Roma
From the cinematography to the sound to the acting, this is one excellent film. In…
Ben is Back
You’ve probably heard of this plotline: young adult becomes addicted to drugs, parents try to…
Nothing Like a Dame
This charming and light doc also goes by the name “Tea with the Dames,“ which…
Bohemian Rhapsody
Rami Malek is superb as Freddy Mercury, the leader of the classic rock band Queen,…
The Favourite
Delicious 18th century fun with Queen Anne (a laugh-out-loud Olivia Coleman doing her best as incompetent…
Border
I can honestly tell you that I did not understand this Swedish film about too…
Free Solo
A charming documentary about a, yes, real-life free soloist, the eccentric, sweet, naïve, and obsessed…
Bill Murray: Life Lessons Learned From a Mythical Man
A light, funny, human and sweet ode to the magic of Bill Murray, the man,…
Green Book
Inspired by a true story, this is a tale, set in the early 60s USA, …
A Private War
Marie Colvin was a fearless American-born war correspondent who met her untimely end while reporting…
What They Had
Talented actors Blythe Danner, Hillary Swank, Michael Shannon and Robert Forster make this story of…
Mid90s
An impressive directorial debut for actor Jonah Hill’s with a story set in, yes, the…
Transit
Transit in this film refers to the lives of emigrants and refugees in an imagined…
At Eternity’s Gate
Director Julian Schnabel combines facts with fiction to present us with an up-close-and-very personal vision…
Widows
I’m not sure what all the hype – mostly from critics than the public –…
Burning
There is literal burning in this film, but for the most part this is a…
Prosecuting Evil: The Extraordinary Story of Ben Ferencz
It may sound like a cliché, but this gripping, educational (in the best sense of…
The Hate U Give
Based on a best-selling book, this is a powerful and moving story centred on a…
Can You Ever Forgive Me
A fantastic – and serious -- performance by Melissa McCarthy anchors this based-on-a-true story of…
A Star is Born
The third remake of the original 1930s film of the same name, this is a…
Anthropocene: The Human Epoch
The title relates to the label a number of scientists and others want to give…
93Queen
An inspiring and fascinating documentary set in the (usually) closed to outsiders Hasidic (i.e. ultra-orthodox…
The Guilty
Tense, clever and very enjoyable story of a Danish policeman serving time at a 9-1-1…
First Man
Ryan Gosling, good as ever, plays the strong-but-silent astronaut Neil Armstrong in this story of…
The Sisters Brothers
Wonderful actors John C. Reilly, Joaquin Phoenix and Jake Gyllenhaal team up in this film…
Operation Finale
A dramatization of the Israeli operation to track down, capture and bring to trial in…
The Oath
An “A” for effort and creativity, but a lesser mark for the impact of this…
The Wife
Glenn Close dazzles as the wife of a self-satisfied American professor/writer (well played by Jonathan…
Love, Gilda
A sweet and funny documentary about the late and great comic Gilda Radner, with enjoyable…
Boy, Erased
Based on a memoir of the same name by Jared Conlon (sensitively but not melodramatically…
Searching
In the Silicon Valley area a 16-year old girl goes missing and her widowed father…
A Simple Favor
Anna Kendrick (entertaining as always) and Blake Lively (terrific in this role) are the two…
White Boy Rick
Star Matthew McConaughey and the true story of a teenage boy who, in 1980s Detroit…
A Quiet Place
John Krasinski directed (and co-wrote) this thriller/horror story about a family (actual husband and wife…
Support the Girls
An American indie film set in a highway sports bar/restaurant (think roadside Hooters, if you…
Teen Spirit
It’s a familiar story – a young lady who is a talented singer (or dancer…
The Land of Steady Habits
Director/writer Nicole Holofcener usually has very interesting (and funny) things to say about (mostly female) people…
The Spy Gone North
A quite complicated Cold War story – based on true events -- set in South…
Juliet, Naked
Even the talented actors – Rose Byrne (always delightful), Chris O’Dowd, and Ethan Hawke –…
BlackKKlansman
Director (and one of the writers) Spike Lee at the top of his game. Based…
1945
When two Orthodox Jews (who rarely speak) arrive by train to a small Hungarian village…
Eighth Grade
A highly impressive performance by the young Elsie Fisher, who plays a, yes, eighth-grader --…
The Last Suit
A kind and sad Argentinian film that follows an elderly Holocaust survivor who, before his kids…
Crazy Rich Asians
