This Gojira rip-off I watched after seeing its sequel and it was weird to me that this is B&W whereas the (worse) sequel is colour.
The Deconstruction of Your 2019 Toronto Raptors
Updated with the latest Raptors’ trades. It’s now been nearly five years since The Toronto Raptors – the purple dinosaur team – won the NBA Championship. Within a few hours of 2023 free agency opening, the Raptors’ starting (and only NBA-quality) Point Guard, Fred VanVleet signed with another team, the Houston Rockets for three years, …
Space Mutiny (1988, David Winters, Neal Sundstrom)
This is a really entertaining bad ’80s South African sci fi film that manages to somehow avoid the usual space opera territory in terms of plot while being just very, very incompetent in the best of ways.
“Dark End of the Street” (2008) by Cat Power
I’m a sucker for (some of) Cat Power’s covers and this EP is no exception. I know two thirds of the songs here which probably helps. I will say I have never heard Jukebox and so maybe I’d like this less if I had heard that record. (This is a collection of outtakes from that …
Love in the Ruins (1971) by Walker Percy
When I read The Moviegoer in my mid-to-late ’20s, I absolutely loved it. A few years later, I read Lost in the Cosmos and found it entertaining and thought-provoking and generally a really fun way to think about existence. (So fun I leant it to someone who I thought would enjoy it, and now I don’t have my copy.) …
America 3000 (1986, David Engelbach)
I just spent 15 minutes looking for a Canada 3000 ad with the appropriate jingle to led off this review. I couldn’t find it. Just know that, through the entirety of this bad ’80s post apocalyptic comedy, I was singing “Merica 3000” in my mind to the tune of that jingle.
Charley Boorman: Sydney to Tokyo by Any Means (2009)
This is the ostensible sequel/second season to Charley Boorman: Ireland to Sydney by Any Means. It’s not exactly a sequel for a couple of reasons, but it is roughly the same idea: Charley Boorman travels from Sydney to Tokyo trying to use multiple different kinds of transportation.
200 Cigarettes (1999, Risa Bramon Garcia)
This is a mildly amusing and very ’90s vignette film about a New Year’s Eve party in 1981. It features a number of famous and ’90s famous actors (and a couple of musicians). It’s one of those talky ’90s films that almost feels stagey except that it is (partially) location-shot.
The Corner (2000)
20 years after first encountering The Wire I finally watched the second of its spiritual prequels. The first was Homicide. (RIP Andre Braugher.) You might call Homicide and The Corner The Wire’s parents, one is about cops in Baltimore, based on a David Simon book, and the other is about drug addicts in Baltimore, based on a different David Simon book. It’s …
Black Christmas (2006, Glen Morgan)
Black Christmas is probably one of the most important horror films of the ’70s, given how influential it was on slasher films. But, despite my endless search for new Christmas horror films, it’s probably also the best serious Christmas horror movie. (Gremlins is a comedy.) I suspected both remakes were bad but I’m not sure …
Charley Boorman: Ireland to Sydney by Any Means (2008)
Without his Long Way Round/Long Way Down partner Ewan McGregor (who does have a cameo), Charley Boorman does his own thing, travelling from Ireland to Australia while trying to avoid commercial flights. It’s a smaller crew but, in many ways, just as ambitious.
