Author Archives
Founder: Elements of Madness | Contributing Senior Film Critic: CLTure | Past Bylines at Pretty Vacant One and FilmFed | The Cine-Men podcast co-host | NC Film Critics Association, Southeastern Film Critics Association, & Critics Choice Association member | Rotten Tomatoes approved individual critic
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David Lowery’s “The Green Knight” is a medieval poem made flesh, transcending time and space.
Over time, the meanings of things often change. This can be a product of shifting social mores, alterations in language, or incidental innocuous moments which lead to global change. One of them is the idea of chivalry as being strictly… Read More ›
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“The Suicide Squad” Blu-ray Giveaway
If you need someone taken out and don’t care if your team comes back alive, you call in Task Force X. This time around, the team is pulled together under the supervision of writer/director James Gunn, an individual who knows… Read More ›
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There’s Nothing to fear in “The Night House.”
Loss hits us all differently and unexpectedly. We can *know* that someone is no longer with us, yet feel them, as though they are lingering in the air. We can *know* that they may not see them again, yet we… Read More ›
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“No Man of God” Blu-ray Giveaway
In August 2021, RLJE Films released Amber Sealey’s film No Man of God, a dramatic thriller exploring the relationship between FBI agent Bill Hagmaier and notorious killer Ted Bundy. This based on a true story film is coming available on physical… Read More ›
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“Halloween Kills” turns its attention from Laurie Strode to Haddonfield with mixed results.
The Boogeyman. The Shape. Michael Myers. Whatever name you call him, wherever he goes, death follows. Just as simple as that. But what’s left in his wake besides dead bodies? In Halloween (2018), director/writer David Gordon Green and cowriters Jeff… Read More ›
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“LandLocked” offers an intriguing exploration of the dangers of nostalgia, but little else. [Nightstream]
There’s something truly arresting about grief. It impacts us all differently: some a little bit at a time, while others feel upended by a sledgehammer. There’s no real right or wrong way to grieve unless you lose yourself entirely to… Read More ›
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Documentary “Satoshi Kon, The Illusionist” invites all to learn about the animation auteur and the legacy he left behind. [Nightstream]
Do you know what Requiem for a Dream (2000) and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) have in common? It’s ok if you struggle to work this out. Directed by Darren Aronofsky, Requiem is an exploration of addiction that stares, unblinking,… Read More ›
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The Cine-Men, Episode 56 – Favorite Movie Endings.
One thing that The Cine-Men co-host Darryl Mansel and I agree on is that the ending of the film is as important as the beginning. Good ones either offer clarity, emotional payoff, or, perhaps, something so memorable that it’s the… Read More ›
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We are all just “Bloody Oranges (Oranges sanguines)” and we’d be better served to remember it. [Nightstream]
Director Jean-Christophe Meurisse’s (Apnée) Bloody Oranges (Oranges sanguines) mixes truth with fiction to create a concoction that’s as eager to amuse as it is to profoundly unsettle. Its premise is of three interwoven stories involving a dance competition, a finance… Read More ›
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Writer/director Carlos Conceição’s “Name Above Title (Um Fio de Baba Escarlate)” explores the symbiotic duality of celebrity through the lens of a serial killer. [Nightstream]
The spotlight isn’t for everyone. Some people thrive in it, while others freeze up. Others are a mixture of the two. You might not know which one you are until opportunity knocks. In an always-on world where anyone can post… Read More ›
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Nothing is as it seems when “Cosmic Dawn” arrives. [Nightstream]
Nightstream returns in its second year with a lineup of films from all around the world, each vying for a different part of your imagination. Whether they titillate or terrify has more to do with the audience than the material… Read More ›
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Enigmatic fairytale “Lamb” contains a warning for how far you should allow grief to carry you.
Despite all intents and purposes, director Valdimar Jóhannsson’s Lamb is not a horror film. Not in any kind of traditional sense. On the surface, it’s barely unsettling and this is both a benefit and a detriment to its overall reception…. Read More ›
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Strange and bittersweet, Alex Piperno’s “Window Boy Would Also Like to Have a Submarine” ponders humanity’s need for connection. [Nashville Film Festival]
Writer/director Alex Piperno’s first feature-length film, Window Boy Would Also Like to Have a Submarine, debuted in 2020 and is now screening during the 52nd Nashville Film Festival. Piperno’s tale is one of the most unique cinematic experiences I’ve had… Read More ›
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Level up your game with “Space Jam: A New Legacy” on home video.
The things that we love as children don’t always age well. It could be the jokes, the narrative approach, or even the blending of CG: any or all of these things may not gracefully leave your youth or adolescence as… Read More ›
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Documentary “The Neutral Ground” balances truth and humor on a razor’s edge. [Nashville Film Festival]
In 2015, the New Orleans City Council passed a proposal by then-mayor Mitch Landrieu to remove five monuments around the city dedicated to Confederate soldiers. It took several years for these five to be removed due to legal action attempting… Read More ›
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With “Free Guy” out on home video, you can change a good day into a great day.
How did your day go? Did you wake up, get out of bed, have some food, do some work, eat more food, do more work, eat even more food, engage in some mindless entertainment, and then go to bed? Does… Read More ›
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“Old” Digital Code Giveaway
Writer/director M. Night Shyamalan adapted Pierre Oscar Lévy and Frederik Peeters’s graphic novel Sandcastle, creating his latest film: Old. It first hit theaters in July and is now currently available for purchase digitally with a physical release coming later in October…. Read More ›
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“Night of the Animated Dead” offers little new in its adaptation of the zombie classic beyond blood and gore.
**Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the DVD I reviewed in this Post. The opinions I share are my own.** Horror changed in 1968 when a small indie picture directed by George A. Romero from… Read More ›
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“Space Jam: A New Legacy” Blu-ray Giveaway
Who is ready for a slam jam?! 1996’s Space Jam saw b-baller Michael Jordan come out of retirement in order to help the Looney Tunes from extraterrestrial enslavement. 25 years later, it’s LeBron James who needs help from the Tune… Read More ›
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“a-ha: The Movie” makes it clear that it’s no better to be safe than sorry. [Nashville Film Festival]
Music is absolutely a paradox when it comes to its tether to time. It’s at once a product of when it was made, but it can feel entirely free of that period, being discovered or rediscovered over and over again…. Read More ›