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The Globe and Mail •

D-Day thriller Pressure is the Saving Private Ryan of meteorology

Pressure

Directed by Anthony Maras

Written by David Haig and Anthony Maras

Starring Andrew Scott, Brendan Fraser and Kerry Condon

Classification PG; 100 minutes

Opens in theatres May 29

Critic’s Pick

Arguably no other moment in history has been more memorialized in cinema than D-Day. From the 1962 epic The Longest Day that captured the scale of the attack to the visceral opening sequence in Saving Private Ryan, Hollywood has had a particular fascination with the invasion that would secure...
Exclaim! •

'Best Boy' Is Absurdly Universal │ Exclaim!

Writer-director Jesse Noah Klein offers up some wild visuals and circumstances in Best Boy. From two siblings instinctively stripping down and saying, without shame, "I lost so I am a loser" to the matriarch of this bizarre family sporting a cape and horned helmet, the film delivers one ridiculous notion after another. The ingeniousness of Best Boy lays in its ability to boil down the preposterous to reveal something strangely moving and, against all odds, universal.The film begins with the deat...
Exclaim! •

'Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu' Is Low-Risk, Low-Reward │ Exclaim!

The concept of the "bottle episode" dates back to the 1960s when Leslie Stevens, creator of The Twilight Zone-esque television show The Outer Limits, coined the phrase to mean an episode of television made at a very low cost, like pulling a show out of a genie's bottle. The idea is to sacrifice the budget of one episode in order to allocate the savings toward another episode. Because of this, bottle episodes tend to be self-contained stories with no impact on the primary arc of a season of telev...
CBC Podcasts: Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud •

Who is Hallmark's mahjong rom-com for?

A new Hallmark movie that premiered on CTV Life called All's Fair in Love and Mahjong has raised a lot of questions around Asian representation in movies. Elamin Abdelmahmoud is joined by film critic Rachel Ho to review the movie and unpack the backlash.

Thumbnail photo: Hallmark Channel

Commotion is where you go for thoughtful and vibrant chat conversations about all things pop culture. Host Elamin Abdelmahmoud calls on journalists, critics, creators and friends to talk through the biggest arts and entertainment stories of the day.

Subscribe to our podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/74eCEvD5LU56cNRrhzNSAb
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/commotion-with-elamin-abdelmahmoud/id1531347005
Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/arts/commotion
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/commotioncbc

#podcast #popculture #mahjong
CBC •

New off-Broadway musical parody of Heated Rivalry reimagines our obsession with the hit Canadian series | CBC News

When writer-composer Dylan MarcAurele pressed play on the first episode of the hit Canadian TV show Heated Rivalry, he binged the entire series in one sitting. He scribbled down his favourite moments from the queer hockey romance, including the bike scene, where a gym workout morphs into a charged, intimate moment between star-crossed hockey players Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov played by Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie. Twenty minutes in, MarcAurele asked himself a simple question: "What...
CBC Podcasts: Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud •

Canadian film Blue Heron is one of the best movies of the year so far

The film Blue Heron by Canadian director Sophy Romvari tells the story of a family tragedy and how childhood memories of a summer can loom over one's life. Exclaim film editor Rachel Ho tells Elamin Abdelmahmoud why she thinks it's one of the best movies of the year so far.

Thumbnail photo: Janus Films

Commotion is where you go for thoughtful and vibrant chat conversations about all things pop culture. Host Elamin Abdelmahmoud calls on journalists, critics, creators and friends to talk through the biggest arts and entertainment stories of the day.

Subscribe to our podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/74eCEvD5LU56cNRrhzNSAb
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/commotion-with-elamin-abdelmahmoud/id1531347005
Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/arts/commotion
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/commotioncbc

#podcast #popculture #blueheron
Exclaim! •

"Gary" Is Exactly What 'The Bear' Needed │ Exclaim!

In a surprise drop on Disney+ today, a special episode of The Bear greases the wheels leading up to the once lauded show's fifth and final season (the premiere date of which remains unannounced as of writing). Directed by Christopher Storer, creator of The Bear, and written by stars Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Jon Bernthal, "Gary" dishes out a one-off prequel episode to the Emmy Award-winning show.Bernthal's Mikey has been the catalyst for The Bear, with his suicide marking the reason for Carmy's ret...
POV Magazine •

Kim Nguyen’s Kaleidoscopic Pursuit of Truth in Saigon Story - POV Magazine

Known more for his narrative work, including War Witch (Rebelle), which was nominated for an Academy Award in 2013, Montreal-based director Kim Nguyen says he’s careful not to begin a documentary with the presumption of a conclusion or in search of a particular finding. He believes his style of documentary filmmaking contains “slices of life” where “people are going to give a point of view on life,” which he leaves for his audience to distill.
“I hope to leave a layered sense of truth to the spe...
Exclaim! •

'The Devil Wears Prada 2' Fits Like a Cerulean Jumper │ Exclaim!

Millennial-era legacy sequels are so hot right now. While reboots and remakes get a bad rep (deservedly so), some projects have offered a welcome antithesis — the latest season of Scrubs being my favourite example, and The Devil Wears Prada 2 as a close second.Anne Hathaway slips back into her cerulean jumper as Andy Sachs, now an award-winning journalist who has been unceremoniously fired (along with her team) in the name of what I assume are budget cuts. As Andy and her colleagues ponder how t...
Exclaim! •

'Michael' Isn't a Thriller │ Exclaim!

