The Rivals of Amziah King

There is warmth here from the very first frames. This is southern hospitality, where you are given a warm embrace and shown a seat. Sit yourself right on down and make yourself at home. This here, it's a potluck. On the menu, the main bubbling dish is a modern-day Western, a tale of revenge. But there is plenty more: live music jams, comedy, action, suspense, and plenty more. This is the story of Amziah King (Matthew McConaughey) who is a honey bee farmer. Kateri (Angelina LookingGlass), one of Amziah's foster kids, walks back into his life many years later, all grown up. She joins Amziah and his ragtag group of musical misfits. But something is afoot. There is some bad apple out there stealing honey and before you know it, the bad apple has stolen Amziah's hives. Kateri is the avenging angel. She is determined to get everything back. Kurt Russell plays the villain. The cast of supporting characters is colourful, delightful, and charming. There are a lot of funny moments, a particular one being Amziah and his crew removing a bee colony from the walls of an elementary school. Later, there is a whole section which reminded me of William Friedkin's Sorcerer. Amazing. This is one of my favourite films of the year and I hope it gets the buzz it deserves (see what I did there). This is writer-director Andrew Patterson's second feature. His first was The Vast of Night, which was a sci-fi film that showed his potential for greatness. He has delivered a swarm. Grab your epi-pen and run to the theatre to watch this great film. It will sting you in the heart. Rent it from Movies 'N Stuff when available.  

Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World

The opening shot is of Stephen Colbert trying to read The Summer Day by Mary Oliver. He seems verklempt, almost unable to read it, his emotions so strong, like the words were made from thumbtacks of love and beauty, to speak them is to have an emotional experience unlike anything else. I was sold from the opening shot. So, I know a lot of Canadian poets, personally. I also have read lots of our famous ones and not so famous ones. I confess, I have not read the works of Mary Oliver. I will rectify this in time. Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World is a documentary about the life and times of, you guessed it, Mary Oliver. She was an American poet who was gay and spent most of her life living with her photographer wife, Molly Cook in Provincetown, Massachusetts. Filmmaker John Waters, with his signature pencil-thin moustache, was their friend and neighbour and has some extremely amusing commentary on Mary and Molly. Mary won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1984 for her fourth poetry collection, American Primitive. She won the National Book Award in 1992 for her ninth collection. These awards shot her to superstar status, but Mary really didn't want any of it. She was an introvert and loved spending time outdoors and wrote about it. Nature was her candy. It's simply a lovely documentary, and what makes it special is listening to famous and non-famous alike read Oliver's words and describe how much her work has meant to them, and in some cases, changed, or even saved their lives.  "Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" - Mary Oliver. The answer: Go to the movies, of course! Catch this screening now at the Mayfair or rent it when available from Movies 'N Stuff. 

The End of Oak Street

Stranger Things has given the 1980s a whole new life. As a Gen-Xer, it feels a little bit like time travel. My Gen-Z kids also seem to enjoy this time period. Like I said, Stranger Things has played an enormous role in that. 1982 was a particularly outstanding year for film: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Tootsie, Gandhi, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Das Boot, Diner, Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior, Poltergeist, Blade Runner, Fitzcarraldo, Conan the Barbarian, and John Carpenter's The Thing all came out in 1982! Just think about that. Amazing. The End of Oak Street is writer-director David Robert Mitchell's third film. I loved his first two, It Follows (a teen horror film which I think is rather brilliant) and Under the Silver Lake (a drama/comedy and an ode to Film Noir and Hitchcock - I adore this movie). If his first film was an ode to Wes Craven/John Carpenter, and his second was an ode to Hitchcock, then this third film is an ode to Spielberg. The End of Oak Street was like if Spielberg were brought back in time to 1982 and he made Jurassic Park instead of E.T. (and brought the special effects back with him too). What's it all about? Anne Hathaway (who seems to be in every big movie this year) plays Denise, who is in a marriage going through a rough patch. Her husband, Greg (Ewan McGregor), who is trying to make ends meet by delivering pizzas on the side, might have a mild drinking problem, but is doing his best to keep it all together for his family. They have two kids and a dog, and they all live in a suburban cul-de-sac which ends up time-travelling (the whole neighbourhood) millions of years into dino land where they try not to get eaten while trying to figure out what's going on. It's good marriage therapy, '80s style. I had a ton of fun with this. The best Jurassic Park movie since Jurassic Park. Head to the theatre now to time travel back to 1982, or wait and rent it from the video store at Movies 'N Stuff. 

The Odyssey

Christopher Nolan has yet to make a horrible film. Tenet might be the closest thing, followed by the bookending Batman films (the first and the third). His track record is, for the most part, glorious and Hollywood has him and Greta Gerwig to thank for bringing people back to movie theatres post-pandemic - "Barbenheimer." So, has Nolan finally flown too close to the sun and had his wings melted off? Hell no. The King has returned; rejoice! The Odyssey is a spectacle, a kind of Peter Jackson The Lord of the Rings spectacle. With a runtime of close to three hours (hobbits and cyclopes always add at least 45 minutes), time flew by. As I said, it's a spectacle, and Nolan filmed everything in IMAX, not just selected battle scenes, I mean everything. I couldn't care less. I didn't see it in IMAX (I don't believe we have a true IMAX screening room in Ottawa - something close is the Scotiabank, but it's not a true IMAX screen). Whatever. Audiophiles who are super into their stereo systems end up listening to the equipment rather than the music. That's how I feel about IMAX. It has nothing to do with why I go to the movies. I'm there for an emotional experience, not a carnival ride. You don't need to see it in IMAX to enjoy it. So, what's it all about? Matt Damon plays Odysseus. After kicking ass at Troy, he just wants to go home. It takes him a good long time to get there. It's a road movie. Tom Holland plays Telemachus, Odysseus' son, who at one point goes looking for the old man. Anne Hathaway is Penelope, the wife and mother who is waiting patiently while suitors vulture about, waiting to take her hand in marriage, assuming Odysseus has kicked the bucket. Hats off to John Leguizamo as Eumaeus, the old blind and loyal servant - I loved him in this. So put your oars into the water and paddle over to your local theatre and have yourself a great old adventure. Rent it from Movies 'N Stuff when it becomes available. 

