CHAD POWERS (now streaming its first 2 episodes on Disney+ in Canada/Hulu in the US with new instalments every Tuesday) is an incomplete pass of a sports farce.

Also, here's a semi-belated look at THE LOST BUS, in theatres now and on Apple TV+ this Friday, featuring Paul Greengrass at his Greengrassiest and Matthew McConaughey at his McConaugheyiest.

Been thinking a lot about Mae Martin's entrancing, creepy, and often funny thriller WAYWARD since I saw it before TIFF. Now that it's out in the open and available on Netflix, here are some thoughts.

Very impressed with Carmen Emmi's first feature PLAINCLOTHES, which opens in select cities tomorrow; a great blend of queer romance, suspense, and psychological drama.

June Squibb is outstanding in Scarlett Johansson's directorial debut ELEANOR THE GREAT (in theatres tomorrow). The movie itself, though, is just okay.

ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER: a banger in terms of action, comedy, suspense, and just being the perfect movie at the perfect time. One of Anderson's best, and weirdly one I think has already been undervalued(?)

In case you missed it at TIFF, the raw, poignant, and tragic documentary PUT YOUR SOUL ON YOUR HAND AND WALK screens again at the Toronto Palestine Film Festival this Saturday (before its theatrical rollout later in the year).

Fine. Here. Not a bad one in the bunch.

If an Elmore Leonard styled throwback with Ethan Hawke getting beaten up multiple times an episode sounds like your jam, might I suggest THE LOWDOWN, airing on FX Tuesday nights and on Disney+ (Canada) and Hulu (U.S.) the following day. It's a lot of fun.

I actually really enjoyed the earnest, "big theatre kid energy" of Kogonada's go-for-broke romance A BIG BOLD BEAUTIFUL JOURNEY, the most endearingly dorky movie of the year.

While SWIPED (on Disney+ in Canada and Hulu in the US tomorrow) tries at times to expose sexist, toxic workplace culture in the tech industry, it's also a shapeless, slapped together mess.

If you enjoyed the recent likes of NYC thrillers Highest 2 Lowest or Caught Stealing, consider paying the long unavailable 1980 thriller NIGHT OF THE JUGGLER a visit. It's now available on 4K and Blu-ray from Kino Lorber and screens at The Revue in Toronto on Friday night.

I guess it's TIFFy time! Here are links to a whole bunch of reviews...

Had a surprising amount of fun with Darren Aronofsky's still kinda bleak, but thrilling and funny lark CAUGHT STEALING, in theatres tomorrow.

The new version of THE TOXIC AVENGER (in theatres tomorrow) is just kinda okay and underwhelming, but definitely not awful.

If you want to see a prime Siskel & Ebert argument, the FULL METAL JACKET episode gets so heated that it ends with Roger yelling, "You should be ashamed of yourself!" at Gene.

Now for a look at one of the most head-scratching debacles of the year, THE ROSES, a film that has the talents of Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman as a warring couple and still really sucks. In theatres this weekend.

Here's the requisite list of ten movies I'm most looking forward to at TIFF this year. (Mostly sticking with things I won't be seeing in advance of the festival. And yes, this list could've easily been more than ten.) #TIFF50

Here's a look back at Zeinabu Irene Davis' groundbreaking drama COMPENSATION, which hits Blu-Ray from The Criterion Collection this week.

If you have to watch a new release this weekend, stay home and watch the well executed action comedy EENIE MEANIE, on Disney+ in Canada and Hulu in the US today. A solid addition to the canon of films about getaway drivers.

HONEY DON'T! has a title that serves as an unironic warning for anyone considering watching it. In theatres tomorrow.

Had to see the thriller RELAY twice to make sure I was disappointed by it. (Spoiler: still disappointed by it.)

THE MAP THAT LEADS TO YOU is one of many movies I watched this year. Yup. It certainly is one of them. Not much else to say about it.

Here's a look at the well acted, but narratively maddening thriller NIGHT ALWAYS COMES, which drops on Netflix tomorrow.

Big fan of Spike Lee's wildly enjoyable thriller lark HIGHEST 2 LOWEST, which opens in Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal on Friday, and hits Apple TV+ on September 5.

