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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Steven Soderbergh’s “Magic Mike” receives a bare first-time 4K UHD edition from WB Pictures.
The career of actor Channing Tatum is a lesson in agility and endurance. He first appeared in 2005’s Coach Carter, but it wouldn’t be until 2006’s Step Up when he would capture audiences’ attention. Since then, Tatum has bounced from… Read More ›
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Documentary “Pitch People” shifts the spotlight from the products you see on TV to the people.
Do you recognize the following three products: the Artic Hat, the Air Hawk, and the Easy Feet? What if these were replaced with Veggetti, Shake Weight, or ShamWow? Can you picture them? Hear the sales pitch? Can you remember the… Read More ›
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Past is prologue in Vera Egito’s historical drama “The Battle (A Batalha da Rua Maria Antônia).” [Atlanta Film Festival]
Photosensitivity Warning: The opening title/credit sequence before the film begins and all of the breaks between scenes are accompanied by bright flashes of white light. Viewers with photosensitivity issues should watch with caution. College campuses across the U.S. have been… Read More ›
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“Noryang: Deadly Sea” Blu-ray Giveaway
In 2014, director Kim Han-Min began his epic three-film tale documenting Korean naval history with The Admiral: Roaring Currents, following it up in 2022 with Hansan: Rising Dragon. At the end of 2023, the story concluded with Noryang: Deadly Sea, a… Read More ›
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Lies, secrets, and murder make up a great deal of “Dune: Part Two,” available on home video now.
Author Frank Herbert reportedly got the spark for the concept of his book Dune after observing conservation attempts along the Oregon coastline, creating from this a science fiction action-adventure tale that would inspire readers for generations. Parts of this inspiration… Read More ›
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“Faceless After Dark” is fury manifested on digital as it rages against parasocial relationships and the commodification of people. [Atlanta Film Festival]
Photosensitivity Warning: There are multiple sequences — some short, some prolonged — of intense strobing and glitching effects, which may trigger migraine or other neurological issues. In the age of digital media, developing parasocial relationships occurs before most even realize… Read More ›
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Jennifer MacArthur’s “Family Tree” is conjoined tale of social responsibility and legacy preservation. [Atlanta Film Festival]
January 16th, 1865, American Civil War: General William Sherman includes in Special Field Orders No. 15 that 40 acres will be given to slaves as part of their freedom. It’s one of the largest redistributions of land in the country… Read More ›
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“The Crow” 4K Digital Code Giveaway
The 1990s brought forth a number of cinematic comic book adaptations. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Dick Tracy, and Darkman in 1990; The Rocketeer in 1991; Batman Returns in 1992; Batman Forever, Judge Dredd, and The Mask in 1995; The Phantom in 1996; and,… Read More ›
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With “The Crow” in first-time 4K UHD, it’s easy to believe that love will prevail.
Photosensitivity Warning: The opening sequence and several throughout the film include either flashes of light or strobing that may be triggering for photosensitive viewers. There are certain phrases, certain references, one can make that will elicit a specific response within… Read More ›
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Bertrand Mandico’s “She Is Conann” questions whether or not crushing your enemies is truly what’s best in life.
Photosensitivity Warning: There are multiple scenes in which either a character is using a camera with flash or a strobe is used (often at length). Proceed with absolute caution. In the realm of action fantasy, John Milius’s 1982 sword and… Read More ›
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“Hardware Wars” Blu-ray Giveaway
Since George Lucas’s Star Wars released into theaters in 1977, filmmakers have been trying to capture that same magic. So much so that filmmaker Zack Snyder described his Rebel Moon series as his Star Wars and brother filmmakers Joe and Anthony… Read More ›
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Ryûsuke Hamaguchi utilizes a documentary-style approach in new film “Evil Does Not Exist” in order to examine the conflict of ecological harmony and capitalistic indifference. [Atlanta Film Festival]
In nature, there’s no such thing as evil. There’s the ecosystem with predator and prey, but while there are behaviors that some groups would define within a power dynamic, it’s atypical for the natural world to engage in behavior humans… Read More ›
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The fourth entry in the “Crime City” series, “The Roundup: Punishment” demonstrates no signs of slacking, even with a new director and writer behind the scenes.
Since 2017’s The Outlaws, actor Ma Dong-seok (a.k.a. and credited here as Don Lee) has led what would become the Crime City series, an action crime series that borrows from Korean headlines for the foundation of each film. Each film… Read More ›
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Bring home three of a kind to a full house with the “Ocean’s Trilogy” on 4K UHD for the first time.
Remakes are almost always met with the same reaction upon announcement: “why?”. To many, remakes are a sign of laziness on the part of studios, opting to lean-in on what audiences know or have a relationship with rather than taking… Read More ›
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Comic book adaptation “Madame Web” arrives on home video with bonus materials that’ll educate the fans of this Sony-run Marvel film.
It’s been stated before, but it bears reminding: expectations can ruin an experience. This is equally true when the hype ahead of something implies one thing when the truth is something very different. In the real world, it can look… Read More ›
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Jazz and animation flow in animated powerhouse “BLUE GIANT” on home video via Shout! Studios.
Adaptations are growing in number more and more these days in entertainment. If there’s not a cinematic version of a book, show, or comic, there’s a television one. Often times, these tales involve beings of incredible strength or speed, of… Read More ›
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“Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part Two” raises the stakes as the annihilation of DC’s animated TomorrowVerse continues.
Event storylines in comics are not unusual. It’s a way to take on something that doesn’t quite fit in the everyday narratives, while also providing a means of both bringing characters together and altering their trajectory. In the world of… Read More ›
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Noboru Nakamura’s “The Shape of Night” is the latest Shochiku studio release by Radiance Films.
Trigger Warning: The Shape of Night contains an exploration of sex work, the narrative of which may prove difficult to endure for those who’ve suffered sexual assault. In 1929, Japanese film studio Shochiku was established, transitioning from the theatrical arts… Read More ›
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15 films to check out during Atlanta Film Festival 2024.
For the first time, Elements of Madness will be covering Atlanta Film Festival and we thought we’d offer up our recommendations of what to check out during the fest or what to keep an eye out for in wider distribution…. Read More ›
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To “Beekeeper” or Not To “Beekeeper” is now a question you can answer anytime you want at home.
When one thinks of the filmography of actor Jason Statham, films typically feature him in one of two roles: quiet badass or loudmouth badass. He’s certainly done more with turns in Snatch (2000) and London (2005) demonstrating his versatility, but… Read More ›