Radheyan Simonpillai's Avatar

Radheyan Simonpillai

@justsayrad.bsky.social

Film Critic at CTV's Your Morning. Pop Culture Columnist at CBC Radio. Contributor: The Guardian, The Globe & Mail and more.

984 Followers  |  117 Following  |  309 Posts  |  Joined: 03.07.2023  |  1.9307

Latest posts by justsayrad.bsky.social on Bluesky

Preview
Β© CBC/Radio-Canada 2025. All rights reserved.

Talking the disappointment of The Life of a Showgirl (and Actually Romantic, especially) for the pop culture column. www.cbc.ca/listen/live-...

04.10.2025 00:47 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Taylor Swift’s Charli xcx hit job misses the point – and underscores her tedious obsession with conflict | Laura Snapes Sixteen months after Charli used Brat to air her anxieties about Swift, the US star’s graceless response is a missed opportunity for growth – and betrays her vengeful side

A good read on The Life of a Showgirl. www.theguardian.com/music/2025/o...

03.10.2025 15:08 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Post image

One more time on One Battle After Another: its beautifully messy politics, towering artistry, where it stands in PTA's work and how I hope it will be a gateway drug back to Inherent Vice. Listen here: www.cbc.ca/listen/live-...

28.09.2025 20:17 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
a picture of a road with the word one written on it ALT: a picture of a road with the word one written on it

Went longer on One Battle After Another on my CBC pop culture column. www.cbc.ca/listen/live-...

27.09.2025 15:15 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
One Battle After Another, and the release of the thriller series The Savant is delayed YouTube video by Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud

This was a really great conversation on One Battle After Another, digging into its radical and sexual politics, with @elamin.bsky.social, El Jones and @jacksonweaver.bsky.social. www.youtube.com/live/5_r2lj2...

26.09.2025 15:50 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
a close up of a woman 's face with #one battle after another written below it ALT: a close up of a woman 's face with #one battle after another written below it

Love that One Battle After Another stars Chase Infiniti.

Too fitting for a chase movie obsessed with time - how nothing changes over time, how its main character can't crack a secret password that revolves around time, how the only way to measure time passing is through her character!

25.09.2025 22:53 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Post image Post image

My two favourite movies of the year are in conversation with each other in interesting ways. That's a conversation for another day.

25.09.2025 20:16 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

I'm thinking you'll love it. Kind of a best of both PTAs scenario.

25.09.2025 16:47 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Very common divide. For me, The Master, Inherent Vice and Phantom Thread aren't just his best movies but among my fave films of the past 30 years.

25.09.2025 16:37 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Its Not Groovy To Be Insane Inherent Vice GIF ALT: Its Not Groovy To Be Insane Inherent Vice GIF

Introduced my teen son to Inherent Vice this week and he gave it a 7/10, which I think is a perfectly fine first response.

Now to get him to watch it again, which is when he'll realize Inherent Vice is so sublime that it exists on a transcendent spectrum where rational numbers don't belong.

25.09.2025 15:20 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
The Lowdown review – Ethan Hawke is terrific in playful neo-noir series Reservation Dogs creator Sterlin Harjo’s excellent crime caper has the actor on top form as a journalist taking down Tulsa’s bad guys

I don't know that I ever gave anything five stars in The Guardian before. The Lowdown deserves. tinyurl.com/4kfxrdhp

23.09.2025 11:21 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
The Lowdown review – Ethan Hawke is terrific in playful neo-noir series Reservation Dogs creator Sterlin Harjo’s excellent crime caper has the actor on top form as a journalist taking down Tulsa’s bad guys

I don't know that I ever gave anything five stars in The Guardian before. The Lowdown deserves. tinyurl.com/4kfxrdhp

23.09.2025 11:21 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Post image

We're definitely in agreement on best.

21.09.2025 13:28 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Is it just me, or is Inherent Vice the most underrated film of the past 10 years? A Total Film writer on why it's a mystery that PTA's movie doesn't get more love...

5 years ago, I wrote about how PTA rankings get me in my feelings, because Inherent Vice rarely gets its due among Anderson's best. It's an achingly beautiful & melancholic tragedy, which I think is superior to One Battle After Another (which I also really love). www.gamesradar.com/inherent-vic...

20.09.2025 19:46 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Review: Margot Robbie and Colin Farrell lead A Big Bold Beautiful Journey to nowhere in particular Robbie’s and Farrell’s characters say and do things we rarely believe, but we go along with them anyway, because the stars make things so cozy

Kogonada, Colon Farrell and Margot Robbie make it hard to completely dismiss what they're up to in A Big Bold Beautiful Journey. www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/film/re...

