Author Archives
Founder: Elements of Madness | Contributing Senior Film Critic: CLTure | Past Bylines at Pretty Vacant One, FilmFed, & Mountain Xpress | The Cine-Men podcast co-host | NC Film Critics Association, Southeastern Film Critics Association, & Critics Choice Association member | Rotten Tomatoes approved individual critic
-
Lost for 40 years, Jean-Denis Bonan’s thriller “La Femme Bourreau (A Woman Kills)” receives both a restoration and wide release, courtesy of Radiance Films.
Art imitates life when it comes to timing. One can never predict how something will be received and, even things prognosticators think is a shoe-in, could fall flat. Sometimes the politics of the day get in the way, other times… Read More ›
-
Celebrating 100 years of Disney Magic, Walt Disney Animation Studios releases a first volume of select Mickey and Minnie Mouse short films on home video.
In Fall 2022, Jeff Malmberg’s documentary Mickey: The Story of a Mouse released on Disney+. The film had screened at SXSW prior to the wide release, telling its story about the journey from concept to the now-iconic character that is… Read More ›
-
“Disquiet” Digital Code Giveaway
Writer/director Michael Winnick (Malicious) returns with a brand-new project starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers (Yakuza Princess) as a man whose situation goes from bad to worse when he’s first involved in a car crash and then discovers, upon regaining consciousness, that… Read More ›
-
“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” the final film of the MCU’s Phase Four, comes home.
Marvel Studio’s 2016 release Captain America: Civil War did more than close out the Captain America trilogy and severely weaken the cinematic version of Avengers ahead of Avengers: Infinity War (2018), it introduced audiences to T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman), the prince… Read More ›
-
“Project Wolf Hunting” Blu-ray Giveaway
Director Kim Hong-Sun’s Project Wolf Hunting had a simultaneous North American premiere at Fantastic Fest 2022 and in select theaters October 2022. EoM senior interviewer Thomas Manning covered the film, calling it “…undeniably gutsy…”. Months later, Hong-Sun’s horror action-slugfest is… Read More ›
-
The cinéma vérité approach of documentary “Sweetheart Deal” results in profound surprise, investment, and disgust. [Slamdance Film Festival]
Content Warning: The documentary explores drug use and addiction and the narrative involves sexual assault. For at least 10 years, Laughn Elliott Doescher presided over Seattle, Washington, living in an RV and providing support of various kinds of the sex… Read More ›
-
“The Grandmaster of Kung Fu” imagines Chinese historical figure Huo Yuanjin in a personal conflict during the first Sino-Japanese War.
Each country has their history and storytellers often find those histories ripe for the picking when trying to devise ways to entertain. In the U.S., for instance, audiences marveled at cinematic release The Patriot (2000) for its depiction of sacrifice… Read More ›
-
True crime adaptation “American Murderer” raises the kinds of questions even justice may not answer.
No matter how close we are to someone, they’ll never truly know us. We can get close, sharing secrets others don’t know or confiding intrusive thoughts we might otherwise not, but without an actual mindmeld, it’s impossible for someone to… Read More ›
-
Family rom-com “Aliens Abducted My Parents and Now I Feel Kinda Left Out” is a tale for the lost and not-yet-found. [Sundance Film Festival]
Whether young adult or full grown, rom-coms tend to follow a similar track. The characters are on different trajectories, there’s a meet-cute, they find themselves drawn to each other, and then there’s conflict. Perhaps it was a conflict the audience… Read More ›
-
Ho-ho-HOLY S#@T! Christmas actioner “Violent Night” is out on home video.
Saint Nicholas. Kris Kringle. Père Noël. Weihnachtsmann. Babbo Natale. Дед Мороз. Noel Baba. Święty Mikołaj. Sinnterklaas. These are just a few of the names Santa Claus goes by in communities and cultures around the world. He’s a figure known for… Read More ›
-
Shout! Factory’s “Jackie Chan Collection: Volume 1 (1976-1982)” showcases some of Chan’s early works.
When it comes to martial arts films, there are many great current actors who can pull off the action, but uncommon is the actor who can do so without the aid of a stunt double. Conversely, there are great martial… Read More ›
-
Axel Danielson and Maximilien Van Aertryck’s doc “And the king said, what a Fantastic Machine” will get you thinking about the relationship you possess with your camera. [Sundance Film Festival]
Part historical revue, part sociological examination, co-directors Axel Danielson (Kneg) and Maximilien Van Aertryck’s (Kneg) documentary And the king said, what a Fantastic Machine (also referred to simply as Fantastic Machine), premiering at Sundance Film Festival 2023, takes the audience… Read More ›
-
Comedy hybrid “Men at Work” receives a first-time North American Blu-ray as part of the MVD Rewind Collection.
There are some films that catch us at a specific moment in our lives and leave an indelible mark. Sometimes it’s a film that made you realize the limitless nature of storytelling, how much larger the world really is compared… Read More ›
-
Director Jacqueline Castel explores the torment that comes without self-love in horror-romance “My Animal.” [Sundance Film Festival]
For some reason, despite its longevity in the realm of storytelling (not just cinema), horror is often pushed to the sidelines in the hallowed halls of critical praise in favor of dramas, comedies, thrillers, or traditional action-oriented narratives. Even though… Read More ›
-
Documentarian Paula Eiselt’s “Under G-d” explores interfaith opposition to abortion bans. [Sundance Film Festival]
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government… Read More ›
-
Every year for the last 30 years we celebrate “Groundhog Day.” This year, Sony Pictures does it with a commemorative steelbook.
Though there have been plenty of films that used time travel as a narrative mechanism for the entirety of storytelling, in recent memory, few do it as well as the Harold Ramis-directed, Danny Rubin-co-written, Bill Murray comedy Groundhog Day (1993)…. Read More ›
-
Sex positive, hilarious, and kind, Mike Donahue’s short film “Troy” explores the social contract of neighbors. [Sundance Film Festival]
There’s a trope in storytelling about the nosey neighbor, the one who’s always at their window or peephole, lurking around, trying to know everything about everyone all the time. This person who folks don’t like because they are forcing themselves… Read More ›
-
“There’s Something Wrong with the Children” Digital Code Giveaway
Roxanne Benjamin’s new supernatural horror film There’s Something Wrong with the Children is out on VOD and digital now, ready to chill your spine with the power of creepy children. If you’re in the mood to get wigged out, the… Read More ›
-
The “New Gods” cinematic universe expands with the visually stunning “Yang Jian.”
Animation studio Light Chaser Animation has released seven films with ones most likely known in North America being White Snake (2019), New Gods: Nezha Reborn (2021), and Green Snake (2021), the latter two likely because of their accessibility on Netflix…. Read More ›
-
Adolescent horror-comedy “Kids vs. Aliens” is wild and rebellious, though not as gnarly as audiences may want.
**Content Warning: Photosensitive audiences may want to avoid this picture due to high frequency of strobing and flashing lights.** Director Jason Eisener’s career is a collection of short and feature-length stories, either made as a standalone or part of an… Read More ›