6u532b

I hope Specs is ok.

How many films have credits for polar bear guards & the star listed as a biplane pilot?  I shall miss the Tom Cruze Stunt Spectacular.

I liked it better the first time I saw it. When it was called Ghostwatch.

Watched on Sunday June 1, 2025.

I think Drew did the DC satire so she could sneak the UCB and Lorne Michaels behind a shed and beat them to death.

I’m guessing he & Hartman never reconciled, which is sad.  Heck of a doc. You can feel the tension between Reubens & Wolf.

Bonus star for the “death enters through the mouth” line.  

I’m still not 💯 on telling her and Garofalo apart.

Watched on Monday May 26, 2025.

I just realized my GM does an amazing Merkin Muffley voice.

Fun to watch after Andor’s conclusion. Loss upon loss in pursuit of freedom is a story that’s kind of always important.

Watched on Saturday May 17, 2025.

I liked this movie.

An interesting cop thriller. All the mood of late 90s cop drama with the juiciest squibs this side of Hong Kong & so many smokes you’ll never believe it.

Watched on Friday May 2, 2025.

Watched on Saturday April 26, 2025.

Scan me my good man!

Even better the second time in 15 perfs.

A work of ambition. The craft of muppeterring goes to its next level. The story is muffled and terrifying to the audience who’d go to a Jim Henson film.

I hadn’t seen this in too long. What a delightful movie.  Just thaws and shatters the ice around my grumpy heart.

Fill yer hands you son of a bitch!

Watched on Friday April 18, 2025.

Hate to be a killjoy but the Saradia stuff is just a bit racist. Biollante is a neat little kaiju, and I could very much see enjoying this more in a theatre.

Aging well.

When I saw Shadow in the Cloud there was an action beat which made me make a face. It hadn’t been earned by what had happened so far. This? Earned it and more so.

An absolute delight. I hate to use the word stylish but it fits.  The deadliest thing in the movie are the leads cheekbones.

The existential horror of failing a CAPTCHA. I thought they were sitting at a voight campf test in the establishing shot.

Gotta rewatch this sometime when I’m less sleepy. A low budget supernatural CBM  is an idea.

Mid tier Xenofun. A couple too many references but the film is fun. I liked the dad joke Android.

Sweet docco on the history and present of children’s picture books.  I’d forgotten about the five Chinese  brothers.

I forgot how French this was.  Still enjoyable. A Franco-Wuxia Jaws.

Watched on Saturday March 22, 2025.

Watched on Sunday March 16, 2025.

It’s always nice to see an animated feature.  Wasn’t feeling 100% so I don’t think I was feeling this movie 100%.  Did not grab me as much as it has others, but de gustibus non est disputandum.

All the fucking nerds who were upset they didn’t form a thruple in Challengers are gonna have the worst case of polyamory blue balls after seeing this movie.

Watched on Monday February 8, 1999.

This review may contain spoilers.

I kind of hate seeing a film that’s important. But this kind of is.  The GWoT has killed more veterans than it did servicemen.   It’s still a well crafted film (not as funny as it might have been)  and manages to punch you in your heart a bunch.  The revelation of shag happened to Zoe becomes a big test, which was good.

A modern take on someone getting psychic powers that’s faded into time. It was watchable but I had no desire to revisit it since. The 10% thing is just so lazy.

Quan and Debose may wish to have meeting with their agents (at least it’s better than Argylle) but it was a fun night at the movies.

The film gets criticized for its linearity but that’s also the most painful part of it, getting to see the cascade of dissents Ginsburg had to write in the last decade of her career.

Neat little making of about some online folks who produce Hamlet in gta online. A few Hmmm moments but get with the vibe and it’s good.

Perfect Valentine’s viewing.

Watched on Sunday February 16, 2025.

God I love this movie. I wanna rewatch Double Dare & then put on Vol 2.

A big 🖕🏽🖕🏽🖕🏽 to all the ducking nerds who say “ohhh, the never ending story grave me trauma! It scarred me!”  

You don’t have a fucking idea what trauma is.  This is the Soviet war movie of kids films.  It left a generation of preteens weeping in their wood led basements.

What I wanted and what I got were different things.  You cast America’s finest Italian American actor as Sidewinder and waste him like this? Disappointed.