18.09.2025 14:24 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Hate to admit, but Warner Bros. was right not to take ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER to festivals. It would have thoroughly crushed any other film, instantly rendering the rest of the programming null and void. Rather considerate of PTA to let everyone else breathe for a moment or two.

17.09.2025 16:48 β€” πŸ‘ 9    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Israel has committed genocide in Gaza, says UN commission of inquiry Report cites scale of killings and aid blockages and accuses Benjamin Netanyahu of inciting commission of genocide

Not like the world didn't already know but ... www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...

16.09.2025 14:31 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Best American movie of the year. Hoping the fun action and humour and contemporary relevance make One Battle After Another the gateway drug to Inherent Vice, which is still the more brilliant and emotional version of this story.

15.09.2025 20:01 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Post image

One Battle After Another: Remember when people said this was gonna be a mess. πŸ˜… (Also, updated PTA ranking) boxd.it/Fi4pK

15.09.2025 17:30 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

The Voice of Hind Rajab: As devastating as you'd expected. There's also really smart and heartfelt filmmaking (like moments when actors just listen and process the audio from real life) in a film mapping out the different ways people helplessly push back against calculated indifference. #TIFF50

14.09.2025 13:16 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Video thumbnail

There's a whole TIFF in 12 playlist helping you plan your final festival weekend y'all.
youtube.com/playlist?lis... #TIFF50

13.09.2025 18:13 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Movie Reviews With Rad: Sydney Sweeney Stars in β€œChristy” | Your Morning
YouTube video by CTV Your Morning Movie Reviews With Rad: Sydney Sweeney Stars in β€œChristy” | Your Morning

On @ctvyourmorning.bsky.social talking movies that made a splash at #TIFF50 and who's gonna dig the final Downton Abbey and The Long Walk. youtu.be/WzQbXo-7qt0?...

13.09.2025 15:05 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Blue Heron among this year's Canadian stand-outs at TIFF
YouTube video by Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud Blue Heron among this year's Canadian stand-outs at TIFF

Yesterday's TIFF in 12: Teri and I get into the Canadian highlights. youtu.be/rZkQfbcdlhc?...

12.09.2025 13:05 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Thanks to @justsayrad.bsky.social for offering insight into this screening.

11.09.2025 23:13 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
TIFF in 12: The Road Between Us - a controversial film gets its world premiere

Spoke about how the Barry Avrich movie at TIFF (The Road Between Us) is ultimately here to manufacture consent for genocide.
open.spotify.com/episode/0R1F...

11.09.2025 03:38 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1
Preview
TIFF in 12: The Road Between Us - a controversial film gets its world premiere

Spoke about how the Barry Avrich movie at TIFF (The Road Between Us) is ultimately here to manufacture consent for genocide.
open.spotify.com/episode/0R1F...

11.09.2025 03:38 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1
Preview
TIFF in 12: The Road Between Us - a controversial film gets its world premiere Podcast Episode Β· Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud Β· 2025-09-10 Β· 13m

Very much agree w @justsayrad.bsky.social on this one as someone w a little bit of insider info due to being Toronto-film-scene-adjacent for a couple of decades now.

podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/c...

11.09.2025 02:10 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Video thumbnail

Listen to the audience response when Lisa LaFlamme (the airdropped moderator) simply recognizes Palestinian lives lost since October 7 at The Road Between Us premiere. This is exactly who this documentary manufacturing consent for genocide is made for.

10.09.2025 22:05 β€” πŸ‘ 11    πŸ” 4    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 2
TIFF in 12: Big surprises, Elvis Presley in Concert, and Oscar buzz for Sydney Sweeney
YouTube video by Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud TIFF in 12: Big surprises, Elvis Presley in Concert, and Oscar buzz for Sydney Sweeney

TIFF in 12: @elamin.bsky.social @terihart.bsky.social and I on the weekend with Christy, Elvis and The Secret Agent. youtu.be/nlkZPel5r5c?...

09.09.2025 00:54 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Nuremberg review – Russell Crowe’s GΓΆring vs Rami Malek’s psychiatrist in swish yet glib courtroom showdown Crowe and Malek are hugely watchable but this ultimately fails to deliver an authentic version of events

On the hollow spectacle of Nuremberg, which is maybe more reflective of the state of international law today than intended. shorturl.at/V3TVT

08.09.2025 17:36 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

@justsayrad is following 20 prominent accounts