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Framing Agnes Obscures Its Own Powerful Premise and Story | Awesome Friday!
In the 1950s and 60s, researchers at UCLA conducted a study into sex disorders. The resulting archive of data contains a cross-section of trans history in the form of interviews conducted with the study’s participants. One of the participants –a woman known only as Agnes- used the study to receive gender-affirming care and then seemingly disappeared. With Framing Agnes, director Chase Joynt takes a handful of the stories collected in the UCLA study and presents them to the audience. The interviews themselves are re-framed as interviews on a late-night talk show and performed by trans performers. The performers themselves, along with…
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Memory & Everything Everywhere All At Once | Awesome Friday Podcast
Another week, another podcast episode! Join us for discussions of the new Liam Neeson led action thriller Memory and the sophomore effort from The Daniels Everything Everywhere All At Once. Episode Homepage: https://awesomefriday.ca/2022/05/podcast-memory-everything-everywhere-all-at-once/
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Star Trek Reboot Trilogy | Jacked Up Review Show
J.J. Abrams’ successful yet like-it-or-hate-it plotting is on display in the flashy yet cliche take on the original Star Trek formula. What should truly happen in the upcoming fourth film? Why is the 2009 film rather funny yet empty on interesting antagonists? Why does Into Darkness bring on the brutal action and gritty character add-ons yet feels like it must go back to familiar mirror universe tactics? Why is Beyond just a soul-sucking car commercial with an annoying runtime and nothing memorable whatsoever? All that and how without these non-philosophical films, we’d be without any NEW Star Trek content! Episode…
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2022 Hot Docs Most Anticipated Movies | ForReel
Hot Docs will run from April 28 to May 8, both in person and virtually. I’ll be covering the festival virtually again this year, and as usual, there are a lot of fantastic documentaries on display at the festival from all over the world, including features like Navalny, Million Dollar Pigeon, and The American Dream And Other Fairy Tales. But with so many films to choose from, which might be the best ones to priotize? In this Hot Docs Curtain Raiser video, I talk with Matthew Simpson from Awesome Friday to talk about which films we’re looking forward to most…
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The Batman & The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent | Awesome Friday Podcast
Salutations applications, and welcome to a new episode of The Awesome Friday Podcast. We’re back after a two-week hiatus and talking about two of the year’s most anticipated movies. First up, freshly t streaming services and premium rental, Matt Reeves’s noir-inspired take on the caped crusader, The Batman. Following that, the newly released to cinemas film The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, in which Nicolas Cage plays the role he was born to play: Nicolas Cage. Episode Homepage: https://awesomefriday.ca/2022/04/podcast-batman-massive-talent/
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L’Inhumain Explores Inner Turmoil Using a Mythic Monster | Awesome Friday!
One of, if not the, best-known monsters in indigenous folklore is the Wendigo. Once men, their souls corrupted after turning to cannibalism, they stalk people who enter their territory and devour them, their hunger insatiable. This is the creature that Matthieu (Samuel ‘Samian’ Tremblay) faces in L’inhumain, but whether it’s the monster is up for debate. Link: https://awesomefriday.ca/2022/04/review-linhumain/
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Interview: Reel Canada Executive Director Jack Blum on National Canadian Film Day | Awesome Friday Podcast
The third Wednesday of every year is National Canadian Film Day, a nationwide event that celebrates the best in Canadian cinema. This year is no different, and tomorrow’s event promises to be one of the best yet, with screening events in every province and territory and around the world. This morning I sat down with Jack Blum, executive director of Reel Canada (the organisation that puts National Canadian Film Day on), to speak about this year’s event, the tribute to the late Jean-Mac Vallée, and the focus on indigenous filmmaking. Interview Homepage: https://awesomefriday.ca/2022/04/interview-jack-blum-ncfd/
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Interview: Actor, Writer, and Producer Jonas Chernick on his film Ashgrove | Awesome Friday Podcast
Greetings programs! Welcome to another Awesome Friday interview! Joining me this time is Jonas Chernick, who produced, co-wrote, and stars in the film Ashgrove. Ashgrove is the story of a scientist played by Amanda Brugel, who may be the key to solving a worldwide pandemic and is forced to take a few days for herself and her family. Chernick plays her husband, and we sat down to talk about the film, what it’s like shooting a movie during a pandemic, and more. Interview Homepage: https://awesomefriday.ca/2022/04/cff-interview-jonas-chernick-ashgrove/
