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, litterally. 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.