Film Review Archives - Queen's Journal

As an older sister, ‘Encanto’ felt like a love letter

Written on February 4, 2022. Posted in Lifestyle.

When I watched Disney’s Encanto, I felt like the movie was designed for me. The film follows the Madrigal family, who live in their enchanted “casita” in a lush Colombian village. Every Madrigal child has been granted a gift from a miraculous candle that blessed Alma Madrigal—the matriarch of the...

Steven Kostanski’s horror-comedy ‘Psycho Goreman’ filmed in St. Catharines

Written on March 5, 2021. Posted in Arts.

In the film Psycho Goreman, the titular monster was born on the planet Gigax, millions of lightyears from Earth. The movie was shot somewhere a little closer to home: St. Catharines, Ontario. Canadian director Steven Kostanski of Raven Banner Entertainment spoke to The Journal about the making of...

Men: Please watch ‘Promising Young Woman’

Written on February 2, 2021. Posted in Lifestyle, Pop Culture.

This article discusses sexual assault and may be triggering for some readers. The Journal uses “survivor” to refer to those who have experienced sexual assault. We acknowledge this term is not universal. The Kingston Sexual Assault Centre’s 24-hour crisis and support phone line can be reached at 613-544-6424...

Muslim International Film Festival makes history in October debut

Written on November 6, 2020. Posted in Arts.

The Muslim International Film Festival (MIFF) had its inaugural debut in Toronto on Oct. 30. The festival, a celebration of Muslim excellence in the filmmaking industry, was a compilation of eight short films and two feature films presented at the Ontario Place Drive-In. MIFF was launched and founded...

‘Chemical Hearts’ is an honest teenage romance

Written on September 29, 2020. Posted in Lifestyle, Pop Culture.

Last weekend, I was snuggled up on the couch scrolling through Amazon Prime, browsing for a good flick to take my mind off all the studying I was neglecting. I stumbled across the trailer for Chemical Hearts, a teen drama starring Lili Reinhart (Riverdale) and Austin Abrams (Euphoria). It seemed like...

Everyone is a sinner in ‘The Devil All the Time’

Written on September 25, 2020. Posted in Lifestyle, Pop Culture.

In The Devil All the Time, nobody is without sin—and some characters have sinned a lot more than they let on. Netflix’s new exclusive film follows Arvin, played by Tom Holland, a young man who’s grappling with tragic circumstances and his own inner demons. The violent tone for the film is established...

Charlie Kaufman outdoes himself with perplexing take on Queen’s alumnus’ novel

Written on September 11, 2020. Posted in Arts.

This article contains minor spoilers for the film and novel I’m Thinking of Endings Things. The films of Charlie Kaufman are meta and hard to parse, but in his latest, I’m Thinking of Ending Things, adapted for Netflix from Queen’s alumnus Iain Reid’s novel of the same name, he found a way to out-Kaufman...

Little Women brings modern feminism to a familiar story

Written on January 10, 2020. Posted in Lifestyle, Pop Culture.

2019 was the year of movie reboots, remakes, and questionable sequels. In a renaissance of retreading familiar stories in film, Greta Gerwig’s adaptation of Little Women proves that some stories do deserve to be retold. There’s certainly no shortage of adaptations of Louisa May Alcott’s novel Little...

Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood tackles the ethics of altering history

Written on September 9, 2019. Posted in Lifestyle, Pop Culture.

When I heard the new Quentin Tarantino movie was about the Manson Family, a radicalized cult, and their 1969 murder of American actress Sharon Tate, I was concerned. The writer-director is known for delighting in gore, and I feared the film would glorify the crimes and their perpetrators. However,...

Reelout calls a wrap on festival's 19th year

Written on February 13, 2018. Posted in Arts.

Gays of Our Lives: Shorts Program On Feb. 8, Reelout’s Gays of Our Lives shorts program brought nine mostly uplifting short films to The Screening Room. “Rebirth,” the second film in the program, jumped back and forth between the male protagonist’s life as a doctor and a drag queen. The short was...

