Mean Girls (2004) – Blu-Ray Steelbook Review

Paramount Pictures delivers a fun new edition of Mean Girls on blu-ray, in a collectible steelbook designed to look like the film’s Burn Book. Mean Girls, which has since inspired a stage musical, is still a delightful, and incredibly funny film written by Tina Fey, about high school and specifically teenage girls, their cliques and…

Tiff ’22: The Banshees of Inisherin

A canticle of attrition laced with verses of humour and pathos, The Banshees of Inisherin from writer-director Martin McDonagh is a perfect composition. Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson star as Padraic and Colm. They’ve been drinking mates for years until in April of 1923, Colm decides he doesn’t want to be friends with Padraic anymore….

The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy (2022) – Megan Bannen

I’ll be honest, The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy, available now from Orbit Books hit me like a sucker punch. I didn’t know what I expected from this whimsical, playful tale, but what I did not expect was a genre mash-up that at its heart (or Hart) riffed on the classic tale told in Shop…

Red Notice (2021) – Rawson Marshall Thurber

Despite being weighed down in tons of green screen work, Red Notice, actually serves as a solid piece of popcorn entertainment. There’s a story about three golden eggs originally belonging to Cleopatra, but most of it is trappings for action beats, and for Gal Gadot to look absolutely stunning, and bring her acting chops into…

Fringe (2008) – The Same Old Story, and The Ghost Network

The second episode of Fringe first aired on 16 September, 2008. Written by J.J. Abrams, Robert Orci and Alex Kurtzman this episode continued pushing the ideas of body horror first seen in the pilot episode. This time an unfortunate woman sleeps with the wrong man and within moments becomes pregnant, and within minutes delivers a…

All Monsters Attack (1969) – Ishiro Honda

This entry in the Godzilla serries is unique, in that the majority of it takes place in the imagination of a young boy, Ichiro (Tomonori Yazaki). A latchkey kid, like a lot of us growing up in the 70s and 80s, Ichiro is a quiet kid (with Godzilla toys in the closet), who isn’t quite…

Sixteen Candles (1984) – John Hughes

There are lots of things that still work with John Hughes teen comedy, Sixteen Candles, but there are so many problematic things that have really begun to overshadow the story’s heart. There’s some racism, there’s some things that walk the line up to and over harassment and assault, and that really takes the shine off…

TAD 2021: Paul Dood’s Deadly Lunch Break dir. Nick Gillespie

Closing out the Toronto After Dark Film Festival today is the UK film Paul Dood’s Deadly Lunch Break. And what a way to close the festival! Without disclosing too much, this sure fire crowd pleaser follows Paul Dood (Tom Meeten) in his pursuit of a glimmer of internet fame by auditioning for internet sensation Jack…

Confess, Fletch (1976)- Gregory McDonald

The second Fletch book (written, not chonronlogically within its universe) sees the former investigative reporter flying into Boston from Italy. He’s there to track fown some stolen paintings for the De Grassi family, whose daughter he claims to be engaged to. He’s also planning on working on a book about a famed American artist. On…

The Last Action Hero (1993) – John McTiernan

When it was first released The Last Action Hero, which saw Arnold Schwarzenegger reteamed with Predator director John McTiernan, and featuring a script that Shane Black was involved in, the film flopped, failed to find an audience, and marked Arnold’s first failure at the box office. Time has been kind to the film, and rewatching…