Category: Reviews

Well isn’t this just refreshing after a terrible summer blockbuster season.

Finally! The wait is finally over. The trailer for the highly anticipated Knives Out, directed by Rian Johnson is here. Name a famous person, go ahead, name any famous person and I bet they are in this movie. What a cast! This is one of the best all around casts I’ve ever seen. So much talent across the board, all bringing their own sense of style and personality to the table.

After their father mysteriously dies on his 85th birthday played by the legend Christopher Plummer, it’s up to a few detectives to solve the case. We have a whodunit on our hands! I can’t believe Rian Johnson stoke this idea from Adam Sandler, kidding, but kind of a cooky coincidence that we are getting two murder mysteries in a 5th month span. Obviously this one will be much better. Rian Johnson the man behind The Last Jedi and one of the most underrated movies of this decade, Looper.

The cast alone, which is way to many people to name should bring audiences to the theatres, and Johnson’s great track record should help as well. I feel like trailers for these sorts of movies are hard to pull off because you can’t show too much and don’t want to spoil anything. For being a nurse mystery, there was an awful lot of humour within the trailer and it all landed pretty well. Everyone involved is just so talented I can’t see this being a complete mess or a misstep on Johnson’s part.

See for yourself. Hits theatres November 27th.

Toy Story has a legit chance at holding the franchise championship belt after this latest outing.

When a new toy called “Forky” joins Woody and the gang, a road trip alongside old and new friends reveals how big the world can be for a toy

You’ve got a friend in me. Those lyrics immediately hit you right in the feels. Much like this entire film franchise. Pixar and this misfit gang of toys have always packed an emotional punch. Everyone’s favourite collection of toys is back, it’s been 9 years since Toy Story 3, which I can’t believe. It kind of feels like yesterday that we all watched those toys almost become nothing but melted plastic. Remember how crippling that scene was? Seriously, 9 whole years, it’s shocking really, that Pixar can create 4 movies over the span of almost 30 years and still have the attention of essentially the entire world.

We all know that Pixar tends to deal with adult themes in their movies. They are meant and made for children, but they can touch on some serious deep-rooted themes and emotions. Toy Story 4 is no different. In fact, it could very well be the most adult film they have ever made. The soul of the movie is Bonnie creates a new toy in class and names it Forky, voiced by the talented Tony Hale. Once Woody meets Forky, he immediately does not understand why he was created and feels like he had no decision in this matter and he feels like trash. Forky doesn’t know his purpose in life and feels that Bonnie created him without his consent. That’s some serious and heavy stuff right there folks. So Woody is trying to teach Forky the meaning of being a toy and how important it is that he is there for Bonnie because he’s the most important thing in her life right now. You see, Woody has been sidelined with Bonnie, being left in the closet during playtime, so even Woody himself doesn’t know what his purpose in life is anymore. If he can’t be there for his kid, what is his purpose? When he meets Forky and discovers just how much Bonnie needs him to get through a difficult time in her life, he ultimately makes it his mission to protect and care for Forky at all costs.

When Bonnie and her family hit the road for a family road trip, Forky and Woody end up getting separated from Buzz and the rest of the gang. Let me be clear, this is Woody’s swan song, this is his movie. Yes, the Toy Story films have always been centered around Woody, but this installment, I felt even Buzz was being sidelined a bit. When Woody and Forky stumble upon Bo Peep who was sent away 9 years prior, some new feelings start to arise in Woody. For the first time in his life, he is contemplating what being a toy is truly about. Bo Peep lets him know just how wonderful being a lost toy can be, and you don’t need to be attached to a child to have a purpose in your life.

Buzz meets a few new toys himself, while he is trying to find his “inner voice” he meets Ducky (Keegan Michael-Key) and Bunny (Jordan Peele) without doubt the standouts of the film. From the very first trailer, you knew these two guys were going to be coming in hot, and they didn’t disappoint! I’m sure we will get a future spin-off because their voice work was so well done, and their friendship and chemistry in the movie made every scene they were in hilarious. One in particular, where they are giving ideas on how to retrieve a key from an old lady. Also, everyone’s favourite Canadian Keanu Reeves voices stuntman Duke Kaboom, who is also a highlight in the film.

