Reviews
"You can't be what you can't see," says Alison Wonderland in Underplayed, a documentary about the dearth of gender, sexual, and ethnic repre...
Articles By Alisha Mughal
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!['Underplayed' Highlights EDM's Diversity Problem — and Shows Why It's So Important to Fix It Directed by Stacey Lee]()
'Underplayed' Highlights EDM's Diversity Problem — and Shows Why It's So Important to Fix It Directed by Stacey Lee Published Mar 05, 2021 -
![iskwē Swaps Out Electro-Pop Immediacy for Orchestral Haunt on 'The Stars' EP]()
Reviewsiskwē Swaps Out Electro-Pop Immediacy for Orchestral Haunt on 'The Stars' EP Published Mar 01, 2021You'd be wrong if you thought iskwē's acākosīk couldn't get better. If the Juno-nominated album can be likened to a beautifully destructive...
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!['Cowboys' Reminds Us That the Kids Are Alright — It's the Parents Who Need to Get It Together Directed by Anna Kerrigan]()
Reviews'Cowboys' Reminds Us That the Kids Are Alright — It's the Parents Who Need to Get It Together Directed by Anna Kerrigan Published Feb 12, 2021The first few moments of Cowboys play out like a Jimmy Stewart Western — The Cheyenne Social Club, to be exact. Two figures riding on a sing...
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!['Judas and the Black Messiah' Offers a Surface Look at an Iconic Political Leader Directed by Shaka King]()
Reviews'Judas and the Black Messiah' Offers a Surface Look at an Iconic Political Leader Directed by Shaka King Published Feb 12, 2021The title of Judas and the Black Messiah sets up a biblical dynamic that the film doesn't quite do justice to. Though a good primer for thos...
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!['Westerns Are the American Myth': Steve Zahn on How 'Cowboys' Sets the Stage for a Hopeful Future]()
Features"Westerns Are the American Myth": Steve Zahn on How 'Cowboys' Sets the Stage for a Hopeful Future Published Feb 12, 2021The reason behind why Steve Zahn agreed to the role of Troy in the Anna Kerrigan's film Cowboys is simple: "I sat down and read it and cried...
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![Bill Jr. Jr.'s 'Homebody' Will Make You Question Space and Time]()
ReviewsBill Jr. Jr.'s 'Homebody' Will Make You Question Space and Time Published Jan 25, 2021The space we occupy is a curious thing. I am in a contained room, but I am also in my mind within a room, and my mind is boundless. Is my ro...
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!['The White Tiger' Offers Incisive Commentary on India's Class Division Directed by Ramin Bahrani]()
Reviews'The White Tiger' Offers Incisive Commentary on India's Class Division Directed by Ramin Bahrani Published Jan 20, 2021It might be tempting to compare The White Tiger to Slumdog Millionaire, but you'd do a disservice to the former specifically and the genre o...
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!['Psycho Goreman' Is Bloody Good Fun Directed by Steven Kostanski]()
Reviews'Psycho Goreman' Is Bloody Good Fun Directed by Steven Kostanski Published Jan 20, 2021In her 1964 essay Notes on 'Camp', Susan Sontag says of camp that it is "the love of the exaggerated." In other words, what is campy isn't n...
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![Chadwick Boseman Gives a Masterful Final Performance in 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom' Directed by George C. Wolfe]()
ReviewsChadwick Boseman Gives a Masterful Final Performance in 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom' Directed by George C. Wolfe Published Dec 17, 2020Ma Rainey's Black Bottom is a perfect example of a well-adapted play: it's economical in its use of space, the monologues are mighty, and pe...
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![Edmonton's Yes Nice Kindle Yacht Rock's 'Eternal Flame']()
ReviewsEdmonton's Yes Nice Kindle Yacht Rock's 'Eternal Flame' Published Dec 08, 2020Yacht rock is like if disco and folk had a super chill baby. Not so much to be danced to as it is a soundtrack to sweet, calm thoughts by th...
