Lesbian Space Princess is a 2025 Australian adult animated science fiction comedy film written and directed by Emma Hough Hobbs and Leela Varghese in their directorial debut. It features the voices of Shabana Azeez, Bernie Van Tiel, Gemma Chua-Tran, Richard Roxburgh, Kween Kong, and comedy troupe Aunty Donna.
The story, inspired by the filmmakers' own lives, includes themes that relate to LGBTQI people, and themes include the importance of self-worth and self-love, feeling free to take up space, and being comfortable with your own company.
This week on the podcast, Directors, Emma Hough Hobbs and Leela Varghese join us for a long format interview in person while in Toronto.
We share lots of laughs and get to play some fun game as well.
Lesbian Space Princess is in theatres now
Shelby Oaks is a 2024 American supernatural horror mystery film produced, written, and directed by Chris Stuckmann in his feature directorial debut, with Mike Flanagan as an executive producer.
A continuation of an online series of fictional found footage videos about a paranormal investigative team named the Paranormal Paranoids, which also starred Durn, the film follows a woman determined to find her sister, who went missing while investigating the mysterious abandoned town of Shelby Oaks.
Chris Stuckmann joins us in Toronto for a special screening of his directorial debut and to discuss the film in this weeks episode.
Shelby Oaks is in theatres October 24th
Andrea Werhun and Nicole Bazuin challenge toxic misconceptions about sex work and sex workers with great audacity and high style.
An impassioned and insightful rebuttal to the assumptions, misconceptions, and faulty representations that surround sex work and sex workers, Modern Whore may also be the most audacious and engaging movie ever made about the oldest profession.
Successfully expanding on their 2020 short film and book of the same name, director Nicole Bazuin and subject and co-writer Andrea Werhun take viewers on a very eventful journey through Werhun’s experiences as an escort and exotic dancer, a career she began when she was a university student in Toronto. As Werhun recounts with great flair and frankness in the film’s stylized, fourth-wall-breaking re-enactments, there were many lessons to be learned and challenges to be faced, including the lack of protection from toxic clients and her own internalized versions of the shame that society associates with female pleasure and the sex industry.
In this mesmerizing film by Kunsang Kyirong, the deepening bond between two young women threatens to have repercussions throughout a community of Tibetan immigrants living in an apartment complex in west Toronto.
Indeed, one of the most impressive aspects of this fully realized first feature is Kyirong’s ability to combine a detailed portrait of this wider network of intersecting lives with a similarly specific and empathetic look at two people resisting the roles they’ve been assigned.
Ten years after moving to Vancouver, struggling visual artist Kana Yamamoto (Mayumi Yoshida) returns to Tokyo to attend the funeral of her beloved grandmother. Arriving in Japan, she rekindles a tentative flame with her bashful ex-boyfriend, Hiro (Ryo Tajima), an aspiring thespian who vanished from her life a decade prior. As Kana digs deeper into her grandmother’s past, she uncovers a family secret that prompts her to reconsider everything she thought she knew about love, duty, and belonging.
A feature adaptation of writer/director/actor Mayumi Yoshida’s autofictional short film of the same name, Akashi’s largely black-and-white cinematography evokes the solemnity of Kana’s grief, with select scenes brought to life in vivid colour. Themes of identity, class struggle, and artistic aspiration coalesce as the film shifts between the past and present to explore contrasting tales of star-crossed romance. Awash in synth soundscapes and driven by emotionally resonant performances, this tender drama asserts love’s ability to bridge any and all distances.
Francesco Sossai’s latest is an effortlessly charming and utterly delightful romp through the Italian countryside from the POV of a passenger in a car with two old-timers reliving their long-gone glory days.