I know it's not the greatest moment to hype up something with Sydney Sweeney in it, but AMERICANA (which hits theatres tomorrow) is a pretty darn good, darkly comedic caper.

One of the best movies coming out in this positively stacked weekend of new releases is EAST OF WALL, which blends fact and fiction into a compelling look at the new American west. In select Canadian theatres Friday.

IT'S NEVER OVER, JEFF BUCKLEY is a standard, but well made documentary about a legendary musician whose career and life were all too short. In select Canadian theatres this Friday.

Opening in select Canadian cities this weekend is the documentary FOLKTALES, a well made crowd pleaser about teens learning survival skills at an unlikely school located above the Arctic Circle.

2016's epic SHIN GODZILLA comes back to theatres this weekend, and if you haven't seen it before, you should make time for it.

Mixed feelings about the controversial documentary RUSSIANS AT WAR, which releases directly via the film's website today. A brave, but biased and ineffective film.

ALIEN: EARTH, which premiers tomorrow night on FX, Hulu (in the US), and Disney+ (in Canada), is the real deal. And also, the most fucked up adaptation of Peter Pan you're ever going to see. One of the best series of the year by far.

Opening in select cities this weekend (including Hot Docs in Toronto and VIFF in Vancouver) is the impassioned documentary SUDAN, REMEMBER US, a look at young people in the war-torn African nation fighting against military rule.

While I'm not sold on WEAPONS as some new horror classic, I will say that it's still pretty darn good. (See also: Zach Cregger's other movie, Barbarian, which I felt the same way about.)

The fast paced human drama SOULEYMANE'S STORY moves like a thriller, but speaks deeply and pointedly about the plight of refugees and migrants caught up in the gig economy. Opens at TIFF Lightbox tomorrow and expands in the coming weeks.

It pleases me greatly to report that FREAKIER FRIDAY kinda slaps. A lot more fun than I was expecting. Also, better than the original. Opens everywhere tomorrow.

The only way to get through the abysmal Eddie Murphy/Pete Davidson action comedy THE PICKUP is if you just have it on in the background and ignore that it's even on in the first place. Just go about your day like it isn't even there. On Prime Video today.

I'll keep this brief: THE NAKED GUN rocks. In theatres this weekend.

Here's a lovely chat I had with Erica Huggins, one of the editors of The Sicilian, Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare and Serial Mom. Oh, and a very high level producer who's latest project is the reboot of THE NAKED GUN.

A look at TOGETHER, a body horror/relationship movie poised to be the next big thing that I think is just kinda okay. Opens everywhere today.

BTS ARMY: FOREVER WE ARE YOUNG (which hits theatres everywhere today) isn't anything new when it comes to documentaries about fandoms, but there is a likability and warmth to it that's very endearing.

Hello, huge Happy Gilmore apologist here to say that HAPPY GILMORE 2 (dropping on Netflix today without being screened in advance for critics) is thankfully pretty good!

MR. NOBODY AGAINST PUTIN is a great documentary opening at Hot Docs in Toronto this weekend; the story of a Russian primary school teacher ordered to document his class' new propaganda based curriculum.

Dusting off and updating this review from Hot Docs because MARLEE MATLIN: NOT ALONE ANYMORE opens in Canada this weekend, and it's a cleverly constructed reinvention of the celebrity biographical documentary.

Sorry, guys. Can't share the enthusiasm a lot of people are having over the aggressively mediocre THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS, which is just the same old, same old with a new paint job.

WASHINGTON BLACK drops on Disney+ in Canada this week (Hulu elsewhere) and it absolutely rocks. Old school adventure on a massive, thoughtful scale. The kind of series that should be celebrated.

There is one good movie out this weekend, and that's Kiyoshi Kurosawa's slow burn techno thriller/then sudden action movie CLOUD.

I have some mixed-to-negative feelings about Embeth Davidtz's directorial debut DON'T LET'S GO TO THE DOGS TONIGHT, which opens in select cities today. A++ child performance at the centre of it all, though.

Rough week for mainstream movies, as I'm sad to say that I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER also sucks pretty damn hard.

When you order Trolls off of Wish, you get SMURFS, an aggressively boring, nap inducing animated cash grab no one over the age of 5 will enjoy. And those under 5 will forget it immediately.