Queer Film Festival serves up “Reelness”

Written on February 9, 2018. Posted in Arts.

Girl Unbound: The War To Be Her Directed by Erin Heidenreich, Girl Unbound: The War To Be Her is a tender yet matter-of-fact documentary exploring the intersections of gender, religion and war through the perspective of a Pakistani athlete. The story follows Maria Toorpakai as she reflects on her...

A tale as old as time, not quite retold

Written on March 24, 2017. Posted in Lifestyle.

There’s no disputing that Disney’s 2017 live action Beauty and the Beast is beautifully crafted. The costumes, sets, music and cinematography are so detailed, it’s sometimes difficult to know where to look. But as the film’s moral itself will tell you, appearances aren’t everything. Plot-wise, the...

Abstract: The Art of Design

Written on February 16, 2017. Posted in Lifestyle.

I don’t know about you guys, but sometimes TV can stress me out. I get nervous about who’ll come out on top in Scandal, or who’ll get solitary confinement on Orange Is the New Black, or who’ll survive Game of Thrones — just kidding, no one survives. Abstract: The Art of Design is the remedy to that...

Reviewing the Nominees

Written on February 16, 2017. Posted in Lifestyle.

To conclude my Best Picture journey, I watched the remaining four films, all seemingly on separate ends of the Hollywood spectrum: Hell or High Water, Hacksaw Ridge, Hidden Figures, and Moonlight. Hell or High Water This is the only Western film in the Best Picture nomination category this year....

Snowden film highlights critical issues of mass surveillance

Written on September 20, 2016. Posted in Lifestyle.

Edward Snowden is more than a man. He’s a topic surrounded in controversy — a controversy explored in the recently released film, Snowden, covering his life experiences as a government intelligence whistleblower. His dramatized biography portrays riveting paranoia, fiery interpersonal conflict and...

The Coens’ Llewyn Davis is unsympathetic but excellent

Written on February 11, 2014. Posted in Arts.

The Coen brothers’ latest work Inside Llewyn Davis successfully attempts to bring to life the folk-music revivalist movement of the early 1960s that was most famously centered in New York’s Greenwich Village. The Coens have cited the iconic cover of The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan as an inspiration for...

Nim versus nurture

Written on October 4, 2011. Posted in Arts.

Film: Project Nim Director: James Marsh Duration: 93 minutes It’s the story of a baby taken from his mother at birth and raised in the Upper West Side of New York City. Except the baby is a chimpanzee. The documentary, Project Nim, uses 1970s footage of a group of scientists who raise a chimp as a...

Melancholy magic

Written on April 7, 2011. Posted in Arts.

Movie: The Illusionist Director: Sylvain Chomet Duration: 80 minutes 5 out of 5 stars There’s something rather beautiful about The Illusionist. In its 80-minute bit of silence and tiny character grumbles, so much melancholy and humour is conveyed. It’s like a ballerina dancing on a coffin. The film...

Tag: Film Review

As an older sister, ‘Encanto’ felt like a love letter

Steven Kostanski’s horror-comedy ‘Psycho Goreman’ filmed in St. Catharines

Men: Please watch ‘Promising Young Woman’

Muslim International Film Festival makes history in October debut

‘Chemical Hearts’ is an honest teenage romance

Everyone is a sinner in ‘The Devil All the Time’

Charlie Kaufman outdoes himself with perplexing take on Queen’s alumnus’ novel

Little Women brings modern feminism to a familiar story

Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood tackles the ethics of altering history

Reelout calls a wrap on festival's 19th year

Queer Film Festival serves up “Reelness”

A tale as old as time, not quite retold

Abstract: The Art of Design

Reviewing the Nominees

Snowden film highlights critical issues of mass surveillance

The Coens’ Llewyn Davis is unsympathetic but excellent

Nim versus nurture

Melancholy magic

The Journal, Queen's University - Since 1873

Arts

Sports

Lifestyle

News

Features

Other Topics

Special Projects

About

About (cont'd)

Get the App

Get the App