Loosely pulling from their own experiences, co-writers Francesco Sossai and Adriano Candiago brilliantly revive the beloved Commedia all’italiana style. Impeccably shot on film stock by director of photography Massimiliano Kuveiller (who also shot Diciannove, TIFF ’24), The Last One for the Road is director Sossai’s sophomore film. Inspired by filmmakers like Marco Ferreri, Elio Petri, Francesco Rosi, and Carlo Lizzani, his latest is an homage to special places that live in our memories — bars and streets from our youth, now demolished to make way for new development — and a call to redraw our inner maps.
Dutch director Nanouk Leopold’s seventh feature provides uncommonly vivid views of southern Irish scenery and the driven, haunted woman (Natasha O’Keeffe) at the story’s core.
A slow-burn thriller about reckoning with trauma and containing the furies that threaten to reduce everything to ashes, Whitetail is rife with the same tightly coiled tension that exists deep within its protagonist. It’s just as remarkable for its vivid portrayal of its Irish setting, which director Leopold captures with great authenticity.
Whitetail benefits most of all from an extraordinary performance by O’Keeffe, an actor best known for her parts on such TV hits as Peaky Blinders and The Wheel of Time yet whose own formidable presence in the lead makes the experience of seeing Leopold’s film even richer.
40 Acres is a 2024 Canadian post-apocalyptic thriller film written and directed by R. T. Thorne (in his feature directorial debut). The film stars Danielle Deadwyler as a matriarch of descendants of African American farmers who settled in 1875 in rural Canada after the first Civil War. Two hundred years later, they are trying to survive in a decimated future.
In a post-apocalyptic future where food is scarce, the last descendants of a Black family of farmers who settled in Canada after the American Civil War must protect their homestead from an organized militia hell-bent on taking their land.
R.T. Thorne is a Canadian filmmaker known for his bold visual style and commitment to equality in the industry. As a dynamic and diverse visual storyteller, Thorne has evolved from directing music videos to directing, screenwriting, and producing. His notable works include the Emmy nominated, 12-time Canadian Screen Award winning series The Porter for CBC & BET, and the award-winning Hulu original Utopia Falls. His bold visual style and character-driven approach have earned him multiple award wins across short film, music videos and television, including being named the 2023 Playback Magazine Director of the Year. As Chair of the Director’s Guild of Canada BIPOC members committee, Thorne advocates for equality in the film and TV industry. He makes his debut as a feature film director with 40 Acres, bringing a fresh and authentic perspective to the genre.
The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 6, 2024. It was theatrically released on July 4, 2025, by Mongrel Media in Canada.
Ali's life in Canada as a young immigrant turns upside down when his naïve cousin Omid arrives from overseas under mysterious circumstances to live with him in a newcomers settlement house. On the cusp of achieving his goal to settle in Toronto, a tide of misadventures derails Ali's plans, costing him his job opportunity and romance, which ultimately drives him to his wits’ end.
Neema Naz is an Iranian-Canadian stand up comedian, actor, and content creator. During the fall of 2014 he launched his comedy career in Toronto. His inaugural headline stand up comedy tour in 2022, “I’m Your Sugar Daddy" welcomed over 15,000 fans from Los Angeles to Vancouver, New York to Montreal, San Francisco to Toronto, and many more. He has also headlined shows in Sydney, Berlin, and Melbourne.
Neema has toured with and supported several comedy greats including Russell Peters, Theo Von, Howie Mandel, Omid Djalili, and Maz Jobrani. His online presence has garnered him over 1.5 billion views and has been co-signed by the likes of Gary Vaynerchuk, David Goggins, Gordon Ramsay, Kevin Hart, and Andrew Schulz. Neema has several acting credits for The Boys (Amazon Prime)
Egghead & Twinkie is a colorful teen road movie directed by Sarah Kambe Holland and starring Sabrina Jie-A-Fa and Louis Tomeo. Known as the first feature to successfully crowdfund on TikTok, this indie production has taken the film festival circuit by storm.
