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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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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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Review by David Baldwin

The Blooms were an adventurous family who loved spending time outdoors. That changes in an instant during a trip to Thailand when Sam Bloom (Naomi Watts) falls from a platform in a freak accident, breaks her back and becomes paralyzed from the waist down. While Sam and the family learn to cope and understand her new disability, they take in an injured magpie they affectionately name Penguin, or Peng for short. While this new member of the family is initially a burden on Sam, it slowly starts to aid in her recovery.

Penguin Bloom is an inspiring true story that would have really flourished if it were able to have a flashy physical premiere at last fall’s Toronto International Film Festival. The cast would have attended, and the real life Bloom family would have been there too. I can practically feel the energy and thunderous standing applause at the Princess of Wales when the real Sam Bloom wheeled herself out on stage. It would have been a triumphant and vividly emotional moment. Covid robbed us of that, and instead it premiered online and in sparsely attended Lightbox screenings because the festival was only able to sell a set number of seats to each screening. A far cry from the days of 2000+ people crammed in at Princess.

I missed Penguin Bloom at the festival and ended up watching it on Netflix from the comfort of my living room a week ago. I was safe from Covid, but it was an even further cry from that theoretically triumphant premiere that was never able to happen.

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