The arc of Pride Rock in the movie feels like it is paralleling how these Disney adaptations are going; at the beginning, it was teeming with life and growth and possibility, but it is now starting to look a little rundown, soulless, and, if things don’t change, it could start to look desolate. Aside from stunning visuals, there is a lack of substance in The Lion King that is becoming much more common in these Disney adaptations.

Recently, I saw Midsommar with a friend and we left the theater completely blown away by it and spent our entire drive back to his place talking about it. After I dropped him off and headed home, I started listening to a podcast that had an interview with the director, Ari Aster. When I got home, even though it had been a long day, I was not tired; I was still energized from having seen the film.

Crawl has just the right amount of creature feature substance and quality thrills to make it an enjoyable and effective summer flick.

Overlooking the occasional misstep, Spider-Man: Far From Home is a fun continuation of the story of this iteration of Spider-Man. Tom Holland has pretty much cemented his place as the best Spider-Man we’ve had.

Beyond being a truly entertaining, cinematic thrill ride, I’d guess that “Midsommar” will act as a Rorschach test for viewers.

Give us the songs, the dances, the people who train day in and day out to entertain and let them do what they do best. Just let them do it through a different medium.

Even though it’s not my new favorite Toy Story movie, Toy Story 4 is still a very enjoyable and satisfying movie. If this is the end of the road for these characters, then it’s been a great run. If they continue the story, then I’ll be very interested in what that new direction will be.

I won’t need to be neuralysed to forget Men in Black: International; it’s completely forgettable on its own, which is a shame because I’m a huge fan of practically everyone involved.

With X-Men: Apocalyse and now Dark Phoenix, it is clear that the X-Men franchise, which once set the tone for the genre, has been surpassed by nearly everyone else. It’s a sad sight to see.

Pride Month is about more than wearing rainbow T-shirts from Target and walking in parades. There are so many more impactful ways to support the community. Perhaps the most natural way actors and other theatre artists like us can show our support is by seeking out LGBTQIA media that contributes to much-needed representation.

Musical biopics are highly formulaic and while Rocketman doesn’t reinvent the formula, it has enough flare and personality to make it stand out and not be derivative.

I enjoyed 2014’s Godzilla when it came out. This is a major step down. Godzilla: King of the Monsters is a series of amazing visuals shots that brings practically nothing else to the table.

Aladdin is not a whole new world. It’s also not an outright disaster, which is damning with faint praise. It brings very little of anything new to the table. There were some elements that make me laugh and chuckle to myself and that were enjoyable, but there were just as many elements that fell flat and didn’t work.

“Lights. Curtain. Action!”

Besides being a bad pun, this silly play on words has begun to feel like an all too poignant reality when looking at the shows currently running on Broadway. One of the major draws of Broadway is the creativity and effort that goes into every stage of producing a show; from writing, to set, to costume, to lights, everything takes thought and effort to make it looks as seamless and magical as it does once it hits the stage.

Opening in Toronto is the new project by Kenneth Branagh, All is True the dark story of William Shakespeare’s last three years as a brooding, introspective retired poet.  Shakespeare, of course, is immortal as a storyteller, but Branagh’s film reminds us that Shakespeare, himself, was a story.  

John. Wick. Baba Yaga. The man you send to kill the boogeyman. A former assassin who got sucked back into the criminal world because someone stole his car and killed the dog that his dead wife had got him to help him grieve. Who knew when we were first introduced to this simple but effective action movie premise that we were going to be treated to the best action franchise of the decade? John Wick set the stage, but John Wick: Chapter 2 took it to a whole other level in 2017. That film expanded the horizons of the world we were introduced to in the first film. Now, John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum has arrived and while it does expand the scope of the Wide World of Wick some, it is more interested in exploring the studio space that has been created for it. No, really Baby, explore the space!

We open on a city of ashes. Tyrion walks in disbelief through the ruins of King’s Landing with Davos and Jon.  It’s quiet and tense, with only the occasional shocked citizen wandering around aimlessly. The production team did an excellent job creating the atmosphere and tension here.

Netflix’s new film Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile starring Zac Efron and Lily Collins was highly anticipated and somewhat controversial. The story follows the persecution of Theodore Bundy, infamous 1970’s serial killer. As the film was released, so were the opinions of a multitude of viewers speaking out against the sensationalization of the horrific story. Many feel that the film is evoking sympathy for a man that would later confess to 30 murders.