Available now on VOD in North America
On the night they move from the city into a sprawling suburban home, parents Josh (Ben Foster, Finestkind, TIFF ’23) and Rachel (Cobie Smulders, High School, TIFF ’22) are jolted by a car crashing into the tree on their front lawn, killing the driver and injuring his passengers. And once Josh discovers the accidents are a regular occurrence due to the design of the road, he becomes obsessed with being ready to save the next victims... to the exclusion of everything else.
Writer and Director, Jason Buxton opens up about obsession, family and parenthood in his new film, Sharp Corner.
Sharp Corner is in theatres May 9th
Kryptic is a Canadian horror thriller film, directed by Kourtney Roy and released in 2024. The film stars Chloe Pirrie in a dual role as Barb Valentine, a cryptid hunter who has disappeared while hunting for the Sooka, a mysterious forest creature, and Kay, a woman who herself encounters the Sooka while searching for Barb, and abandons her life to embark on a new quest for meaning and identity after the encounter eliminates all her memories of who she used to be.
Director, Kourtney Roy Joins the podcast discuss the film and its release on VOD/ Digital May 9th
My Dead Friend Zoe is a 2024 American comedy-drama film written by Kyle Hausmann-Stokes and A. J. Bermudez, directed by Hausmann-Stokes and starring Sonequa Martin-Green, Natalie Morales, Gloria Reuben, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Morgan Freeman, and Ed Harris.
It premiered at South by Southwest on March 9, 2024, and was theatrically released in the United States on February 28, 2025.
Kyle is an award-winning director and writer based in Los Angeles. Like all filmmakers, he got his start as a paratrooper in the US Army. He served 5 years in the US Army and was awarded the Bronze Star for his service as a convoy commander in Iraq. Kyle is a graduate of USC's School of Cinematic Arts and co-founder of the nonprofit organization Veterans in Media & Entertainment. He's directed films for Google, IBM, US Air Force, UPS and the US Dept of Veterans Affairs.
Film synopsis:
Merit is a U.S. veteran who's at odds with her family thanks to the presence of Zoe, her dead best friend from the Army. Her cozy yet dysfunctional friendship with Zoe keeps the duo insulated from the world, until her estranged grandfather -- holed up at the family's ancestral lake house -- begins to lose his way and needs the help he refuses.
In a Kaiju-filled Japan, Kafka Hibino works in monster disposal. After reuniting with his childhood friend Mina Ashiro, a rising star in the anti-Kaiju Defense Force, he
decides to pursue his abandoned dream of joining the Force... when he suddenly transforms into the powerful "Kaiju No. 8.
" With help from his junior colleague Reno Ichikawa, Kafka hides
his identity while striving towards his life-long dream of passing the Defense Force exam and standing at Mina's side. But when mysterious intelligent Kaiju attack a Defense Force base,
Kafka faces a crucial decision in a desperate situation...
The omnibus film Kaiju No. 8: Mission Recon features an action-packed recap of season one and a new original episode,
“Hoshina’s Day Off.
”
(Hoshina's Day Off) A day off... a rare day of peace for the Defense Force. After spending so long training, Reno has forgotten what he's supposed to do with free time. He sees that Hoshina
is up to something with his own day off, and decides to go on a mission to tail him with Iharu! But then things go in an unexpected direction…
Catch it in theatres April 13,14 & 16th
Film synopsis:
May 1984. An unemployed ice cream truck driver steps onto the game show Press Your Luck harboring a secret: the key to endless money. But his winning streak is threatened when the bewildered executives uncover his real motivations.
Director , Samir Oliveros joins the podcast this week to discuss the film and its upcoming theatrical release April 4th.
#podcast #interview #paulwalterhouser
Film Synopsis:
A determined aspiring chef, AMIR struggles to carve out a path for himself and gratify the expectations of his parents, FARHAD and AREZOU – while his younger, Canadian-born brother, MAHYAR, appears to cruise through life effortlessly. When Amir’s parents receive news that a family friend from Iran has died and left his inheritance solely to Mahyar, the unexpected bequest triggers a chain of revelations that reshape the brothers’ dynamic and unravel truths about the family’s hidden past.
