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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Whether you’re entering your romantic era or feeling nostalgic for one, make a date for “The 4:30 Movie.”
It all starts with eye contact from across a room. You find yourself pulled in and, next thing you know, you’re making small talk to learn a little more as they find themselves in your hands. Feeling mutual energy, the… Read More ›
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Sonny Chiba films “Karate Bullfighter” and “Karate Bear Fighter” get a two-disc restoration release by Eureka Entertainment.
Born Sadaho Maeda, Japanese actor and martial artist Shin’ichi “Sonny” Chiba would be one of the more prolific action stars of his era. From early work on tokusatsu programs to English-language performances in Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003) and Fast… Read More ›
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“Inside Out 2” arrives on home video to provide an opportunity for audiences of all ages to recognize their best senses of self.
No matter what age you are, there’s never a bad time to pick up a new skill to help you engage with your emotions or guide someone else’s. By learning to regulate, each of us is more capable of dealing… Read More ›
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“A League of Their Own” reaffirms that a woman’s place is at home … and first, second, and third in 4K UHD.
For the last 32 years, there’s been one thing that athletes and non-athletes alike understand: there’s no crying in baseball. These five words are uttered by Tom Hanks’s Rockford Peaches manager Jimmy Dugan to Bitty Schram’s Evelyn Gardner, the right… Read More ›
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The fists and comedy fly fast and hit hard in Yuen Woo-ping’s “The Miracle Fighters,” newly restored in 2K from Eureka Entertainment.
There are few names in action that command respect in the way that Yuen Woo-ping does. A stuntman turned actor, writer, and director, Yuen Woo-ping is responsible for films like Jackie Chan’s Drunken Master (1979) and Donnie Yen’s Tiger Cage… Read More ›
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“Watchmen: Chapter 1” offers a fresh adaptation that’s as close to the source graphic novel as it can be.
“Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?” – Roman poet Juvenal in Satires. So often, the general public takes it for granted that someone will protect them. With stories featuring The Phantom and The Shadow as preludes to the birth of Superman and… Read More ›
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Is “The Garfield Movie” the Nermal of “Garfield” films? Only one way to find out and that’s on home video.
“I hate Mondays.” As a child of the 1980s, I felt this phrase deep in my bones, which is likely why I owned several of the Jim Davis-created Garfield book collections so that I could revisit the three-to-four panel adventures… Read More ›
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Lee Cipolla’s adaptation of “Rally Caps” will have you donning your own.
Truth is a matter of perspective. We know this, but we tend to forget it during the daily moments of our lives. What we see, what we hear, and how we react is all sifted through our experience, so, often,… Read More ›
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Meet Me at the Movies: Episode 557 – Summer Movies? Summer Movies!
There are few greater joys as a film critic than having the chance to share a few cinematic favorites that others may not have heard about or may have forgotten. But what makes that even better is doing it with… Read More ›
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Batter up! “You Gotta Believe” adapts a true story of one little league team’s glory days amid heartache.
There are two hard lessons to learn when it comes to parenting: you only get one chance to take care of someone’s childhood and what’s a random day to you contains a critical memory for a child. Becoming a parent… Read More ›
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“1992” is less wrong-place/wrong-time crime thriller and more examination of social imbalance and unconscious bias.
“When people show you who they are, believe them.” – Oprah, quoting Maya Angelou April 29th, 1992: After a seven-day deliberation, a jury acquitted the four police officers involved in the recorded beating of Rodney King, with three out of… Read More ›
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Where other mafia films keep their women in silence, filmmaker Jennifer Esposito’s “Fresh Kills” screams to devastating effect.
In the cinematic world of mob films, the go-to filmmaker for U.S. audiences is likely Martin Scorsese (Goodfellas; Casino). With tales exciting and dramatic, he’s told stories that unengaged audiences will see as uplifting the morally grey areas of the… Read More ›
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“Ride” Blu-ray Giveaway
June 2024. Well Go USA released actor/writer Jake Allyn’s directorial debut, Ride, into theaters. Now, the family drama is set to release on shelves for audiences to pick up, explore, and enjoy in the comfort of their homes. Thanks to Well… Read More ›
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Explore the “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” via the minimal but rich bonus features included on select home editions.
1968: director Franklin J. Schaffner releases his feature-length cinematic adaptation of author Pierre Boulle’s short story, Planet of the Apes. Since then, it’s spawned five canonical films, a television show, and a Tim Burton-directed remake — not to mention countless… Read More ›
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The new 4K UHD release of the comedic thriller “Game Night” is worth adding to your tabletop game collection.
Before co-directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein had us roll for initiative (Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves), they showed us that there’s another way to interpret the call for somewhat structured social play in the comedic thriller Game… Read More ›
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Technically impressive, “100 Yards” pull audiences in with its thrilling conceit, but loses them with underdeveloped character investment. [Fantasia International Film Festival]
Within the world of filmmakers Xu Haofeng (The Final Master) and first-time co-director Xu Junfeng’s new project, 100 Yards (门前宝地), there are many rules its characters must follow, but one acts as a guiding principle: no violence within 100 yards… Read More ›
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“The Umbrella Fairy” utilizes fantastical elements to explore real-world struggles of personal agency. [Fantasia International Film Festival]
“Forty-two,” said Deep Thought, with infinite majesty and calm.” ― Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Of all the questions humanity has ever asked it, of all the philosophies and faiths, there’s been a guiding question behind it… Read More ›
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“Sting” Blu-ray Giveaway
Wyrmwood series director Kiah Roache-Turner brought a different kind of horror show to theaters in April 2024 with the creature feature Sting, an arachnophobic’s absolute nightmare. At the end of July, Well Go USA released Roache-Turner’s mystery thriller on physical formats… Read More ›
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When the last eagle flies over the last crumbling mountain, the 4K UHD remaster of “The Last Unicorn” from Shout! Studios will have you believing.
Originally published in 1968, author Peter S. Beagle’s adventure fantasy The Last Unicorn would be tapped by The Hobbit (1977) co-directors Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin, Jr. for adaptation. Their theatrical release of the same name, The Last Unicorn (1982),… Read More ›
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“A Quiet Place: Day One” Digital Code Giveaway
In 2018, actor/writer/director John Krasinski introduced audiences to a world gone quiet as it continues to try to survive against alien invaders who hunt by sound in A Quiet Place. This year, writer/director Michael Sarnoski (Pig) took audiences to when… Read More ›