We may never know the stories we don’t know. That seems like an obvious statement, a philosophical quandary with a seemingly apparent answer. Except, it’s far more complicated than that because, as is often the case, what we don’t know… Read More ›
Month: June 2023
Frank Marhsall’s documentary “Rather” reports on the man who covered history then and now. [Tribeca Film Festival]
As a Communications Major at the University of North Carolina at Asheville (Go Bulldogs!), there were two specific newscasters that came up in conversation: Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite. Coincidentally, both were born roughly a decade apart, worked for… Read More ›
Criterion resurrects “The Rules of the Game” in a beautiful 4K UHD presentation.
There is something to be noted about Criterion and Janus films; while some of their slate of films and releases can be defined as questionable, they certainly release undeniably important films and always have. Especially as someone who went to… Read More ›
Summoning a Kandarian demon gets you a great horror experience despite absent special features in “Evil Dead Rise.”
A controversial take to start off the review: I prefer the newer Evil Dead films to the older ones. This isn’t because I think they’re significantly better in quality, Sam Raimi’s trilogy is a masterclass in camp filmmaking that has… Read More ›
“The Tank” Blu-ray Giveaway
Creature features possess no season. They can as easily be enjoyed during Spooky Season as well as during the height of summer. One such film is releasing from Well Go USA, director Scott Walker’s The Tank, which, after a theatrical… Read More ›
In a period of uncertain times, “Nimona” celebrates the rejects.
“Fear makes the wolf bigger than he is.” – German proverb. In the stories we tell, if there’s a hero, there’s a villain, someone for the bold and courageous to conquer; otherwise, how are they to be bold and courageous?… Read More ›
Music doc “Anthem” is frequently sobering, but lacks temerity. [Tribeca Film Festival]
It’s a strange thing to be a person of a country. You can’t just identify as yourself in the singular as too many things require you to announce in the binary if you’re in support of or against where you… Read More ›
Harrison Ford takes Indiana Jones for one last cinematic adventure in “Dial of Destiny.”
Indiana Jones is one of cinema’s most beloved franchises. Those films resonate with audiences on a massive scale. After three successful classics, Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull (2008) divided the fans. 15 years have passed and a fifth film,… Read More ›
“No Hard Feelings” astroglides on the chemistry between its two leads.
Jennifer Lawrence is known to have a funny off-screen persona. Her no-nonsense personality has made her a fan favorite celebrity for audiences. That funny personality has never shown in her performances, until now. No Hard Feelings is a raunchy R-rated… Read More ›
Enjoy the surprisingly charming and enjoyable “The Pope’s Exorcist” at home now.
It’s sometimes tough as a horror fan to not occasionally roll my eyes at certain sub-genres under the umbrella due to being burned one too many times by vapid copycats. Strangely, the exorcism sub-genre of horror, while defined by William… Read More ›
The Criterion Collection’s new release of “Time Bandits” on 4K is former released materials with a new format.
In part of what writer/director Terry Gilliam calls his “Trilogy of Imagination,” Time Bandits represents the adolescent perspective: a period of wonder, amazement, magic, and disappointment. It’s an adventure tale in which a child journeys through holes in the universe… Read More ›
Open Dialogue with “Silo” actor Common.
Common is an Oscar, Grammy and Emmy winner, and today on Open Dialogue with Thomas Manning, Common speaks about his work on the Apple TV+ series Silo. He also compares and contrasts acting and recording tunes; he dives into the… Read More ›
Writer/director Diana Galimzyanova hits the festival circuit with idiosyncratic “Plan 9 from Aliexpress.”
“You Won’t Understand A Single Thing.” There is not a more on-target tag in all of cinema history, I think, than this one attached to the new Diana Galimzyanova (The Lightest Darkness) project, Plan 9 from Aliexpress, currently on the… Read More ›
“I Am T-Rex” Blu-ray Giveaway
Available for your family’s home viewing enjoyment is directing duo Cai Shangming and Chen Silin’s animated adventure I Am T-Rex, out on shelves as of June 20th. If you’re the sort that gets down with animated dinosaur tales, then rejoice in… Read More ›
“Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant” may be special feature-free, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty to explore in the home release.
“The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb.” – Proverb of unclear origin. By October 2001, within a month of the U.S.-based terrorist attack on September 11th, 2001, U.S. armed forces moved into Afghanistan in… Read More ›
Radiance Films adds Rudolf Thome’s “Red Sun” to their collection in a first-time U.S. edition.
In its quest for cinema preservation, boutique distributor Radiance Films has released onto Blu-ray such films as Kōsaku Yamashita’s Big Time Gambling Boss (1968), Luigi Comencini’s The Sunday Woman (1975), Todd Solondz’s Welcome to the Doll House (1995), and Amy… Read More ›
Open Dialogue with “Elemental” actors Mamoudou Athie and Leah Lewis.
Mamoudou Athie and Leah Lewis join Open Dialogue to chat about their roles of Wade and Ember in the Disney/Pixar release Elemental. They share lessons learned from their characters, where they found joy in getting to know each other, and… Read More ›
The Cine-Men, Episode 86: Movies Burned In Your Brain
There are some films that just lodge themselves in our minds. It could be the themes, the cinematography, the costumes, the dialogue, the performances – anything that just makes you want to revisit them again and again and again. Some… Read More ›
Documentary “Stan Lee” honors the life and legacy forged by The Man through his own words. [Tribeca Film Festival]
Before I dive into this review of the documentary simply titled Stan Lee, I just want to make a little bit of a note on myself and who I was as a child. It is particularly interesting that I always… Read More ›
Dramatic thriller “The Other Side of Darkness” battles itself in an effort to serve two genre masters.
What lies on the other side of darkness? The most obvious answer is “light.” But there’s a big difference between the knowing of something and the actual experience of the thing. So while one might presume to find light on… Read More ›