This film seems smaller from previous incarnations, the hour and 40 minutes really flies by. It’s simple, the toys are trying to reunite Bonnie and Forky while all learning lessons along the way. Some of the minor characters barely have lines in the film. More like they are just in the background, because like I mentioned this is Woody’s film. It’s dealing with serious subjects and that’s why it felt more mature and at times there is hardly any humor. But when the humour arrives, it really knocks you on your butt.

It’s hard to say if this will finally be the final outing for these toys, but they introduced so many fantastic new ones, including the film’s villain/ sympathetic figure Gabby Gabby (Christina Hendricks). That seems almost impossible we won’t be seeing some sort of spin-off or in another decade a Toy Story 5. But even the last line of the movie makes you believe that this was it for Tim Allen and Tom Hanks. If it is, it’s been one incredible journey and if not, well I can’t wait to see where they go next.

Nate’s Movie Tour Reviews – Toy Story 4 = 89/100

We’ve got Dwayne Johnson pretending and acting like Danny DeVito. Just take all of our money now.

Remember when this came out a few years back and was actually really fun and entertaining. Mostly due to the stellar cast and hilarious new concept of the film? Well, they are running it back, but this time, everything isn’t as what it appears.

Continuing on from our last adventure, we have Spencer feeling a little bit lonely, and missing his friends. So when he stumbles upon the broken Jumanji game, he is sucked back into the world of Jumanji, where everything is essentially trying to kill you. Here’s the thing though, this time around, some true legends and veterans in Danny Glover and Danny DeVito are joining in on the fun. DeVito is placed inside Dwayne’s body and Glover is being placed in Kevin Hart’s body.

The big reason why this works so well is the cast. Jack Black and Karen Gillan shined in the first, and they really carried much of the comedic load. No surprise here, everyone is back and they look like they all have the most amount of fun making these movies. That can go along way in helping your movie seem more authentic and overall just more entertaining. Martha is the only one who goes back into their previous body from the first where everyone else is trapped inside a new body. We don’t even get to see where Spencer and Bethany end up. So expect so awesome twists and turns and maybe even a few surprise cameos that we aren’t aware of yet.

This was a fantastic first look at the new Jumanji, they seem like they haven’t skipped a beat. Hits theatres December 13th!

So much salami and cheese

Wow. They actually did it. The Toronto Raptors are NBA World Champions. Still has a weird ring to it. It’s even weirder typing that out. So I’ll say it again, the Toronto Raptors are World Champions. Canada hasn’t tasted victory this sweet since the “Golden Goal.” It hasn’t won a professional championship since 93. In 93′ if someone were to tell you that a basketball franchise would win the next big 4 title for Canada, you would be ridiculed to no avail. In 93′ Canada didn’t even have an NBA team, let alone the sport itself was still a baby in this country. My god, how the sport and this team have grown since the turn of the century. Hockey is something that Canada is known for around the globe, it’s part of who we are as a nation, but watching this country come together to support a team and a sport that quite frankly isn’t for everyone was truly something special. Basketball is now the second biggest sport in the world, and I believe it’s closing in on soccer to become number 1.

It took just a mere 24 years, seems like a life time, and for some fans it’s honestly longer than that. As for this guy, well I’ve been around long enough to remember Isaiah Thomas running through that Raptors logo, as our first ever GM. Or even when they announced the name of this beloved organization. Shout out to Steven Spielberg for making dinosaurs cool again in 1993 with Jurassic Park. If I could pick one person to not be my first ever GM I think Isaiah would be pretty close to the top of that list. A dog on the court, one of the best pure PG’s the league has ever seen. But when it comes to anything other than his basketball talents, the man was kind of a train wreck. Some could argue he was the worst GM in the history of the NBA with his combined efforts in Toronto and New York.

