jules_raynes | Narrative Muse

Jules Raynes

Jules recently moved to Toronto from New Zealand to see how the other side of the world lives – apparently it is not that different. She is the social media guru and a film reviewer for Narrative Muse and gets beyond excited about anything muse-worthy. She can also connect any actress or actor to Meryl Streep in 6 degrees of separation – that’s a lot harder than you think.

Reviews by Jules Raynes:

Image: August: Osage County

August: Osage County

The performances are excellent. I was moved by how the actors stripped down to their bones to play these women with utmost authenticity.

Image: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Out of all the inspiring women-protagonists in the world, why do I love a verbally abusive, manipulative woman? Because simply, she was a woman in pain.

Image: Gravity

The whole movie is a metaphor for rebirth. I was in a cinema packed full of people and yet I felt incredibly vulnerable and alone.

Image: Rose McIver

“I am really lucky with iZombie. I feel like I won the lottery. I work on a show I love with people I love and that is so rare.”

Image: Moana

This Disney animation encapsulates what it truly means to discover who you are.

Image: Moms Mabley: I Got Somethin’ to Tell You

Moms Mabley: I Got Somethin’ to Tell You

Moms Mabley must be one of the most underrated comedians of all time, but this documentary is righting that wrong.

Image: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Henrietta Lacks was so much more than her life-saving cells, she was a mother, a wife and a woman

Image: American Honey

There isn’t a beginning or end to someone’s story. There are moments in time, and these moments can occasionally be life changing.

Image: Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise

Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise

Watching Angelou’s personal story changed how I looked at art and love and life.

Image: The Lovely Bones

The Lovely Bones

Alice Sebold dove deep into a story about death and darkness, but made me feel like I was reading towards perpetual light.

Image: Newtown

This documentary is shaped by empathy. It follows the tragic experience of the families who have lost their children and their recovery since.

Image: Almost Adult

Almost Adults follows the love and heartbreak of best friendship and it’s a beautiful journey with Natasha Negovanlis and Elise Bauman at the wheel.

Image: Kat Barrell

Katherine Barrell

From creating her own production company to her latest directing project Dissecting Gwen, we chat about it all and then some.

Image: Bright Lights

In this candid documentary, Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds simply love and adore each other. They learn the truth that illness and aging do not discriminate.

Image: My Stroke of Insight

My Stroke of Insight

Jill Bolte Taylor is a brain scientist and the last thing she expected was to experience the altered functioning of her brain while having a stroke.

Image: Other People

In the last year of her life, Joanne creates a rainbow of memories with her family. Molly Shannon owned the screen and she owned my heart.

Image: Everything is Copy

Everything is Copy

A friend of Nora’s said, “her voice in print really replicated her voice in life.” I don’t think there is a bigger compliment you can pay a writer.

Image: Arrival

After watching Arrival it was not a question of - are we alone in the universe? It was a question of - why would we want to be?

Clasped hands

“Sexuality will eventually become like handwriting: there’s no right way and wrong way to do it.” – Jodi Picoult

Image: Sing You Home

Hard Choices is a love letter to America. It’s clearly a campaign mechanism, but I’m ok with that.

Image: Sounds Like Me

In her audiobook, Sara Bareilles sings the title of each chapter. It’s raw. It’s a stunning way to introduce the essays she has written about her life.

Image: Bossypants

Tina is hilarious when describing her awkward childhood years. But a real highlight was how she writes about her friendship with Amy Poehler, her soul mate.

Image: The Hours

Three different women, in three different eras, struggling with the same pain. It’s heartbreakingly beautiful.

Image: Sophie’s Choice

Sophie’s Choice

Sophie had escaped Auschwitz, but Auschwitz had never left her.

Image: Mavis

I could imagine that being at one of Mavis’ shows was like going to church. There was something quite holy about the whole experience.

Image: Fantail

This film haunted me, but in a very good way, people. It’s more than a film, it’s a revelation.

Image: Yes Please

Amy Poehler sprinkles incredibly heart-warming and hilarious stories across the pages of this book and it is utterly delicious.

Image: Big Magic

When I was in my writer’s block and before I listened to her advice, it was like I had been living upside down.

Image: The First Monday in May

The First Monday in May

As an audience, we were inspired. We were enchanted. We felt like satiated flies on the walls of Anna Wintour’s very closed door.

Image: Brother Number One

Brother Number One

Focusing on one of the few westerners to be captured by the Khmer Rouge, it's devastating to watch, and I found myself in tears, time and time again.

Image: TIG

Why the hell watch a film about horrible things that happen to a funny lady? Belly laughs. I mean roll on the floor, hold your non-existent abs, belly laughs.

Image: Stiff

Although it’s not particularly nice to think about what happens to our bodies when we die, the more I read about the process the less afraid of it I was.

Image: Matt Shepard Is a Friend of Mine

Matt Shepard Is a Friend of Mine

This is a story of a young man, who was loved so very much and how he was so much more than how he died. I have never cried so much in my life.

Image: Carol

A story of when “different” meant against law and I felt it in every chamber of my heart. It’s the best wait in line for a movie that I have ever had.