Reel Encounters

As far as films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe go, “Ant-Man and the Wasp” and its predecessor are clear outliers.

The basketball comedy Uncle Drew rests on the relationship between Lil Rey’s slightly overbearing coach, Dax, and the aging former streetball star, the eponymous Uncle Drew (played by current basketball star Kyrie Irving in heavy prosthetic makeup).

The last few minutes of “Sicario: Day of the Soldado” is a single scene that takes place a year after the rest of the film.

When “The Incredibles” premiered, it was to a markedly different film market in 2004.

In “Ocean’s Eight,” an octet of female grifters join together to pull off a major heist and it centres on jewellery and fashion?

I did not care much for the first “Deadpool” film. I ended up watching it last month, two years after its release, in anticipation of having to review the sequel.

What is it that draws us to nature-based survival tales? Is it a weird sort of schadenfreude where we find it thrilling to watch someone we do not know experiences things we probably could not face?

“Life of Party,” like the recently released “Avengers: Infinity War” before it, ends up interrogating the critic who deigns to write about it.

The weapon of choice for Joe, the hitman protagonist in Lynne Ramsay’s “You Were Never Really Here,” is a hammer.

“I Feel Pretty” ended up being a last minute choice at the cinema this week.

encounterOne of the oddest pieces I read this week about “Avengers: Infinity War” was that it was an example of experimental cinema instead of a blockbuster.

In France, the home of the Cannes Film Festival, films released in theatres cannot be streamed until a 36 month window passes.

The very last moment in John Krasinski’s “A Quiet Place” rests on the deployment of a sound cue that made me want to stand up and cheer, even amidst the troubling implications it raised.

The new romantic comedy “Love, Simon” is all about symmetry. This is a well-ordered world where everyone exists in a state that is not perfect, but rarely uncertain.

Anyone looking for something diverting to see over the weekend should head to Amazon or iTunes to stream the new digital release “The Death of Stalin.”

“Game Night” is the best example of counterprogramming in the cinema right now and it looks likely to be that way until probably May, assuming it remains in theatres.

Critiquing the critics is my least favourite thing about criticism, but here we are.

With the Oscars all handed out, it’s just about time to bid 2017 film year adieu.

How does one even begin to talk about “Black Panther”? The question has been turning over in my head since I saw the movie in a packed theatre last week.

“The Shape of Water” features a beautiful original score but the most significant musical motif of the film is found in the past.