It was kind of a rocky start to the franchise. Playing out of the Skydome, no one knew anything about Canada and even our team name “the Raptors” was mocked. It took a few years to get going, the highlight in the beginning was beating MJ’s Bulls in the season they went 72-10. Kind of a sad highlight reel if you ask me. Then something changed. It was the night of the 1998 NBA draft and the Raptors had the 4th overall pick and selected Antawn Jamison from the university of UNC. A great college player no doubt, but his teammate at UNC went one pick later to Golden State, Mr. Vince Carter. We swapped picks with Golden State and everyone knows the rest. VC or Air Canada himself put the team and this country on his back and on the map. If you’re old enough to remember where you were during the 2000 dunk contest. It’s one of the most memorable nights in the history of the game. We all watched perfection occur in midair. Something else happened that year too. Our first trip to the NBA playoffs. Standing in our way. The New York Knicks, who were kind of basketball royalty at that time, I know that’s so strange to hear, but coming off a finals appearance, the Raptors got their asses kick and were swept out of the first round 3 games to none. Not to mention Vince was a deer caught in the headlights for the entire series. Do you all remember how bad VC was in that first playoff series? I remember because my father I think lost his voice every few days from yelling at the television so much. Back in the day where we hardly got any NBA games broadcasted here in Canada. A time before NBA league pass, all we really got to see was Christmas Day games, the playoffs and the Raptors. It’s weird. I’ll never forget that first playoff run, because maybe it was how close to the television me and my dad would sit and it was the first time, as a country and fans that we all thought “this could really happen for us someday.” Raps get eliminated, T-Mac goes to Orlando and Butch Carter gets fired (thank god). True story about Butch. He tried to sue Marcus Camby during the 2000 playoffs. That’s right a coach tried to sue a former player and this was making headlines when we WERE TRYING TO COMPETE IN OUR FIEST PLAYOFF SERIES

The following year, VC becomes a superstar, arguably the most entertaining basketball player on planet Earth, and we made it back to the playoffs. Standing in our way yet again, the New York Knicks. 5 games later, the Toronto Raptors had won their very first playoff series. Pure bliss, we had beaten the Knicks in a playoff series and were now going to face Allen Iverson and the Sixers. We all know what happens next. Game 7 arrives, VC decides to attend his graduation at UNC that morning, and misses a shot at the buzzer to propel us into the ECF against the Bucks. Everything changed after that……..

Injuries pile up on Vince, he starts to feel the pressure, he starts to not have fun anymore playing basketball for Toronto. “I don’t wanna dunk anymore.” An actual quote from the greatest dunker the game has ever seen. It was a messy breakup, but one that had to happen. We shipped him off to our rival the New Jersey Nets for essentially a basket of muffins. Not. Fun. Times.

We’ve had arguably a few of the worst head coaches in the history of the league. Some of the worst draft picks. Like this franchise was laughable. But at the time so was the city. They both have come far in the last 15 years. Toronto has made some history with coaches, we’ve had coaches that have gone on to never ever have head coaching jobs again in this league. Do you know how difficult that is? Coaches are recycled yearly, but some of ours were so bad, all it took was one job. Darrell Walker and Kevin O’Neil, remember Kevin O’Neil, aka Larry David. The Raptors had Larry David for a head coach at one point in history. We drafted, Andrea Bargnani, Rafael Araujo, Charlie Villanueva, Aleksandar Radojevic. How could this team build any sort of fondation when we were the laughing stock of the draft? No free agents wanted to come here, Toronto wasn’t even cool yet. It was so hard to get going after VC left because the Raptors were simply the worst run organization in the NBA. Until we got Bosh and DeRozan nothing was happening within this team. Bosh was just wasted as a Raptor and I never faulted him or any other star for wanting out. Toronto wasn’t ready to handle a star and it’s not the city it is today. They all helped pave the way for this moment and we should be thanking them. We hated on VC for far too long, and I was even apart of that in the beginning. It’s time to just accept our past and now move towards an even brighter future.