His Father’s Son is screening at the Canadian Film Festival Thursday, March 27, 6:00 pm at Scotia Bank Theatre.
LUCY: THE STOLEN LIVES OF ELEPHANTS is the first documentary film which reveals the plight of elephants in captivity and investigates the lies that zoos tell an unknowing public under the guise of wildlife conservation and education. At the heart of the film is Lucy, Edmonton Valley Zoo’s lone and ailing 48-year-old elephant and the people fighting to send her to a sanctuary in California where she can live for the first time in decades with the company of other elephants.
Lucy’s roots are traced back to Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage in Sri Lanka, where elephants are exploited as a tourist attraction and many are sold to zoos throughout the world. The film contrasts the difference for elephants who live in zoos with footage of elephants in their natural habitat and in sanctuary. Meanwhile, zoos worldwide falsely boast of their critical role in education and preventing extinction of the many animals that are threatened in the wild.
The film features a story of hope and a glimpse at a possible future for Lucy through the story of Kuky and Pupy, a pair of female elephants and their unusual, evolving zoo in Buenos Aires. As they wait to be transferred to a sanctuary, another pair of elephants in Argentina are relocated to the Global Sanctuary for Elephants in Brazil.
Synopsis
In a not so distant future, there is a reality where in order to save the planet, "death is everyone's job," with 50-year-olds taking the sacrifice, while teenage artists need to document it.
Eight years since her last feature, filmmaker, writer, and visual artist Ann Marie Fleming brings her gentle, introspective touch to the timely genre of environmental science fiction.
Can I Get A Witness? Is in theatres in Canada March 14
#movie #podcast
Presented by @filmtoppings & @1streviews
The 2025 Golden Slice awards honours the best in film this year with a large array of awards. You casted your vote on social media and here we are to present the winners!
Thank you to everyone who submitted votes and thank you to all of the presenters:
@bigvicmedia
@moviewatchinggirl
@moviereviews100
@whythebookwins
@moviereviews7
@augustkellerwrites
@ms.filmingo
@moviereviewswithben
@c.s.pictures_presents
@_atthehelmproductions
@esther.tainment
@ultimatemovieaccount
@lucaspelizaro
@seantalksabout
@taitstake
@revalmanac
@popcornpodcast
@thecinemadispatch
@kevintedjacobs
@ajwallacereviews
@nicksflicksfix
#movie #award
Season 2 premieres Wednesday, January 15 (9 p.m.) on CBC and CBC Gem. ALLEGIANCE is a high-octane police procedural drama uniquely set in Surrey, BC. The CBC Original series from Lark Productions in association with Universal International Studios stars Supinder Wraich (Sort Of) as Sabrina Sohal and Enrico Colantoni (English Teacher) as Vince Brambilla. The series focuses on identity and belonging, policing and politics, and finding truth within the heart of a flawed justice system.
Season 2 sees Sabrina joining the Serious Crimes Unit of the CFPC and has six months to prove she's got what it takes to be a detective. She’s paired with a newly transferred partner who has a decade of experience on her and a very different approach to the job. Sabrina is determined to prove herself worthy of her new position and take down the man responsible for framing her father for treason, while navigating a complex love life and an equally complicated family life. Throughout the season, she’s torn between powerful allegiances — to the police force, despite its flaws; to her family, despite their conflicting principles; to the community where her values are deeply rooted; and to an unexpected romance that must be kept secret.
Season 2 welcomes Samer Salem (The Expanse, The Boys) to the ensemble cast as a series regular, portraying Detective Corporal Zak Kalaini. Plus, showrunners Mark Ellis and Stephanie Morgenstern (Flashpoint, X Company) are back at the helm of ALLEGIANCE, a series created by Anar Ali (Transplant). Returning series regulars include Stephen Lobo, Adolyn H. Dar, David Cubitt, Crystal Balint, Toby Levins, Melanie Papalia, and Andres Joseph.