The Invite

It could be a play. It wouldn't surprise me if it was done as a play. Also, I didn't know when I watched it that it's actually a remake of the 2020 Spanish film The People Upstairs by Cesc Gay, who adapted it from his own stage play. So it was a play! And the thing about plays is that they usually have great dialogue. And they often take place in small settings. In this case, a San Francisco apartment. Joe (Seth Rogen) and Angela (Olivia Wilde) have been married a good long while, have a teenage daughter, and have been kept awake by the wild escapades of the neighbours above. Angela invites Piña (Penélope Cruz) and Hawk (Edward Norton) over one night for drinks and some food. Joe wants to have it out with them for making all the sex racket upstairs. Turns out Hawk and Piña have their own agenda too. If you told me that Woody Allen had made it, I would believe you. It's foremost a comedy, but there is something deeper here. At times, poignant. It touches on the desires of couples who have been together for a long time and know each other, know each other's weaknesses and shortcomings. At times there is brutal honesty. There are lots of truths you may relate to, especially if you have been in a long-term relationship. Pain, resentment, fears, guilt, and facing one's own failures get paraded about in Angela's warmly decorated apartment. It reminded me of His Three Daughters (a great film from 2024) but with different themes; that was about siblings and their relationship with their father. The Invite is about relationships between long-term couples, but the candour and humour of the former film feel similar, and it is also set in an apartment. Both have great dialogue. Make sure to accept your invitation to the party and catch it in theatres now at the ByTowne and The Mayfair, or rent it from Movies 'N Stuff when it becomes available. 

The Twister: Caught in the Storm

I'm always down to watch a disaster movie. A lot of them are pure fiction with some small foothold rooted in science: Twister, Twisters, and San Andreas. Some are based on true events: The Impossible, The Lost Bus, and The Perfect Storm. All of these dramas or docudramas have actors emoting, writers bringing these characters to life, and they have the tinsel glitter of Hollywood. Not that it makes them bad, but it keeps us just slightly removed. I have only been in three major weather events, two ice storms and the May 2022 Ottawa derecho. The derecho left me without power for two weeks and caused major destruction across Canada's capital. I was inside a Canadian Tire when it rolled through - I came out and the sky was black, tinted with green swirling masses that looked like fish tank algae rolling through the clouds. When I watched this documentary, I could only imagine what I saw and experienced was a small fraction compared to what the people of Joplin, Missouri endured in the summer of 2011. This film focuses on about eight different individuals who were there when this massive tornado hit their town. On the day it hit, it was the Joplin High School graduation for approximately 450 students. Most of those featured were teenagers at the time. A group of three amateur storm chasers. A frozen yogurt employee, Cecil,  who was Christian, gay and still in the closet. He thought the Rapture was coming when the storm hit. This film is raw and riveting. The people interviewed are candid - feels like they are opening a wound when they tell their stories. Makes it very personal. It's as thrilling as any fictional drama or docudrama. In fact, it's better. And scary as hell. Plus it's highly emotional. You will be hard-pressed to find someone with dry eyes at the end of this one. This one blew me away (pun intended). Catch it streaming down on Netflix. 

Mr Inbetween

Scott Ryan is a unicorn. A rare magical creature, singular and dazzling. What a beast he is. Scott Ryan is the creator, writer, and star of the Australian show, Mr Inbetween. The show ran for three seasons from 2018 to 2021. Ryan plays Ray Shoesmith, a bouncer at a strip club, The Playhouse. He is also an independent contract killer. He is divorced and has a daughter, Britt, with whom he shares custody. Ray has a brother, Bruce, who has some sort of undisclosed illness, ALS or something similar. Bruce is played by Nicholas Cassim. I actually looked up to see if Cassim has some sort of disability or disease. He does not. That's how good he is in his role. Ray's sidekick is Gary (Justin Rosniak) who is constantly asking for Ray's help or coming up with silly ways to make money. Gary is comic relief with his golden shower DVDs and his foot fetish sex toys. There is no theme song for the show. It feels stripped down to the barest of bones. At first I thought it was cheap and low budget but I think it's more of a stylist choice. There is a simplicity to the show, all the fluff is stripped away and raw honesty is what is left. The dialogue between Ray and Gary feels like something Tarantino would write, but even more earnest. It feels like a conversation you might actually have with your friend. But let me remind you, this is a show, where the lead is a killer for money. Ray doesn't seem to have any problem inflicting violence on anyone if the price is right. Ray is loyal to a few friends and his family and that's it. The show goes in directions I didn't expect. Sometimes you can see the violence coming, and sometimes you can't. Breaking Bad remains one of my favourite TV crime dramas of all time. Coming in a very close second is, Mr Inbetween. Catch it streaming on Disney+ (of all places) or rent it from Movies 'N Stuff. 

Slow West

So at the end of last year I reviewed a film called Tornado. If you haven't seen it yet, giddy up. I said I would go back and check out director John Maclean's first film, Slow West. I finally got around to doing it and it's also fantastic. Maclean has only made these two feature films and IMDb tells me they didn't make a whole lot of money. Which is a shame. I feel like there is some sort of injustice, much like the Wild West Maclean likes to write about. Both of Maclean's films have this quiet savagery to them, a kind of Darwinesque, eat-or-be-eaten quality. But as I said, it's quiet, subtle. It takes a long time to build up to the violence, then it's fast. The threat of it always seems to hang there, like a gun just laying on a counter. What's it all about? A young, very naive Irish man, Jay Cavendish (Kodi Smit-McPhee), is heading West across America in search of the love of his life, Rose (Caren Pistorius). Turns out that Rose is also a wanted fugitive. Tracking Rose is bounty hunter Silas (Michael Fassbender) who has had a falling out with a group of fellow trackers led by Payne (Ben Mendelsohn) who fashions a coat that looks like something Johnny Depp wore in Dead Man. They are all heading for destination Rose. Quentin Tarantino had already made seven films (ten if you include Four Rooms, True Romance, and Natural Born Killers; maybe eleven if you add Sin City) before he made Django Unchained and then The Hateful Eight. I would say Maclean's first two films are better Westerns. Saddle up and get yourself to your local video store, that would be Movies 'N Stuff here in Ottawa, and rent Slow West today. 

Satan's Slaves and Satan's Slaves 2: Communion

If you are a fan of The Conjuring, then buckle up and keep reading. If not, stop right here and move on to another review. If you are still with me, then let me tell you about these two Indonesian horror films which are just as good as any of The Conjuring films. Satan's Slaves and its even better sequel follow the story of a family which starts off living in small house in the rural countryside. There is a dying grandmother, a sick mother, and a father who leaves for a good chunk of the film, leaving in charge Rini (Tara Basro), who is in her early twenties, to take care of her three brothers, ages sixteen, ten, and six. The six-year-old doesn't speak. The mother has a mysterious illness and the grandmother lies in bed looking as pale as a geisha, and when she opens her eyes, they open frighteningly wide. Just her appearance alone will scare you. I don't want to bog you down in plot details, but trust me, this one will possess your attention. And the sequel is even better.

The family ends up moving to an apartment building. Satan's Slaves 2: Communion is kind of like The Raid meets Poltergeist. The family finds themselves trapped in the building by a massive storm and inside with them is a big elevator ride of supernatural horror. You will want to stop at every floor! Both are terrifyingly fun. Director Joko Anwar has made two masterful horror films and third in this series is due out in 2027 - I am Scooby Doo excited. Catch these films streaming on Shudder or go rent them from Movies 'N Stuff here in Ottawa. 

