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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 […]
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The 10 Best Films You Didn’t See in 2024 | Exclaim!
As part of Exclaim!’s 2024 year-end coverage, I contributed to this year’s 10 Best You Didn’t See list, writing about the Canadian gem The King Tide. The King Tide delivers a striking exploration of community, faith and the lengths people will go to in the name of faith. Set in a remote Newfoundland village, the film […]
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Exclaim!’s 10 Best TV Series of 2024 | Exclaim!
As part of Exclaim!’s 2204 year end coverage, I contributed to the ten best television series of 2024 list, writing up the #6 entry: Mr & Mrs Smith: Balancing explosive action with sharp humour and tender moments, the series explores compatibility, trust and the challenges of partnership while on a mission and at home. The […]
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Exclaim!’s 20 Best Films of 2024 | Exclaim!
As part of Exclaim’s 2024 year-end coverage, I was invited to participate in their 20 best films of 2024 list, contributing the write-up for the #3 pick: Civil War. Upon this movie’s release in the springtime, it felt like a warning; now, it feels like condemnation. Its plot feels scarily and potentially prescient, and its […]
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The Classics Shelf: Billy Wilder | That Shelf
The Classics Shelf is an ongoing retrospective of classic cinema produced monthly by writer Bil Antoniou in collaboration with other writers in the That Shelf stable. This months edition is a celebration of the work of the great Billy Wilder, a director who made more than his share of outright classics. I contributed short reviews […]
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Brotherly Love Is a Balm in ‘A Real Pain’ | Exclaim!
Everyone has someone in their life they oscillate wildly back and forth on whether they love or hate them. That person’s their complete opposite, but someone they’re inextricably connected to because, in some perverse way, they complete one another. The strengths of one are the weaknesses of the other and vice versa — and they’ll […]
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Giallo! | Contra Zoom
For our Halloween special this year we decided to fill in some horror blind spots and check out the Giallo collection that is available to stream on the Criterion Channel. We review Blood and Black Lace, Don’t Torture a Duckling and Deep Red. Joining the show is Matthew Simpson, one half of the Awesome Friday podcast. Listening Links
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Woman of the Hour & Don’t Move | Awesome Friday Podcast
Greetings programs! This week on the show we are reviewing Anna Kendrick’s directorial debut Woman of the Hour, a based-on-real-life thriller about the time a serial killer went on The Dating Game, and then a new Netflix thriller called Don’t Move. We have a lot to say about each and we hope you join us! […]
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A24 Retrospective – Mojave | Contra Zoom
We continue our series going through the entire catalog of A24’s films. On this episode we are looking at 2015’s Mojave, directed by William Monahan. The film stars Garrett Hedlund as Tom, a depressed director who goes into the desert and ends up coming across Oscar Issac’s drifter Jack where they have a confrontation that […]
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Speak No Evil & The Wild Robot | Awesome Friday Podcast
Greetings programs! This week on the show, we’re talking about two new-to-home video releases. First up, Speak No Evil is a remake of a 2022 Danish film starring James McAvoy. Then we dive into the world of The Wild Robot, a lovely new film from Dreamworks Animation starring the vocal talents of Lupita Nyong’o, Pedro […]
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.
