Fitting In
Molly McGlynn’s standout sophomore feature Fitting In manages to be both frank and subtle with its portrayal of teenage coming-of-age.
January 2024
Four Daughters
Tunisia’s harrowing Oscar nominated documentary Four Daughters is a trip in the sense that you never know what to expect from it. It’s a sympathetic filmmaking experiment that aims to work as closure for its subjects but, along the way, rediscovers old family wounds that also need to be addressed.
The Underdoggs
“Tacky” and “hacky”. Those are the first words that spring to mind when describing The Underdoggs, an R-rated, pee-wee sports comedy from director Charles Stone III (Mr. 3000, Uncle Drew), and starring rapper Snoop Dogg. “Tacky” because the humour derives from the stale gag of having adults swearing around, or at, kids. “Hacky” because Snoop should feel guilty for aiming at such low-hanging comedic fruit.
The Teachers’ Lounge
By: Jolie Featherstone Ilker Çatak’s award-winning feature The Teachers’ Lounge is a scintillating, modern-day fable.
Trolls Band Together
While Trolls Band Together works as an innocuous piece of children’s entertainment, it’s official that the popular animated series may be finally spinning its wheels and overreaching for ideas. Resident franchise directors Walt Dohrn (Trolls World Tour) and Tim Heitz (Trolls Holiday in Harmony) return to helm this sequel that does something the other feature-length movies haven’t done: call attention to itself.
Lift
Director F. Gary Gray calls back to his days as an acton-thriller filmmaker with Lift, a heist movie that aspires to be an airborne version of Gray’s remake of The Italian Job. However, that former influence was an entertaining and accessible thrill ride with enough charisma to boot. Lift , the complete opposite, is an expensive-looking, self-serious knockoff; hampered by a convoluted plot and absent camaraderie among the cast. The only thing this empty-headed flick…
T.I.M.
By: Trevor Chartrand For years, filmmakers have pondered the potentially apocalyptic dangers of self-aware, sentient computers: from Kubrick to the Wachowski’s, and everything in between. The machine uprising is an all-too-common cautionary tale, but has also never been more relevant than it is today. With deepfakes and ChatGPT, it appears we are closer than we’ve ever been to this trope becoming a reality. So the timing is right for director Spencer Brown to throw his…
Fallen Leaves
The dedication writer/director Aki Kaurismäki has for the art of deadpan is nothing short of impressive, and he successfully conveys just how well he understands the form of communication with Fallen Leaves. The issue is Kaurismäki’s movie peaks too early, staying loyal to its consistency but also refusing to evolve from its core strength.