Audiences and critics have been quite enthusiastic about this rom-com starring an all-Asian cast, set…
Generation Wealth
Director Lauren Greenfield (who made the documentary Queen of Versailles several years ago) returns with a broader…
McQueen
Alexander McQueen, fashion designer extraordinaire, was acknowledged as a genius by pretty much everyone familiar…
The Miseducation of Cameron Post
Actress Chloe Grace Moretz gives a strong performance (with good supporting acting, particularly by John…
Mile 22
A blatant rip-off of the Jason Bourne movie franchise, although significantly less impressive (more clichés,…
Ballet Now
New York Ballet principal ballerina Tiler Peck was, in 2017, the first female to be…
Madeline’s Madeline
This very indie film is set in the world of experimental physical theatre and is…
Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot
Joaquin Phoenix (with solid supporting roles by Jonah Hill and Jack Black) takes command of…
Three Identical Strangers
A fascinating, emotional and well put together documentary about identical triplets separated at birth in…
Leave No Trace
Ben Foster is excellent (as is an up-and-coming young actress, Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie, as his…
Mission: Impossible — Fallout
One of the most enjoyable of this franchise that I’ve seen. Great set-pieces, not weighed…
Sorry to Bother You
An inventive and creative satire, set in, more or less, modern day Oakland, CA, that…
Ant-Man and the Wasp
I wasn’t that familiar with Marvel Comics’ Ant-Man character – a man with the ability…
The Oslo Diaries
A straight forward documentary about the secret negotiations – in Oslo – between Israel (represented…
Upgrade
Set a few years in the future, the “upgrade” of the title refers to the…
The King
Celebrity (e.g. Alec Baldwin, Ethan Hawke, Mike Myers) and other talking heads – who talk…
Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts
A very slow paced feminist “western” set deep in rural Indonesia, the story concerns a…
The Third Murder
A slow-burning Japanese film about what we first believe to be an open-and-shut murder case…
Equalizer 2
If you enjoyed the original Equalizer (also starring Denzel Washington) – and I did, not…
Incredibles 2
I did miss the original Incredibles movie about a family of animated superheroes, so of…
Hearts Beat Loud
A sweet and charming story, which Nick Offerman, and a young actress to watch out…
Won’t You Be My Neighbor
A very well-put together documentary (by filmmaker Morgan Neville, whose doc “20 Feet from Stardom,…
Beast
Once a socially awkward 20-something woman (superbly played by Jessie Buckley) on the island of…
The Accountant of Auschwitz
A fascinating, troubling and thought-provoking documentary about the trial, in Germany, of Oskar Groning, nicknamed…
Sicario: Day of the Soldado
Benicio Del Toro and Josh Brolin are back as a team in this sequel to Sicario (2015),…
Paper Year
There is a grave risk that a tale of very young couple who, on the…
American Animals
Based on the true story of four young American men who carried out the heist…
Hereditary
A generally scary and effective (although overly long) psychological horror story centred around a family…
Bye, Bye, Germany
This German film tries for a tough mix of themes and emotions -- Holocaust-inspired drama…
Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami
I didn’t know much about singer (formerly a model) and pop icon, Grace Jones, and…
Ocean’s 8
From a snappy, sharp and impressive opening scene, this story of a team of talented…
Tag
Hard to believe this tale is inspired by the true story of five American dudes…
The Fourth Estate (Part 1)
Part one of a four-part series taking the viewer behind the scenes at the (failing!)…
Deadpool 2
Ryan Reynolds is back as our most wise-cracking anti-hero (with some superhero powers) for more…
Avengers: Infinity War
Perhaps I’m jaded, but when a flick takes 1.5 hours or so – it felt…
The Rider
When an up-and-coming US rodeo star – whose life, and the life of his family…
RBG
An uplifting, enjoyable and informative documentary about the life of US Supreme Court Justice Ruth…
Itzhak
Itzhak Perlman, a survivor of polio, and as a result, an underestimated child, is one…
Disobedience
While an interesting peek into an ultra-orthodox Jewish community in London, England, I found this…
Bad Samaritan
An fun and clever story of two young restaurant valets whose business model is to…
The Gospel According to Andre
