Drama

Tiff 2026: The Treaty 6 Team is Definitely Not The Mighty Ducks in ‘Smudge the Blades’

When describing the iteration of his decade-in-the-making hockey movie, Cody Lightning explained how his comedy morphed into a dramedy the more he explored the heavy concepts related to his story. For young indigenous hockey players, racism, sexism, drugs, poverty, and the like informed the themes of his story which altered its genre.

And though they’re ultimately on different ice rinks, his story has a lot in common with everyone’s favourite story of an underdog hockey team, The Mighty Ducks. A messy, begrudged coach, a coed team, a player who’s outgrown the league, and a league they have to try to live up to all inform the story of both of these teams, but with the Cree creator steeping his in indigeneity, there are marked differences in themes and tone.

The Treat 6 Blades are a struggling rag tag group. Their skillset is spread and they experience overt racism from the league and their rough coach (Ed Helms, playing against type as a harsh retired hockey player raining terror upon his team). When they’re kicked out of their league for playing rough (one bad hit is all it takes for a team of indigenous youth), they band together with a scrappy new coach in it for all the wrong reasons. The kids have big dreams that they hope hockey can deliver to them, so losing a league spot is an unfathomable hit. They’ll have to rely on their coach to straighten himself up and then them so they can have a chance at battling on the ice in a world where fairness isn’t an option.

Though the team and coach are scrappy and rag tag, this is hardly a comedy story. The kids’ parents struggle with drugs, money, and views on sexuality. The kids themselves are forced to manage that on their own, if that means begging for their equipment back from a pawn shop or bearing the weight of being a family’s golden goose. Lightning’s story is often pitch black, and he resists even a quip on the ice for levity.

But that’s the story he’s telling, something different from the snappy funny indigenous hockey tales peppered into Letterkenny or Shoresy. He’s not shying away from a bleak reality, he is using hockey to portray it and also to create a space of hope and light for the youth on his screen.

The hockey scenes don’t always look smooth or professional, though some of the actors are hockey players first. But there’s a distinct awareness of shooting (film, not pucks) on the ice, and scenes in the rink look slick though naturalistic. Much of the drama takes place in a dingy bar, a chipping locker room, or a rink’s parking lot which will feel like familiar locales for life for anyone who’s been a youth chasing the show (or anyone who’s consumed other hockey flicks like Goon). The story feels true and honest and gives hope to young people up against odds they might not be able to overcome.

Smudge the Blades isn’t a feel-good underdog sports story, but it shares that DNA. It’s a sometimes bleak but otherwise beautiful story about team sports and how they create found family, opportunity, and camaraderie in a world where you’re asked to shoot from the red line.

Timothée Chalamet Brings His A-Game to the Raucous ‘Marty Supreme’
Elevation Pictures

One need not brace for the trite biopic standard when sitting down to watch Josh Safdie’s latest. The story of Marty Reisman (Marty Mauser by way of Timothée Chalamet in the film) is loosely adapted for this snappy drama that, if anything, uses ping pong as a background timekeeping device more than it does a major plot point. Marty Supreme is much more the next story of a fallible Safdie hurricane than it is a historical tribute to a late pioneer. And it’s all the better for it.

Mauser is in a similar precarious position to his cohorts in Howard Ratner (Uncut Gems) and Connie Nikas (Good Time), staying just barely avoiding drowning but choosing to sprint rather than tread water. He’s a sharp mouthed brat (a pisk, if you will) adept at the kind of charm that’s only effective until he keeps on talking. He’s an eye on an important prize: a ping pong tournament abroad that will grant him global acclaim. Mauser needs the cash to get himself there, and the resources to get there in style. So sets off his calamitous sprint through match losses, affairs, a nagging mother, a would-be business partner, and a pregnant old flame with a protective beau. Marty is a hurricane, like Safdie protagonists before him (though this one was crafted without Benny- but with their longtime collaborator, Ronald Bronstein). He is constantly in messes of his own making, something he feels slighted by as he is just doing “what it takes” to succeed.  Mauser uses people as rungs as he climbs to what he believes to be his manifest destiny.