The Exorcist III: Legion

How is it that I've been walking around the Earth without anyone telling me about this film? How is it that nobody told me that The Exorcist III is one of greatest sequels and one of the greatest horror films of all time? Maybe because nobody I know has watched it. Well I'm here to remedy this situation. Or at least do my part to alert you, dear reader, and bring this important horror film to your attention. It stars the late, great, George C. Scott as a police detective who is investigating a murder. The film was written and directed by William Peter Blatty. Blatty's career was spent mainly as a writer. He wrote the screenplay for the first Exorcist film. He only directed two movies, this being his second and last. It's a holy moly show. There is a hallway scene,  a mise-en-scène shot, where the camera sits at the end of the hall and we are waiting, possibly for something bad to happen. In fact, we are sure of it and this just amplifies the tension as it goes on. Hitchcock, De Palma, or Dario Argento would be proud of this shot. It's magnificent. There is a dream sequence which lasts only a few minutes, but it feels like it had the budget and scale of Caligula - impressive. But the best part of the film is the dialogue. As I mentioned before, Blatty was mainly a writer. The script swells with earnest writing. The back and forth between Scott and Ed Flanders (who plays Father Dyer) in a gritty diner is wonderful - a man of faith vs. the grizzled cop who has seen too much violence and asks, "How could your God do such a thing?" These two characters are the best of friends, which makes it more interesting. The killings in this movie are gruesome and unnerving, although there is little actual gore - mostly discussed (and maybe what is left to your imagination is worse). George C. Scott screaming out "I believe in slime!" is one of the great moments in horror cinema. Loved it. The Exorcist III: Legion is the director's cut of the same film. Have faith in this one and catch it on Prime or rent it from Movies 'N Stuff. 

Backrooms

So I haven't watched any of director Kane Parsons' YouTube videos which, as I have read, led to the making of this film, his first feature-length movie. I went in cold except for the trailer. I recommend doing the same if possible. What's it all about? It follows Clark (Chiwetel Ejiofor), the owner and operator of a discount furniture store in a warehouse area, circa 1990 - Cap'n Clark's Ottoman Empire. Clark performs cheesy TV commercials dressed as a pirate with a wooden leg. Clark is in therapy after the demise of his last relationship. His store is sad with ugly and outdated pieces that scream grandpa's couch. And no customers. The store also seems to have some serious electrical issues. Clark discovers a secret passage to another part of his store that looks like '70s or '80s office space. It's like Clark entered The Twilight Zone if it were a Guggenheim Museum art installation. Clark's therapist Mary (Renate Reinsve) also has her own messed-up childhood backstory, which plays a role when she enters the backrooms in search of the missing Clark. Backrooms is like if you took Matthew Barney's Cremaster 3 and gave it characters and a plot. Or if you took Synecdoche New York and turned it into The Maze Runner. It's kind of like the 1997 Canadian film, Cube if the world was turned to a yellow-beige and you added bad furniture. If all of these film references are too obscure, no worries, you can still go get happily lost in Backrooms. It's strange, like doing mushrooms in your friend's basement that hasn't been updated since the early '90s - you may have a bit of a panic attack trying to find your way out. Catch this conundrum in a dark theatre room or rent it from Movies 'N Stuff when it becomes available.  

I Love Boosters

This is Boots Riley's second directorial feature. His first was Sorry to Bother You which made my top 22 films of 2018 on my very first blog entry here on the Marquee. Had I started doing this earlier, I would have written a full entry about it. That film is about a black man working in a call center. It was bold, colourful, satirical, irreverent, pissed-off, arty, original, intelligent, and entertaining. Riley went on to make a TV series, I'm a Virgo, which I have not seen (but now I intend to). I Love Boosters is a bananas ride and all the adjectives I gave to his first film apply to his second. I loved it and thought it was a mess at the same time - like some of the ludicrous fashion designs that are the subject of this film. What's it all about? A gang of women are stealing and reselling high-end clothes from Metro Designers, a fashion empire run by Christie Smith (Demi Moore). Each store has its own primary colour - all the clothes in one location are yellow, for example. It's a gag and it's a hoot. Although it is a mockery of the fashion world, the designs remain outrageous and fun - The Hunger Games of primary colours. Then the film goes into the realm of science fiction with a teleportation device - a Chinese worker has teleported from China, where all the clothes are made. Her plan is to steal the clothes back as ransom to get workers some rights. She teams up with the boosters and all hell breaks loose. It becomes unhinged. A slapstick, Three Stooges, car-chase, roller-coaster of action. It's kind of like Everything Everywhere All at Once but add in a demon (LaKeith Stanfield - who is also the lead in Sorry to Bother You) who sucks women's souls out of their bodies through their coochies. Yeah, it's pretty wild and it's not for everyone. That said, it has to be one of the most interesting films of 2026 and I feel like I need to watch it again. Anxiety in this film is literally depicted as a giant ball of ATMs, computers, advertising, bills, phones, clothes, food, etc. rolling and roaming the streets of the city like an Indiana Jones boulder. It's brilliant. Go find something to wear and head to the cinema to catch this original film (not a cheap knock-off). Or rent it from Movies 'N Stuff when available.  

Silent Friend

If Sound of Falling was your cup of tea, then I have another one for you. If you don't know what I'm speaking about, not to worry, I'll explain. What we have here is another long (2.5 hours), beautiful, German art film which is slow and spans three different time periods, with three different stories all revolving around scientists and their relationships to plants. I know, it might sound boring as all hell, but trust me, it's great. Hungarian filmmaker, Ildikó Enyedi, has made a complex and gorgeous film. If you are willing to give some time and patience to this film, like watering and taking care of a plant, you will be rewarded with a bouquet of emotions. The first story, if we take them chronologically, takes place in 1908 with Grete (Luna Wedler) who is studying botany. This part of the film is shot in black and white. Breaking into a scientific men's world in 1908 is as unpleasant as poison ivy (if we continue with the plant metaphors). Grete takes up the new art of photography as a way to make ends meet - her pictures are stunning. The second story take place in 1972 and it looks like Enyedi did her best to make it look as though the film stock was from this time period. If you cried when Tom Hanks lost Wilson, his volleyball in Cast Away, well this film will give you anxiety over a geranium. Someone could argue that there is too much anthropomorphizing going on here - I don't care, I loved it anyway. The last story takes place in 2020 at the start of the pandemic. Brain scientist Tony (Tony Leung Chiu-wai) is stuck by himself on a large university campus when he turns his research towards a tree and discovers an unlikely friendship as a result. The film explores our relationship with plants but also the relationships we have with each other, and how we treat one another. There is a meditative quality to the film, spiritual pantheism, an interconnectivity of all living things. You will come out feeling like you just walked through a lovely afternoon at the botanical gardens. So go grab your watering can, block out the sunshine, and go plant yourself in the dark theatre of the Mayfair, or the Bytowne, or go rent it from Movies 'N Stuff when it becomes available. 