Before reading about this documentary, I was unfamiliar with African American Andre Leon Talley –…
Revenge
I wasn’t planning to watch this film until I read a few positive reviews from…
The Reckoning: Hollywood’s Worst Kept Secret
More than a follow-up to documentary filmmaker/director Barry Avrich’s (full disclosure: he’s my brother-in-law) Unauthorized: The…
Beirut
I quite enjoy tales of political intrigue, especially ones set in the Middle East, but…
I Feel Pretty
I think Amy Schumer is a great comedian and a talented actress, but even she…
Borg vs. McEnroe
Set in 1980, when the threat of a brash, foul-mouthed, young John McEnroe to Bjorn…
You Were Never Really Here
A very dark and disturbing story of a very traumatized (although I’m not exactly sure…
Take Light
A HotDocs festival presentation – which will hopefully find a distributor – this is a…
Isle of Dogs
Another unique and imaginative offering from the creative mind of director and co-writer Wes Anderson.…
Foxtrot
Israel’s entry for this year’s Oscars, this is an emotionally tough, but rewarding, story of…
The Death of Stalin
How else to tell a story surrounding the death in the early 1950s of Joseph…
Unsane
Director Steven Soderbergh has put together a very effective relatively low-budget psychological thriller about a…
Game Night
Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams are two of the talented and funny actors – and…
Blue Jay
A sweet and sentimental tale of two former high-school lovers who run into each other…
Wonder
Young Jacob Tremblay (you may remember his amazing performance in the 2015 film Room) is charming…
The Party
Watching this film will make you feel you are present at an intimate theatrical experience…
West of the Jordan
Israeli filmmaker Amos Gitai captured the challenges of life in the occupied West Bank in…
Brad’s Status
Running a successful non-profit has Brad (Ben Stiller) feeling good until he thinks about the…
1987: When the Day Comes
The murder in 1987 of an university student by members of South Korea’s intelligence officers…
Annihilation
A truly mind-bending and cool sci-fi story powered by women (including Natalie Portman) as a…
Black Panther
Don’t ask me about the backstory to this tale from the good people at Marvel…
Ava
A sad but well-acted (fictional) tale set in Tehran of a teenage girl who, because…
Loveless
Films from Russia have a tendency to be bleak, and this one from the director…
In Between
A very charming, female-centric tale of intersecting lives, over several months, of three Palestinian women…
Machines
Fascinating, gripping and almost wordless documentary of a huge textile factory in India. The camera…
The 15:17 To Paris
A surprisingly drama-free film (except for the last 20 minutes or so), based on the…
Oscar Shorts: Live Action
Each year the five nominees for best live action short films at the Oscars are…
A Fantastic Woman
Chile’s entry for best foreign film at the Oscars stars newcomer Daniela Vega as a…
Fifty Shades Free
First things first: I went to this movie as a favour to someone (whose identity…
The Insult
A Best Foreign-Language Oscar nominee (from Lebanon) this year, the story is set in contemporary…
In the Fade
Diane Kruger is amazing (she won the best actress prize at Cannes for this role)…
Phantom Thread
I’m no expert on the movie industry, but I can’t imagine it would have been…
The Greatest Showman
Hugh Jackman does double duty – singing and dancing – in this entertaining take on…
Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool
Based on a slice of the life of real-world American Oscar-winning (in 1952) actress Gloria…
All the Money in the World
We’ll never know how well (the now disgraced) Kevin Spacey was in the role of…
Call Me By Your Name
Lovely to look at – set in an idyllic-looking village in norther Italy, circa early…
The Post
It’s a Steven Spielberg film, so you can assume it: looks great on the screen;…
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Do I really need to talk about this film – it’s the newest installment in…
The Commuter
Liam Neeson is a captivating screen presence, but OMG, this is one wasted production, filled…
Happy End
If you want to bring to life on the screen the most dysfunctional family, I’m…
12 Strong
The book upon which this film is based tells the incredible story of the first…
The Final Year
There would probably be a bit less interest in this documentary about the last year…
Hostiles
Christian Bale, doing a very fine job as a taciturn, battle-hardened US army captain in…