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‘The Gorge’ Is Promising but Empty | Exclaim!
In the earliest scenes of The Gorge, we meet our two protagonists, Levi (Miles Teller) and Drasa (Anya Taylor-Joy). Levi, a former Marine scout sniper, lives a life of solitude, wayward and clearly suffering from some form of PTSD. He receives a text telling him to report to a Marine base where he’s interviewed by Bartholomew […]
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‘Disco’s Revenge’ Gets the Last Laugh | Exclaim!
Disco was a dirty word, at least when I was a teenager in the 1990s. It was an exiled musical style from a bygone era, only spoken about to ridicule. Even when the 20-year fashion cycle caught up to us and made bell-bottom — apologies, flared — cool again, we didn’t dare speak favourably of disco music, […]
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Kind Hearts and Coronets | The LAMBCast
Who would have thought that we’d get back to back MOTM Episodes? That happened because we had no show the first week of February and with a short month, things sneak up on you. This month all of the choices for MOTM were provided by the host,, it is his birthday month and that’s how […]
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‘Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man’ Stands Alongside Animated Superhero Classics | Exclaim!
Spider-Man endures as one of the most iconic and relatable superheroes. He starts his journey when he’s just a kid, learning hard lessons early about the nature of responsibility — everyone knows the quote — and he spends his time trying to balance his normal life with his superhero life, to varying degrees of success. […]
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Possession | The LAMBCast
Famous for it’s disturbing scene set in a subway station, “Possession” is the 1981 film from Polish Director Andrzej Żuławski. Is it a horror film, a psychological drama, or an autobiographical cry for help from a man going through a painful breakup? Whatever answer you come up with, you will still have to say it […]
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Star Trek: Section 31 Review: Fun characters and dazzling tech aren’t enough to save this uneven entry | That Shelf
Star Trek is one of the greatest pop culture franchises on the planet. It has been running for nearly 60 years, spanning more than 700 television episodes across ten series and thirteen—now fourteen—movies. It is a ubiquitous cultural touchstone that many people hold dear, this critic included. The beauty of the franchise is that it works as […]
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The Best Films of the Decade (So Far), Part 2 | Contra Zoom
[L]et’s look back at the best films that came out from 2020-2024. We sent out a poll to critics and made a list of the 50 best films of the decade so far. Last week on Part 1, we revealed picks 50-26. Now here is Part 2 where we count down picks 25 through number 1! […]
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Young Werther Review: A Delightful Modernization of Its Source Material | That Shelf
Love can happen at any time or place and to anyone. Sometimes there’s a long, slow period of courtship and sometimes there’s an immediate attraction, a lightning bolt that strikes a person to let them know that they’ve just met their one person. But does the lighting always strike both people? This is the conflict […]
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Marvel’s What If…? Season 3 | That Shelf
What If…?, the long-running Marvel comic book series, is one of the most fun titles in the company’s entire repertoire. Each issue places one of their characters in some new context, either by examining a different pivotal choice they could have made or by shifting them into another universe entirely. The streaming adaptation from Marvel […]
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Cascadia Film & Television Critics Association 5 Best Television Series of 2024
This year the Cascadia Film & Television Critics Association membership lived up to its name and voted on our top television series of the year. It was an excellent year for television and this list reflects that. I had the privilege of writing up our number 2 pick, Shrinking Season 2: … The entire cast […]
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2025 Pandora International Critics Awards
The 2025 Pandora International Critics Awards are my fourth as a voting member, and as in previous years, the winners are an exciting assortment of films and performers! Payal Kapadia’s acclaimed All We Imagine As Light took the top prize International Motion Picture. Coralie Fargeat continues to shake up the awards season with a Directing prize for The […]
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On Her Majesty’s Secret Service | The LAMBCast
This was the first James Bond without Sean Connery, and it is the only 007 film that George Lazenby made. Often looked upon as the red-headed step child of the franchise, it has grown in stature but it is still not without some faults. Matthew Simpson of the “Awesome Friday Podcast” joins in as he […]
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‘Carry-On’ Movie Review: Jaume Collet-Serra Returns to Form | Movies We Texted About
We’re well past the golden age of Die Hard knockoffs but the formula remains a very reliable onefor making high-grade B-movies if you can assemble the right team to make it. Jaume Collet-Serra has a long history of being one of the best at exactly this kind of movie. He has a knack, a gift you might even say, for taking this kind of […]
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Cascadia Film & Television Critics Association 10 Best Films of 2024 | Cascadia Critics
The membership of the Cascadia Film & Television Critics Association –the group I co-founded– has voted and our top ten films of the year list is now live! Once again the list is full of excellent films, including at least one or two you may not be expecting. Check the list here: https://www.cascadiacritics.com/2024/12/cascadia-critics-ten-best-films-of-2024/
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Better Know a Contributor: Matthew Simpson | Contra Zoom
On this episode of Contra Zoom, the subject is me! In lieu of a full episode this week, we bring you the ninth in our series of bonus episodes, , where we ask frequent guests of the show 10 Contra Zoom Pod movie questions so you can learn more about your favourite voices. On this show […]
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.
