Frankenstein (1931): Movies of the 30s are an acquired taste, with their post-silent-era narrative and acting eccentricities. Yet, Frankenstein feels almost modern in this context, perhaps because a non-speaking monster was a good fit for the medium – and Boris Karloff a nuanced performer. The age old story of the crazed doctor and his criminal… Read more

Sweetheart (2019): I kinda feel that the best movies at expressing deep rooted discrimination, abuse and inequality have been horror movies. There’s something about clever allegories, subtle nuances and metaphors that find just the right frame to emphasize some of the dark, twisted realities of our world. In Sweetheart, Jenn (Kiersey Clemons) is shipwrecked on… Read more

My Name is Tanino (2002): Way before Paolo Virzi did La pazza gioia (2016) or Il capitale umano (2013), he directed My Name is Tanino, a movie that stands out as being the feature film debut of Rachel McAdams. However, it also stands out as a meandering story of becoming for its lead, the young… Read more

The Russian Five (2018): With all my experience of hockey coming about during that one edition of NHL I played relentlessly in the early 2000s, I still look upon the sport with a certain fondness. This is a phenomenal underdog story, about the Detroit Red Wings finally finding their groove and winning the Stanley Cup… Read more

Relic (2020): Whether you are into horror movies or not, Relic is bound to creep you out and send you into a spiral of dark thoughts. Natalia Erika James’ movie, wherein a mother and daughter go to check onto grandma, speaks uncomfortable volumes about how the degradation (not to call it “aging”) of our loved… Read more

Sorry We Missed You (2019): Even in his 80s, director Ken Loach is razor sharp in his critique of social disequilibrium and shortcomings. The movie follows up on the exceptional I, Daniel Blake (2016), as Loach takes aim at the gig economy and how it perpetuates the cycle of poverty. Focusing on a working class… Read more

Babyteeth (2019): Shannon Murphy’s debut feature is a heartbreaking ride in the realm of lost youth and boundless exuberance. You never quite know where it’s going to go, taking a familiar template and reinterpreting it. Milla (Eliza Scanlen) falling in love with a clueless drug dealer, aptly named Moses (Toby Wallace), is the least of… Read more

The Sweet Hereafter (1997): Reading about Ian Holm’s passing instantly brought me back to one of my favourite films, Atom Egoyan’s Sweet Hereafter. With a powerful performance from Holm and an eerie score from Mychael Danna, The Sweet Hereafter is a cinematic testament to the anatomy of grief and loss. Adapted from Rusell Banks’s book,… Read more

Color Out of Space (2019): A synaesthetic horror movie unlike any other you’ve seen, Color Out of Space scores one for team “style over substance”. Taking the aliens via meteorite route and aiming to put you off Alpacas forever, this lovecraftian tale is a surprise from director Richard Stanley and a perfect genre piece. Unfortunately,… Read more

The Matrix (1999): God, it’s been a minute, hasn’t it? Nobody on Tik Tok was alive when this movie saw its release 21 years ago. Thankfully, The Matrix fares well against the test of time, even if the spectacular visuals have since been outmatched. For the most part, in particular the first half of the… Read more

Driveways (2019): A perfectly pitched and executed story of family and belonging, Driveways is a classic feel-good movie infused with just the right amount of melancholy. It’s a wonderful thing when a character actor leaves behind a little gem like this, as is the case of Brian Dennehy. He plays Del, neighbour to Kate and… Read more