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Transformers: Rise of the Beasts Sinks into Incoherence | Exclaim!
There’s a moment in the third act of Transformers: Rise of the Beasts where the bad guys have taken possession of the transwarp key (the central MacGuffin of the plot) and started their evil plan, and the good guys appear on the horizon to let everyone know that the big final battle is about to happen. Scourge (Peter Dinklage), the lead bad guy, looks at his two henchmen and says, “Protect the key,” indicating that they should stay and protect the key while he turns to face the good guys. At this point, the two henchmen take off to fight the good…
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Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant & Extraction 2 | Awesome Friday Podcast
Greetings, Programs! This week we’re joined by longtime friend of the show Rachel Ho for our discussions of Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant, Chris Hemsworth in Extraction 2, and subway systems around the world (no, really!). Link: https://awesomefriday.ca/2023/06/podcast-guy-ritchies-the-covenant-extraction-2/ Rachel also joined us for our patron bonus chat this week, in which we talk about film festivals and the films we see there that we know will be hits. It’s an interesting one, and patrons at every tier can listen. Tiers start at just 2$ CAD/ Month! Link: https://www.patreon.com/posts/june-25th-bonus-85118666
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Fast X & Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse | Awesome Friday Podcast
Greetings programs! This week on the show, we’re talking about two super fun movies: Fast X, the 11th Fast & Furious movie and Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse, the sequel to the best movies of 2018. Link: https://awesomefriday.ca/2023/06/podcast-fast-x-spider-man-across-the-spider-verse/ This week our patron bonus chat is all about new TV, including It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Tribeca Premieres, and Black Mirror. Patrons at every tier can listen here (and it’s only 2$/month to join!): Link: https://www.patreon.com/posts/june-18th-bonus-84765907
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Air & Transformers: Rise of the Beasts | Awesome Friday Podcast
Greetings, programs! We’re back after a week away! Join us for a lively discussion of Air (now on Prime Video) and Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (now in cinemas). One of these movies we really liked, and the other, the opposite of that. Listen to find out which is which! Link: https://awesomefriday.ca/2023/06/podcast-air-transformers-rise-of-the-beasts/ Greetings patrons! After an impromptu week off last week, we’re back with a new episode and a new bonus chat: The Truman Show, Julie Andrews, And everything in between Link: https://www.patreon.com/posts/june-11th-bonus-84431267
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It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia Season 16 Sneak Peak: The Gang is Back in Fine Form | That Shelf
When a long-running series returns for a new season, the first question is always, “will it still be good?” With It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia now entering its 16th season, this question is front of mind. Dennis (Glenn Howerton), Mac (Rob McElhenny), Charlie (Charlie Day), Dee (Kaitlin Olson), and Frank (Danny DeVito) have had so many misadventures at this point, what is left for them to do? The answer, it turns out, is to stick to the formula that has kept them running Paddy’s Pub all this time: latch onto an issue and examine it from the dumbest perspective you can imagine. Link:…
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Shazam: Fury of the Gods & The Super Marios Bros. Movie | Awesome Friday Podcast
Greetings Programs! Join us this week as we discuss Shazam: Fury of the Gods and The Super Mario Bros Movie. One of these movies is fun; you’ll have to listen to find out which! Link: https://awesomefriday.ca/2023/05/podcast-shazam-fury-of-the-gods-the-super-marios-bros-movie/ Patreon supporters at every tier get access to this week’s bonus conversation, in which we dive into It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, one of Matt’s favourite shows and one that Simon has just started watching for the first time. Support starts at just CAD $2 per month! Link: https://www.patreon.com/posts/may-28th-2023-in-83692035
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Little Bird Review: A Must-Watch Canadian Story | That Shelf
Set in both the late 1950s and the early 1980s, the story follows Bezhig Little Bird, a young girl (played by Keris Hope Hill) who is removed from her family in Saskatchewan at the age of five and adopted out to a Jewish family in Montreal where she becomes Esther Rosenblum (played by Darla Contois). Esther’s story begins with her wedding shower, in which she, at first glance, appears to have it all: a loving mother, a devoted fiancé, and a comfortable life. However, when she overhears her future mother-in-law speaking about the fact that she is adopted, she begins…
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Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3 & You Hurt My Feelings | Awesome Friday Podcast