Safdie sets his frantic drama in 1950s New York, where a generation of Jewish immigrants are still reeling from the holocaust. There’s the sort of scrappiness in Mauser one might expect to see in tales of post WWII gangsters like Benny Siegel or Meyer Lansky, men contending with being on the receiving end of a particular form of racism and refusing to be brought down. The backdrop allows Mauser to self-justify his sharpness and entitlement and also allows him to better appear a burden to Americans reeling from a war where they were made to liberate his people. It also lends Mauser a shorthand to interact with others in his neighbourhood and build the sorts of allyships that are only slightly more difficult to bruise with his antics.

Chalamet, who was already a favourite around cinephile circles, earns his place as a lead in a contender here. His delivery of Mauser’s snappy dialogue is deliciously funny, and his playful smugness is endlessly effective. Looking as much like a bar mitzvah boy as he does a snappily dressed 20th century man, he is able to play with the earnestness and entitlement of a man who has both childlike wonder and the weight of adulthood rushing through him. He’s complimented by titans in his co-stars like Gwyneth Paltrow, but there’s reason the character is titular.

Marty Supreme is a frantic tale of “pride before the fall” that’s dressed up like the most gorgeous period piece complete with fresh garments and detailed storefronts. Set against a table tennis tournament is the story of a snappy young pisk whose success comes from disobedience, the disobedience inherited into a people who were on the wrong side of a quest for extermination. 

Marty Supreme hits theaters December 25, 2025

‘Bad Shabbos’ is a Gas
Menemsha Films

There’s enough reason to be tense about a meeting of future in laws, or machatunim if we’re being precise, without manslaughter but what’s a dead body between family? Bad Shabbos, a black comedy from Zack Weiner and Daniel Robbins, ups the ante on a religious standoff over family dinner by adding an accidental death that might look like a murder if it was revealed. Nervous guests and family dynamics are pushed to their anxious brink as they individually, then as a group, decide how to handle a stinky corpse hanging out in the powder room.

David (Jon Bass) and Meg (Meghan Leathers) are planning to get married, which requires Meg to begin the process of conversion in order to satisfy Jon and his modern religious family. In order to smooth the transition, they’ve invited Meg’s parents to Friday night dinner at David’s parents’ place so everyone can meet and her parents can get a sense of the tradition. Tensions are already high with Jon’s mother (Kyra Sedgwick) being less than accepting of Meg, Jon’s brother, Adam (Theo Taplitz), being a medicated foil to social situations, and Jon’s sister, Abby (Milana Vayntrub), sparring with her partner, Ben (Ashley Zukerman) who doesn’t seem to get along with anyone. After Ben clashes with Adam, Adam cooks up a scheme to dose him with his prescription laxative. But Adam somehow doesn’t know about Ben’s congenital digestive issues, and the cocktail of medication and dairy products knocks Ben off his balance and into the bathroom fixtures. Discovering his dead body, the siblings decide to protect Adam by covering it up and then are forced to do so during a hectic dinner where dynamics and relationships are already being tested.

The sprawling apartment, the countdown until Meg’s parents’ door knock, and a helpful doorman (Method Man), will all keep the bickering family on their toes as they navigate how to handle the tell-tale heart no longer beating in their powder room. That’s what creates the tension and allows for the comedy to spill over and into the New York City high rise.

Bad Shabbos wants us to laugh until we maybe toot and it’s mostly successful. Panicking family members and the comedic chops of people like Vayntrub and Method Man make for the tense kinds of laughs you want in this single location bruhaha. It’s not quite Clue or an Agatha Christie story, but it doesn’t seem to be trying to be more than a good old cluster of calamities where everyone is in on information at different times. It’s a less bloody version of a movie like Happy Times (2019), which sits closer to “comedy” on the “black comedy” spectrum making it easier to recommend to your extended family.