Today I learned I know nothing about Benin. Fascinating film. Loved watching the students debate the significance of the returned artifacts.

Well this is some whitewashing madness.  Gorgeous animation.

Extra star for Danny Trejo Rancor Keeper.

Watched on Thursday February 9, 2006.

An incredible glimpse into a moment in American history.  I could watch ten more hours of this.

Each week on Ken and Robin Talk about Stuff, Kenneth Hite & Robin Laws discuss recently consumed media (films, books, television) and what they feel. A rare subsection of films are assigned the rating of The Pinnacle.

Make sure to read the notes!

Please note, the ratings are my own and may not reflect Ken & Robin's opinions.

• Incredibles 2

  Incredibles 2 (Film, US, Brad Bird, 2018) Elasti-Girl (Holly Hunter) and Mr. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson) switch domestic roles when she becomes the face of a tech mogul’s (Bob Odenkirk) attempt to restore the public image of superheroes. Literally everything works here, from Bird’s writing to the beyond-state-of-the-art action sequences, but special kudos to Michael Giacchino’s score, which perfectly homages spy-fi soundtracks of yore while kicking the animation into over-overdrive. Maybe it doesn’t aim super-high, but replicating a Pinnacle fourteen years later remains pretty incredible. –KH

• The Killing of a Sacred Deer

  The Killing of a Sacred Deer (Film, UK/Ireland/US, Yorgos Lanthimos, 2017) Arrogant heart surgeon (Colin Farrell) takes an interest in a dead patient’s son (Barry Keoghan), bringing weird vengeance on his wife (Nicole Kidman) and family. Affectless line readings, hyper-banal dialogue, sun-drenched visuals and boundary-less characters converge to create quietly excruciating tension long before the film reveals its true genre. Such a slow burn that it’s almost a spoiler to tell you it’s supernatural horror, but if I don’t you won’t all watch it, will you?—RDL

• Phantom Thread

  Phantom Thread (Film, Paul Thomas Anderson, 2017) A young woman (Vicky Krieps). the latest mode//lover to a tempermental fashion designer (Daniel Day Lewis), determines to surmount his plethora of emotional barriers, many of them abetted by his sister/business partner (Lesley Manville.) Sumptuous, sly exploration of the roles power and dependency play in love.—RDL

  Phantom Thread (Film, US, Paul Thomas Anderson, 2017) Couturier to the 1950s London elite Reynolds Woodcock (Daniel Day-Lewis) adds a new lover/model to his ensemble, Alma (Vicky Krieps). Her refusal to be relegated to backdrop, and the interplay of both with Reynolds’ sister/manager Cyril (Leslie Manville) drive the strangely Gothic comedy or arch drama to its sublime conclusion. Jonny Greenwood’s score and (of course) Mark Bridges’ costumes deepen and perfect this work of art about the work of art. –KH

• Wormwood

  Wormwood (Television, US, Errol Morris, Netflix) Through the eyes of the son who has never let it go, this documentary series probes into the 1953 death by defenestration of military research scientist Frank Olson, long linked to MK-ULTRA, the CIA program of LSD experimentation. Morris continues to expand the formal boundaries of the documentary, here using collage, mulit-cam split screen and dramatization sequences that use the full palette of cinema, from score and composition to the casting of such stellar actors as Peter Sarsgaard, Molly Parker and Tim Blake Nelson. Through these devices he brings forth a profound emotional resonance that could easily have gone missing amid the story’s labyrinthine layers of conspiracy.—RDL

• Lady Bird

  Lady Bird (Film, US, Greta Gerwig, 2017) Would-be free spirit Christine “Lady Bird” (Saoirse Ronan) and her hard-headed, hard-working mother (Laurie Metcalf) clash in this beautifully grounded teen coming-of-age film packed with genuinely human characters. Gerwig’s script and Ronan’s acting outdo each other to illuminate Lady Bird’s sometimes desperate random walk out of high school and out of Sacramento. As great as Ronan is, though, Metcalf is somehow even better. Gerwig’s relatively conventional two-shot setups are a bit static (Nick Houy’s staccato editing improves them mightily) but they capture the superb performances throughout, which is in fairness exactly what they should be doing. –KH