Widow's Bay

I don't recall writing about a series before having finished it. Well, there is a first for everything. Widow's Bay is now streaming on Apple+. A horror-comedy is how I would classify it. Normally, this isn't the sort of thing I would enjoy. Often it doesn't work. For reasons I'm not altogether sure of, this works great. Perhaps because all the gags are played straight, deadpan. Dead is right. What's it all about? Matthew Rhys (The Beast in Me, The Americans) plays Tom Loftis, Widow's Bay's town mayor. Widow's Bay is a small, one-sheriff, island town. Oh, and the island, it's cursed. However, Tom wants it to be the next Martha's Vineyard. He is hoping that a positive article written by a New York Times reporter will help turn the island's reputation around and start bringing in boatloads of tourists. The show has a kind of parallel to Jaws, if it was told from the perspective of the mayor. Instead of a shark, it's a curse. And the curse is deliberately vague, so we can have multiple different horror tropes, and each one gives us a fresh episode - a Gilligan's Island of horror stories: Haunted fog, evil sea sirens, books of witchcraft, etc. Like Chief Brody in Jaws, the Mayor has a quirky old secretary, who has vision problems and a propensity to leave her job early every day. Everyone seems to be working against poor Mayor Loftis. It's a hoot. The tone is something similar to Steve Miner's 1985 film, House. It has an almost nostalgic feel to the show, with elements of John Carpenter's The Fog and Prince of Darkness. Grab your lifejacket and sail your boat immediately to Widow's Bay. Streaming on Apple or grab it from Movies 'N Stuff when available. 

The Plague

Joel Edgerton (Train Dreams) - I have said it before but in case you weren't following along, I will say it again: I will follow Mr. Edgerton wherever he goes. He continues to pick material which is always smart and engaging. He only has a supporting role here in The Plague as the coach of a young boys' water polo camp. Our main protagonist is Ben (Everett Blunck), a geeky kid from out of town who is just trying to fit in with the well-established pack of boys led by Jake (Kayo Martin). "Jake" - a name reserved for the cool kid and I can hear  Anthony Michael Hall saying it in Sixteen Candles. Pardon me, I digressed. Also in the water polo camp is Eli (Kenny Rasmussen), who all the kids say has the plague because he has a bad skin rash, which I believe is eczema or psoriasis. They run away from Eli and if anyone comes into contact with him, they run to the tap to wash off "the plague." Kids can be downright cruel. Mean rotten little bastards, which is the whole subject here. When Ben tries to form a friendship with Eli, suddenly he finds himself on the outside of the clique. . .  and wait, what is that red bump forming on his skin? It's well-worn territory, The Lord of the Flies being the major pig head on the pole. Why should you watch this one then? It's gorgeous - the underwater shots are particularly hypnotic, upside down, you will be spun around like poor Ben. It also verges on body horror (which may or may not be your thing). The main reason to watch is the performances of these young men. Kenny Rasmussen as Eli is a standout - his dance scene in the rain is wow. These young actors are going to go places. Catch this in a rep theatre if possible, streaming, or rent it from Movies 'N Stuff. 

Two Strangers Trying Not to Kill Each Other

This is simply a beautiful film. It's a documentary about famed American photographer, Joel Meyerowitz and his unfamous wife, Maggie Barrett (although, after this, I suspect that might change). Joel was born in 1938 and is now 88 years old. He married Maggie (his second marriage) in 2001. This is Maggie's fifth marriage. Maggie's own life journey is something of a rollercoaster, having spent time in a mental hospital, struggling with drug addiction, finding recovery, and ultimately becoming a therapist herself. Maggie is also a writer. While she never landed a traditional publishing deal, she has written at least four novels, a collection of stories, and a play in which she starred. Two Strangers Trying Not to Kill Each Other is a portrait of navigating aging, fame, relationships, and love. It is very personal, and both Joel and Maggie go all in here, in what I might call a kind of performance art of the personal. They are each on full display, holding nothing back. There is a scene when they return to their New York apartment after living in Tuscany for many years, and Maggie has a completely unhinged breakdown while Joel hangs on for dear life - remaining calm. Given her history, one could write her off as unstable, but that feels too simplistic. I think we have all been there - a displacement of aggression, grieving the loss of their Italian home - we hurt the ones we love most because they can usually take it. This was not edited out. There is a lot of raw material here. It's also one of the most aesthetically pleasing films I've seen in a very long time. Each shot is a photograph, which feels fitting for Meyerowitz. It's like looking through a gorgeous coffee table book. You will want to spend time with Maggie and Joel. Catch it in the theatre if possible, or rent it at Movies 'N Stuff.  

Lee Cronin's the Mummy

Lee Cronin, who's that? That was my first question. I'm not great with names, especially as I get older. Google/IMDB tells me he's the director of Evil Dead Rise. I loved that movie! I suppose name recognition is important and I suppose it helps distinguish this film from The Mummy franchise starring Brendan Fraser or the recent The Mummy outing with Tom Cruise. This film has nothing to do with those - and honestly, it could be called, Evil Dead Egypt. Before I get into it, if you aren't a fan of The Conjuring or The Exorcist, you might as well stop reading, because this film is not for you. If you are, then you are one of my people. What's it all about? Charlie Cannon (Jack Reynor) is working as a journalist in Egypt with his wife Larissa (Laia Costa) and their two kids when their youngest, Katie, goes missing. This alone is horrific. It gets much worse. Egyptian authorities find her eight years later - in a coffin that looks like it was designed by David Cronenberg. Yeah! Not so fast! Katie seems to have something physically wrong with her, and her mental state is full-on sarcophagus cuckoo. Katie's mom is convinced that all Katie needs is a good supportive, loving home and things will go back to normal. Charlie is not convinced. I think the audience is on Charlie's side. This is a mix of body horror, supernatural possession, and one of the worst hangnails you have ever seen. You may need therapy and a pedicure after watching this one - it doesn’t just get under your skin, it gets under your nails. Catch this one in the dark crypt of a movie theatre, or go rent it from Movies 'N Stuff when available. 

DTF St. Louis

If you like your Desperate Househusbands of suburbia spicy, then this limited series on HBO Max is fantastic, albeit melancholic; maybe even downright sad. Starring Jason Bateman (Ozark) as Clark Forrest, the local TV weatherman who is having a midlife crisis and ends up having an extramarital affair with Carol (Linda Cardellini). She is married to Floyd Smernitch (David Harbour) who does interpretive signing (for the hearing impaired) for Clark's weather reporting. You may know David Harbour as the gruff and lovable cop from Stranger Things. He gives a performance that Daniel Day-Lewis would be proud of - from hip-hop dancing, to trying to give his troubled stepson life lessons, to allowing a gay man to kiss him for not wanting to hurt his feelings - Harbour should be nominated for all the TV awards. The show is also a murder mystery and the two detectives who work the case, played by Richard Jenkins and Joy Sunday, are an oddly delightful pair. If David Harbour is nominated for his lead role, then Best Supporting should go to Peter Sarsgaard (in eyeliner) as the roller-skating man who wants nothing more at times than to hold hands - fabulous. Writer and creator, Steve Conrad has made a very unique show about troubled and sad people. It has qualities of Ang Lee's The Ice Storm or Curtis Hanson's Wonder Boys. It's dark and at times, extremely funny, and really weird. To borrow and paraphrase one of the show's catchphrases, "Nobody is normal; it just looks that way from across the street." The show is sad, like a used and discarded dirty magazine found in the change room of a community swimming pool that's closed for the season. Have yourself a wild affair with this show. Catch it streaming on HBO/Crave or rent it from Movies 'N Stuff when available.      

