Justine Smith

Montreal

Film & TV Editor at Cult MTL

Screen Editor at Cult MTL. Contributor at LWLies, Hyperallergic, Roger Ebert and More! Programmer @FantasiaFest [email protected]

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Articles

Campaigners fear another missed opportunity to mend a broken care system

1 week ago | politicshome.com | Matilda Martin |Justine Smith

Campaigners fear another missed opportunity to mend a broken care system It was presented as landmark legislation, but as the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill enters the Lords Justine Smith finds campaigners scrambling to prevent what they fear is doomed to become another missed opportunity to mend a broken system From his birth until his second birthday, Bruno spent most of his waking moments in terror.
Friendship pulls Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd into a hilarious and almost horrifying world of cringe

1 week ago | cultmtl.com | Justine Smith

Watching Andrew DeYoung’s Friendship had my hairs standing on end and shivers running down my spine. It’s a comedy, of course, but one that hits that wonderfully terrible threshold of cringe. The film stars Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd as neighbours who develop a quick friendship and then have an awkward falling out. As Craig, Tim Robinson plays a hapless and unlikely guy who finds a spark of meaning and adventure that he feels is suddenly pulled away from him.
Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning hits the heights of action filmmaking

2 weeks ago | cultmtl.com | Justine Smith

As one of the most consistently entertaining franchises in Hollywood today, a mediocre Mission: Impossible film is still better than most. With Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, we take off not long after the previous film, Dead Reckoning, as Ethan Hunt has sequestered himself from the world. With an evil Artificial Intelligence taking over the nuclear supply of all nations, though, he’s forced out of hiding to save the world once again.
Ukrainian documentary Fragments of Ice uses Soviet-era home movies to reflect on today's war

2 weeks ago | cultmtl.com | Justine Smith

With her film Fragments of Ice, director Maria Stoianova turns towards a family archive in order to tell a broader story about freedom, dreams and heartache. Growing up in the Soviet Union, Stoianova’s family was in a unique position: her father was a figure skating star, which opened up not only opportunities to travel but also access to a video camera.
Clown in a Cornfield blends classic slasher tropes with solid acting, writing and social commentary

3 weeks ago | cultmtl.com | Justine Smith

With so many horror movies reaching for “elevated horror,” it’s refreshing to see a film like Clown in a Cornfield draw on classic slasher film tropes. After opening in the early 1990s, at a barn party suddenly interrupted by a killer clown, the movie mainly takes place in the present day as 17-year-old Quinn (Katie Douglas) moves from Philadelphia to a small town with her doctor father, Dr. Maybrook (Aaron Abrams).
Final Destination: Bloodlines embraces its Canadian roots

3 weeks ago | cultmtl.com | Justine Smith

If slasher films are often built around elaborate kills and set-pieces, no franchise has embraced creativity with the same enthusiasm as Final Destination. The victims in these films aren’t running away from a masked or scarred killer that seems to be beyond human, but from death itself. The franchise’s first entry in 14 years, Final Destination: Bloodlines, expands on the premise that you can’t escape death by extending it intergenerationally.
Thunderbolts* hits the ceiling of low expectations for Marvel movies

3 weeks ago | cultmtl.com | Justine Smith

In the landscape of superhero films, movies that are “good enough” are often slathered with unearned superlatives. Particularly in the past five years, as the overall quality of movies produced by Marvel has deteriorated, anything that isn’t rock-bottom terrible gets treated as the second coming. Thunderbolts* fits into this category. It’s far more polished and entertaining than most recent entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Thunderbolts* hits the ceiling of low expectations for Marvel movies

3 weeks ago | cultmtl.com | Justine Smith

In the landscape of superhero films, movies that are “good enough” are often slathered with unearned superlatives. Particularly in the past five years, as the overall quality of movies produced by Marvel has deteriorated, anything that isn’t rock-bottom terrible gets treated as the Second Coming. Thunderbolts* fits into this category. It’s far more polished and entertaining than most recent entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Montreal filmmaker Durga Chew-Bose delivers a remarkable feature debut with Bonjour Tristesse

1 month ago | cultmtl.com | Justine Smith

In 1954, at just 18 years old, Françoise Sagan published her first novel, Bonjour Tristesse. Set in the South of France during the languid days of summer, the book explores the frivolous life of 17-year-old Cécile and her father Raymond. Aimless and effectively thoughtless, their shared perpetual adolescence is interrupted by the arrival of Raymond’s old friend, Anne. Serious, intelligent and hard-working, Anne’s presence in their lives exposes the limits of their existence.
Stellan Skarsgård and Genevieve O'Reilly on the Star Wars series that stands apart

1 month ago | cultmtl.com | Justine Smith

Set in the lead-up to the events of Rogue One, Andor has long stood out as a Star Wars series a little different from the others. A little more adult and a little less concerned with fan service, the series has transcended the typical Star Wars audience to reach a larger audience. The first series was nominated for Best Outstanding Drama series at the Emmys, and the second one is poised to make a similar impact.