Then it all changed. Masai Ujiri decided to take his talents from Denver to Toronto and that’s when everything started to happen. We drafted better, go back and look at our draft picks from 2012 onward. Every single player is still a relevant NBA rotational player. Even Bruno sprouted his wings this year in Memphis. Ujiri didn’t just change the team, he transformed the culture. His biggest move was simply. Trading Rudy Gay and keeping Lowry. THEY WERE GOING TO TANK FOR ANDREW FUCKING WIGGINS. Could you imagine watching Wiggins and DeMar shoot long 2s for years on end. If that would have happened, I don’t know what kind of shape my life would be in regards to me being a Raptors fan. We didn’t trade him and that year. That year was game 7 against Brooklyn and who took the shot at the end of the game.? It wasn’t DeMar……

The day and moment I pinpoint this whole organization changing is January 27th, 2014. The Raptors were on the road in Brooklyn and they were down 1. Remember this game? Patrick Patterson steals the inbounds and we get to go ahead layup? That moment, that game, changed the entire season. It built so much confidence in this newly built team post Rudy Gay trade, and it impacted the standings where the Nets never caught the Raptors in the end and we ended up winning our first Division Title in a long time. All the playoff success, I call it success. Would you rather not make the playoffs, be the Charlotte’s, the Knicks and the Sacramento’s of the world? We went to the playoffs year after year and have some pretty good runs. It just wasn’t ever enough. We were never enough….

Someone had to go. Something had to be done. One day we all woke up and DeMar DeRozan had been traded to the Spurs for Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green. Kawhi Leonard, the cyborg, one of the best players in the NBA, a finals MVP. He was now apart of our team, and a man who we watched grow up before our eyes and shaped this franchise into an almost contender. It was bittersweet to watch DeMar leave our team. We needed a change and we needed a makeover. So Masai dumped coach of the year Dwayne Casey and DeMar DeRozan. He scarified them to the basketball gods, in order to acquire two new gods. Nick Nurse a basketball prodigy, who was a player coach at the age of 23. Young enough where he wasn’t even able to drive the team van. On that team, Masai Ujiri. The other, Kawhi Leonard himself. The superstar who was forgotten by everyone. A man who was single handedly destroying the Golden State Warriors in the WCF before his devastating ankle injury. Things didn’t end perfectly with the Spurs, and Masai saw that as potential. Potential to acquire one of the best two-way players this game has ever seen for our most loyal soldier. As heartbreaking as it was to some, it turned out to be the greatest trade in NBA history, and perhaps sports history depending on if Kawhi decides to stay or not. Having one of the most dominant playoff runs ever, Toronto finally got to experience what it feels like to have a legit “superstar” on their roster. Something that is very rare in sports. I embraced every single second of Kawhi this post-season, in fact with about 20 games left in the regular season, I just wanted the playoffs to get here because I knew we wouldn’t see Kawhi fully unleashed until the playoffs.

The Raptors won a title and we are in the drivers seat to resign one of the games most dominant players, have a young stud in Pascal Siakim getting better each passing day and it cements Lowry as the greatest Raptor of all time. We ended one of the greatest dynasties ever. It wasn’t LeBron who took down the Warriors it was the Baby Dino’s. The team that was built this year was one for the record books. Not one top ten drafted player. Could be the first time in NBA history.

I don’t know about you, but like Drake said, this whole thing has me thinking “back to back”

In the year 2019, Brad Pitt is not only conquering Hollywood, but he’s also conquering space.

It’s been on people’s radars for 2019, but we finally got our first look at James Gray follow up to The Lost City of Z with Ad Astra. It’s Brad Pitt in space, need I say more?

Everyone and I mean everyone loves a great space movie, it’s something about the unknown that captivates people’s minds. Ad Astra proves to be no different, in fact, it’s adding a little extra layer to the space genre where we have some sort of mystery and a missing father going on. Roy McBride (Pitt) became an astronaut for one reason, his father Clifford, who is being played by Tommy Lee Jones. Unfortunately for Roy his Dad has disappeared in a mission that was exploring the outer edges of our solar system. Turns out that dear old Dad might just not be dead after all, and is not only alive, but could be the secret to unlocking a mystery to could threaten human life as we know it.