The Retaliators (2021, Samuel Gonzalez Jr., Bridget Smith)
This is a bad horror/action film that we watched because the internet told us it’s a Christmas movie. Well, it’s barely a Christmas movie – it takes place primarily after Christmas – and it’s a narrative disaster. SPOILERS
Five Days in July (1993) by Blue Rodeo
I didn’t hear this album until I saw Blue Rodeo play it live on their tour of its 30th anniversary. I understand that’s a very weird way to encounter an album, but prior to last night I had only ever heard “Hasn’t Hit Me Yet” (and I couldn’t have named the song, only knew it …
Blue Rodeo Live at Massey Hall Wednesday December 13, 2023
Despite their status as a Canadian institution, I don’t know Blue Rodeo well. I know a few of their (Canadian) hit songs to know it’s them, but I couldn’t tell you their names. (I knew a total of 4 songs from this show, I think.) I have listened to Casino and I listened to Diamond …
One of Us is the Killer (2023) by Seven)Suns
I am a sucker for chamber music adaptations of metal, so it’s no surprise I love this. (What I long for is the day somebody adapts metal into chamber music that features few or not string instruments. That would be wild!) I will try to temper my enthusiasm because this whole genre is a bit …
Subjects of Desire (2021, Jenifer Holness)
This is a thought-provoking and compelling documentary about the changing cultural standards around black women and black beauty in the US (and Canada to an extent) that is just too ambitious for its own good. Partway through my “first time feature director” radar went off and, sure enough, it’s her first feature length film as …
The Oldest View (2023)
This is a YouTube video series of videos from a guy apparently known for these horror ish shorts. His name is Kane Parsons and the channel is Kane Pixels. He is known for something called Backrooms, which I haven’t seen. I found this through someone claiming something like “it’s the best horror movie of 2023” …
World’s Most Dangerous Roads (2011)
I normally don’t write reviews of the reality TV I watch, usually because I don’t consistently watch every season of the few shows I like and I half-watch plenty of reality TV Jenn watches. It feels like I cannot really do these shows justice. But I make an exception for travel shows, at least ones …
Extraction (2020, Sam Hargrave)
This is a well-directed and choreographed action film that has a dumb plot in a not super awesome narrative trope tradition. Mild SPOILERS
Greed is Good (2009) by Matthew Robinson, Daniel Murphy
I was excited to read this book. It was recommended to me by someone on the internet (maybe at Defector) and the subtitle made it sound like it was right up my alley. Though I am not a utilitarian, I strongly believe our courts need to completely adopt a utilitarian approach to white collar crime as, …
The Pigeon Tunnel (2023, Errol Morris)
This is an extremely Errol Morris-y documentary about John le Carré, the novelist. I have only read one novel of his but I’ve seen multiple movies and at least one miniseries based on his works so I guess I felt familiar enough to watch it. Warning: this documentary spoils the ending of of the film …
An Insignificant Man (2016, Khushboo Ranka, Vinay Shukla)
These advocacy films are dangerous because anyone who gets into power is inevitably corrupted and inevitably disappoints. When you make a film about an inspiring political outsider and he wins…well, then you have a problem. It’s good to watch these movies after they come out, even if I meant to watch it when it came …
Daikaijû kettô: Gamera tai Barugon [Gamera Vs. Barugon] (1966, Shigeo Tanaka, Noriaki Yuasa)
Full disclosure: I have actually not seen the original Gamera. If this was a good movie, maybe that would disqualify me for reviewing its sequel. Also, I watched a dubbed version (sigh).
Deathstalker (1983, James Sbardellati)
This is a dumb, cheesy ’80s fantasy movie that has way, way more nudity than you normally expect from such a film. (Roger Corman was involved, so…) It’s a little higher budget than some of these, so it’s actually pretty fun.
Silent Partner (1978, Daryl Duke, Curtis Hanson)
This bank robbery thriller is one of most Toronto movies I’ve ever seen, certainly featuring a major American star. The film primarily takes place within the Eaton Centre. They ride the TTC (which is not pretending to be another subway) and drive on the Gardiner. Elliott Gould eats at Captain John’s. (Captain John’s! Where I …
Ford v Ferrari (2019, James Mangold)
The funniest thing about this movie – aside from the fight between Bale and Damon, which is genuinely good physical comedy – is that they had to title it one thing in ‘Merica and another in the rest of the world. That’s because the film execs think Americans don’t know what Le Mans is. Maybe …
Survivor (1999) by Chuck Palahniuk
Sometime in my early 20s I read Haunted, Palahniuk’s creative short story collection, and I fell in love. I had already seen Fight Club and enjoyed it, but Haunted felt to me like a really unique and fun way to present short stories, and I guess I felt like I discovered a singular voice for our time, or something stupidly …
High Conflict: Why We Get Trapped and How We Get Out (2021)
This is a great book about how people get drawn into feuds and other types of conflicts and some of the ways people get out. It’s a really good example of a journalist combining stories with a partial review of the literature. It’s a balance that doesn’t always work but Ripley does an excellent job.
Wonder Woman 1984 (2020, Patty Jenkins)
I have not seen the first Wonder Woman in a while but my memory of it is that it is a needed corrective, with a story that is mostly different enough. Only the climax was too 21st Century Comic Book movie for me. Well, this one is not on the same level, as you probably …
Emma (2020, Autumn de Wilde)
I have never seen the 1996 Emma, which I understand is viewed as the definitive Emma. (I mean the Hollywood film, not the British TV movie of the same year, which I’ve also never seen.) And I have never read the book. But still, I’m going to tell you what I thought about this version …