• The Girl with All the Gifts

  The Girl With All the Gifts (Film, UK, Colm McCarthy, 2016) The titular girl is Melanie (Sennia Nanua) and among her gifts are politeness, eidetic memory, and symbiosis with the zombie plague. What could have gone wrong or remained routine with a lazier treatment becomes a mythic journey worthy of Matheson and Romero. Gorgeously lensed by Simon Dennis, and surgically scripted by M.R. Carey, this is easily the best zombie film since 28 Days Later. –KH

  The Girl With All the Gifts (Film, UK, Colm McCarthy, 2016) Preteen girl (Sennia Nanua) whose version of the fungal infection that has triggered a zombie apocalypse flees the base where she was about to be vivisected along with a sympathetic teacher (Gemma Arterton), gruff sergeant (Paddy Considine) and the single-minded researcher who still regards her as a vital biological sample (Glenn Close.) Would be worth a recommend strictly for its well-extrapolated fungal undead rules; the emotional journey of its unique protagonist makes it an instant add to the zombie canon.—RDL

• Dunkirk

  Dunkirk (Film, UK/US, Christopher Nolan, 2017) Expertly and constantly building tension for 100 minutes across three braided timelines moving at different speeds, Nolan uses minimal dialogue and Hans Zimmer’s overwhelming score to tell three men’s stories as synecdoche for the whole evacuation. Everything about the film is technically masterful, but I could single out Mark Rylance’s performance and the air combat scenes, starring a restored Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IA that Nolan loves like no man has ever loved an airplane. –KH

• The Bad Batch

  The Bad Batch (Film, US, Ana Lily Amirpour, 2017) Sentenced as an undesirable to a vast, lawless Texas internment zone, a young woman (Suki Waterhouse) plans vengeance against the cannibal community that cut off and ate her arm and leg. Visually bold, sometimes shocking post-apocalyptic western. With Jason Momoa as the main people-eater, Keanu Reeves as a local potentate who looks like Andy Kaufman’s Tony Clifton character, and an unrecognizable Jim Carrey in the old coot role.—RDL. Seen at TIFF ‘16; now in theatrical release.

• Baby Driver

  Baby Driver (Film, US, Edgar Wright, 2017) Preternaturally talented wheelman who needs tunes to keep him steady (Ansel Elgort) seeks escape from his role as a getaway driver under the command of criminal mastermind Doc (Kevin Spacey) and his rotating crew of armed robbers. Leveling up in his mastery of pure cinema, Wright delivers a classic title to both the crime and the car movie canons.—RDL

• Get Out

  Get Out (Film, US, Jordan Peele, 2017) The misgivings of a young black photographer (Daniel Kaluuya) over meeting his new white girlfriend’s parents take a turn toward terror. Rod Serling-style satirical social horror isn’t built to sustain itself at feature length, but don’t tell that to Jordan Peele, who picks up that neglected mantle and, with brilliant, multi-layered execution, does exactly that and so much more.—RDL

...plus 89 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• Better Man
• 2001: A Space Odyssey
• Hogfather
• Every Which Way but Loose
• Kong: Skull Island

• Kung Fu Panda
• Kung Fu Panda 2
• Kung Fu Panda 3
• Kung Fu Panda 4

From this post on his site: hudlinentertainment.com/reggies-black-history-month-film-festival/

• Marshall

  I always placed Thurgood Marshall on the same pedestal that I placed Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. Three different men who dedicated their lives to helping Black people, and in doing so, transformed America and made the world a better place.
  I never thought I would get the opportunity to make a film about his life, but it happened! Producer Paula Wagner brought me the script, and a Chinese company financed the film after every studio in Hollywood turned it down. I assembled a dream cast with Chadwick Boseman, Josh Gad, Sterling K. Brown and Kate Hudson and we made a movie about Thurgood’s early years as a bold, fly and cocky lawyer who fought for justice against incredible odds.

• The Black Godfather

  Sometimes heroes are famous. Sometimes their stories are lost in history, sometimes, like in the case of Clarence Avant, heroes don’t seek the spotlight. Sometimes being famous gets in the way of getting things done.
  That’s one of the many lessons to be learned watching THE BLACK GODFATHER, where you see a man overcome one giant obstacle after the next to become a force in the entertainment business, a master negotiator, a huge er of political change, and a loving husband and father. This movie is a blueprint for success.
  THE BLACK GODFATHER is available on Netflix.

