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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 22 July 2025

Financing is seldom easy and so in the case of first-time writer-director Louise Courvoisier, her mantra has been to stick with what she knows.  She’s returned to her hometown in Jura, a rural district of Eastern France, to make a simple coming-of-age story.  It draws attention to the teenagers and young adults who, for a variety of reasons, pursue a rustic, country way of life.  This contrasts with others who have moved to big cities including Paris in search of opportunity and a college education.

The focus is on Totone (Faveau), a somewhat irresponsible 18-year-old who goes about his days with carefree abandon.  He drinks, he smokes, he gets into fights, he creates mischief, and he thinks of himself as a ladies’ man.  His world is flipped upside down when his father dies unexpectedly in a car accident and he must take on caring duties for his younger sister (Luna Garret).  Responsibility is not Totone’s strong suit.  With no job or parenting skills, the months ahead will provide a “reality check” that necessitates a lifestyle adjustment.

This could have been a heavy drama, but the film strives for an uplifting, feel-good vibe.  Trying to take over his dad’s cheese-making business, Totone and his friends hatch a scheme to steal quality milk from a neighbouring farm and use it to produce a small batch which can be entered in a local competition.  First prize is €30,000 which would help alleviate his short-term financial woes.  On top of this, he falls in love with a mature young woman (Barthelemy) who provides an education in the cow paddock… and in the bedroom.

In finding the cast, Courvoisier scoured the community and chose non-professional actors to work with.  They’re a great bunch who add authenticity given their familiarity with the area and the screenplay’s themes.  The narrative isn’t original, but I still liked the snapshot into a lesser-seen part of France – its people, its jobs, and its vistas.  I’ll add that it also made me want to sink my teeth into a cheese platter!

Premiering last year at Cannes and winner of the César Award for best film by a first-time filmmaker, Holy Cow is a nice tale about finding a passage through adversity and becoming a better human being.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 09 July 2025

Tina Turner said it best with her famous song lyric from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome - “we don’t need another hero.”  That sentiment has grown in popularity given an over-saturation of the superhero genre on film and television across the past two decades.  Interest is waning, at least based on box-office figures, so how many more times can risk-averse Hollywood studios roll out the same familiar characters and cliched ideas (power, sacrifice, good vs evil) before their investments become unprofitable?

Hold on though!  Despite my jaded outlook, I’m happy to report this new Superman is very good. In the same vein as Top Gun: Maverick, the premise isn’t wildly original, but it makes a bunch of great artistic choices which, when blended, add up to a worthwhile movie.  The person worthy of the most credit is writer-director James Gunn who has a proven track record having made all three Guardians of the Galaxy movies.

Let’s start the cast.  I applaud the idea of casting a lesser-known actor in the title role as he doesn’t come with baggage or preconceptions.  David Corenswet (Pearl) provides the character with physicality but also a softer, vulnerable side that makes him easier to connect with.  Emmy winner Rachel Brosnahan (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) adds spark to Lois Lane and, as we see from an early scene in her apartment, she’s as much a valuable muse as a love interest.  A bald Nicolas Hoult (The Great) impresses as a psychotic villain with credible plans and keeps-you-guessing motives.  His henchmen must be well paid as they seemed to enjoy the destruction too much.

The structure is also a winner.  Gunn doesn’t want this to be another “origin story” and he gets straight into battle with the opening sequence.  The Superman we meet is already part of society and his identity is known to Lois (they’ve been dating for several months).  We therefore avoid unnecessary guff, and the 2-hour runtime moves quickly.  Gunn, working with editors William Roy and Craig Alpert, finds the right balance in blending humour with drama.  The tone skews more towards the heavy side but there’s moments of levity, such as a romantic subplot involving a Daily Planet photographer (Gisondo), that fit nicely within the broader narrative.

The action scenes are well choreographed.  The camera often moves at a rapid pace (very quick pans) but you always have a clear sense of what’s going on.  Composers John Murphy and David Fleming have used John Williams’ distinctive music from the 1978 Superman and crafted a slower, gentler remix which adds weight during the film’s emotional sections.

The themes are a touch heavy handed (misinformation and “fake news” is a drummed home repeatedly) and a few supporting players are comedically over-the-top (Nathan Fillion as Green Lantern) but Superman is still an entertaining jaunt.  Maybe we do need another hero?

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 17 July 2025

Three decades ago, filmgoers found out what four teenagers did last summer.  Driving in the middle of the night, they accidentally struck and killed a man running alongside the road.  Instead of calling the cops and taking responsibility, they hid the body and agreed to take the secret to their graves.  For some of them, those graves would be dug sooner rather than later.  A mysterious assailant knew what had transpired and was coming after them one by one.  I Know What You Did Last Summer was a solid hit at the 1997 box-office and was followed by a sequel the next year.

Did we need another sequel?  Based on what’s been served up here, the answer is a clear “no”.  They’ve used the same title and largely, the same premise.  We’ve got five college-age adults who, in the middle of the night, negligently cause a passing car to drive off the side of a road and down a steep cliff face.  The vehicle’s sole occupant is killed.  One of their influential dads leans on the local police to cover things up and the quintet decide, after a heated debate, to keep quiet and act as if nothing had happened.

