On Screen

Smart reviews for the visually obsessed. On Screen features film reviews and festival coverage, spotlighting cinematic craft, storytelling and standout performances.

  • Review: ‘Knives Out’ keeps the mystery alive with a classic whodunit (Includes first-hand account)

    A great murder mystery keeps audiences guessing, even as the suspect pool shrinks and all evidence points to one person — there’s always that shadow of a doubt the narrative clings to and nurtures. Whodunits are always fun to watch, or even play, because they rely on so many senses and skills, from keen observation and attention to detail to gut instincts. Moreover, the characters are generally over-the-top personalities who almost always have a motive linked to greed, revenge or both. Then there’s the shrewd detective tasked with solving the crime à la Sherlock Holmes. Knives Out delivers all these elements in an intriguing, yet funny package.

  • Review: ‘Frozen II’ sets Elsa’s origin story to music (Includes first-hand account)

    Disney likes to make a point of mentioning that while the rest of Hollywood is busy making sequels, they’ve only released a handful over nearly a century of animated feature production. That speaks not only to number of original narratives they’ve created, but also the quality and thoughtfulness that goes into the follow-ups they have delivered. This year, Disney adds to those exclusive ranks with their latest animated sequel, which also happens to be its first continuation that could be classified as a musical. Frozen II picks up a few years after the first film concluded with a new mystery to solve.

  • Review: ‘The Good Liar’ is a tricky film that doesn’t always fool viewers (Includes first-hand account)

    The elderly are often targets of scams as their potential loneliness and lesser understanding of technology or finances can make them vulnerable to people waiting in the wings to take advantage. It’s an unfortunate reality that can lend itself to interesting fiction, particularly when marriage is involved. Younger people are often characterized as gold-diggers when they become romantically attached to much older, well-off widows/widowers. However, The Good Liar proposes money can be a motivating factor at any age.

  • Review: ‘Terminator: Dark Fate’ redeems and renews the franchise (Includes first-hand account)

    Sequels and reboots are often confused because they share some characteristics. The former is usually a follow-up to its predecessor, expanding on the original story and often featuring returning cast members. The latter takes the original concept and attempts to build a new story around it with a new cast. The Terminator franchise is rare in that it includes a fair number of both types of pictures. But the general consensus is that the last good movie was the first sequel, Terminator 2: Judgement Day. Taking that into account, creators have returned to the series’ roots with Terminator: Dark Fate.

  • Review: ‘Doctor Sleep’ shines bright in a world of scary ghouls (Includes first-hand account)

    While studios continue to remake decades-old classics, there is growing popularity in producing follow-up narratives that build on rather than retell the original. It certainly helps if the source writer saw fit to revisit the characters in a new novel. With the incentive of adapting another of Stephen King‘s books for the screen and an interesting story to share with a wider audience, The Shining sequel hit theatres. Doctor Sleep is an extension of the first tale as it picks up a few decades in the future, i.e. our present.

  • Review: ‘Zombieland — Double Tap’ nuts up for the sequel (Includes first-hand account)

    It’s not always easy for actors — or audiences — to return to popular characters years after they were last seen. It means filling viewers in on anything they may have missed during the hiatus and finding a natural starting place for the story to resume. Yet, rejoining beloved personalities on their journey can be one of the greatest joys in cinema. Hopefully, rather than a rushed sequel, the follow-up is carefully planned and well thought-out. Perhaps allowing the characters to mature off-screen opens the door to different types of storylines previously incompatible with their arcs. In Zombieland: Double Tap, the foursome are still beating the odds, staying alive… and having fun.

  • Review: ‘Abominable’ is the animated adventure of a lifetime (Includes first-hand account)

    Mythical creatures are great story subjects because in addition to there being no evidence of their existence, there’s also nothing to contradict any characteristic that may be imaginatively applied to them. In fact, it goes to say that if they do exist, they must have exceptional qualities to have stayed hidden for this long. Thus, besides starring in mockumentaries and people’s blurry photos, legendary beasts like Nessy, Bigfoot and the Yeti have also featured regularly in animated pictures. Not surprisingly, Abominable centres on a young yeti far from home who befriends a human girl dealing with her own sense of loss.

  • Review: ‘Ad Astra’ doesn’t have the right stuff (Includes first-hand account)

    We have only explored a fraction of the universe and have yet to even come close to inventing the technology postulated in many science fiction movies. Thus, the genre has the freedom to make its own path and go anywhere the filmmakers’ imaginations take them. In recent years, some have opted to keep it simple by focusing on a lone character in space, while others have revisited monumental events in history. Still others choose to look towards an even more distant future in which advancements in space travel have made the impossible possible. This is the world in which Ad Astra unfolds.

  • Review: ‘It Chapter 2’ is worth the creepy trip back to Maine (Includes first-hand account)

    You can’t always go home again… and sometimes, you flat out don’t ever want to again. Not everyone had happy childhoods, either due to family trauma, schoolyard bullies — or unspeakable monsters hiding around dark corners and in sewer drains. But sometimes going back isn’t a choice. Sometimes going back means fulfilling a promise you made nearly three decades earlier to return if “It” returned. There’s unfinished business in Derry, Maine and only a group of seven now distant friends can put an end to the evil that’s haunted that town for centuries. In It Chapter 2, it’s time for everyone to come home.

  • Review: ‘Ready or Not’ is a bloody good time (Includes first-hand account)

    Marrying someone often means also marrying their pre-existing loved ones — for better or worse. It’s great if your in-laws are wonderful, but can be a real trial if the dislikes outweigh the things you like about them. Or there could just be that one monstrous elephant that’s always in the room when they’re around. In the back of your head, you may wonder if they feel the same way about you… or maybe they haven’t made much of an effort to hide how they really feel. But to keep the peace, you smile politely and go along with their strange family traditions. Unfortunately in Ready or Not, ignoring these signs leads to a potentially fatal wedding night.

  • Review: ‘Where’d You Go, Bernadette’ rides on a stellar performance (Includes first-hand account)

    Being a genius has often gone hand-in-hand with a prevailing sense of individuality, and some level of quirkiness and/or social awkwardness. It’s thought their minds work differently than other people’s, not just in terms of their brilliance but how they relate to the world and other humans. Thus, relationships can be quite challenging, more so for the other person who must learn to accept, tolerate and/or adapt to the prodigy’s eccentricities. There are certainly ups and downs, and not all connexions can survive the extra pressure, but those that do can be wonderful. In Where’d You Go, Bernadette, the stress becomes a little too much and a family reaches its breaking point.

  • Review: ‘Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark’ is limited by age, not scares (Includes first-hand account)

    In every culture, there is a tradition of telling stories to pass down wisdom, as well as warnings about the dangers young people need to learn to avoid. Some of these evolved into local folklore, urban legends or just fictions to frighten and entertain. Passed down between generations and eventually recorded, sharing these tales is a pastime that many enjoy… and some — particularly young campers around campfires — dread. In 1981, Alvin Schwartz published a compilation of these chilling, short narratives, which became a secret pleasure for many adolescent readers. Now, Guillermo Del Toro has produced a big-screen adaptation with its own spectral storyteller, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.