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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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“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
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‘Stick’ Has Even More Heart Than Laughs | Exclaim!
If Apple TV+ sitcoms have a through line, it’s that they aren’t actually at their best when they’re funny. That’s not to say that they aren’t funny — they definitely are — but rather that the laughs seem to come almost secondary to heart. Ted Lasso is probably the best example of this, a hilarious show about leadership and […]
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Andor, Season Two | Austin B Media Podcast
I sat down with my friend Austin Belzer on his podcast to talk about Andor season 2. The full conversation is nearly 90 minutes but we cover a lot of territory as we discuss one of the best Star Wars projects maybe ever. Listening Links And consider subscribing to Austin’s Patreon.
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Final Destination: Bloodlines | The LAMBCast
We try to keep our promises here on the Lambcast. A Month ago, we talked about the “Final Destination” Franchise and we agreed to come back to talk about the new entry when it dropped in May. Everyone technically has returned, although Richard had to cheat a little to do so. We had no doubt […]
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Top Secret! | The LAMBCast
The first film of the late Val Kilmer, was chosen as the MOTM after being suggested by Jeanette Ward from “The Mundane Adventures of a Fangirl” blog. Almost two years ago she promoted “Real Genius” to MOTM status. It appears that Jeanette has a thing for Mr. Kilmer. After watching the film, you will know […]
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‘Murderbot’ Is a Replicant of Other Robot Stories | Exclaim!
From Wall-E and RoboCop to Short Circuit and I, Robot, we are well-served with stories of robots built to serve that develop distinct personalities and humanity, and then eventually save the day. Apple TV+‘s Murderbot, the latest entry in this subgenre, mashes up several versions of this story into something that straddles the line between the familiar and the new. The titular character combines […]
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April 2025 First Time Watches | Patreon
Every month I try to watch a bunch of films, both new and old, that I haven’t seen before. In April I watched an even dozen films that were new to me, and here are a few highlights. Link: https://www.patreon.com/posts/april-2025-first-128425330
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The 2025 Canadian Screen Award Nominees and Where to Buy, Rent, or Stream them
The 13th Canadian Screen Award Nominees are here! This years main ceremony will take place on June 1st with comedian Lisa Gilroy hosting. Some stand outs among the nominees include Matthew Rankin’s Universal Language which scored a towering thirteen nominations and David Cronenberg’s The Shrounds with nine. Be sure to check out the Best Motion […]
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.
