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A Second Life Review: A Lovely Walk Through Paris | That Shelf
We’ve all felt depressed. It’s a fact that sometimes life will get you down, and if you let it, depression and anxiety can isolate you from having any meaningful relationships. The luckiest of us have only had fleeting experience with this, but all of us have felt it at one time or another. A Second Life is a […]
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‘Oh, Hi!’ Goes Both Too Far and Not Far Enough | Awesome Friday!
Handcuffing someone to a bed might be fun, but if you don’t let them go, it becomes a crime, a civil matter, or both. In either case, this is the centre of the story of Oh, Hi!, the new comedy from director Sophie Brooks, co-written and starring Molly Gordon. In the film, Gordon plays Iris, a […]
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Strong Performances Keeps “Horsegirls” on Track | ForReel
Horsegirls is a unique film about a young woman’s journey to find her place in the world. It hits several beats that you will see coming along the way, but it gets there with some important distinctions and directions that you perhaps won’t. Margarita (Lillian Carrier) is 22 and autistic. She lives with her mother, […]
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“Superman” Revels in Goodness to Find Greatness | ForReel
There are those who will tell you that Superman is a difficult character to write. Because he’s so powerful, there’s no foe he cannot defeat, and no obstacle he cannot overcome. This is, of course, wrong. Superman is not a difficult character to write; he’s the easiest, since all that you need to know about […]
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Drop UHD Review | Movies We Texted About
Single-location mystery thrillers are one of the tried and true genres of stage and film. When executed well, they can be an edge-of-your-seat experience and a satisfying watch. Writer/Director Christopher Landon has a history of taking high-concept versions of setups like this and delivering a good time at the movies; Happy Death Day was a time loop crossed with […]
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“Birthright” Goes Horrifyingly Wrong in All the Right Ways | ForReel
There is, it is fair to say, often generational divides. One that we are living through today is between millennials (who are now in their 30s and 40s) and boomers (who are now mostly retired). Boomers grew up in a world that had ample opportunity, and a more fair distribution of wealth, whereas millennials have […]
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Fantasia Festival 2025 Begins This Week! | Awesome Friday!
You know, Fantasia is one of my favourite film festivals. Good news, everyone! The Fantasia Film Festival is back for another year. One of Canada’s premier film festivals, and one of the biggest genre film festivals on the continent. This year’s lineup looks great, but here are five films I’m looking forward to. Link: https://awesomefriday.ca/2025/07/fantasia-2025-starts-this-week/
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June 2025 First Time Watches | Patreon
I know I said I didn’t think I’d have a lot for y’all this month, but it turns out I do, so that’s fun. Anyway, as with every month of the year, I saw a bunch of movies I had never seen before in June, and here are the highlights. Link: https://www.patreon.com/posts/june-2025-first-134162903
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“Inside” Is a Compelling Prison Redemption Story | ForReel
Each of the men in this story exemplifies a part of these themes, both shared and individual. Warren (Pearce) is a scruffy older man serving time for violence he committed in the past. His parole is coming up, but he’s indebted to other inmates who will get what they’re owed one way or another before […]
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Smoke Review: Arson Investigation Drama Is Rainy Day Viewing | That Shelf
The saying goes that where there is smoke, there is fire—a simple adage, and one that proves itself time and time again. When we’re talking about actors, where there’s smoke, there’s often Taron Egerton. This is not a perfect metaphor, but the point is that Egerton is on fire. He has talent and charisma for days, […]
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May 2025 First Time Watches | Patreon
Every month, I watch films, both new and old, that I haven’t seen before. I’m a bit late posting this, but in May, I watched a dozen that fit this description and here are the highlights! Link: https://www.patreon.com/posts/may-2025-first-131501117
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The 2025 Canadian Screen Awards | Contra Zoom
The 2025 Canadian Screen Awards were handed out from May 30-June 1st and the television portion was hosted by Lisa Gilroy. Universal Language and The Apprentice were the big winners. We look at ten categories and discuss the winners and Dakota, Matthew and Jeff pick our own favourites. Real talk: most of the 2025 Canadian […]
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Predator: Killer of Killers Gets the Formula Right | Awesome Friday!
The Predator franchise is the platonic ideal of an action horror franchise. There are highly skilled people in the world, and there’s a whole race of monsters that hunts those people for sport. The setup is simple, allowing it to serve as a framework for various kinds of stories. At their worst, films in the […]
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Re-Animator 40th Anniversary UHD | Movies We Texted About
Ignite Films was kind enough to send me a copy of their new 40th Anniversary release of the 80s horror classic Re-Animator, and I got to write about it for Movies We Texted About! The 1980s were perhaps the best decade for high-concept, low-budget, effects-driven horror films. There are many examples, but one that has […]
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Mission: Impossible – Ranked | Contra Zoom
Your mission, should you choose to accept it is to listen to Dakota and Matthew rank the Mission: Impossible films to celebrate the release of the 8th entry (and possibly last film in the series?) , The Final Reckoning. Joining the show is former co-host Rachel Ho the film editor at Exclaim! Listening Links
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.