• Sidney

  Sidney Poitier is one of the most important actors in history. Not only was he a master thespian, his contributions on and off screen to the civil rights movement had worldwide impact. I was honored to tell his story, coming from an island with no resources except the wisdom and willpower given to him by his parents, and his ability to evolve with the times and opportunity.
  Two time Oscar winner, author, director, producer, Ambassador to Japan, father of six daughters, friends with Harry Belafonte, Marlon Brando, Quincy Jones, Barbra Streisand, Paul Newman, mentor to Denzel Washington and many more….Sidney Poitier is everything.
  SIDNEY is available on Apple Plus.

• Phat Tuesdays: The Era of Hip Hop Comedy

  Our history isn’t just about great men, but great institutions and movements. My docu-series PHAT TUESDAY is about the evolution of Black comedy was fostered by Black comedy clubs like The Comedy Act Theater and Phat Tuesdays, which led to a nationwide transformation of how Black comedy was brought into the mainstream, leading to more movies and TV shows.
  PHAT TUESDAY has the funniest people ever in it, including Steve Harvey, Dave Chappelle, Cedric the Entertainer, Joe and Guy Torry, Bill Bellamy, Lil Rel, Tiffany Haddish, Bob Saget, Snoop Dogg, Anthony Anderson, Regina King, Nick Cannon, JB Smoove, Kym Whitley, Flame Monoe and more.
  PHAT TUESDAY is available on Amazon Prime.

• Django Unchained

  Unlike the other films on this list, I didn’t direct this one, but I’m very proud being a producer on this masterpiece by Quentin Tarantino. DJANGO UNCHAINED is a fictional story, but very much grounded in true stories about that horrible era in American history.
  A lot of people complain about not wanting to watch “slave movie” and dismissing them as torture porn. I understand that complaint, but DJANGO UNCHAINED is the opposite of that. It’s a movie that will make you laugh, cringe in horror and cheer wildly. We need more stories like this on the big screen!

The 2nd annual Robin and Valerie International Film Festival announces its 2023 line-up.

You may be wondering what the heck I’m talking about.

Two years ago at the end of the Toronto International Film Festival Valerie and I decided that distribution for foreign, art house and cult titles had reached a stage where we could have a better experience watching titles programmed at home. For a more detailed explanation of our switch from the rigors of an official fest to the affordable, stress-free homemade one, see last year’s announcement.

Once again I have selected from streaming subscription platforms and video on demand titles to assemble a list resembling the TIFFs of yore, hopefully with fewer duds and definitely with easier bathroom breaks and more pauses for naps.

I have favored newer titles wherever possible, in some case reaching back a few years to catch a film we missed from a TIFF fave auteur, or to fill in a particular category, like the doc about movies that ideally starts any fest.

This year I have reached way back into the old modus operandi of our once-favorite fest to program an Open Vault title—a restored and rediscovered film, in this case an American indie from 1961.

really pulled ahead in the rankings this year, thanks in part to double headers from Claire Denis and François Ozon. I have programmed more films from Japan and South Korea than TIFF would in any given year, because now I am the boss.

Some of you may want to play along at home. Unbelievably, two of you ordered the shirts last year!

As you read the descriptive blurbs below, that I haven’t yet seen any of these films and am paraphrasing the promo text. Last year in a couple of cases I discovered that I had badly garbed some of the taglines. I’ve probably done it again; use at your own risk.

Availability will vary by territory; check your local version of JustWatch to see what might be playing on a service near you. I’m in Canada and have chosen titles from Crave, Criterion, Kanopy, Mubi, Prime, and Netflix. I’ll be renting from Amazon, Google, and Apple.

• Hal

  Hal [US, Amy Scott, 2018, 4] Documentary profiles Hal Ashby, the combative, instinct-driven director of seminal American New Wave films including Harold and Maude, The Last Detail, Coming Home and Shampoo. Moving portrait of an uncompromising artist who fought the system when it was weak enough to sometimes lose.