Prime Minster

Women in politics have it rough. The world is getting better but let's face it, much of it ass-backwards and women are treated as second-class citizens in a good chunk of it, especially in politics. This documentary is about the five-year term served by Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand's Prime Minister. New Zealand and the world were lucky to have her. She got into politics to essentially make the world a better place. When she took over the Labour Party back in 2017, her party was way down in the polls. She turned it around. She became New Zealand's 40th Prime Minister. Not only did she find herself leading her country, she also discovered she was pregnant. She gave birth to her daughter, Neve, on June 21, 2018. Ardern is the second woman ever to do so (Benazir Bhutto, Prime Minister of Pakistan (1990), was the first). The film follows Ardern through three major crises, the two biggest being the Christchurch mosque shootings and the Covid-19 pandemic. Her response to the shootings was one of empathy and compassion for the Muslim community and she was lauded for it. But it wasn't just thoughts and prayers, she took action.  The Arms (Prohibited Firearms, Magazines, and Parts) Amendment Act 2019 of New Zealand came into law and the result was that over 19,000 firearms and 70,000 gun accessories were surrendered by mid-September 2019. Amazing. I see this documentary as inspirational to all women who want to venture into politics. And sadly as a warning too. Ardern looks like she aged more than the five years she was leading. Running a country, guiding it through an uncharted global crisis while being a first-time mother - Ardern was a force but that takes a lot out of anyone. It should be noted that she has an amazing and supportive husband, Clarke Gayford who is also featured in the film. Catch this remarkable film about a remarkable woman, streaming on CBC Gem or rent it from Movies 'N Stuff.  

The Drama

When Hollywood pigeonholed actor Matthew McConaughey into playing romantic lead roles in often goofy rom-coms, he stepped back and waited 18 months before scripts started coming in for things like Mud, Dallas Buyers Club, and True Detective. A risky but smart call. There is nothing wrong with rom-coms, but McConaughey didn't want to make them and I don't want to watch them. Which brings me to Robert Pattinson, best known for his teen Twilight saga vampire role of Edward Cullen. Like McConaughey, Pattinson has been making smart film choices post pale neck-sucker phase (as has Kristen Stewart), such as Goodtime, The Lighthouse, The King, The Batman, Die, My Love, and now, The Drama. The Drama might be considered a rom-com, albeit a completely twisted and messed up one. And I loved it. I was trepidatious going in, like Indy in The Last Crusade when he takes a leap of faith, Pattinson caught me off guard - maybe even off-guard twice. What's it all about? Emma (Zendaya) and Charlie (Robert Pattinson) are about to get married when at wedding menu tasting, the activity becomes: "confess the worst thing you've ever done." Emma is the last to disclose. She drops a bomb and the real drama begins. Without giving away anything, the confession leads to some serious marital jitters. The Drama goes places I didn't expect and it's darkly funny at times. You will want to get hitched to this one - catch it like a bouquet of razor wire in theatres now or rent it from Movies 'N Stuff.  

Alpha

What's up with the water in France? Two of the most exciting and interesting female directors working today are Julia Ducournau (Titane, Raw) and Coralie Fargeat (The Substance, Revenge). Both hail from France, both working in the tradition of Cronenberg-ian body horror. Ducournau has a new film, Alpha. It has a much more linear storyline than her last outing, Titane (about a woman who is impregnated by a car). Alpha focuses on a thirteen-year-old girl, Alpha (Mélissa Boros) who received a homemade tattoo at a party during a near-future time when a blood-transmissible illness is becoming a global crisis. This illness slowly turns people into marble (like the stone). Yes I know it sounds bizarre, and it is. Alpha lives with her single mother (Golshifteh Farahani) who is a doctor and has great concerns about her daughter's possible infection. Along comes Alpha's uncle Amin (Tahar Rahim) who is sporting a junkie habit and Alpha likes to turn her uncle's hole ridden arm into a connect-the-dots puzzle. The disease seems like an obvious metaphor for the AIDS crisis. The film looks at the alienating behaviors, how we treat the sick, the addicted. It will make you uncomfortable at times - think Kids, Requiem for Dream. For something which seems to be slow-paced, it moves along at a riveting clip - I was never bored. The marble transformation of victims is a unique visual from an equally unique and gifted filmmaker. Grab a bottle of Evian at the theatre or go rent this one from Movies 'N Stuff when available. 

Dust Bunny

As a Gen-Xer, growing up in the world of '70s and '80s films was not so sanitized as it is now. Raiders of the Lost Ark gave my childhood melting faces, impaled skeletal corpses, and a room full of snakes. Is it a kid movie though? I would argue it is, as is Star Wars. I think a lot of great kids' movies have elements of darkness and fear -  Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, The Goonies, Coraline, heck, even The Sound of Music is about escaping the Nazis. So if you missed Dust Bunny from last year, as I did, it's time to catch what might become a new kids' classic, albeit a dark one. What's it all about? Sophie Sloan plays Aurora, a young girl who believes that there is a dust bunny under her bed that is eating people. In fact, she won't walk on the floor. She traverses her apartment on a metal hippopotamus on wheels like she's navigating a swamp in a flat-bottomed boat. She discovers secrets about the man (played by Mads Mikkelsen - the other Hannibal Lecter from TV)  living down the hall of her apartment building; namely that he is a hit man. Aurora hires him to kill the monster, money she acquires in a dubious way, one that made me laugh out loud. Writer and director Bryan Fuller marks this as his first feature film coming out of a TV career (he made Hannibal the TV series). He comes out with monster, literally. This film is simply gorgeous. Aurora and her hit man live in a New York Art Nouveau building and the colours of it are bright - Mads wears something of a track suit that looks like he borrowed from The Royal Tenenbaums. In fact, the whole film has a Wes Anderson look to it. A kind of cartoonish Amelie sensibility. With small roles by Sigourney Weaver and David Dastmalchian (Late Night with the Devil), this movie is a delight. It's got teeth. Jaws of the parquet tile floor. Is it for kids? Well if you think Ghostbusters is a good kids' movie, then so is this! You will want to sweep this up on streaming when it's available or rent it from Movies 'N Stuff.  

