Author Archives
UNC Charlotte '18 graduate | Film Intern at CLTure | North Carolina Film Critics Association member | Lover of bad teen horror movies and 90s pop music
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The home release supplemental materials may underwhelm, but feature “Bones and All” remains a meal.
I have a complicated relationship with Luca Guadagnino. I love his work, sans one film of his, and even consider his 2018 remake of Suspiria to be in my top 5 films of all time (sidenote: someone please take the… Read More ›
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In honor of the 15th anniversary of Matt Reeves’s “Cloverfield,” Paramount Pictures releases a commemorative 4K Steelbook into the wild.
I remember seeing Transformers with my father during summer 2007, and while my memories of the film itself have faded away, I will never forget the silence of the theater as a shaky, bombastic, horrifying teaser played before it, showing… Read More ›
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Meet “M3GAN”: a wonderfully fresh addition to the collection of iconic horror villains.
If you aren’t a part of the community as I am, the world of Gay Twitter™ went absolutely hog wild when the trailer for M3GAN dropped back in October. Within mere minutes, drag queens all across the world were dropping… Read More ›
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It’s a “Violent Night” and all the creatures are screaming.
For every smart little one-liner I wanted to inject into this intro about Santa Claus to describe this film, I realized it was already covered by Violent Night’s catchphrase-heavy screenplay, rendering my job nearly useless, as one can imagine the… Read More ›
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Despite its weaknesses, there’s no part of “Saint Omer” which won’t linger after credits roll. [Film Fest 919]
As I type this intro, the verdict to the Darrell Brooks trial has just been read, ending a weeks-long shitshow of an abuse of a public system of representation for someone who was clearly guilty (I can say that now,… Read More ›
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Writer/director Elegance Bratton’s “The Inspection” signals a talent to keep an eye on. [Film Fest 919]
A lot of (not all, don’t swarm me) these new kids like to think everything is peachy keen and hunky dory in the world of queerness in the modern world. Unlike so many generations before them, there are actual chances… Read More ›
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Sam Mendes’s “Empire of Light” is a love letter to theaters themselves and the significance they hold. [Film Fest 919]
Empire of Light immediately had me on its side because I too work at an independent, two-screen cinema that features grand Beaux Arts architecture, an eclectic group of regulars, and perhaps an even more eclectic staff. Operating as a sort… Read More ›
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Sarah Polley’s “Women Talking” will force you to examine all your contradictory ideas and make you better for it. [Film Fest 919]
I have two small gripes about the naming of Women Talking, which are my only two jokes I’m allowing myself to make about this film since it is such a serious affair. 1. I’m sad this movie has that name… Read More ›
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Noah Baumbach’s “White Noise” is so boldly unconventional, it makes this white whale of an adaptation feel somehow even more tremendous. [Film Fest 919]
Three years ago, Film Fest 919 opened the 2019 festival with Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story, and I was taken. It was a much more muted affair for the Frances Ha and While We’re Young filmmaker, known for his quirkier approach… Read More ›
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Director Rian Johnson’s “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” maintains the magic of the absurdist mystery in this setting outing. [Film Fest 919]
Three years ago, Rian Johnson’s humble follow-up to …let’s just say, polarizing… Star Wars: The Last Jedi came out in the form of Knives Out. Unlike said film set in a galaxy far far away, the consensus on Knives Out… Read More ›
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By not allowing for self-reflection, “She Said” comes off as a buzzword-ridden and self-congratulatory. [Film Fest 919]
When the hammer finally came down on Harvey Weinstein in the Fall of 2017, it felt as if Hollywood as a whole was having to reckon with the collective keeping of the industry’s worst-kept secret. Everyone knew Weinstein was a… Read More ›
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Director Marie Kreutzer’s “Corsage” is hilariously over-the-top look at the life of Elisabeth of Austria. [Film Fest 919]
Costume dramas are far from rare, and because of that, there is a want from production companies to justify new costume dramas by taking a tried and true concept and twisting it on its head. This was made perhaps most… Read More ›
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James Gray’s “Armageddon Time” is technically impressive yet emotional cold. [Film Fest 919]
In 2019, James Gray, a filmmaker I always had generally liked, unleashed Ad Astra into my orbit, and that film hit me like a ton of bricks. Taking home the gold as my #1 film of 2019, it’s perhaps my… Read More ›
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The performances within novel adaptation “Devotion” will ensnare your heart. [Film Fest 919]
I think we should get an ugly little detail out of the way so we don’t have to mention it again in this review as it’s a rather unfair talking point, but one that I do believe deserves touching on…. Read More ›
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The Idris Elba-led survival actioner “Beast” doesn’t so much roar as whimper.
Isolated creature features are far from rare or being particularly hard to produce, but when done well, they can be a paragon of simple, effective filmmaking delivering concentrated thrills. The past few years have provided moviegoers with quite a few… Read More ›
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Martin McDonagh’s “The Banshees of Inisherin” is funny and tragic in equal measure.
The Banshees of Inisherin is the new film from Academy Award-winner Martin McDonagh. As a former visitor, seeing a film shot in his proverbial backyard is a nice reprieve from watching his previous film Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, which… Read More ›
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The newest “Hellraiser” has such delights to show you.
Can I be vulnerable? Can I drop a hot take today? Will you hold it against me? Here goes…I don’t really like any of the Hellraiser films. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love the work of writer Clive Barker,… Read More ›
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Repetitive tricks see the “Smile” leaving your face.
If you or a loved one has ever been shown that video of that car coming around a winding road in a picturesque field with tranquil music only for a horrifyingly grotesque jumpscare to pop out at you at the… Read More ›
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For its 40th anniversary, a 4K UHD edition of “Poltergeist” is heeerrrreee.
You always remember your first. Some are scary, some are bloody, most are just plain bad, but everyone remembers their first…horror movie. For my pivotal moment of exposure, I dropped in on my sister’s slumber party with her middle school… Read More ›
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No need to say “Goodnight Mommy.”
Naomi Watts: Queen of Remakes, Duchess of Reboots, Countess of Reimaginings. From one of her first roles in Children of the Corn: The Gathering, her breakout studio role in The Ring (and the subsequently unfortunate The Ring Two), her blockbuster… Read More ›