Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows RT App News Showtimes
Publications list

Georgia Straight

Tomatometer-approved publication.

Prev Next
Rating Title | Year Author Quote
Mistress Dispeller (2024) Mike Usinger The fascinating thing about Mistress Dispeller is the way it suggests, despite what we’ve been conditioned to believe in the west, that there are often no good or bad guys in a troubled marriage. Sometimes everybody hurts.
Posted Nov 06, 2025  Edit critic review
The Falls (2012) Adrian Mack If the film suffers from some uneven performances, Nick Ferruci hits every right note as Elder Smith, especially when he uses compassion and humour to leverage a human response out of his starchier and more nervous companion.
Posted Oct 23, 2024  Edit critic review
The Mission (2023) Mike Usinger In the National Geographic documentary The Mission, the results are as fascinatingly horrible as they are predictable -- even if you’re unfamiliar with the story that shocked the secular world a half-decade ago.
Posted Nov 06, 2023  Edit critic review
Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe (2023) Mike Usinger Director Robert McCallum’s documentary serves as a gentle love letter to the man who kept Canadian kids entertained for four decades.
Posted Nov 06, 2023  Edit critic review
I Used to be Funny (2023) V.S. Wells I Used to Be Funny is smart, timely, and deeply felt. There’s plenty to chew on -- though it’s bittersweet.
Posted Nov 06, 2023  Edit critic review
Mutiny in Heaven: The Birthday Party (2023) Mike Usinger The greatness of Mutiny in Heaven is that White understands the importance of gory details. Instead of sanitizing things to protect the innocent, the film embraces the darkness and danger that defined the Birthday Party.
Posted Sep 29, 2023  Edit critic review
Big Fight in Little Chinatown (2022) Chandler Walter Showcasing the people, places, businesses, and history that make up the pillars of Chinatowns in Vancouver, Montreal, and New York, Big Fight in Little Chinatown focuses on the consistent effort required to preserve the essence of the storied communities.
Posted May 18, 2023  Edit critic review
King Coal (2023) V.S. Wells Sheldon’s lyrical narration explores past, present, and future, meandering through vignettes of a young girl learning what coal means to her community.
Posted May 18, 2023  Edit critic review
Satan Wants You (2023) Chandler Walter While it might be easy to look back now and laugh at the absurdity of baby-eating satanic cults, Satan Wants You offers the frustrating realization that we may not have collectively grown much (if at all) in information literacy in the 40 years since.
Posted May 18, 2023  Edit critic review
Music for Black Pigeons (2022) Yasmine Shemesh It’s a compelling window into what it means to live a life totally devoted to music.
Posted May 18, 2023  Edit critic review
House (1977) Mark Harris House’s spirit of “let’s pretend” goes too far. This isn’t just make-believe. This is out-and-out indifference.
Posted Sep 27, 2022  Edit critic review
Top Gun: Maverick (2022) Charlie Smith The real star of Top Gun: Maverick is the dizzying aerial acrobatics, which are more than worth the price of admission for those not overly concerned about simplistic dialogue, far-fetched reconnections, and a silly plot.
Posted Jun 03, 2022  Edit critic review
Dear Jackie (2021) Charlie Smith The imagery of the destruction is so vivid and compelling. There's no sugar-coating Montreal's institutionalized racism in these scenes.
Posted May 27, 2022  Edit critic review
The Territory (2022) Martin Dunphy If the intent of the filmmakers was to help stir international support for both the increasingly threatened Amazon rainforest and its besieged Indigenous inhabitants, consider it mission accomplished.
Posted May 06, 2022  Edit critic review
Immortals (2011) Mark Harris The film is fast-paced and the dialogue doesn't make your ears bleed... For incidental pleasures like these, I'm willing to forgive a swashbuckler a great deal of heterodox stupidity.
