Author Archives
Founder: Elements of Madness | Past Bylines at CLTure, Pretty Vacant One, FilmFed, & Mountain Xpress | NC Film Critics Association, Southeastern Film Critics Association, & Critics Choice Association member | Rotten Tomatoes approved individual critic
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“Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror” Blu-ray Giveaway
In September of 2025, as part of the 50th anniversary celebration of The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), filmmaker Linus O’Brien released their documentary Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror featuring brand-new interviews with members of the cast and crew. Now… Read More ›
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Filmmaker Tsui Harks’ controversial crime thriller “Don’t Play with Fire” is released in 2K HD by Cult Epics with all three versions of the film.
Trigger Warnings: The film contains (1) depictions of violence against animals (some quite real) and (2) a sequence at a club involving flashing lights. Art always reflects the times. What the artist is feeling, what inspires them, what terrifies them… Read More ›
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Craig Gillespie’s intergalactic western “Supergirl” posits the valor of goodness in a familiar coming-of-age actioner.
One: Never Underestimate Your Opponent. Expect the unexpected. Two: Take it outside. Three: Be nice. – Dalton’s three rules from Road House (1989) When it comes to DC Comics, there is an incredible pantheon of characters to pull from, each… Read More ›
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“Magnificent Bodyguards” Blu-ray Giveaway
Believe it or not, the use of 3D in cinema is not a modern marketing ploy. Before it was pushed in theaters to the point of influencing the television market, there were titles released using anaglyph 3D, such as the… Read More ›
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“Minions & Monsters” is a love letter to movies wrapped in the expected comedic mayhem.
2010’s Despicable Me introduced audiences to master villain Gru (voiced by Steve Carrell), his darling three adopted girls, and, most importantly, to the Minions. The all-yellow-bodied, seemingly indestructible, unserious, devoted assistants to Gru’s villainy took the world by storm and,… Read More ›
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By taking a non-traditional approach to documentary storytelling, “Crocodile” creates an introspective atmosphere for reflection on dreams and art. [Tribeca]
Trigger Warning: Those who’ve experienced sexual assault may find one sequence wherein this is discussed triggering. How many people figured out what they wanted to do at an early age and figured out how to turn it into a reality?… Read More ›
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Filmmaker Kirill Sokolov makes his Hollywood debut with darkly comic actioner “They Will Kill You” on home video.
Writer/director Kirill Sokolov made the leap from shorts to features with the 2018 darkly comic actioner Why Don’t You Just Die! in which an idiot is convinced by his girlfriend to kill her police detective father. A spin on several… Read More ›
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With a jump to the left and a step to the right, filmmaker Allison Berg’s “Time Warp” is a love-wrapped declaration to fix our hearts. [Tribeca]
“Fix your hearts or die.” – A popular quote created by storyteller David Lynch, adjusted from a line Lynch delivers within Twin Peaks: The Return It’s a rare thing when a piece of art fails its way into global success…. Read More ›
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Who needs friends when Wes Craven’s final “Scream” entry is available on 4K UHD?
It begins as it always does: someone alone receives a menacing phone call, has their life threatened, and then ends up on the wrong end of a blade held by a killer wearing a Ghostface mask. By the third entry… Read More ›
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Time loop romance “Again Again” reforms the subgenre to ask hard questions of self and autonomy. [Dances With Films: LA]
“I never meant to be so bad to you One thing I said that I would never do A look from you, and I would fall from grace And that would wipe the smile right from my face …” –… Read More ›
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Satirical crime thriller “Solo” gets a first-time 4K HD Blu-ray release with supportive archival materials from Radiance Films.
It’s not unusual for an actor to write and direct, a director to write and act, or some other configuration of the three (and sometimes all at once on the same project). Being versatile not only permits someone to find… Read More ›
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Documentarian Joe Kowalski’s “Micronations” explores the concept of sovereignty through humor, heart, and revolution. [Tribeca]
What does it mean to be able to define your own borders? Borders themselves are a social construct, not geological. It requires a group of individuals to agree that one spot belongs to one party, while one an inch away… Read More ›
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When nothing matters, who wants to save “Our Effed Up World.” [Frameline Film Festival]
Some would say that horror is having a moment — Obsession and Backrooms are both doing quite well with general audiences (as of the time of this writing), other high-quality works (I Saw The TV Glow; And Her Body Was… Read More ›
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Ellie Sachs’s rom-com feature debut “Lucy Schulman” challenges the form and function of the genre to tell a modern love story. [Tribeca]
But I’ll never stop dreaming of you every night of my life, no way But I would do anything for love But I won’t do that Oh, I won’t do that – “I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t… Read More ›
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Mill Creek Rewind Blu-ray Giveaway
While it may seem like physical media editions of films new and old are dwindling, new releases come available each month to pick up in brick-and-mortar locations, as well as online. One such distributor, Mill Creek Entertainment, offers titles with… Read More ›
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“Stealing Magic” is documentarian Matthew Testa’s exploration of the human impact of intellectual piracy. [Tribeca]
In a period where intellectual property theft is an issue for the layperson via techbros peddling artificial intelligence which scrapes the internet for its dataset and corporations are plagued by piracy, the concept of ownership exists in its most rocky… Read More ›
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Filmmaker Mickey Keating invites audiences into the unlucky world of “Crooks.” [Tribeca]
Born under a bad sign Been down since I began to crawl If it wasn’t for bad luck You know, I wouldn’t have no luck at all … – “Born Under a Bad Sign” by Albert King Fatalism tells us… Read More ›
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“Scream 7” seeks to give audiences what they think they want and fails to deliver anything new in the process.
“Burn it all down.” The tagline for the Kevin Williamson-directed seventh entry in the Scream series is apt both for what it seeks to accomplish thematically but also for the entry itself. Rather than make another film that continues the… Read More ›
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Documentary “Kids Like Me” showcases community impact on daily life as well as on big moments for an aspiring murder mystery writer/director. [Tribeca]
Shawn Spencer: Good morning, detectives! Collecting donations for the Policeman’s Ball? Carlton Lassiter: We don’t have balls. Shawn Spencer: I honestly have no response for that. Carlton Lassiter: Need I remind you, Mr. Spencer, what happens when you interfere with… Read More ›
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“The Furious” will fight everyone to save their loved ones and *everyone* worth fighting is in the mix.
There was a time, not so long ago, but long enough that it seems impossible, when access to high-quality martial arts action was near impossible. You had to know the right people, trade the right tapes, or be willing to… Read More ›