• I Like Movies

  I Like Movies [Canada, Chandler Levack, 2022, 4] High school senior and aspiring filmmaker who masks his mental health issues with insufferable arrogance gets a shot of reality when he takes a job at a video store. Observational dramedy regards its protagonist with a rueful sympathy that cuts through the usual phony nostalgia of the coming-of-age genre.

• The Novelist's Film

  The Novelist’s Film [South Korea, Hong Sang-soo, 2022, 4] A day of mostly chance encounters with past acquaintances leads an acclaimed novelist (Lee Hye-yeong) to try her hand at filmmaking. A strong entry in the prolific director’s career-long exploration of social awkwardness, metatextuality, and the revelatory permission granted by alcohol—in this case, makgeolli.

• Alcarràs

  Alcarràs [Spain, Carla Simón, 2022, 4] Family of peach farmers face an uncertain future when their orchard, which they own only by an old verbal contract, is slated for replacement by a solar installation. Naturalistic ensemble drama portrays the 21st century version of the agrarian struggle, with a truthful look at familial conflicts.

• Return to Seoul

  Return to Seoul [, Davy Chou, 2022, 5] Young French woman (Park Ji-min) initiates years of inner turmoil when, during an unexpected trip to Korea she ambivalently seeks her birth parents. Incisive writing and emotion-packed visuals brought into stunning focus by a searing, lucid performance from Park. And it’s her first movie role!

• Outrage Coda

  Outrage Coda [Japan, Takeshi Kitano, 2017, 4] A murder committed by a dimwitted mid-level yakuza on Jeju Island Korea brings the dangerous gangster Otomo (Beat Takeshi) back to Japan to unleash a final eruption of violent reprisal. After the nihilistic contempt of the first two installments, Kitano lets some of the elegiac wryness of his earlier crime films creep back into the trilogy’s conclusion.

• Arab Blues

  Arab Blues [/Tunisia, Manele Labidi, 2019, 4] Parisian psychoanalyst (Golshifteh Farahani) moves back to her childhood home in Tunis to open a practice, finding surprising demand for treatment and resistance from family and a handsome but rule-bound police officer. Comic drama takes on the clash between secular and Islamist worldviews with the subversive weapon of charm.

• The Kings of the World

  The Kings of the World [Colombia, Laura Mora Ortega, 2022, 4] Receiving notice that he has won legal title to a small restituted property, a Medellin street kid sets out with his buddies on a dangerous journey into the rural highlands. An immersive quest as unnerving as it is visually poetic, in a style that traces its descent from Terence Malick.

• The Five Devils

  The Five Devils [, Léa Mysius, 2022, 4] Uncanny powers awaken in an observant 8 year old (Sally Dramé) when the release of her father’s sister (Swala Emati) from psychiatric confinement upsets her beloved mom (Adèle Exarchopoulos.) Creates an absorbing union of opposites by presenting Stephen King-esque subject matter in an assured French art cinema style.

  This might have scored a higher profile among fans of horror-adjacent or fantastic cinema if the North American marketing campaign had remotely hinted at its actual content.

• By the Grace of God

  By the Grace of God [, François Ozon, 2019, 4] When they discover years after their childhood abuse that the priest responsible is still in with children, a group of men in Lyon launch what becomes a multi-pronged process to seek justice and reform of the Catholic church. Ozon adopts a matter-of-fact docudrama style that embraces the literal and emotional complexities of an infuriating and all too familiar real story, here with the victims at its center.

...plus 35 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• Detour
• Forty Guns
• Female Trouble
• The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice
• Le Samouraï
• Frownland
• Pale Flower
• Dekalog
• One False Move

Sometimes cinema is a case of diminishing returns. Sometimes, they come back better than ever. These are those times.

• Gremlins 2: The New Batch
• Aliens
• Highlander II: The Quickening
• The Empire Strikes Back
• Terminator 2: Judgment Day

So I'm just going to collect pulpish movies about Jesus Christ.

• Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter
• Assassin 33 A.D.
• The Devil Conspiracy

• Avatar

  The GOAT of modern 3D. IMAX if you can but that’s always my preference.

• Dredd

  This film was so enjoyable. Should have gotten more love. If you get the chance to see it in 3D I encourage it.