Resurrection

David Lynch often spoke about films as dreams. Resurrection is all about dreams. The main character is, the Dreamer, who time travels through different periods of what could be described as film history. The opening, set in the silent film era, (think Guy Madden) quickly morphs into a Frankenstein-meets-The Wizard of Oz poppy dreamscape. There are five such episodes, each which their own story and artistic sensibility. Monsters and midgets bring us to the magical, where a bloody tooth in a snowball can turn into an imp. Terry Gilliam would be delighted, I'm sure. There is a section which feels akin to Peter Bogdanovich's Paper Moon, where we have a card hustler perpetrating scams with a young boy. And there is a one-shot (think  Alejandro González Iñárritu's Birdman) Romeo + Juliet (Baz Luhrmann-style) love story. The visuals in the film are simply fascinating and fantastic. This is a visual buffet of all things celluloid. Director Bi Gan has made an extraordinary work. If there is a criticism, it's that these pieces are supposed to link together, but they don't - but they do in dream logic. Dream logic goes from one thing to a completely different thing, and in that magical world, it's perfectly sensible. This only appeared for a single screening at the Mayfair last year. Hopefully in will come back to theatres. One of the most interesting art films of last year. You can find it now streaming on the Criterion channel and you can rent it from Movies 'N Stuff.    

The Alabama Solution

Slavery is alive and well in the United States of America. If you have seen the 2016 Netflix documentary 13th, which explores the history of incarceration in the U.S., then you will know what I’m talking about. Roughly 60% of those in prison are non-white (Black, Indigenous, Hispanic, Asian), while these groups make up only about 40% of the U.S. population. There are private companies running clothing manufacturing operations using what is essentially slave labour. Since that documentary came out, I don’t think anything has changed—based on the evidence presented in The Alabama Solution. In fact, if you are unfortunate enough to find yourself incarcerated in the state of Alabama, things are far worse than they were in 2016. But now, the prisoners have cellphones. The Alabama Solution tells the story of a 2022 statewide prison strike led by three individuals: Robert Earl Council, Melvin Ray, and Raoul Poole. The conditions these prisoners endure are horrendous—flooded areas, filth, rats. They are unfit for human beings. The documentary also focuses on Sandy Ray, who is seeking justice for her son, Steven Davis, who was beaten to death by a prison guard. Conditions in these prisons were (and are) so bad that the DOJ (Department of Justice) threatened to take control from the state. However, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey insisted it was an Alabama problem that required an “Alabama solution.” That “solution” was to build three giant mega-prisons, funded in part by diverting money from the education budget. This is a tough watch, but it’s an important one. It was nominated for Best Documentary at this year’s Oscars—rightfully so. Films like this shouldn't just inform, they should provoke. Because what's shown here isn't broken - it's functioning exactly as intended. And that should terrify you. Catch it streaming on Crave/HBO or rent it from Movies ’N Stuff when available.

The Voice of Hind Rajab

So you are going to have to have a mental health care professional and/or a box of tissues on hand for this one. It's going to rip your heart to shreds. Then why should you see it? It puts the cost of war front and center, makes it real, makes it human. It's powerful. Like a tank explosion. This isn't just a news story about a foreign land that you can flip past and ignore, this movie brings you right into the action, which is the war in Gaza. This is a reenactment, a true story, of an emergency call that comes into a crisis 911 operations centre from a six-year-old girl, Hind Rajab (Hanood is her nickname) who is trapped in a car in the middle of a war zone. She is pleading to be rescued. Begging. Her voice alone will cause your eyes to well up. The voices on the calls are the real voices and the actors playing these emergency phone operators are sometimes overlapped with the real footage of the people they are playing. It's as tense as any good thriller and made all the more powerful knowing this happened. We watch and wait as the call centre must negotiate a safe passage for an ambulance to navigate to the car where Hanood is trapped. Hanood's voice is her real voice. This isn't a condemnation of the Israeli government (although you could read that into it) but rather, it's about the cost of war. Each person who is killed was a person, with a life, with a family, and the ripple effects are an explosive wave. The Voice of Hind Rajab is a powerful anti-war film and one that should be seen. Catch it in theatres or rent it from Movies 'N Stuff.  

A Poet

This Colombian film by writer and director Simón Mesa Soto stars Guillermo Cardona as Efrain, a poet. Efrain is a sad man because he is a poet and he feels deeply about the world. His writing career has stagnated. For like thirty years. He published two books to some acclaim, then nothing. He is divorced and he feels like he is an embarrassment to his daughter, which he is. Efrain is also broke and living with his elderly mother. In an attempt to get his life back on track, he takes a job as a high school literary teacher. Efrain discovers Yurlady (Rebeca Andrade), a talented young woman who writes elegant and honest poems in her journal. Efrain takes it upon himself to guide this smart young lady towards literary stardom whether she really wants it or not (mostly not). Things begin to fall apart for Efrain and he keeps digging himself deeper and deeper into trouble. The film becomes this slow-motion comedic descent into failure - it's sad, horrifying, and at times, deeply amusing. You may find yourself whispering at the screen, "No, no, no, don't do that!" Simón Mesa Soto used many non-actors including Guillermo Cardona (Efrain) - he was fabulous. This film is a black Sharpie, hand-drawn heart on your chest. By the end, you will come around to love a character you didn't think you could. Catch it at your local rep theatre or rent it from Movies 'N Stuff. 

Dreams

The opening of this film gripped me and almost gave me a panic attack. Michel Franco is a name I now have noted that I need to pay attention to. The last two films he directed were, Sundown and Memory. They were, well, memorable (see what I did there). If you haven't seen these two, they are also worth checking out. Memory starred Jessica Chastain, and the experience must have been a good one because she is back again in Dreams. This time she plays Jennifer, the grown daughter of an extremely wealthy man. They have the kind of wealth where a philanthropic donation of a collection of paintings to fill a wing an art gallery is a Wednesday afternoon. She has fallen in love with Fernando (Isaac Hernández), a professional dancer from Mexico who has already been deported from the U.S. once for being an illegal alien. He is at least a decade younger than Jennifer. Fernando is her boy toy and he is frowned upon by her father and brother. The film is about power relations and speaks on a larger level to the relationship the U.S. currently has with Mexico and its citizens - happy to have you around doing the cleaning up, but as soon as there is whiff of disobedience or a request for fair treatment, it's time to call ICE. Dreams is like El Norte (if you haven't seen this film, it's a must-see) but the hot and steamy version. Dark, erotic, timely, and it's very much worth your time to sneak across the border and into a theatre to catch this film. Or rent it from Movies 'N Stuff when available. 

