CINEMA | Top 10 Films of 2022 So Far

Each film reviewed where linked below:

1) After Yang (dir. Kogonada)

2) Happening (dir. Audrey Diwan)

3) X (dir. Ti West)

4) Everything Everywhere All at Once (dir. Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert)

5) Top Gun: Maverick (dir. Joseph Kosinski)

6) Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood (dir. Richard Linklater)

7) Fire Island (dir. Andrew Ahn)

8) The Batman (dir. Matt Reeves)

9) RRR (dir. S.S. Rajamouli)

10) Turning Red (dir. Domee Shi)

GETAWAY | Weekend x Pearl Hotel x San Diego x California

Point Loma—(May 19 to 22, 2022) On a May long weekend "bachelorette party" trip, our group ventured to the Southern California coastal city of San Diego—known for both its large naval fleet next to the Pacific Ocean and proximity to the Mexican border to the South.

CINEMA | Searching for 'Marcel the Shell with Shoes On'

"A space in my heart gets bigger and louder every day."

A24 / Elevation Pictures

Co-creators Dean Fleischer-Camp, who also directs and co-stars, and Jenny Slate adapt their series of stop-motion shorts starring the eponymous anthropomorphic seashell (voiced by Slate) into a rather heartwarming feature-length hybrid live-action animated mockumentary film. Marcel the Shell with Shoes On remains a very cute coming-of-age meets slice-of-life effort full of whimsical charm.

CINEMA | Seeking an Abortion in 1960s France – 'Happening'

"I'd like a child one day but not instead of a life."

IFC Films / Wild Bunch

Sophomore filmmaker Audrey Diwan adapts French author Annie Ernaux's semi-autobiographical novel/memoir about a bright young literature student facing an unwanted pregnancy while desperately seeking out a dangerous abortion when it was still illegal in a post-war 1963 France. Happening (aka L'Événement) is an unfortunately timely expression of just how essential family planning and a women's ability to choose whether or not to give birth is to the basic fundamental human rights necessary to a functional society.

SCREEN | Dakota Johnson Plays It 'Cha Cha Real Smooth'

"You don't even know who you are yet."

Picturestart / TeaTime Pictures

S#!%house writer/director Cooper Raiff stars as a charming 22-year-old bar mitzvah DJ in his sophomore coming-of-age indie comedy, the unfortunately titled Cha Cha Real Smooth. Raiff continues to explore themes of young adult immaturity and misplaced romance as a recent undergraduate who (understandably) falls for a troubled young mother, an irresistible Dakota Johnson (also a producer), raising her autistic daughter played by a winsome Vanessa Burghardt who is also neurodivergent in real-life.

CABLE | Ewan McGregor Awakens 'Obi-Wan Kenobi'

"You have no idea what the Empire is capable of."

Lucasfilm

An ageless Ewan McGregor returns as the storied Jedi Knight ten years after the events of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith in his eponymous six-part miniseries, Obi-Wan Kenobi. Played at least initially much wearier and defeated, this Kenobi tries to bridge the gap between his known character history to varying results.

CINEMA | To Infinity – Pixar Travels Beyond 'Lightyear'

"In 1995, Andy got a toy [...] from his favorite movie. This is that movie."

Walt Disney Pictures / Pixar Animation Studios

Pixar Animation and director Angus MacLane make their version of a space action-adventure in the Toy Story spin-off Lightyear. Starring Chris Evans as the new voice of Space Ranger Buzz Lightyear, this origin story serves as a sort of film-within-a-film on which Andy's action figure is based upon—and presumably watched as a child in 1995—in the world of the original movie—if that makes any sense.

SCREEN | Adam Sandler Lays Up 'Hustle' on Netflix

"Never back down."

Happy Madison Productions / SpringHill Company

Indie filmmaker Jeremiah Zagar directs a mostly serious Adam Sandler in the formulaic but kinetic basketball drama Hustle. Playing a road-weary talent scout for the Philadelphia 76ers in search of the next NBA superstar, Sandler brings his natural likability to the standard inspirational underdog sports story mixed with a healthy dose of self-doubt and loathing.

GRUB | Aburi Market x Opening x Ambleside x West Van

"Aburi Market is going to be a new kind of grocery experience."

North Shore—(May 30, 2022) Aburi Restaurants (operators of Miku and Miniami) opened up its new premium Japanese specialty supermarket concept Aburi Market in the heart of West Vancouver's oceanfront Ambleside neighourhood.