We then pan one year in the future where one of them receives a greeting card with the catchphrase “I know what you did last summer” and yep, the bodies start piling up again.  Directed by Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, this new outing makes next-to-no sense.  I’m not sure if it’s the script or something got jumbled in the editing room but there’s no flow, no continuity.  The masked killer gets knocked down and within a microsecond, he’s found a way to magically leave the scene.  How?  A potential victim gets the upper hand and then lets their adversary off the hook.  Why?

There are times when characters are desperately fearing for their lives… and then in the next scene, they’re walking around and taking brazen risks.  You’ve locked yourself in the house because a madman is on the loose but then you go out to the car in the middle of the night to get your mobile phone charger?!?  I won’t reveal the ending but it’s another weak point which makes less sense the more you think about it.  They’d have been better to structure this as a spoof because it fails as a credible thriller.

Freddie Prinze Jr. and Jennifer Love Hewitt have reprised their roles but they’re small supporting parts which won’t rank highly on their resume.  A group of new young leading actors will be hoping to use this as a stepping stone to fame, as their predecessors did in 1997, but if other audience members are as disappointed as me, it’ll be largely forgotten.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 08 July 2025

The way things weave their way into popular culture – it’s as much luck as it is skill.  The Smurfs were the creation of artist Pierre Culliford and first appeared in a Belgian comic book in 1958.  It wasn’t until the late 1970s that they randomly attracted the attention of several influential American TV folk and in 1981, an English-language cartoon series premiered on NBC as part of its Saturday morning kids programming.  There would be over 250 episodes in total, and the show can still be watched today in syndication.

Two live-action, Sony-produced Smurf movies were released in 2011 and 2013 but after the later underperformed at the box-office, relative to the original, the franchise was rebooted with a fully animated feature in 2017.  The rights were then transferred to Paramount Pictures in 2022 who are now having their first crack at the material.  It’s simply titled Smurfs and while it’s described as an “animated musical”, the number of keynote songs is low.  Story is given more prominence over the music.

Don’t get too excited though as the plot isn’t much.  The central character, voiced by Tony Award winner James Corden, is referred to as No Name Smurf.  While all other Smurfs have a designation based on their respective skillset, or lack thereof, No Name can’t work out his place within the community.  The obvious titles are taken (Brainy, Grouchy, Lazy) and even the obscure ones (Sound Effects Smurf) have been ticked off the list.  Guess it was bound to happen given the growing population as there’s only so many adjectives in the English language and jobs to be performed.  It’s an odd crux to build a film around.

No Name’s services will be called upon however when Papa Smurf (Goodman) is kidnapped by the villainous Razamel (Karliak), brother of the well-known Gargamel, and taken to another dimension.  He wants Papa Smurf to spill the beans about the location of a magic book which provides the holder with unlimited power.  We can’t have that… and so the Smurfs must team up to rescue their beloved patriarch before it’s too late.

I enjoyed the television cartoon series growing up but haven’t connected with any of the film adaptations.  You can therefore take my opinions with a grain of salt.  Perhaps it’s because I’m too old or perhaps it’s because the storylines are so uninteresting.  It’s a weird, chaotic narrative with a sci-fi, magic focus that struggles to generate humour and emotion.  We barely get to know the characters.  You can cast all the celebrities you want, such as Rihanna as Smurfette, but unless you’ve giving them something interesting to do, the movie won’t work.

Take the kids but don’t expect much.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 14 July 2025

The film was not particularly well received but I’ve always stood by The Cable Guy, released in 1996.  It was an excellent dark comedy starring Jim Carrey as a socially awkward cable TV installer who desperately tried to become best buddies with a customer played by Matthew Broderick.  There were many uncomfortable moments (in a good way) that tapped into something we can relate to – a non-reciprocal friendship.

That same concept is at the heart of this new movie from writer-director Andrew DeYoung (PEN15) which premiered at last year’s Toronto Film Festival.  It stars Tim Robinson (Saturday Night Live) as Craig Waterman, a run-of-the-mill guy with a wife (Mara) and teenage son (Grazer).  The film’s early scenes portray him as a dorky individual who struggles to build close connections with others.  His work colleagues steer clear, and his wife prefers the company of others.  Most evenings are spent sitting on the couch with zero plans.

Upon dropping misdirected mail to his new next-door neighbour, Craig strikes up a friendship with Austin Carmichael (Rudd) who has moved to town and taken up a lucrative role as a news weatherman.  They hang out for a bit, go on a few adventures, and it’s not long because Austin is inviting Craig to regular hangouts with other mates.  Craig obsessively relishes their time together but when Austin abruptly cuts the cord on their interactions, a confused Craig can’t take the “hint” and does whatever he can to remain part of Austin’s orbit.

Friendship gets the job done as a cringe-inducing comedy.  Robinson has created a weird, amusing protagonist who has good intentions but commits one social faux pas after the other.  From the way he speaks of Marvel movies, through to his oversharing at inappropriate times… Craig struggles to fit in.  Seeing his daily habits and mannerisms reminds me of the saying – “I dare not look and yet I cannot turn away.”  The film offers a plethora of unexpected gags which generate anxious laughter (at least based on the screening I attended).

I’ll concede DeYoung’s movie is a little “one note”.  It’s intended to be comedic, which it thrives at, but it’s hard to believe how Craig is so oblivious to his strange nature, how he’s so successful at work, and why his wife has stuck with him for so long.  A pinch more background information or a dash more nuance to Craig’s character could have enhanced the material further.  Awkward conversations are great but that’s not quite enough for the full 101-minute duration.

Worth seeing for Tim Robinson’s performance alone, Friendship is both dark and fun.