Crime 101

With a February release date, one is skeptical of films like this. Big Hollywood names starring in a heist thriller - either this didn't test well with audiences or the studio thought they had a dud on their hands. I'm not sure. What I do know is it's rare to have a film this good come out at this time of year. When I saw the trailer for Crime 101 I thought it was the trailer for Heat 2, which is apparently coming. This is not it, but it could be. Drive, Dragged Across Concrete, The Dark Knight, Hell or High Water, Emily the Criminal, and The Accountant, are all examples of contemporary crime dramas, and they are all excellent. Add Crime 101 to this list. Chris Hemsworth plays a calculating jewel thief. Mark Ruffalo plays the cop who is trying to catch him. Mark Ruffalo seems to be born to play detectives (Zodiac, Task) with his Columbo-bed-head of locs. If there ever were to be a Columbo reboot, this man is a shoo-in. Then there Barry Keoghan who plays a competing thief. Nick Nolte plays the big bad guy boss. I was happy to see Payman Maadi from the Iranian film, A Separation. Jennifer Jason Leigh shows up for two glorious minutes - she is delightful. And finally there is Halle Berry. To those folks who hand out little statues to actors at the end of the year during award season, please don't forget Halle Berry for her role here - she was fantastic. I loved this film from the opening upside-down shot. The pounding soundtrack will keep your pulse up. The characters and dialogue are are well crafted and fully formed. This is a banger. Lose your getaway car at the movie theatre parking lot and go see this on the big screen. If that's too risky, then plan your next video heist at Movies 'N Stuff when available. 

Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie

Matt Johnson is the co-writer, costar, and director of Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie, a new Canadian comedy film set in Toronto. I thought I had never heard of him, but he is the director of 2023's Blackberry and last year he was the actor in a wonderful little indie romantic comedy Matt and Mara which I loved. You don't need to know anything about Matt or his costar Jay McCarrol to enjoy their new movie. They have been long-time friends and collaborators in real life. They play fictional versions of themselves in Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie. Matt plays the guy who is always coming up with crazy ways to get themselves noticed, ways to make it big and land a gig at a Toronto club, The Rivoli. Jay is the dutiful friend who follows Matt on his crazy schemes. But 17 years on, the failed chicken-scratched whiteboard plans have grown old and Jay isn't happy - maybe a solo trip to Ottawa is the answer? Without giving anything away, I had a ball with this movie. I watched it at the ByTowne here in Ottawa with a large crowd and they loved it. So did I. Chock-full of Toronto and Canadian references, this is going to be a new maple leaf classic. Get an large RV-sized doze of belly laughs and catch Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie, at the movies, or rent it at Movies 'N Stuff when available. 

Bunny

Sean Baker meets Woody Allen; John Cassavetes meets Mel Brooks; Goodtime meets My Weekend at Bernie's. Bunny is an indie, stoner, comedy and it's funny as hell. It features a cast of characters that could have walked off the pages of a Bukowski novel, characters created by co-writers and costars, Mo Stark (Bunny) and Ben Jacobson (Dino). Jacobson also directs this, his first feature length film and it's a banger. What's it all about? It's Bunny's birthday and his girlfriend Bobbie (Liza Colby) is throwing him a party: she presents Bunny with another good-time girl and some of the best molly Bobbie could acquire. But Bunny is having none of it - one of his gigolo gigs went sour and his headspace is not in party mode. Bunny and Bobbie live in a small two-bedroom apartment, in a four or five-storey New York City walk-up full of colourful characters on every floor. Two cops spend most of their day parked outside asking where to find the best shawarma. Most of the film is shot within the building and there is a manic energy to it - people running up and down the stairs, doors slamming open and closed, people squeezing by in cramped hallway quarters. Bunny and Bobbie are Airbnbing one of their rooms as parties are being thrown, as stoves are being moved from one apartment to another, while Bunny is always helping his one neighbour with his cart of laundry. It's a whirlwind of action and the dialogue is always funny - and peppered with film references. There is even a rabbi. I had a blast with Bunny and his friends. This party is messy, affectionate, and absurdly funny - a birthday bash worth crashing. Catch it streaming on Netflix or rent it from Movies 'N Stuff. 

Sirât

I'm certain it would have made my top ten films of 2025 if I had seen it sooner. It has haunted me since I watched it. This Spanish film is set in the desert of Northern Africa at the start of WWIII - so like any day now, ha. Without giving anything away, it's kind of like William Friedkin's Sorcerer mashed up with Max Mad: Fury Road, but the arty, indie version. It follows Luis (Sergi López) and his young son as they search for their respective missing daughter/sister. Where Luis thinks he might find her is at a pop-up desert rave - an eclectic swarm of tattooed punk weirdos thrashing to the pounding beats of electronic music. A small subgroup of misfits suggest to Luis that he might find his daughter at the next scheduled rave. He and his son decide to follow this ragtag crew into nomad territory and it's precarious. Perhaps it's all  the sand, but it reminded me of the Australian film, Wake in Fright - there is an unhinged human element at play here. And then Sirât takes a turn I wasn't expecting and I was left gutted. Writer and director Oliver Laxe shot the film using mostly non-actors and they are all wonderful - it gives it an authenticity, a gritty realism that it might not have otherwise. The images, the music, and the characters will stick to you like sand after a trip to the cinematic beach. Sirât might not be the vacation you want but it's the one you need. Catch it in the theatre if you can (Mayfair or ByTwone) or rent it from Movies 'N Stuff. 

Task

It's no easy task (see what I did there) to make a limited series this good. It's exceptional. HBO's Task is a seven-part crime drama starring Mark Ruffalo as Tom, a former priest turned FBI agent. He is pulled off his desk job as a job-fair career-recruiter to lead a task force. His boss (Martha Plimpton) is short-staffed and needs Tom, even though he's going through a dark family time. He is to lead a four-person task force to track a gang of bandits who are knocking off drug houses, owned by a motorcycle club called the Dark Hearts (a Hells Angels type club). The other half of the show is Robbie (Tom Pelphrey) who is performing these robberies. There are a lot of moving parts to this show and many characters, so pay attention. The thing that distinguishes it from other crime-dramas is its level of emotional depth. The characters here are fully formed, 3D people, flawed and real. The writing is exceptional. I have loved Ruffalo since I laid eyes on him in You Can Count on Me. I think this is one of his best performances to date - an ex-priest who has lost his faith and his ability to forgive. And Tom Pelphrey, who I'm not as familiar with is equally great as a man who is trying to provide for his family but is out of his depth. This is a show about family, commitment, loss, redemption, and love. The ending of this series left me in tears. I recommend you step up and perform this Task immediately. Catch it streaming on HBO/CRAVE or go rent it from Movies 'N Stuff. 

Messy

Alexi Wasser is the writer, director, and star of her first feature, Messy, which is anything but. With a tidy little runtime of 90 minutes, it doesn't overstay it's welcome. She plays Stella, a self-proclaimed sex and love addict who has just moved to New York City and is looking for work as a writer. I have a soft spot for writer protagonists. Stella is like someone permanently stuck in a manic state and doesn't seem to have a filter. The stuff Stella spews out to total strangers, usually before sleeping with them, is remarkable, and often funny as hell. Her story about going to the beach and discovering an unpleasant odour is particularly memorable - and hilariously uncomfortable. Hats off to Alexi Wasser - brilliant. And brave - she spends at least half the film topless in bed with various men.  If Andrea Arnold (Fish Tank, Bird) were to make a feminist Woody Allen comedy (am I allowed to say that? - ha), I think it would look exactly like Wasser's Messy. This is Bright Lights, Big Sex in the City. This is a low-budget but very smart film and I hope, like Stella, it finds some love. Catch it streaming on Prime.  