Posted Dec 21, 2021  Edit critic review
The Hidden Life of Trees (2020) Craig Takeuchi The film also provides context and understanding for what is currently occurring (and has been for decades) in our own province, and can inspire viewers to venture further into finding out what other secrets that trees have to share.
Posted Sep 02, 2021  Edit critic review
Cured (2020) Craig Takeuchi We may know the overall route and outcome, but the details of how lesbian and gay rights activists waged a Sisyphean battle against the American Psychiatric Association are what fascinate in this comprehensive documentary.
Posted Aug 20, 2021  Edit critic review
Chained (2020) Craig Takeuchi Although there's some unevenness in the performances and chemistry between characters, the actors remain watchable and Kazadi does his brooding best, carrying much of the film.
Posted Jun 21, 2021  Edit critic review
Firestarter: The Story of Bangarra (2021) Breanne Doyle The film sends a powerful message about celebrating one's heritage, pushing boundaries, and how art can help to reclaim an entire culture's place in society.
Posted May 14, 2021  Edit critic review
What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993) Ken Eisner This emphasis on character and texture is full of pleasurable rewards-especially when the astonishing DiCaprio is on-screen-and there's enough growth and compassion to keep it from being a Diane Arbus freak show come to life.
Posted Mar 22, 2021  Edit critic review
Lapsis (2020) Craig Takeuchi This engaging sci-fi drama-mystery takes a low-tech and unconventionally rural route to convincing effect in an astute high-concept parable about worker exploitation.
Posted Feb 16, 2021  Edit critic review
Grand Unified Theory (2016) Adrian Mack ... this Theory really works because Ray obviously loves his characters and, sure enough, so do we.
Posted Dec 22, 2020  Edit critic review
The Last Vermeer (2019) Craig Takeuchi The majority of the tale -- which is compelling in itself -- is played out with a sombre and dutiful seriousness (Bang included) which undermines its complex underpinnings of intrigue.
Posted Nov 23, 2020  Edit critic review
The Donut King (2020) Craig Takeuchi Not all of these elements sit comfortably together, based upon the film's structure and some rushed tonal transitions. Yet it's the strength of the story, and its twists, that sustains the piece, and it's a laudable effort.
Posted Nov 20, 2020  Edit critic review
Major Arcana (2018) Craig Takeuchi In a time period without any shortage of troubles, it's therapeutic to watch someone attempt to build a new life out of the collapsed mess of an old one, regardless of whatever life unexpectedly throws in the way.
Posted Oct 26, 2020  Edit critic review
Penny Slinger: Out of the Shadows (2017) Craig Takeuchi It's not a complete picture of the artist, but provides a strong foundation for further considerations of her significance in the world of visual art.
Posted Oct 21, 2020  Edit critic review
My Prince Edward (2019) Craig Takeuchi What initially appears to be a light drama about relationships peppered with comedic touches eschews typical romcom routes and gives way to a deeper search for personal freedom and independence amid societal demands.
Posted Oct 19, 2020  Edit critic review
I Am Greta (2020) Kelsey Adams I Am Greta director Nathan Grossman captures the humanity of her larger-than-life tale with an unnervingly close look into her interior life.
Posted Oct 19, 2020  Edit critic review
So Pretty (2019) Craig Takeuchi The wonderfully light ebb and flow of this visual poem reflects how ephemeral moments and interpersonal spaces are created, pass by, and vanish.
Posted Oct 12, 2020  Edit critic review
Tapeworm (2019) Adrian Mack Tapeworm's deadpan tone is the real attraction here, climaxing with a cosmically cruel punch line...
Posted Oct 08, 2020  Edit critic review
Nina Wu (2019) Charlie Smith Wu, who wrote the screenplay, remains utterly compelling throughout -- deeply troubled with plenty of mood swings -- while leaving the source of her angst a mystery.
Posted Sep 28, 2020  Edit critic review
King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis (1970) Brian Lynch This celluloid monument earns every minute of its three-hour running time.
