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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Tiffany Kim Stevens’s darkly comedic satire “Trigger Happy” threatens to cross-over into reality.
Satire of any sort is a difficult storytelling genre to nail. Go too far in one direction, people dismiss the ideas as far-fetched and implausible (ex. the revelation of Sorry to Bother You (2018)); go too far in the other,… Read More ›
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Crime drama “Eat the Night” seeks to explore real versus digital existance.
The real world is a mess. Just about everywhere you look there’s something to be despondent about, whether it’s the state of the global climate, the power grab by nationalist parties within global governments, or the general vibe of “get… Read More ›
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Donnie Yen’s “The Prosecutor” receives verdicts of guilty for attempting too much and not guilty for the entertainment it provides in the process.
Like many in the Hong Kong scene, Donnie Yen has worn and continues to wear many hats. He’s been a member of a stunt team (The Miracle Fighters) and an actor (Tiger Cage; Blade II), sometimes on the same project;… Read More ›
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Family drama “Daruma” brings its desire for perseverance and good fortune home.
Contrary to what some American politicians (and some of their base) would tell you, having children isn’t a cure-all. In the same way that pets for the holidays are a great idea filled with visions of beautiful smiles and joyous… Read More ›
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Is what’s in the box worth it for the 30th anniversary 4K UHD edition of David Fincher’s “Se7en”?
Filmmaker David Fincher has released some of the most beloved thrillers in modern cinema. If “beloved” feels like too strong a term, certainly “dissected” and “explored” would be appropriate. Making the leap from music video to cinema with the contentious… Read More ›
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Come for the chaos, stay for the commentary track on filmmaker Jason Reitman’s home edition of “Saturday Night.”
For 49 years and 50 seasons, the Not Ready for Primetime Players have entertained audiences with positively insane sketches, zeitgeist-hijacking music videos, and musical moments that have shifted entire industries in the live sketch program Saturday Night Live. It’s a… Read More ›
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“Aladdin 3477: The Jinn of Wisdom” is a sky sail ride into the future by way of filmmaker Matt Busch.
“No wish that I fulfil will bring true happiness, for that comes from within. Any desire you seek, you have the power to achieve yourself. And, the journey is its own reward.” – The Jinn of Wisdom in Aladdin 3477:… Read More ›
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10 films to find in 2025.
One of the great things about covering film festivals throughout the year is the opportunity to see films before they go wide to the general public. This affords reviewers, such as myself, the chance to champion storytellers who we believe… Read More ›
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19 films from 2024 to help you ring in 2025 from home.
Before I unveil the 2024 Sticky List, here’s a list of 19 favorite films from this year that you can stream right now as you ring in the new year. A mix of home release editions and streaming options, you’ll… Read More ›
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Entering stage right, Tony Olmos’s horror satire “Hemet, or the Landlady Don’t Drink Tea.”
Over the last few years, reality has pushed the bounds of what anyone every presumed acceptable so greatly that satire struggles to maintain its edge in the execution. For instance, if someone were to tell you that you’d be required… Read More ›
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Johannes Grezfurthner’s latest body horror “Solvent” dissolves its cast and audience on several levels.
When it comes to horror, most modern audiences jump to places like Blumhouse with Paranormal Activity (2009) and Happy Death Day (2017), A24 with It Comes at Night (2017) and Talk to Me (2023), or even Lionsgate with Frailty (2001)… Read More ›
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Parental thriller “Endless Summer Syndrome” seeks deep philosophical examination yet undercuts itself with a telegraphed conclusion.
Wherever we are in our lives, all of it — our successes, our failures — begins at home. Someone born into a home with extensive resources can achieve absolutely nothing of their own while someone with scant resources can achieve… Read More ›
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“Scrap” takes a look at failings that are systemic and those that are personally inflicted.
“It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness, that is life.” – Jean Luc Picard, Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 2, Episode 21 “Peak Performance.” Everyone is one bad day away from… Read More ›
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The betrayal and revenge of “The Count of Monte Cristo” gets the Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre De La Patellière treatment.
“He who seeks revenge digs two graves.” – Confucius In December 2023, director Martin Bourboulon’s The Three Musketeers – Part I: D’Artagnan released into U.S. theaters, kicking off a brand-new adaptation of author Alexandre Dumas’s classic novel. It currently remains… Read More ›
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Sammo Hung’s wartime actioner “Eastern Condors” receives an impressive 2K restoration from The Criterion Collection.
It’s very common for members of Hong Kong (HK) cinema to take on multiple career paths through their lifetime. Many start as stunt people, working their way up to actor and then, often, to the position of writing and/or directing,… Read More ›
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Have the touch and the power with “Transformers One” on 4K UHD home video.
August 8th, 1986, is a big day for Transformers fans. It’s the date that the fully-animated The Transformers: The Movie would release in theaters, beckoning its many young fans to come see its Autobot hero Optimus Prime (voiced by Peter… Read More ›
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Aardman’s signature duo Wallace and Gromit return in family comedy “Vengeance Most Fowl.”
In the world of animation, most know names like Walt Disney, DreamWorks, Illumination, and Studio Ghibli. Either in hand-drawn or CG animation, they have created stories that move audiences by stirring their emotion. But there’re also studios like LAIKA and… Read More ›
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Yasuhiro Yoshiura’s techo-drama “Time of EVE: The Movie” receives a proper home release via AnimEigo.
Some things feel like inevitability due to hindsight. The human fascination with the unknown tends to spark real-world exploration, which is why the science-fiction adventure tale Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas by Jules Verne (published 1870), were it written… Read More ›
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“Nosferatu” beckons you to have yourself a gothic horror Christmas.
In the liminal space between myths and truth, magic and science, lie all the things that go bump in the night, the things that exist to haunt us, to unnerve us, to compel us to question our reason despite evidence… Read More ›
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As fun as rom-com “Last Christmas” is, its 4K UHD release is the same gift as before.
As we approach the holidays of giving (Christmas and Hanukkah overlap this year), it’s also a time when studios try to remind audiences of films they might’ve enjoyed once by re-releasing them in a new edition or format. Nearly five… Read More ›