The cast and director Blitz Bazawule certainly promised us something different with this musical update of Steven Spielberg’s classic film The Colour Purple, but I never expected this. One of the most moving, toe-tapping, rousing films of the last five years, The Colour Purple is a timeless instant-classic with a beautiful, bold vision all its…

This based-on-a-true-story tale of the cursed Von Erich family is as a tragedy of the highest form. It chronicles the successes of this dynasty in the world of competitive professional wrestling, and the heartache that befall a family who believed their brood was doomed. When the first young son dies at five-years-old, patriarch and industry…

Storied director and animator Hayao Miyazaki has promised and failed to retire countless times, but if The Boy & The Heron is any indication of the stories he has left to tell, I pray he keeps faking us out. A soulful, beautiful and genuinely funny feature from Studio Ghibli, this semi-autobiographical film marks one of…

We’re at a time in film production where everything seems to be from the same cookie cutter style. The one thing I really admired Going In for is the fact it adhered to its own rules — Well, mostly. It’s a neo-noir satire about the buddy films of old, and while it nails the tropes,…

When Paul Giamatti and director Alexander Payne made Sideways nearly 20 years ago, they made magic with a film I count as a favourite to this day. But to say they both needed a hit right now is a fair assessment. Giamatti is a great character actor — even earning an Oscar-nomination for Cinderella Man…

Action maestro John Woo made a name for himself Internationally for his bombastic films with beating hearts. He wowed audiences overseas with films like Hard Boiled and The Killer, and transitioned to North American audiences with Face/Off, Windtalkers, and he even helmed Mission Impossible II. But with the failure of his Ben Affleck-starring Paycheck 20…

I went into Eileen knowing absolutely nothing, and that’s exactly how you should approach this intense little indie. Lured in by the cast chalk-full of actors I enjoy, Thomasin McKenzie as the marquee name seemed a unique opportunity for me to see her showcase her talents. While she has a handful of credits — Last…

We open the tantalizing Anatomy of a Fall with a frustrated Sandra Voyter — As she sits in her chalet, she attempts to answer an eager journalist’s questions. But her husband toils overhead on a long-overdue home renovation, with an instrumental of 50 Cent hit ‘P.I.M.P’ volting through loud-speakers, leaving no room for escape in…

Baz Luhrmann’s toe-tapping, grandiose 2022 biopic of The King was seen as the definitive Elvis Presley movie, but auteur Sofia Coppola illuminates the dark underbelly of a man previously considered above reproach. Priscilla depicts Elvis’s undesirable traits, but instead mainly focuses on the relationship between the 24-year-old crooner and a 14-year-old Priscilla Beaulieu, starstruck and…

The most visually-stunning masterclass of the year has been released on home video, and if there’s one film you pick up this holiday season, it’s Oppenheimer. Director Christopher Nolan’s magnum opus is a poised, brilliantly-executed vision of haunting memories, guilt and the realization that a man’s greatest singular work may be a blow to humanity…