Posted Sep 23, 2020  Edit critic review
Crash (1996) Janet Smith The film is still eerily prescient about the way technology numbs us. Some of Crash's near-surgical aesthetic and harder-edged sex feel more stuck in the '90s. But the fetishized car culture? It's still very much with us.
Posted Aug 18, 2020  Edit critic review
4/5
The Columnist (2020) Alysha Prasad The Columnist is chock-full of dark humour and a big middle finger to those who participate in online bullying.
Posted Aug 18, 2020  Edit critic review
Ash (2019) Craig Takeuchi [A] haunting, unsettling psychological drama.
Posted Aug 05, 2020  Edit critic review
Arab Blues (2020) Janet Smith Selma, so magnetically inhabited by Farahani, is a very different kind of female character than we're used to seeing from the Arab world: strong, complex, happy to be single, and equal parts wry, smart, and anxious.
Posted Jul 30, 2020  Edit critic review
Piano to Zanskar (2018) Janet Smith The result is a breathtakingly shot journey where the piano seems in constant peril.
Posted Jul 27, 2020  Edit critic review
Helmut Newton: The Bad and the Beautiful (2020) Janet Smith As this spirited bio pic reveals, the reality of the man and his work is infinitely more complex. Like sex itself, it's complicated.
Posted Jul 20, 2020  Edit critic review
American Woman (2019) Janet Smith Chau is strong enough to bring a compelling new perspective to this bizarre chapter of history -- and to the entire idea of the identity of the "American woman".
Posted Jul 06, 2020  Edit critic review
Keepers of the Magic (2016) Ken Eisner An endlessly fascinating, if initially somewhat disorganized, tour of key image makers of the past 50 years.
Posted Jun 17, 2020  Edit critic review
Landfall (2020) Janet Smith Aldarondo's impressionistic, kaleidoscopic take offers a more accurate picture of the chaos than any standard narrated documentary ever could.
Posted Jun 12, 2020  Edit critic review
Birth Wars (2019) Janet Smith Aside from capturing the miracle of birth from every possible angle, the film offers an unfussy, keenly observed look at a messy situation.
Posted Jun 12, 2020  Edit critic review
Forget Me Not (2019) Janet Smith Social strictures leave a legacy of pain that forever links child and parent, and you'll feel it viscerally long after the film ends.
Posted Jun 12, 2020  Edit critic review
The King of Staten Island (2020) Janet Smith Maybe it's just that the film has caught the same laid-back listlessness of its antihero, refusing to work too hard for laughs. There's heart here, but not a lot of energy.
Posted Jun 10, 2020  Edit critic review
Girltrash: All Night Long (2014) Craig Takeuchi The film would benefit from living out, rather than talking about, the message it espouses.
Posted May 21, 2020  Edit critic review
Listen Up Philip (2014) Ken Eisner An odd vagueness of intention dissipates the energy of this initially bracing study of a novelist.
Posted May 06, 2020  Edit critic review
Kung Fu Jungle (2014) Mike Usinger This is martial-arts moviemaking for purists, the emphasis on speed-fuelled combat between fighters for whom honour trumps all.
Posted Mar 20, 2020  Edit critic review
Beanpole (2019) Ken Eisner The movie's fluid camerawork, set detail, and deeply saturated greens and shocking reds help mitigate the gloom. And the acting is top-notch, especially considering that most of the players are non-professionals.
Posted Mar 13, 2020  Edit critic review
(undefined) Janet Smith The poetic, mystical touches that have made B.C. Métis artist Marie Clements's plays so striking find vivid new expression on film.
Posted Mar 12, 2020  Edit critic review
To Live to Sing (2019) Ken Eisner It's essentially a "let's put on a show to save our beloved roller rink" story, given fresh life in a classical setting. Mainly, it gives us a chance to observe the quirky relationships between the players.
Posted Mar 12, 2020  Edit critic review
Prev Next