rachel even writing in praise of the #6 movie Crash. Joining the show to talk about the list and who they also voted for is Matthew Simpson and Taylor Beaumont. Link: https://contrazoompod.com/244-the-50-greatest-films-directed-by-canadians/ Check out the other guests on this episode: This episode was produced during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labour of the writers and actors currently on strike,…
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Two-Year Anniversary Special: The Best Movies Since July 2021! | Awesome Friday Podcast
Greetings programs! It has been two years, almost to the day, since we relaunched the Awesome Friday Podcast! To celebrate that fact, we are joined by Rachel, and we talk about our favourite films from when the show has been running – that’s July 2021 to now. It was a very fun conversation to record, and we hope you enjoy it too! We’d like to thank everyone who is listening or has listened or has thought about listening for helping us reach this milestone. We love you all! Link: https://awesomefriday.ca/2023/07/podcast-our-two-year-anniversary/ This week on the bonus show, we talked about…
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Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny & Nimona | Awesome Friday Podcast
Greetings Programs! Join us this week as we dive into the latest Indiana Jones film and the new Netflix/Annapurna animated release Nimona. It’s a good one; join us!! Link: https://awesomefriday.ca/2023/07/podcast-indiana-jones-nimona/ In this week’s bonus chat, Simon asks Matthew to explain his fluid Mission: Impossible rankings, and Matthew asks Simon to say something nice about Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. We finally nailed a format for these, and we’re very excited! Link: https://www.patreon.com/posts/july-9th-2023-85847958
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Marvel’s Secret Invasion & Biosphere | Awesome Friday Podcast
Greetings program! This week we’re taking on the latest Marvel series, Secret Invasion starring Samual L Jackson as Nick Fury, and an upcoming indie comedy starring Mark Duplass and Sterling K Brown, Biosphere (in cinemas July 9th). We have a lot to say about both, so join us! Link: https://awesomefriday.ca/2023/07/podcast-marvels-secret-invasion-biosphere/ This week on our bonus chat, we start with Matthew’s recent acquisition of Waterworld on Arrow Video Special edition UHD Blu-Ray, and that leads into a discussion of the 90s shlock we both love. This one clocks in at nearly half an hour, but it’s a fun trip down memory lane. All of our…
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The Witcher Season 3, Volume 1: History Repeats Itself | That Shelf
It feels like this season will be made or broken by the final three episodes, releasing in late July. That’s not to say that it isn’t good, just that it doesn’t offer anything as new or compelling as the first two seasons did. A proper ending might supply those things. Again, the show is well-made and well-acted, and there’s a lot of care involved from the people who need to care. If nothing else, it’s never not fun to hear Cavill growl his way through Geralt’s dialogue or any of the action scenes. The effects, hair, makeup, and costuming teams…
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.
