Carol Doda Topless at the Condor – Review

Posted by admin on April 4, 2024
Posted in: 2024, Documentary, Reviews, Uncategorized. Leave a Comment

Review by David Baldwin

In 1964, a cocktail waitress named Carol Doda made history as the first topless dancer in America — or more specifically at the Condor Club bar in the North Beach section of San Francisco. She set off an immediate media frenzy, attracting positive and negative attention to the club where she danced atop a white piano that descended from the ceiling. Her fight to entertain the way she wanted influenced many, as did her silicone enhanced breasts that propelled and created an entire industry.

Co-Directors Marlo McKenzie and Jonathan Parker take on Doda’s story and everything that comes with it in the not-so subtly titled Carol Doda Topless at the Condor. The documentary is a loving ode to the 1960s sex positive icon and revolutionary, and features candid footage from her legendary performances, along with talking head interviews discussing not only her legacy, but the legacy of the bar scene in North Beach as well. They get into some pretty salacious, warts and all details about Doda and the people revolving around her, including memories and rumours involving a death involving the white piano that was such an integral part of Doda’s act.

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Suze – Review

Posted by admin on April 2, 2024
Posted in: 2024, Canadian, Comedy, Drama, Reviews, Uncategorized. Leave a Comment

Review by David Baldwin

Suze (Michaela Watkins) has lost her purpose in life. Her daughter Brooke (Sara Waisglass) has just left home to go to school in Montreal, her ex-husband is having a child with his new wife, and all she has to look forward to is menopause. That is, until she is asked to care for Brooke’s injured ex-boyfriend Gage (Charlie Gillespie) who just attempted suicide and cannot be left alone.

Did I mention Suze cannot stand him?

It is not the most uplifting of pitches and it certainly is not shot in any unique way (though I will never not smile when I watch movies shot in Hamilton), but Suze is actually quite the wonderful little Canadian dramedy that is equally as funny as it is moving. I watched it late at night, assuming I would turn it off after 20-minutes and ended up watching right through until the end. It has a way of sucking you in and staying with you, even in its most cringiest of moments.

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Orah – Review

Posted by admin on February 9, 2024
Posted in: 2024, Canadian, Drama, Reviews, Thriller. Leave a Comment

Review by David Baldwin

Orah (Oyin Oladejo) is an illegal immigrant from Nigeria living and working in Toronto as a cab driver, although it’s more of a front for the money laundering scheme she is helping some nefarious characters do. Why does she do it? Because they have promised to bring her teenage son Lucky (who she has not seen since he was a baby) to Canada for a better life…at some point. When that time finally comes, the deal goes bad and Lucky ends up dead. Confused and distraught, Orah decides to take vengeance on her employers and anyone else involved in his death.

That may sound like a lot — this is before I even attempt to unpack the political malfeasance, the government corruption and Orah’s own dark past that all play into the film’s 95-minute running time — and all of that plotting and endless exposition gets in the way of the genuinely thrilling and unsettling picture Writer/Director Lonzo Nzekwe has concocted here. Part of it feels ripped from the headlines, and part of it feels like wish fulfillment. Wherever Nzekwe took his inspiration, he takes too long setting things into motion and once all the pieces are where they need to be, he never seems to spend enough time with Orah tearing down the system that took her son from her. I understand his hesitation in not wanting to dwell in something that grim and his deeper intention of telling a much larger story; I just wish it was better streamlined and did not get lost in the weeds so often.

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Mission Kandahar – Review

Posted by admin on May 31, 2023
Posted in: 2023, Action, Reviews, Thriller. Leave a Comment

Review by David Baldwin

Remember when Gerard Butler was going to be Hollywood’s next leading man? He was in a few memorable titles in the early 2000s, exploded out of the gate with 300 in 2007, landed himself in a few action hero and rom-com flicks, and then coasted along on the most random mix of basically every genre you can think of. Witness his output from 2013-2016 – a bit part as a “Leprechaun” in the ludicrous Movie 43, the lead in the “Die Hard in the White House” thriller Olympus Has Fallen, the voice of Jay Baruchel’s Dad in How to Train Your Dragon 2, a villainous Egyptian god (which, hilarious) in Gods of Egypt, the sequel London Has Fallen and a dramatic role in A Family Man, which premiered at TIFF in 2016. I have absolutely zero recollection of its existence. I am not sure if that list shows the man’s range, his eclectic taste in roles or is a literal manifestation of Hollywood not having any idea what to do with this guy.

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Inside Out 2022 – Compulsus

Posted by admin on June 3, 2022
Posted in: 2022, Inside Out, Reviews, Romance, Thriller. Leave a Comment
Image Courtesy of Inside Out

Review by David Baldwin

Wally (Lesley Smith) is a lesbian who has never been abused by a man. Unfortunately, her friends have, as have many young women they know. Tired of hearing about the pain these women have suffered and the abusers not facing any consequences, Wally starts taking the law into her own hands. As her vigilante tactics become more brazen, so too does her desire for blood.

Watching Compulsus is akin to receiving a shotgun blast to the chest — or in this case, getting the shit kicked out of you. Writer/Director Tara Thorne has composed a picture that is seething with rage. Rage for the women who have suffered. Rage for the shitty men who got away with it. Rage for the complete normalcy of gender-based violence. The fact that this film premieres at Inside Out the same week of the Johnny Depp/Amber Heard trial verdict is a sheer coincidence (or dumb luck on the part of the programmers), but it makes the story in Compulsus all the more frightening relevant.

