When Morning Comes
Kelly Fyffe-Marshall’s When Morning Comes is a true standout in the overcrowded coming-of-age sub-genre. It’s also a landmark in slice-of-life filmmaking.
2023
The Monkey King
The universe has sent me a remedy after slugging through last week’s Toopy and Binoo The Movie. That medicine is Netflix’s The Monkey King, an action-packed fantasy that’s inspired by Chinese literature and works as a tribute to the comic humour of Stephen Chow (Shaolin Soccer, Kung Fu Hustle, Journey to the West). Chow serves as an executive producer on The Monkey King – the production must’ve been tickled pink.
Toopy and Binoo The Movie
The Toopy and Binoo franchise, featuring a very confident motor-mouth mouse named Toopy and a kindhearted mute kitten named Binoo, is new territory for me. I’m unable to comment on whether it’s faithful to the book series created by the movie’s co-director/co-writer Dominique Jolin or the animated television show co-created by Jolin and the film’s co-director/co-writer Raymond Lebrun.
Wylie Writes’ Two-On-One with Dominique Jolin and Raymond Lebrun
While the troublemaking cat-and-mouse duo Tom and Jerry run amok in the United States, their opposite (and far removed) distant cousins of the North, a confident mouse named Toopy and a mute kitty named Binoo, are teaching children wholesome lessons and having lighthearted fun.
Shortcomings
By: Jolie Featherstone Adorable funnyman and prolific Hollywood actor Randall Park (seriously, look at his IMDB page) makes his feature film directorial debut with the much-anticipated Shortcomings, based on the lauded graphic novel series by Adrian Tomine who also adapted the screenplay.
The Channel
By: Trevor Chartrand The Channel, directed and co-written by William Kaufman, is a sub-par action-thriller that lacks charisma and crowd-pleasing charm. A typical B-Movie in almost every way, the film feels completely unoriginal and uninspired, borrowing many tropes and concepts from much more successful films.
Too Hot To Handle: Season 5
The fifth season of Netflix’s guilty pleasure Too Hot To Handle maintains consistency with its contestants as seen in the previous season, having successfully rebuilt its reputation after a ham-fisted and embarrassing fourth season. It seems as though the production behind this provocative reality show has finally figured out that the strength of the show depends on the charisma of its cast, and not on the boundaries of the game.
Montréal Girls
Serpent’s Lullaby writer/director Patricia Chica, who has always been busy with making short films and music videos, completes an effortless transition to feature-length storytelling with her debut Montréal Girls, an affable vehicle for herself and her breakout leads. The movie pushes past its familiarity with notes of magic realism and method acting. The results are impressive, though the story still rings some bells.
North of Normal
Based on the memoir North of Normal by Canadian author Cea Sunrise Person, Carly Stone’s drama of the same name is about a very interesting mother-daughter dynamic that’s been influenced by an unconventional upbringing and the ripple effect made by varying degrees of neglect.
Talk to Me
By: Jolie Featherstone Talk to Me, by brothers Danny and Michael Philippou (a.k.a. RackaRacka of YouTube fame), is a modern folk tale charged with the rush and hook of viral trends, and the desperate compulsion of grief.