While there are certainly laughs to be had, much of Bad Shabbos relies on some outdated Jewish jokes and tropes about Jewish mothers it might be time to move on from. Jokes about the banks, the media, and unaccepting mothers are tired, but perhaps Bad Shabbos is taking ownership of them or exploring a personal experience that I can’t invalidate.

Bad Shabbos is an imperfect single location black comedy but one I am so happy exists. Clashing cultures, relationship and family dynamics, and tight dinner quarters are always ripe for solid explorations and gags, but chucking in a dead guy and an implicated murderer ups every version of that ante. For those looking for a harmless laugh, especially one about their own culture or similar experience with one, Bad Shabbos is a little delight, and a bit of a love note to the Jews of NY.

Bad Shabbos opens in NYC May 23, 2025 and LA and select cities on June 6, 2025

The ‘Succession’ Blu-ray Box Set is Monstrous. It’s Gargantuan.

Watching the demise and shift of cable and streaming entertainment makes for a meta-exercise when considering one of the greatest shows of this time was one built around a faux version of the Fox empire. Succession, HBO’s series about a self-absorbed clan of powerful billionaires, had the kind of cultural impact as the Golden Age of television, a heat associated with shows like The Sopranos or Breaking Bad. After a brief (perhaps mercifully so) four season run, Succession walked away with numerous awards (many for the acting of the unbelievable cast who seemed to outdo each other each episode) and the accolade of being popular water cooler talk, a show everyone had seen or was otherwise eager to.

The four seasons chronicled the self-centered reactions a group of siblings (and some of their spouses and distant relatives) had to the impending retirement of their billionaire patriarch. Logan Roy (Brian Cox) isn’t just the father of the “failing up” gaggle of self congratulatory dipshits, but is the father of modern America, shaping media, insurance, vacations, culture, and politics. As a stand-in for the real-life puppet master of a nation (and perhaps the world), an ever-ailing Logan is a gatekeeper for the next generation of world-shapers, pitting his unworthy children against each other for their shot at the crown. Equal parts insult-comedy and Shakespearean play, the members of the Roy family trip and fall through their attempt to usurp, trick, instigate coups, and succeed their father, all with the fake reasoning they give to themselves, each being shown to ultimately be as power hungry as the main that made them. It makes for dramatic fodder that pushes away puzzle box television watching in favor of lengthy discussions on symbolism that made for gorgeous essays on the symbolism of water, stunning acting choices that change vents, and finale reveals you can’t believe you didn’t see coming.

Succession was and remains a television monster by so expertly fusing writing, direction, cinematography, (sounds basic, I know) for the sort of alchemy that makes a series all things to many people. Now for collectors, cord cutters, or those afraid of streaming wars casualties, the complete series is available on Blu-ray.

For the first time ever, all 39 episodes of the series are available in one set, complete with special features superfans won’t be able to find by relying on a YouTube algorithm. Beyond clutching access to all episodes, viewers will have access to behind-the-scenes interviews with the cast and crew, extended character breakdowns, as well as “Inside the Episode” featurettes. The 12-disc set is mastered with high quality audio (I’ll let the buds at blu-ray.com break down the specs) and high quality 1080p resolution so nothing will be lost in your trip from streaming to physical media.

12 discs might make it too large to fit in your blazer pocket, but if you have room after removing your subway shoes like the rest of us normies, you could plop this boxset right into your capricious bag.Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment will be newly releasing Succession: The Complete Series on Blu-ray. Get ready to binge on all 39 episodes from HBO’s Emmy® award-winning original series, along with all the previously released special features. The brilliant high-stakes drama following the Roy Family and their quest for power will be available to purchase online on August 27. Pre-order your copy today.

Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment will be newly releasing Succession: The Complete Series on Blu-ray. Get ready to binge on all 39 episodes from HBO’s Emmy® award-winning original series, along with all the previously released special features. The brilliant high-stakes drama following the Roy Family and their quest for power will be available to purchase online on August 27. Pre-order your copy today.

In a Valley of Violence

Image result for in a valley of violenceThere are always moments when I bring up Westworld and someone responds “I don’t like Westerns.”  And often, I retort “well it’s more of a Sci-Fi than it is a Western.”  But, as someone who also never liked Westerns, I think I need a new retort.  Maybe I watched the wrong kind.

In a Valley of Violence is the right kind.  I saw this at a small festival for the sole reason that I trust Ethan Hawke.  Predestination had played the year before at the same fest and I wanted more of that.   I was totally blown away by how much fun Valley was and was revitalized in a desire to watch some cowboys.  The cast acts the hell out of this off beat script and it results in a real delight. It has all the ‘dog protectiness’ of John Wick and the “this dude made a western?” of The Quick and the Dead.

This is usually where I put the short synopsis to prime you for the flick, but it honestly would be really difficult to narrow this down to a few sentences.  In the tradition of a Western, rising actions are numerous.  The mysterious Paul stumbles across a town en route to Mexico where they run into this priest, and there are these girls, and a cop, and something about being an army deserter, I don’t know. Just trust this one.

Great if you liked: No Country for Old Men, John Wick, The Quick and the Dead, There will be Blood, The Good the Bad and the Ugly, Gangs of New York

End of Watch

It’s buddy cop day.  More specifically, it’s ‘buddy cop flipped on its side’ day.  Loyal followers have already seen the post below which is a buddy cop movie flipped onto it’s 60s Irish side making for a darker over the top comedy.  End of Watch flips the script to make a darker and more dramatic version of the genre.

Michael Peña is BACK (well this one is older, buy ya get me) doing what he does best, being a hilarious movie cop type, in this single camera found footage style cop drama from David Ayer.  Yes, Ayer made this, so expect explosions, oversized weapons dipped in gold, and all of that noise. But in this application, those vehicles actually work to create this beautifully gut wrenching take on the genre.  It’s hard to call a movie with a gold AK47 and a villain named ‘Big Evil,’ subtle, but this film really is.  It flips from found camera footage of two cute cop buddies into a fully directed drama without you even noticing.  You’ll go from laughing to cheering to crying without even noticing.  You’ll go from thinking Ayer is a helicopter loving Joker ruining director to a beautiful genius without even noticing.

Instead of being a cop tale about corruption and drugs and cash, this film is about friendship.  Ayer’s choice to give Michael Peña and Jake Gyllenhaal cameras and the license to improvise add to the realism of the friendship.  The two are more than charming and make this flip on the buddy cop genre more than welcome.

Great if you liked: The Fast and the Furious, Nightcrawler, Dog Day Afternoon, Cerpico, Donnie Brasco, Training Day, Street Kings

The Way Way Back

It’s the end of September, and I am already on my Hallowe’en horror grind.  It is taking a lot out of me to push back some great horror posts in favour of something a little more reminiscent of the waning Summer.

From Jim Rash and Nat Faxon, names you’ll recognize from The Descendants, comes the “coming of age” summer flick, The Way Way Back.  It’s just what you need to hold on the fleeting feeling of pool days.

Duncan, 14, goes on summer vacation with his mom, her overbearing boyfriend, and his daughter. Behind everyone’s back, he gets a job at the local water park, Water Wizz and befriends the “man child” of an owner, Owen.

Duncan’s self esteem is shot by his mother’s boyfriend, and the pretty girl next door.  At Water Wizz, he makes some unlikely friends and finds some purpose.

A recognizable cast including Steve Carell as big bad boyfriend, Sam Rockwell as Owen (one of the 3 most underrated actors of our time), Toni Collette as “the mom,” Allison Janney, and Liam James as Duncan.

