Troll (2022) – Roar Uthaug

Troll is a fun Norwegian monster movie that ticks off a number of boxes for a kaiju movie. While it doesn’t do anything in terms of stretching character development or plot twists (the big one is seen in the trailer, so that doesn’t do the film any good) it does prove to be a bit…

Quantum Leap: Search and Rescue (1994) – Melissa Crandall

While I didn’t actively dislike this entry in the Quantum Leap novel series, it is arguably the weakest of the bunch so far, and the only thing that really makes it a Quantum Leap story is the fact that both Sam Beckett and Al Calavicci are in it. But there are a number of continuity…

Hill Street Blues (1982) – Personal Foul, and The Shooter

The Hill Street Precinct deals with a lot of personal things this week in Personal Foul. First airing on 25 March, 1982, Personal Foul was written by Steven Bochco, Anthony Yerkovich, Jeffrey Lewis and Michael Wagner. With a basketball game with the local community (and its gangs) waiting in the wings, Renko (Charles Haid) deals…

TIFF ’22: Weird – The Al Yankovic Story

Daniel Radcliffe dons loud aloha shirts, straps on an accordion, and brings parody artist Weird Al Yankovic to uproarious life in Weird – The Al Yankovic Story. Directed by Eric Appel, who co-wrote the film with Yankovic, the film is laugh-out-loud funny as it tells a twisted, dare to be stupid version of Yankovic’s life…

TIFF ’22: On the Come Up

Sanaa Lathan delivers a powerful and emotional directorial debut with On the Come Up. Based on the novel by Angie Thomas, who also penned the powerful The Hate U Give, On the Come Up is a powerhouse coming of age featuring a strong leading performance by Jamila C. Gray who shines as Bri. Growing up…

The Color Purple (1985) – Steven Spielberg

Was Steven Spielberg the right person to shoot the film adaptation of Alice Walker’s powerful novel? He was an interesting choice for the project, and it definitely wasn’t the dramatic material that he was associated with in the 80s, having delivered a number of blockbusters at that point. And while there were a number of…

Rambo: Last Blood (2019) – Adrian Grunberg

Sylvester Stallone is back for one last go-round as John Rambo. It has to be, it’s right there in the title! Once again Stallone involves himself in the film’s script, crafting a story that shows that Rambo, no matter the age, is still the same man he has always been, but he’s just better at…