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 Lodge” is opening its icy doors. Do you dare go in?
Horror as a means of directly confronting human trauma is not a new concept that suddenly sprang out of nowhere with Hereditary. If anything, it’s arguably the basis for all horror dating back to the very beginning. What’s better for… Read More ›
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Upending conventions by combining trends with personal style, Richard Stanley creates the next best midnight horror movie in “Color Out of Space”.
I have a small connection with Richard Stanley which makes viewing Color Out of Space feel like a strangely touching moment. Stanley’s new film, based on the short story by H.P. Lovecraft, is his first feature film to be produced… Read More ›
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Just keep telling yourself “Daniel Isn’t Real.”
For as big as the waves that SpectreVision is making in the indie horror scene with cult hits like The Greasy Strangler and Mandy, it’s a real wonder why a major distributor hasn’t taken a bigger chance putting their films… Read More ›
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Despite a subversion of genre tropes and bevy of homages, Jennifer Reeder’s “Knives and Skin” isn’t as sharp as it aims to be.
The textbook definition of “teen movie” has taken a sharp left turn in the past decade. Gone are the days of lighthearted slapstick comedies à la American Pie and Superbad, or the mushy romance films like She’s All That and… Read More ›
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Crime thriller “The Irishman” is Martin Scorsese at his most self-assured.
In his recent years, and more specifically in recent months, Martin Scorsese has really stepped away from the spotlight…oh my god, could you imagine if I was serious with that? The argument has been made that Scorsese made the controversial… Read More ›
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Peter Strickland’s Giallo-inspired “In Fabric” crafts an inspired modern tale out of vintage filmmaking. [Film Fest 919]
It’s no secret that Suspiria is one of my favorite films of all time, with the 2018 remake just ever so slightly edging out the 1977 original thanks to its expansion on the film’s themes and plot to make something… Read More ›
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“The Aeronauts” doesn’t seek to exist as a quiet, introspective costume drama, but as an adventure of the grandest scale imaginable. [Film Fest 919]
Whatever happened to wonder in films? Whatever happened to the sweeping scores layered over long, grand shots of adventure and peril? Why does everything feel so commercialized and insincere nowadays? I feel like whenever big blockbusters make you feel something,… Read More ›
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“The Warrior Queen of Jhansi” is ineffective in capturing the strength and courage of a great historical martyr.
The documentation of the stain of British colonialism in India is not something that’s often covered in the western film industry, whether that be for an immense shame or a fear of looking back in the context of history. Many… Read More ›
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If you want a Prestige Picture, look elsewhere. If you’re in the mood for some fun, then it’s hail to “The King.” [Film Fest 919]
The idea of another prestige period drama is almost physically exhausting to my body at this point. Hell, The King isn’t even the first prestige period drama for Netflix in the last year, with David Mackenzie’s admirable, but not heavy-hitting,… Read More ›
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“Honey Boy” is both brave and admirable, even if hard to reconcile. [Film Fest 919]
The world is a cruel place, and we are a cruel people within it. We love to put others down for the sake of making our own selves feel better, and we’ve all done it at some point or another…. Read More ›
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“The Report” has all the makings of a bombshell political drama without the pizzazz or flare. [Film Fest 919]
There’s an argument today that everything is hyper-politicized, from our news to our movies to the signs lining the freeway during our daily commute. It’s a hard thing to escape and being exposed constantly to it can rightfully feel exhausting…. Read More ›
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Fabulous performances and beautiful aesthetics aren’t enough for “Sorry We Missed You.” [Film Fest 919]
In a new world where mega-corporations run the world and are bigger than ever before, it’s becoming harder to levy legitimate criticism towards these parables of late-stage capitalism because…well…these corporations also own distribution companies. Amazon has its own Amazon Studios… Read More ›
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“Waves” is an utterly transportive experience as it presents the ups and downs of pure love. [Film Fest 919]
“Stick to what you know” is something we’re told as kids to keep us stuck to the ways we’re used to and to not question authority, keeping us confined. It’s an adage that unfortunately sticks in many of our minds… Read More ›
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Director Mike Flanagan makes “Doctor Sleep” his own while keeping pace with Kubrick and King.
Doctor Sleep marks the fifth major adaption of a Stephen King work in 2019 alone, joining the theatrically released Pet Sematary and It: Chapter Two, Netflix’s In the Tall Grass, and Hulu’s original series Castle Rock. Adapting King novels and… Read More ›
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Craig Brewer’s “Dolemite is My Name” is an absolute joy from beginning to end. [Film Fest 919]
Everyone loves a good comeback story. Everyone cheered when Rudy made that touchdown at the end of Rudy, everyone loves Robert Downey Jr.’s comeback in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and today, we get to celebrate not only one, but two,… Read More ›
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Pedro Almodóvar’s “Pain and Glory (Dolor y gloria)” is a quiet, intimate, and retrospective piece. [Film Fest 919]
There are certain filmmakers who simply embody the essence of what their country, culture, and style are at their core; that the sheer mention of their name conjures a body of work worthy of showing off as the crème de… Read More ›
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Taika Waititi’s period comedy “Jojo Rabbit” lacks the bite satire requires. [Film Fest 919]
It used to be that everyone agreed that the Nazis were bad. It was one of the world’s universal truths, but unfortunately, because everything today has to be terrible and awful at all times, we’ve re-entered the age of neo-Nazism… Read More ›
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Fernando Meirelles’s “The Two Popes” explores the push-pull involved in church reformation via the conversation of two old men. [Film Fest 919]
In another life, I swear I’d be Catholic. Of course, I’m too much of a dirty sodomite to get away with it in this life, but something about the sheer pageantry of it all feels more like drag than RuPaul’s… Read More ›
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James Mangold’s “Ford v Ferrari” exudes cool, placing his undeniable stamp on the car film genre. [Film Fest 919]
Despite my aversion to the complexity of the vroom-vroom-crashy-crashy machines called “cars” today, there was once a time I was obsessed with automobiles. I had every Matchbox car under the sun and, as a three-year-old, I could talk a car… Read More ›
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“Motherless Brooklyn” possesses a strong statement on gentrification, which is mired by cliché noir tropes and bland filmmaking. [Film Fest 919]
Being from Durham, North Carolina, I have seen a lot of changes happen in my city over the last few years. Durham kept a large, mostly black, working-class population due to the employment of so many citizens at the tobacco… Read More ›