Katherine Monk 367 results

Katherine Monk is a former movie critic with The Vancouver Sun and Postmedia News. She still watches a lot of movies… and writes stuff about them.

2.5Score

Movie review: Cyrano may leave everyone unrequited

Movie review: Cyrano Joe Wright's take on Edmond Rostand's classic tale of courting makes a bold move that hits a bad note, despite an inspired performance from Peter Dinklage in the title role of a man who struggles with his physical appearance.
3Score

Munich: Edge of War wallows in pre-war paranoia

Munich: The Edge of War  When the world feels unfriendly and the people you thought were friends whisper behind your back, you know you're not in Hollywood anymore. You're watching the fully earnest Munich: Edge of War.
3.5/5, 4/5Score

Two new docs offer deep dive on African-American dance icons

Movie review: Ailey and Can You Bring It - Bill T. Jones and D-Man in the Waters Alvin Ailey and Bill T. Jones redefined modern dance for their generation, but while Ailey's company became the de facto representative of the African-American experience on the legitimate stage, Bill T. Jones lingered in the shadows long enough to truly know himself, and the emotional purpose behind each move.  
4Score

Cherry strips full metal jacket off explosive content to keep heart intact

Movie Review: Cherry Joe and Anthony Russo use their superhero experience to  bring Nico Walker's novel to the screen with the epic scale of an Avengers movie, only to empty every hidden pocket in the cargo pants of male identity.
3.5Score

Death of a Ladies Man rides drifts down St. Lawrence Street on a raft of booze-fuelled memory

Movie Review: Death of a Ladies Man Matthew Bissonnette's new feature is not based on the famed Montreal poet-Lothario's writing, but it finds the same bruised skies and ice-covered steeples that inspired his work -- and in the process, gives Gabriel Byrne a clean shot at creative narcissism.
3.5Score

My Salinger Year serves up character on a silver platter, with a side of quirk

Movie review: My Salinger Year Joanna Rakoff's memoir takes its small gestures to the big screen in Philippe Falardeau's adaptation that finds a soft spot for a world before word processors, emails and the amputated personal communiques called 'texts.'  
3Score

Raya and the Last Dragon seeks peace, but gets lost in labyrinth of war

Movie Review: Raya and the last Dragon The new Disney blockbuster pushes female characters to the forefront, but ambient violence and distrust betrays a sensitivity to the fair sex with slings, arrows and spears.
3.5,3, 5,5 Score

The Croods enter a New Age but Chronicling Christmas never gets old

What’s On November 27 A modern stone age family returns, Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn re-gift, a sports journalist pummels political corruption, and Alex Winter offers a little green rosetta stone for Frank Zappa

The joy of wearing a mask when you’re facially disfigured

Health: COVID-19 Facial Coverings The Coronavirus Pandemic has disturbed the delicate balance of daily life, but one writer found a strange symmetry in suddenly being asymmetrical. “Is the mask magic?" he demanded with sudden, passionate interest. "Yes." I bowed my head, so that our eyes no longer met. "I made it magic to keep you safe. The mask is your friend, Erik. As long as you wear it, no mirror can ever show you the face again." - Phantom of the Opera, Gaston Leroux By Katherine Monk VANCOUVER, BC — I woke up around midnight after passing out on the couch. I’d made a fire to get cozy after an hour-long swim in the ocean late in the afternoon, and I still felt cold. I plodded off to the bathroom to get ready for bed, and when I looked in the mirror — something looked a little off. I wrote it off to the awkward sleep position and the hard pillow. My face looked, well, saggy. It wouldn’t have been the first time I was a little shocked by a late night encoun...
4, 3.5, 3Score

The Way I See It, Greta, and the toil of the Trial of the Chicago 7

What’s On October 16, 2020 The Way I See It is a must-see view at the White House through the lens of official photographer Pete Souza, I Am Greta goes on an epic journey to save the world, and Aaron Sorkin's Trial of the Chicago 7 fails to find a West Wing moment.