Author Archives
Elements of Madness Founder | Contributing Senior Film Critic at CLTure | Film Critic at Pretty Vacant One | Contributor FilmFed | The Cine-Men podcast co-host | NC Film Critics Association member | Adjunct COM Instructor | Father to Baby Dictator.
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Foster and Fanning bring “Galveston” to life.
More often than not, the best stories are the ones that take risks, that play with convention, and defy expectations. Other times, the risks fail to pay off and leave the audience with a diminishing sense of fulfillment. So rarely… Read More ›
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Eco-thriller “Strange Nature” terrifies in all the wrong ways.
Whatever aspect of the film industry you’re in, you’re in because you love it. It could be the creation of creatures, the set design, or the costumes that lured you in or maybe it’s crafting the stories performed, being the… Read More ›
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“Camp Manna” is a solid addition to the pantheon of camp comedies.
Camp is a place of awakenings, a place of self-discovery through challenges physical and emotional. It’s where individuals have a chance to explore or even redefine themselves. Many of these journeys have been memorialized in film through favorites Meatballs, The… Read More ›
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Listen: The Cine-Men, Episode 6
In this slightly longer than normal episode, hosts Douglas Davidson and Darryl Mansel discuss their latest watches – First Man, A Star Is Born, Venom, Bad Times at the El Royale, Galveston, Camp Manna – take a detour into the DCEU, and dig into their… Read More ›
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More than a remake, “A Star Is Born” sings its own tune.
At a key moment in A Star Is Born, Bobby Maine (Sam Elliott) says that “music is essentially 12 notes between any octave.” He explains that music is a cycle of repetition every musician, every storyteller, utilizes over and over,… Read More ›
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Director Damien Chazelle’s “First Man” explores the man behind the legend.
There’s something undeniably alluring about space. The way it feels both intimately close and desperately far; in range of our eyes, yet out from our hands. To quest beyond our atmosphere, to journey into the deep black, to discover what… Read More ›
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“Knuckleball” is a pitch you won’t see coming.
Ever wondered what the 1990 classic Home Alone would’ve been like if it weren’t a kids’ movie? That seems to be the starting point for director Michael Peterson’s thriller Knuckleball, which sees a clever 12-year-old stave off the murderous advances… Read More ›