This week we finally catch up with Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3, and then writer/director Nicole Holofcener’s latest film, You Hurt My Feelings starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Link: https://awesomefriday.ca/2023/05/podcast-guardians-of-the-galaxy-vol-3-you-hurt-my-feelings/ Greetings patrons! This week for our bonus chat, we talked about Letterkenny -which just released an episode for the May 24th Victoria Day long weekend and Star Trek: Lower Decks, which is one of the best Star Treks. Link: https://www.patreon.com/posts/may-21st-2023-83340836
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Dr. No at 60 Years (#236) | Contra Zoom
The first James Bond film Dr No was first seen outside the United Kingdom in May of 1963. We celebrate the 60th anniversary of the film franchise by revisiting the seminal action movie directed by Terrence Yonge and starring Sean Connery, Ursula Andress and Joseph Wiseman. After we discuss the movie, we look back at the franchise as a whole, including our favourite Bond actors, best theme songs and overall best movies. We then look ahead to who we want to play James Bond now that Daniel Craig is retired from the part. Link: https://contrazoompod.com/236-dr-no-at-60-years/
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Evil Dead Rise & Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie | Awesome Friday Podcast
Greetings Programs! This week we’re covering Evil Dead Rise, a great new addition to the ongoing Evil Dead Franchise and hen the newly released AppleTV+ Documentary Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie. Link: https://awesomefriday.ca/2023/05/podcast-evil-dead-rise-still-a-michael-j-fox-movie/ This week on our bonus chat, we start out talking about Dennis Quaid and proceed into a discussion about great movies from the 80s and 90s. Link: https://www.patreon.com/posts/may-14th-bonus-83008022
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Class of ’09 Is Too Unrefined to Be Great | Exclaim!
The result is a series with unmet potential (at least in the first half) that will likely receive unfavourable comparisons to shows like Black Mirror or Westworld. That is not to say that the series is bad, though. The ideas raised are timely, and the show’s vision of the future is depressingly plausible. Fans of science fiction will find much to like, and there are some great performances to enjoy. But even still, Class of ’09 is a little too uneven and unrefined to be great. Link: httpsss://exclaim.ca/film/article/class_of_09_series_review-created_by_tom_rob_smith
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Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves & BlackBerry | Awesome Friday Podcast
Greetings programs! This week on the show, we take a look at the newly on-demand fantasy heist movie Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves before switching gears to the upcoming Canadian dramatization of the rise and fall of one of our biggest tech giants, BlackBerry. We also talk a little about the writer’s strike, and just in case there is any ambiguity: we stand with the writers. Link: https://awesomefriday.ca/2023/05/podcast-dungeons-dragons-blackberry/ This week on our patron bonus chat, we talk about Robert Zemeckis and speculate about his filmmaking motivations and output, especially when considering the stone-cold classics he made in the 1980s and 1990s…
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Star Wars: Visions Volume 2 Review: Nine Exciting Expansions of the Star Wars Universe | That Shelf
Star Wars, as a franchise, needs some expansion. This isn’t to say that there aren’t many entries in the franchise, rather that, with few exceptions, they tend to concern the same familiar locations and faces that we have grown accustomed to. Star Wars: Visions Volume 1 pushed some of those boundaries, and I am happy to report that Volume 2 takes it even further. The series is once again comprised of nine short films, ranging from 11 to 18 minutes. Each film is produced by a different animation house from around the world, so whereas Volume 1 was entirely anime, Volume 2 has entries…
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Scream 6 & Sisu | Awesome Friday Podcast
Greetings programs! This week we dive into the latest instalment in the ongoing Scream franchise and then into a bloody Finnish revenge story. Join us! Link: https://awesomefriday.ca/2023/04/podcast-scream-6-sisu/ This week’s subscriber bonus chat starts with headphones and ends with Malta, with stops in Jurassic Park and Gladiator. We hope you enjoy it! Link: https://www.patreon.com/posts/april-30th-2023-82310582
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Polite Society Doesn’t Follow Coming-of-Age Conventions | Exclaim!
Polite Society hits the ground running, jumping and kicking in the first few minutes, and never lets up its pace or infectious, offbeat energy. It’s a mashup of genres and styles, ranging from a coming-of-age tale to a kung fu epic to an Ocean’s Eleven-style heist. Still, even with all this going on, director and writer Nida Manzoor never loses sight of the story about sisterly love and confronting change. Link: https://exclaim.ca/film/article/polite_society_film_review-directed_by_nida_manzoor
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.