This realistic coming of age comedy is overwhelmingly warm.  Duncan’s smiles are so genuine when in his own, and it’s something you can really sense.

Amazing if you liked Juno, Little Miss Sunshine, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, 500 Days of Summer, Moonrise Kingdom.

 

Southland Tales

Guys, I am still pretty sure the end of the world is imminent, and we’re way passed Idiocracy.

I give you a less comedic, and yet, completely insane telling of the world’s ultimate demise, Southland Tales. “Not with a whimper, with a bang.”

Set in an alternate LA just before July 4, 2008, this flick tells the interwoven stories of an amnesiac action star (The Rock), a police officer (Sean William Scott), a tripped out soldier (Justin Timberlake), a porn star (Sarah Michelle Gellar), and, I don’t know, half the cast of SNL and a gaggle of B list stars, teeing up to a 4th of July celebration that may or may not be the apocalypse.

From the mindhouse of the guy behind Donnie Darko, this bent timeline ensemble is an insanely fun star studded romp that, while pretty out there, rings a little bit true.  Made in 2007, the porn star trying to get a reality show story seemed somewhat far fetched.  Call in 2016, and the satirical alternate LA seems all too real.

Aside from it’s… story, this movie is also a lot of fun when treated like an anthology of scenes.  It has the futuristic campness of an acid trip Blade Runner, a soundtrack that dreams are made of, and scenes that could be standalone short films.  Timberlake has a music video like interlude that is his complete antithesis and, alone, is a great film. (See below if you need convincing)…. (Honestly, it could be a standalone short film about a veteran returning from war, turning to illegitimate work after being left behind by the government after a war injury, PTSD, valuing over masculinity, and vets turning to drugs.  And watch Justin do his best to hide his Justin-ness, and at 2:40, let his Justin-ness spill over into a casual dance move).

It’s campy.  It’s crazy.  It’s real.  It’s allegorical.  It’s biblical. It’s a TRIP. It’s full of space and future bullshit.  It’s sci fi.  It’s comedy. It’s star studded. Honestly, look at the cast.  Most are bona fide standalone characters, but it also gives it that “everyone in hollywood showed up to add a layer of cameo” vibe from bonkers flicks like Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. It’s also full of quotes that are completely unquotable and yet, you’ll want them on an inspirational poster.

It’s also pretty long and comes with a comic book prequel, so save it for a Sunday if you’re willing to dive right in.

Great if you liked: Blade Runner, Idiocracy, Donnie Darko, Dr. Strangelove

In Bruges

 

As I sat watching the first two awards announced at the Oscars, fighting with my cable box for its inability to play “Room,” I realized all I needed for real Sunday entertainment was my DVD collection, and In Bruges.

A go-to for a lot of film fans trying to help out a bored friend, this British flick is at the top of British (…Irish) Drama game.

Colin Farrell stars as Ray, a hitman, who along with his “co-worker,” Ken (Brendan Gleeson) has been sent to Bruges, Belgium to await orders from their boss, Harry.

The plot unfolds in such an artful way that I don’t want to delve into it any more here.

Martin McDonagh, (the brilliant genius behind Seven Psychopaths), does what he does best here.  He creates a simple story about a lost hit man and coats it with a thick layer of allegory, meta-plot, blatant hints you don’t see, and a perfect peppering of humour.

Farrell, (who is, IMO, one of the top 3 most underrated actors of our time) really shines here as Ray.  He even won the Golden Globe for Best Actor for it…. (Sorry, Oscars and DDL, this was Colin’s year).

By treating “crime” the way it does, it really takes you into the life of these hitmen and out of your every day.  It’s dark, it’s sad, it’s funny, and it’s exciting, a difficult combo on which McDonagh doesn’t disappoint.

Great if you liked: Seven Psychopaths, Snatch, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Layer Cake, Lucky Number Slevin, Rock N Rolla