It’s basically a whodunit in space.

What draws an audience to a space film is the visuals and judging from the trailer, they seem rather impressive. Parts of this trailer have off a pretty large Gravity vibe, while other smaller bits had that Life, Contact vibe. This is a space movie that will be exploring potential extraterrestrial life. It’s just not about space exportation. Ad Astra will definitely contain more than meets the eye, and anything space and anything Brad Pitt should get people excited.

I’m officially starting the petition to get Leonardo DiCaprio in a space movie. He’s the only handsome Hollywood star left not to go. Damon, Clooney, Pitt and Affleck have all been. It’s time to get Leo into space!

Ad Astra hits theatres September 20th!

I do not understand why they keep trying to make these movies happen, it’s never going to happen.

The year was 1991, the world was a much different place. In that year we got one of the best action movies ever made by the legend himself James Cameron. Terminator 2: Judgement Day remains a classic, but ever since, Hollywood has tried making new Terminator films and well failing miserably. Sometimes you just need to realize when something is over and move on. The Terminator franchise had an incredible run, but now it’s almost been 20 years of terrible sequels. The newest addition, Terminator: Dark Fate appears no different.

Cool, Sarah Conner, or Linda Hamilton herself is back. That is the huge selling point of this new installment, maybe they are going for a little Logan vibe here. She’s old, she’s beat up, but she remains a complete badass. But this whole thing just seems like a mess to me. The first two Terminators actually kept things simple, yet the action was incredible and the story telling was fantastic. Everything is now so far overblown and over the top, it just doesn’t feel like the same franchise anymore. Of course the man himself, Arnold Schwarzenegger is back, they can’t possibly do this without him. He’s old now, he’s not the same lean, mean, machine ass kicking machine he was in the 90s.

The whole thing just felt so familiar, from the villains, we get it, liquid metal is awesome, it’s time to create something new and exciting. Yes, there seems to be a new kind of Terminator played by Mackenzie Davis, but it’s just not enough. The only saving grace of the trailer was the warehouse sludge-hammer fight, which looked awesome. Tim Miller the man behind Deadpool is in control, and I guess that should give us some hope. I credit the success of Deadpool to Ryan Reynolds not the director. Time will tell, but I’ll be shocked if this gets good reviews or even makes a dent at the box-office.

Hits theatres November 1st.

Spider-Man doing a lot of Spider-Man things! Also massive Endgame spoilers, so beware!

Is Marvel the new Pixar? Always pulling on our heartstrings. I can’t sit there and see Peter cry, over the death of his BFF. That’s right folks, Tony Stark took one for the team and Peter is safe to say a little shaken up by it. Who wouldn’t be? Tony acted as his mentor and a father figure in his life, things that Peter desperately needed. Now he’s gone and Peter doesn’t quite know who to turn to for guidance. One thing he does know, he just wants to go on a regular summer vacation and do regular vacation things with his friends.

The vacation is short lived when Nick Fury hunts him down to discuss a mission. This is where we are introduced to Quintin Beck aka Mysterio. Played by Jake Gyllenhaal, who is a terrific addition to the MCU. This is where we get a bomb dropped on us, and he’s from the “multi-verse.” Which is HUGE news, because it’s going to lead to so many possibilities and new doors opening within the MCU. It’s also their secret back door plan in case they ever want to give Chris Evans or Robert Downey Jr a boat load of money to return to the MCU. I pray that Marvel decides to put a new spin on Mysterio and makes him somewhat of an anti-hero.

We know he’s the master of illusions and I would hate for that to be the twist, knowing full well that, well to quote Quicksilver, “you didn’t see that coming?”

Peter needs a new mentor and having Jake Gyllenhaal fill that void would just be incredible and then teasing us with the fact he could become the new Ironman, or Iron Spider is pretty damn cool. This movie looks great and a fantastic way to end Phase 3 of the MCU. One thing Peter needs to work on, his secret identity skills. Everyone and their dog knows he’s Spider-Man at this point.

Hits theatres July 2nd!