Hit Man (2023) – Richard Linklater

Glen Powell headlines in Hit Man, a film by Richard Linklater that is based loosely on a true story. It allows Powell to lean both into his dramatic and comedic talents, and be charming the entire way through. Powell plays Gary Johnson, an almost nebbish philosophy professor who also does some work with the local…

TIFF24: Nightbitch dir. Marielle Heller

Amy Adams stars in this sharp-toothed film about the trials of motherhood and societal expectations around that role. Delivering a biting inner monologue Adams is completely engaged as an exhausted and angry Mother. She’s left her aspirations of being an artist behind to be a stay-at-home mom while her next-to-never-there husband (Scoot McNairy) continues with…

Drive (2011) – Nicolas Winding Refn

It’s taken me a while to get around to watching Ryan Gosling in Drive, I’m not sure what was holding me back, but I finally settled into this one, and I have to admit, I really dug it. First off, let’s mention the cast that surrounds Gosling in this film, there’s not an actor that…

Magnum P.I. (2021) – The Lies We Tell, and Dark Harvest

Magnum (Jay Hernandez) and Higgins (Perdita Weeks) are approached by Elena (Elyse Levesque) to find a murderer in The Lies We Tell. Written by Katie Varney, it was first broadcast on 26 March, 2021. There are complications as Elena reveals that Eddie Benson (Jeff Weisen) she was with was not her husband, and while she…

Rosemary’s Baby (1968) – 4K Review

Rosemary’s Baby is still terrifying. Some fifty-five years on, Roman Polanski’s film, starring Mia Farrow, still packs a wallop, and what better way to celebrate its enduring legacy than a new 4k release of the film from Paramount Pictures? It’s been the better part of a decade since I last watched this film, and I…

TIFF ’23: Sleep

Midnight Madness at TIFF is always a lot of fun, and some great genre films get scheduled that are designed to deliver to the late-night audience. Sleep hopes to do that this week. A Korean entry to the film festival from writer/director Jason Yu. It’s his first feature film, and Yu creates a tense, moody…

TIFF ’23: Reptile

I love a good film noir, and Reptile, having its World Premiere at TIFF, definitely falls into that category. Being released by Netflix (which means if you can’t see it on the silver screen you;ll be able to see it on your big screen at home in October) the film is a tightly wound spring…

Mexican Gothic (2020) – Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Mexican Gothic is a wonderfully lush, and haunting novel, embracing all the familiar tropes of the Gothic genre, romance, the old dark house, family secrets, and the hints of something preter- or supernatural all juxtaposed into Mexico of the 1950s. We’re introduced to Noemi, a vivacious, smart, stubborn, flirtatious young woman who is still looking…