The road to Michael has been paved with legal complications, a complete restructuring of the script and cash injections from the Jackson estate, and it shows.Earlier this month, Variety reported that the reason for the delays (the film was originally scheduled for release on April 18, 2025, and then October 3, 2025) and reshoots came from director Antoine Fuqua and producers being caught unaware of a key detail in the settlement Michael Jackson made with Jordan Chandler, the then-13-year-old who...
Exclaim! •

CUFF 2026: 'Tracy & Martina: Goin' Out West' Is Funny as Sh!t │ Exclaim!

Canada has a great reputation for producing some of Hollywood's funniest comedians, but I humbly submit that our funniest comedies and comedians stay within our fine shores. Exhibit A: Tracy & Martina: Goin' Out West. (Gerry Dee would be my Exhibit B.)Hosts of the podcast Shootin' the Sh!t with Tracy & Martina, the two besties from Cape Breton bring us on their journey to Alberta, where they're scheduled to open for the band Slowcoaster in Fort McMurray, Edmonton and Calgary. Where Tracy (Justin...
Exclaim! •

'Lee Cronin's The Mummy' Unravels │ Exclaim!

Let's clear something up right off the bat: Lee Cronin's The Mummy has nothing to do with Brendan Fraser's The Mummy (or Tom Cruise's, for that matter). We're talking about mummies in a broad sense, as in, this movie features a mummy, sort of.Ironically, Lee Cronin's The Mummy feels like a Frankensteined film made up of disparate parts. The opening scene sets us up with a family singing songs in the car, except for the mother (Hayat Kamille), who is very serious. When they get home, their family...
Exclaim! •

CUFF 2026: 'Young Female Playwright' Heralds a Canadian Star on the Rise │ Exclaim!

Young Female Playwright finds a place alongside the increasing amount of films and series considering the perceived sensitivities found on higher education campuses today. Instead of dorm rooms and lecture halls, Pony Nicole Herauf's directorial feature debut hones in on theatre and the arts, asking: who is "allowed" to tell what stories?Starring Ellie Moon as Millie, the titular young female playwright, the film picks up after she receives word that her play will be mounted by the Canada's Nati...
The Asian Cut •

Siyou Tan Tackles Delinquent Behaviour in Singapore - The Asian Cut

“I think you need to step out and go back in to see the absurdity of it,” writer-director Siyou Tan tells The Asian Cut.


Around the world, Singapore’s utopian-like image sits in stark contrast to the seeming disorder of other nations. From gun violence and petty theft to never-ending construction projects and constantly delayed trains, Singapore — government and most citizens — have held their country up above these destructive qualities.


But all that glitters isn’t gold and Tan’s director...
Exclaim! •

'Blue Heron' Director Sophy Romvari Discusses the Power — and Limitations — of Film Itself │ Exclaim!

In Sophy Romvari's feature-length directorial debut, Blue Heron, she continues an investigation she began years earlier in "trying to understand if the act of filmmaking can help aid in the process of grief and trauma, memory recollection."In pursuing her Master of Fine Arts at York University, Romvari interrogated this concept through her studies, even writing a paper about on the topic. Romvari shares with Exclaim! that it's a goal of hers to eventually teach others the art of filmmaking as a...
Exclaim! •

Here Are Canada's Best Emerging Directors in 2026 │ Exclaim!

Happy CanFilmDay! "Let's Dream Together" forms the theme of this year's National Canadian Film Day, evoking the power of movies and a call for unity across the country, if for just one day.In its 12th year, CanFilmDay makes a significant expansion beyond borders and offers 150 screenings in 49 countries, in addition to the 2,000 free screenings being hosted in our country (including every province and territory) today.Whether you attend a free local screening, catch some CanCon on streaming, or...
The Globe and Mail •

Chandler Levack’s Mile End Kicks expertly mines the missteps of Montreal’s wasted youth

Mile End Kicks

Written and directed by Chandler Levack

Starring Barbie Ferreira, Devon Bostick and Jay Baruchel

Classification 14A; 111 minutes

Opens in theatres April 17

Critic’s Pick

A uniquely aggressive messiness permeates across our 20s: a series of rash dating decisions, spending our adult money on questionable purchases, many sartorial misadventures – the list only grows with hindsight. A misguided certainty in oneself sits atop that messiness, whether given to us haphazardly by our...
The Asian Cut •

‘Bunny!!’ Hops to Melodramatic Beats - The Asian Cut

Someone check on Trấn Thành. The writer-director dissects and dismembers relationships and love with such decisive precision, I can only hope that directing and co-writing Bunny!! (Thỏ Ơi) has cured whatever ailed him. The film has been branded as a psychological thriller, but what endures is a film that considers what drives a relationship, and in the same breath, what unravels them. 


Lyly stars as Hải Linh, the host of a relationship advice show on social media who invites guests to share t...
Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud •

Does The Drama approach an 'untouchable' subject?

There's been a ton of buzz surrounding The Drama, starring Robert Pattinson and Zendaya, since it hit theatres on April 3. The movie hinges on a dark secret that stirred up controversy even before the film's release. Film critics Bilge Ebiri and Rachel Ho talk to guest host Amil Niazi about the premise, and why the movie still lands even if you know the spoilers.

WARNING: This conversation includes spoilers for The Drama.

Thumbnail photo: A24

Commotion is where you go for thoughtful and vibrant chat conversations about all things pop culture. Host Elamin Abdelmahmoud calls on journalists, critics, creators and friends to talk through the biggest arts and entertainment stories of the day.

Subscribe to our podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/74eCEvD5LU56cNRrhzNSAb
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/commotion-with-elamin-abdelmahmoud/id1531347005
Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/arts/commotion
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/commotioncbc

#podcast #popculture #thedrama
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