Honey Bunch

You might need therapy after this one! Honey Bunch is a new Canadian horror film which reminded me of Brandon Cronenberg's Infinity Pool if it were crossed with The Stepford Wives. It's also a love story. What's it all about? Well, without giving too much away, it's about Homer (Ben Petrie) who is accompanying his wife Diana (Grace Glowicki) to a kind of wellness recovery center after she has awoken from a coma. Homer and Diana were in a terrible car accident. There is another couple at the wellness center as well, and together they go through physical and mental recovery exercises. But is everything on the up and up? Diana is getting the feeling that something isn't quite right? What are Homer and this creepy place up to? So the mystery unfolds. Co-writers and co-directors, Dusty Mancinelli and Madeleine Sims-Fewer, have created a film which is Hitchcockian, bonkers, and romantic as hell! Watching Homer sing to his wife in a hospital bed might be the most romantic and bizzarro thing you will see this year. I was in awe of what I was watching. Equally fun is listening to Diana and Homer express all the ways they would die for each other (often in the most brutal and painful ways). Honey Bunch definitely won't be for everyone but it's my kind of therapy - the kind that whispers sweet nothings while holding a knife behind its back. Catch it in theatres or go rent it from Movies 'N Stuff when available. 

Checkpoint Zoo

This documentary would make a fabulous Hollywood movie. That said, we don't need it because we have this wonderful film already. This is the story of the 2022 Russian invasion into Ukraine as it pertains to the city of Kharkiv and the Feldman Ecopark Zoo, which lies just outside. When Russia invaded, the zoo was caught between the two warring front lines, a no man's land. The zoo was abandoned and the 5000 animals were left to starve to death. This is the story of how a small group of zoo workers and a handful of volunteers went about feeding and looking after these animals while under constant shelling, and how they tried to rescue as many animals as they could. This isn't just an animal story, it's a story of human compassion in a time when certain humans were behaving at their worst. It's a story of courage and compassion and if you cried during Hamnet, you might want to bring along a tissue. The zoo's owner, Oleksandr Feldman, is a character (like if Danny DeVito was in Uncut Gems) but a compassionate one who would do anything to save his animals. The film doesn't go into the morality of having zoos in the first place, but that's not what the film is about. With the war still raging on and the world feeling like it's in a spiraling, depressive state, Checkpoint Zoo feels like the uplifting monkey business we could use right now. Catch it at the Mayfair or Bytowne or rent it from Movies 'N Stuff, if and when possible.  

Sound of Falling

This slow, arty, two-and-a-half-hour, subtitled German film, which is a meditation on death (and sex) is certainly not going to be everyone's cup of tea. However it is mine,

- a big pot of it - and it flew by, utterly captivating. Set on a farm with an overlapping muti-generational story line, we flip-flop between four different timelines (around 1910, WWII, sometime in the '80s, and present day). There is no clear narrative except maybe the mystery of an amputated leg. The colours of this film are black and eggshell; straw yellow; sun-bleached grey barn board; 50 shades of dirt; dark plum; and all things cattle, horse, and beige pig. Sound of Falling captures wonderful family dynamics that feel reminiscent of Fellini - including a family game of riding a bicycle and trying to pick an eel out of a tub to toss it into another (those wacky Europeans and their eel-bike games). And then there is the suicidal daydreams - the "what ifs." Sound of Falling is filled with these. What if I were to. . . I won't spoil the death fantasies of young German girls for you. The images linger - far more memorable and haunting than any horror film, yet without the graphic violence. I'm in awe of the fact that this film exists. It's another example of why I go to the movies. Catch this at the Mayfair or Bytowne here in Ottawa or go rent it from Movies 'N Stuff when it becomes available. 

A Desert

There have been lots of films about voyeurism. Merriam-Webster defines it as (a) the practice of obtaining sexual gratification from observing others and (b) the practice of taking pleasure in observing something private, sordid, or scandalous

As movie watchers, we all fall into the later category. Hitchcock's Rear Window, Brian De Palma's Body Double, Wim Wenders' Paris, Texas, to name a few, have overlapping themes about our collective desire to watch others. Sitting in the dark watching - to see a film is to be a pervert (you heard it here first folks - ha). So A Desert falls into this bucket. It also falls into the "psycho in the dessert", film noir category - think of films such as, Psycho, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Wild at Heart, and No Country for Old Men. A Desert is the debut film from writer and director, Joshua Erkman. It's a banger. Visually it's stunning. What's it about? It's about a photographer Alex Clark (Kai Lennox) who is on a spiritual/artist journey to re-find himself by taking pictures of abandoned and dilapidated buildings as he did for his first book of photography. At a motel he runs into Renny (Zachary Ray Sherman)  and Susie Q (Ashley Smith) who seem to have walked out of the Natural Born Killers audition. As you might imagine, things go off the rails. There is a private detective played by David Yow and Alex's wife, played by Sarah Lind. These five actors were utterly fabulous - I was very impressed. For a debut film with a relatively unknown cast, A Desert feels like it ranks up there with some of the best of the genre. This horror film is one I know you want to watch, you perv! Streaming now on Shudder.  

Pluribus

If I had to say what my favourite TV shows of all time were, I would list the original Star Trek, The Twilight Zone, and Columbo. More contemporary favourites have been LOST, Battlestar Galactica (the reboot), Severance, 30 Coins, The Bear, Servant, The White Lotus, Black Summer, and Breaking Bad - Vince Gilligan's creation. He went on to make Better Call Saul, a Breaking Bad spin-off, which turned out to be just as popular. I tried to like it, but I just couldn't. Numerous people have told me I need to go back because it's great. I won't. Breaking Bad was perfect, tied with a baby blue bow. And I thought, Vince Gilligan was a name I wouldn't hear from again. Wrong. Enter Pluribus. Not a great title - certainly doesn't roll off the tongue easily. Whatever. It's my new favourite show to watch. I went in cold. Didn't know what it was about. I suggest you do the same. Spoiler Alert, if you continue to read, I will tell you a little about what the show is. Again, I would stop reading and come back after the first episode. So, if you are reading, you have already seen the show or you are one of those people who reads the last chapter or last few pages of a book so you know how it will end. Shame on you! Where is the mystery in that? Right? Bah, whatever. So, if you know the 1978 remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, it's kind of like that, except it's as if the aliens everyone turns into were from a New Age cult of brainwashed happy people. Actor Rhea Seehorn plays Carol Sturka, a woman who is unaffected by the alien body snatching virus and is trying to navigate her new world. It's fantastic. Funny. Smart. Binge-worthy. Catch  it Streaming on Apple + or rent it from Movies 'N Stuff.