• Drive Angry

  I think it was? I can’t recall much about the film in that format other than it worked.

• A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas

  It's a funny holiday comedy with some neat 3D. The most distinctive is Danny Trejo ejaculating on a Christmas tree.

• Hugo
• Avatar: The Way of Water

  The king is back!

• Towelhead
• Detroit Unleaded

From Ken and Robin Talk about Stuff.
Last year my wife Valerie and I concluded the second at-home edition of the long-running Toronto International Film Festival by deciding to break up with it entirely. Briefly, the cost in money, effort and frustration of doing the festival full-out, as we have since 1986, has steadily gone up over the years. With the growth of streaming bringing home access to titles that would previously have been inaccessible outside the festival circuit, we realized that we could program a personalized fest that would be less grueling, cheaper, and, above all, would include more bangers and fewer duds than the experience we’d be emulating. For us it’s never been about seeing things before anyone else does. A film we dig from 2019 or 2021 is no less rewarding than one that won’t hit theaters until 2023.

Plus, when my programming chops fail me, we can bail on a title and pick one of the many options on my backup list. It’s like the very old days of TIFF, when it was called the Festival of Festivals, where holders could jump out of movies that weren’t working for them, riffle through their program books in search of something more promising, and beetle off to a different screening entirely.

In addition to the option of hitting the pause button whenever one of us starts to fall asleep, the RVIFF offers another advantage. Instead of telling you about movies you’ll probably have forgotten about by the time you can actually see them, I can point you to ones you can watch right now. Provided that the gods of territorial rights distribution smile upon you.

I’ve chosen 45 films in the spirit of the TIFFs of yore, reflecting their programming mix and what we would make of it in narrowing down their 250+ titles into our personal lists. Which would then be shifted about to accommodate the vagaries of venues, screening times, and the need to squeeze in food breaks. With a bias toward titles released in the last few years, that means works by favorite directors, international cinema, elevated genre, and the cult movies you’d see in TIFF’s vaunted Midnight Madness program. The fave directors program includes recent titles art house aficionados well may have seen already, including some of Ken’s recent recommendations. Since the RVIFF allows me to cheat and pick only acclaimed titles, I’ve made more Canadian selections that I would dare include at TIFF.

Our festival runs on the same dates as TIFF, from the evening of Thursday September 8th to Sunday September 18th. Having read this far, I’m sure you’ve decided to cancel all other plans to watch all of these films along with us, exactly when we watch them. the RVIFF 2022 schedule, timed to the minute.

I have chosen titles either on subscription platforms or available for regular priced rental here in Canada. My sources are Apple rental, Crave, Criterion, Google rental, Kanopy, MUBI, Netflix, Prime, and, to throw in a wrench, TVO. Availability in your territory will surely vary. Start your search for title availability and platform at JustWatch.com, which covers plenty of regions. (But does not list Kanopy titles, so you’ll have to search there if you’re using that library-based service.)

Because I was just joking about you actually wanting the full schedule, here’s a list of titles, in the order RVIFF will be screening them. I haven’t yet seen any of these films, so let’s hope I got the descriptions right without giving myself any spoilers.

• My Name Is Gulpilil
• Scarborough
• Coppers
• Hive
• Sheep Without a Shepherd
• Crimes of the Future
• Nomad: In the Footsteps of Bruce Chatwin
• Hey There!
• Fagara
• Night Raiders

...plus 35 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Director Lexi Alexander shared her ten favourite christmas movies.

Source: twitter.com/lexialex/status/1465138846551654406?s=21 (that tweet is gone now, as she doesn't keep her old tweets active).

• Tokyo Godfathers
• Trading Places
• Scrooge
• Scrooged
• Pastorela
• Three Wishes for Cinderella
• Christmas Holidays
• Nativity!
• Home Alone
• Gremlins

Just that, you know? 🎄🌃

• All Is Bright
• Christmas, Again

• Flash Gordon

  I feel sorry for the cast.

• Highlander

  So terrible.

• Bohemian Rhapsody

  Good going Rami! Still terrible.

• Mister Frost
• The Tall Guy

• Mad Max: Fury Road
• Atomic Blonde

• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2