GENRE | Pedro Pascal Slashes Four 'Freaky Tales' in 1980s Oakland

"Oakland in '87 was hella wild."

Lionsgate / Entertainment One

Freaky Tales, a neon-soaked throwback action-comedy from indie writing and directing team Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, stars Pedro Pascal as the centrepiece of the third of four interlocking stories set before, during, and immediately after game four of the second round of the NBA playoffs between the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers in Oakland in 1987. It's a stylishly violent tribute to the Bay Area's diverse neighbourhood charm and sense of community but reminiscent of something like The Warriors.

REEL | Wrestling with the Past – 'Queen of the Ring' Slams

"Bad times don't last but bad guys do!"

Sumerian Pictures / Sherry Media Group

Queen of the Ring, the 1930-50s biographical sports drama from writer/director Ash Avildsen (son of Rocky director John G. Avildsen) based on the non-fiction book, The Queen of the Ring: Sex, Muscles, Diamonds, and the Making of an American Legend by Jeff Leen, stars Vancouver native Emily Bett Rickards as legendary trailblazing wrestler Mildred Burke in a physically impressive lead performance surrounded by an otherwise midcard-level historical biopic.

REEL | Michael Angarano Makes A Detour to 'Sacramento'

"Anger's just sadness with nowhere to go."

Vertical Entertainment / Game Theory Films

Actor Michael Angarano helms his sophomore directorial effort in the endearing road trip buddy comedy Sacramento. Starring him and Michael Cera as estranged best friends whose lives are headed in seemingly opposite directions in adulthood, the indie film follows their impromptu six-hour drive to the Californian capital city from Los Angeles to reconnect.

GATHER | Ziwe x 'What It Means to Be American' x UBC

"I rarely get asked to do [racism] p*rn."

Photo credit | Si Ming Zheng

UBC—(March 13, 2025) Talented mononymous Nigerian-American late night comedian/interviewer and Black Friend author Ziwe (Fumudoh) brought her stylishly hilarious insights to the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts as part of the 2025 Phil Lind Initiative's accidentally hyper topical ongoing speaker series on the politics of What It Means to Be "American": Navigating Identity in a Changing Nation.

REEL | Britt Lower Shelves the 'Darkest Miriam' x CFF 2025

"I will call you darkest Miriam from now on."

Canadian Film Festival

Sophomore writer/director Naomi Jaye adapts the experimental novel, The Incident Report by Canadian poet Martha Baillie, in the introspective romantic drama Darkest Miriam. Starring Britt Lower as the understated eponymous Toronto librarian, the quietly introspective film is a naturalistic exploration of social anxieties in public spaces.

SCREEN | Trespassing A Magical Heist – 'Stolen Kingdom'

"Being a kid in the '80s, the future was not optimistic."

White Lake Productions / Bright Sun Films

Native Floridan director Joshua Bailey uncovers the sordid underground black market economy and hidden trespassing subculture of theft behind Walt Disney World in his pop documentary with true-crime undertones, Stolen Kingdom. Delving into the niche topic of "theme park urban exploration," Bailey employs backstage footage of mischief that eventually culminates in the stealing of a valued animatronic, "Buzzy," supposedly worth half a million dollars despite being left abandoned in disrepair.

CABLE | Netflix Throws Back to 'Everybody's Live with John Mulaney'

"Like the measels, he's back in a big way!"

Sunset Gower Studios

Clipboard-carrying stand-up comedian John Mulaney's highly chaotic but wildly entertaining late night show is back. Everybody's Live with John Mulaney, his follow-up to the bizarrely amusing Everybody's in L.A. streaming experiment, originally a tie-in to the 2024 Netflix is a Joke Festival, started its twelve-week run live on Wednesday nights. Mulaney promised more of the same discomforting type of offbeat fun and, so far, has delivered.

REEL | Jonathan Majors Pumps Iron – 'Magazine Dreams'

"I've been training for this every moment of my entire life."

Briarcliff Entertainment

Troubled star Jonathan Majors embodies an aspiring bodybuilder who dreams of sculpted stardom in writer/director Elijah Bynum's long-delayed, darkly obsessive indie drama. Full of disturbing themes, intersecting glamour and violence, Magazine Dreams follows Majors' Killian as he struggles to find any semblance of human connection with others while pursuing his superficial craft.

GATHER | Ramy Youssef x 'What It Means to Be American' x UBC

"I wasn't gonna mention the whole fifty-first state thing."

Photo credit | Si Ming Zheng

UBC—(February 27, 2025) Award-winning Egyptian-American stand-up comedian, actor, screenwriter, and director Ramy Youssef casually captivated a full audience inside the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts as part of the 2025 Phil Lind Initiative's second-year speaker series discussing the topic of What It Means to Be "American": Navigating Identity in a Changing Nation.