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EarthX Film Festival – Fire of Love and We Feed People

Posted by admin on May 23, 2022
Posted in: 2022, Capsules, Documentary, EarthX, Film Musings, Oscars, Reviews. Leave a Comment
Image Courtesy of the EarthX Film Festival

By David Baldwin

The EarthX Film Festival wraps up today with its last day of virtual screenings. The festival’s in-person portion ran from May 12-15 in Dallas, Texas and virtual screenings ran from May 16-23. The festival’s mission is:

“…to bring awareness of the environmental crisis in order to create sincere action on both an individual and communal scale; to inspire local and global change on how we as humans affect our home planet and our fellow beings. We aim to include Texas, and the Southwest, in the conversation on climate change through compassionate, positive, truthful storytelling.”

While I was not in the ground in Dallas, I did have the opportunity to view two of the bigger titles at the festival: Fire of Love and We Feed People.

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Senior Year – Review

Posted by admin on May 14, 2022
Posted in: 2022, Comedy, Coming Of Age, Netflix, Reviews. Leave a Comment
Image Courtesy of Netflix

Review by David Baldwin

Stephanie Conway (Rebel Wilson) has just woken up from a 20-year coma. Prior to that, she was one of the most popular girls in high school and the captain of the cheerleading squad. Now, she is a 37-year-old woman who is desperate to finish her senior year and become the prom queen she felt she was always destined to become. Of course, things are not the same in 2022 as they were in 2002, and it will not be easy for Stephanie to just reclaim her throne as the most popular girl in school.

Hijinx ensue of course, with rivalries, potential suitors, “woke” teenagers and activists, elaborately sexual dance routines, underage drinking, Deep Impact, Steve Aoki, and the senior prom all factoring into the story powering Senior Year. If that sounds like a bit too much going on, well, it is. If it sounds like it has a “been there, seen that, done it, threw out the t-shirt” kind of vibe, then you are very much on the right track. If it sounds like the funniest film ever made, then we may need to reconsider what you think is funny.

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The Sadness – Review

Posted by admin on May 14, 2022
Posted in: 2022, Action, Horror, Reviews, Satire, Science Fiction, Thriller. Leave a Comment
Image Courtesy of Raven Banner

Review by David Baldwin

I am still somewhat aghast when it comes to The Sadness. I watched it more than two weeks ago and no amount of cold showers can wash away the shockingly vicious images that have seared into my mind. I know that sounds like hyperbole and that just about every other super gory horror movie has struck a similar nerve in the film going community over the past decade or two. I am a fan of many of those films and watched many others strictly because I pride myself on my tolerance for films that more squeamish people would run away screaming from. Yet despite some of those titles being substantially more mortifying than The Sadness, the film still has a way of leaving you shaken and uneasy. Have you ever watched a movie and breathed a sigh of relief when it does not go as far as you thought it would? Well, The Sadness does the opposite – it goes well past the threshold of “too far” and into a realm of depravity few films have ever journeyed into.

And just so you know Writer/Director Rob Jabbaz (originally from Mississauga!) is not playing around, he makes that depraved journey multiple times. And each time is more fucked up than the last.

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Texas Chainsaw Massacre – Review

Posted by admin on February 18, 2022
Posted in: 2022, Horror, Netflix, Remake, Requel, Reviews, Thriller. Leave a Comment

Review by David Baldwin

Based on some of the tweets I have been seeing on Film Twitter this past week, I feel confident saying a whole lot of people are going to proclaim this newest incarnation of Texas Chainsaw Massacre as the worst movie of the year. Maybe even the decade. Perhaps even of the entire franchise that has spanned six decades and counting. After that first trailer hit a few weeks ago, it is an easy target. The film revolves around a group of Gen Z entrepreneurs descending into a deserted, rundown Texas town they may or may not own all of the property deeds to, and selling each building to young investors looking to invest their money in an untapped real estate market. It all feels a little too on the nose and their running into Leatherface (Mark Burnham) feels all too well choreographed — and a not so subtle take on the implications of gentrification. Not one of these characters is well characterized, no matter how much time they have on-screen. With the exception of one minor individual, the rest spend the movie as lambs acting and reacting to their being led to slaughter.

So if you are hoping for more nuance, depth or a reason for this “requel” to exist…you likely will not find any of that here and should probably just skip it.

On the other hand, if you are looking to quench a bloodthirsty itch for young people getting destroyed by chainsaws and sledgehammers, well then you are in luck! Because Texas Chainsaw Massacre is extremely pleased to deliver on those fronts, by the bucket load.

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The Novice – Review

Posted by admin on December 17, 2021
Posted in: 2021, Coming Of Age, Drama, Horror, Thriller. Leave a Comment

Review by David Baldwin

Alex Dall (Isabelle Fuhrman) is a queer college freshman looking to make a name for herself. She overdoes it on her studies — frequently writing tests twice or three times in the time it takes everyone to do it once — and is obsessed with being the top of the pack. She joins the university’s rowing team in order to prove how much better she is than the rest of her teammates, and begins to push herself to physical and mental extremes in order to succeed. And she does not care who gets in her way of doing it.

In her debut feature, Writer/Director Lauren Hadaway has created a singular and hypnotic vision of the lengths one young woman takes to succeed. The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival earlier this year and was just nominated for five Independent Spirit Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director for Hadaway. I watched the film a few weeks ago on a whim, and found myself unable to look away from the intensely wild ride Hadaway has created. While it would be incredibly easy to compare it to Damien Chazelle’s unforgettable Oscar-winner Whiplash (and believe me when I say people have already started to), The Novice feel like it is so much more than that.

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