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The Lord of the Rings Trilogy | The LAMBCast
This week the Lambcast tackles one of the most monumental film franchises of all time, Peter Jackson’s adaptions of J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings”. Heather Baxendale-Walsh championed the Franchise to victory in the poll and she takes over the discussion with the passion you would expect from a huge fantasy fan. Howard Casner, Todd Liebenow and Matthew Simpson join our fellowship for the podcast and everyone has lots to say, which is to be expected when you are dealing with three films that are all more than three hours long. We start off with some personal history on…
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Awesome Friday Podcast: Moonfall & Our Flag Means Death
Greeting programs, and welcome to the Awesome Friday Podcast. This week we’re taking a closer look at the new ridiculous (in a good way) Roland Emmerich film Moonfall and the Rhys Darby and Taika Waititi led series Our Flag Means Death. Spoiler alert we loved both of these things, so come and join us for a love fest. Episode Homepage: https://awesomefriday.ca/2022/04/podcast-moonfall-our-flag-means-death/
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Grab Bag: The Oscars, Moon Knight, Halo, & The Canadian Film Festival | Awesome Friday Podcast
Greetings programs and welcome back to the Awesome Friday Podcast. This week is a little different than most weeks, instead of two things we are covering a whole bunch of things in a grab bag format. There have just been too many things to narrow it down you see, so join us for brief discussions about The 94th Oscars and the slap heard ‘around the world, Halo, Marvel’s Moon Knight, and the films of the Canadian Film Festival. Episode Homepage: https://awesomefriday.ca/2022/04/grab-bag-oscars-moon-knight-halo-canadian-film-festival/
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Interview: Shawn Doyle on his film Ashgrove (and also Star Trek: Discovery) | Awesome Friday Podcast
Salutations applications, and welcome to an Awesome Friday Interview with actor Shawn Doyle! A native of Newfoundland, Shawn has been working steadily in film and television since the early 1990s, and in just the last few years has racked up an impressive filmography that includes recurring appearances in The Expanse, Hannibal, Cardinal (for which he won a Canadian Screen Award last year) and most recently Star Trek: Discovery. This year he has two films in the Canadian Film Festival, Ashgrove and The Last Mark. It’s the former of these two that we sat down to talk about, and it was a genuine pleasure.…
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Marvel’s ‘Moon Knight’ Is a Bit Disjointed | Awesome Friday!
Comics are weird. There’s no denying this simple fact, and there’s no use trying. This fact is universal and can be a barrier to entry for new fans. Sometimes 50 years of lore is a lot to wrap your head around. One of the great strengths of Marvel’s ongoing cinematic universe is that initially, at least, it distilled all that lore into something easier to swallow. Twenty-plus films later, its greatest strength is that when a new character walks onto the screen and says, “I’m a man with split personalities, one of whom in the warrior avatar of the Egyptian moon…
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Deep Water & Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood | Awesome Friday Podcast
Salutations applications and welcome to a new episode of the Awesome Friday Podcast! This week we’re taking a closer look at two new films: First, director Adrian Lyne’s new film Deep Water starring Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas, recently released on Amazon Prime here in Canada and Hulu in the US, followed by Richard Linklater’s latest animated nostalgia piece, Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood. Episode Homepage: https://awesomefriday.ca/2022/03/podcast-deep-water-apollo-10-1-2/
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Interview: Katie Boland on her film “We’re All In This Together” | Awesome Friday Podcast
Greetings programs! Katie Boland is a Canadian actor, writer, director, and producer. She is probably best known for her television appearances and the web series she created, Long Story Short. However, this year, Katie made her feature film directorial debut with We’re All In This Together, a story about a dysfunctional family brought together by absurd events. Not only is she the film’s director, though, but she also adapted it from the best selling book, produced it, and starred in it as estranged twins. A few weeks ago, Katie and I sat down after the Whistler Film Festival –where the film premiered–…
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.