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!['Happiest Season' Ought to Be a New Christmas Classic Directed by Clea DuVall]()
Reviews'Happiest Season' Ought to Be a New Christmas Classic Directed by Clea DuVall Published Nov 25, 2020With Happiest Season, Clea DuVall has gifted us what just might be the definitive modern Christmas rom-com (step aside, Love Actually and Th...
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!['Dinner with Friends' Has Too Much Dinner and Not Enough Friends Directed by Nicol Paone]()
Reviews'Dinner with Friends' Has Too Much Dinner and Not Enough Friends Directed by Nicol Paone Published Nov 11, 2020On paper, the Nicol Paone-written and -directed comedy Dinner with Friends looks lighthearted and fun — an easy and entertaining film for th...
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!['White Elephant' Vividly Captures the Canadian Immigrant Experience Directed by Andrew C]()
Reviews'White Elephant' Vividly Captures the Canadian Immigrant Experience Directed by Andrew C Published Oct 29, 2020The importance of Toronto-based director Andrew C's film White Elephant cannot be underestimated or succinctly described. This is, on the on...
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![Netflix's 'Rebecca' Forgets That It's Supposed to Be a Thriller Directed by Ben Wheatley]()
ReviewsNetflix's 'Rebecca' Forgets That It's Supposed to Be a Thriller Directed by Ben Wheatley Published Oct 20, 2020Novelist Daphne du Maurier wove her favourite inspirations — water, dogs, food, suspense — into everything she wrote, from the grandest plot...
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![Hollerado Spinoff Mav Karlo Turns Personal Stories into Universal Healing on 'Strangers Like Us']()
ReviewsHollerado Spinoff Mav Karlo Turns Personal Stories into Universal Healing on 'Strangers Like Us' Published Oct 14, 2020If success in art is measured, not by any academic rubric, but by the universal resonance of a deeply individualistic and personal, often wr...
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![Country Music Film 'Yellow Rose' Contrasts the American Dream with Brutal Immigration Policies Directed by Diane Paragas]()
ReviewsCountry Music Film 'Yellow Rose' Contrasts the American Dream with Brutal Immigration Policies Directed by Diane Paragas Published Oct 07, 2020Yellow Rose — one of the first movies with a Filipina director to be released domestically with Hollywood studio backing — will mightily def...
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!['I'm Thinking of Ending Things' Is a Mind-Bending Glimpse into the Inner Workings of Our Psyche Directed by Charlie Kaufman]()
Reviews'I'm Thinking of Ending Things' Is a Mind-Bending Glimpse into the Inner Workings of Our Psyche Directed by Charlie Kaufman Published Sep 04, 2020Charlie Kaufman's latest meandering mind-bender, I'm Thinking of Ending Things, is a difficult film to talk about because it talks about its...
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!['Fatima' Uses Religious Experiences to Explore Universal Ideas Directed by Marco Pontecorvo]()
Reviews'Fatima' Uses Religious Experiences to Explore Universal Ideas Directed by Marco Pontecorvo Published Aug 27, 2020The world we're in right now might not be the best to release a film about saints and miracles into, which is what it appears to Fatima is a...
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!['Tito' Is a Strange, Lonely Look at the Ups and Down of Friendship Directed by Grace Glowicki]()
Reviews'Tito' Is a Strange, Lonely Look at the Ups and Down of Friendship Directed by Grace Glowicki Published Aug 26, 2020Grace Glowicki's directorial debut, Tito, is a strange little experimental film that garnered much acclaim in 2019 at the South by Southwest...
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![Toronto Indie Rockers BLANKS Are Set to Break Out with Debut EP 'Beyond These Walls']()
ReviewsToronto Indie Rockers BLANKS Are Set to Break Out with Debut EP 'Beyond These Walls' Published Aug 07, 2020Beyond These Walls, the debut EP by Toronto-based power popsters BLANKS, is so great I wish it were a full-length album. Packing a new wave-...
