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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15 films to keep on your radar for SXSW 2024.
For the fourth year in a row, Elements of Madness will officially be covering SXSW 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… Read More ›
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Supernatural thriller “The Woman Under the Stage” utilizes superstitions of the theater to craft a tale of paranoia.
Actors are a superstitious lot. They may not begin that way, but as they grow and the customs of performance seep in, suddenly you’re saying “break a leg” instead of “good luck,” never saying the name of a certain Scottish… Read More ›
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“One-Percent Warrior” Blu-ray Giveaway
One of the best action films of 2023 is headed to home video and you’ve got a shot to win a copy. Originally released as 1%er, writer/director Yūdai Yamaguchi’s One-Percent Warrior starring Tak Sakaguchi is a meta-martial arts action crime film… Read More ›
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Civil War set drama “Freedom’s Path” avoids trope landmines with efficiency and ease.
Growing up in Virginia, the stories of the War of Northern Aggression were about as common as statues, street names, and other memorials to Confederate leaders who died trying to prevent their state’s rights from being taken away. The legacy… Read More ›
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Adapted from the documentary of the same name, Taika Waititi’s sports dramedy “Next Goal Wins” is available to own now.
Sports films come in a variety of competitive forms including boxing, hockey, football, bobsled racing, and chess. With each one, the goal is the same: winning. But some of the great tales of competition don’t have winners, they have people… Read More ›
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Mixed-genre adventure “Dr. Cheon and the Lost Talisman” is a strong start for the next big franchise you’ll hope for.
Back in October 2023, Well Go USA released director/co-writer Kim Seong-sik’s action/adventure fantasy thriller Dr. Cheon and the Lost Talisman (천박사 퇴마 연구소: 설경의 비밀) into theaters. Given the influx of theatrical and streaming releases in October, it’s fair to… Read More ›
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Go behind the scenes into a world of pure imagination via the home release of director Paul King’s “Wonka.”
Warner Bros. Pictures released three films at the end of 2023: two musicals (one a prequel and one an adaptation of a Broadway show adapting a film version of a book) and one superhero story. Though WB did advertise the… Read More ›
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Radiance Films releases director Yasuharu Hasebe’s debut film, the spy spoof “Black Tight Killers,” in resplendent HD.
A war photographer, a stewardess, and a chance meeting set the stage for an 87-minute technicolor adventure of crime, mystery, and romance in director Yasuharu Hasebe’s (Retaliation) 1966 caper Black Tight Killers (俺にさわると危ないぜ). The first of several collaborations with lead… Read More ›
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Family documentary “Lili” explores parental separation from the perspective of a child in the fallout. [SBIFF]
Divorces are hard. Rarely is there an instance where both parties walk away satisfied, happy, or otherwise ok. Divorce is the resolution of a relationship ending and there’s often regret at what could have been or sadness over what is… Read More ›
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Kate Cobb’s feature directorial debut “Okie” asks audiences what they owe to their homes. Its answer may unnerve you. [SBIFF]
My therapist introduced the idea of “the story we tell ourselves.” What they mean by this is that individuals have a tendency to create a version of the truth that fits within the framework of information that they have. Someone… Read More ›
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Sony Pictures Home Entertainment releases a first-time 4K UHD edition of Satoshi Kon’s “Paprika” worthy of the film’s reputation.
In the world of animation, there are well-known names like Walt Disney (Steamboat Willie) and Matt Groening (The Simpsons; Futurama), niche names like Rebecca Sugar (Steven Universe), and then there are names so large that they crafted entire houses around… Read More ›
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“The Moon” Blu-ray Giveaway
Toward the end of Summer 2023, the new film from Along with the Gods franchise director Kim Yong-Hwa, The Moon, hit theaters as an action/adventure sci-fi drama about an astronaut trying to survive on a solo mission in space. Now, that… Read More ›
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“Lucha: A Wrestling Tale” captures the ways lessons work on and off the mat. [SBIFF]
In American high school sports, for most schools, it’s football, basketball, and maybe soccer as the big three. Sure, you can run cross country, maybe play tennis, but down on the lower rungs of high school competition (in terms of… Read More ›
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Crunchyroll teases the upcoming fourth season of action fantasy anime “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba” with cinematic event “To the Hashira Training.”
Running from February 2016 until March 2020, the shonen manga Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba by Koyoharu Gotouge was adapted into an animated series by Studio ufotable in April 2019 and is set to release its latest story arc soon…. Read More ›
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Now justice has a new face, and it’s in 4K UHD thanks to Scream Factory’s release of “Darkman.”
Before he took audiences on an adventure through the Multiverse of Madness (2022), or swinging through the streets of New York several times with Spider-Man (2002, 2004, 2007), or battling the Army of Darkness (1992) in the medieval period, filmmaker… Read More ›
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Grief-based horror short “Above & Within” captivates with its storytelling, performances, and cinematography. [SBIFF]
Death, grief, isolation, and the horrors within them all are universal. The question of what gives life meaning when it all comes crashing to a halt, sometimes, unexpectedly, tends to send a chill running down our spines at the mere… Read More ›
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Despite a loaded action cast, “Lights Out” fails to find its fit.
Inside Lights Out are two wolves: one is a post-war drama involving a solider struggling with PTSD and lost meaning from time in the service, while the other is a thriller involving cops on the take and the money they’re… Read More ›
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Documentarian Dan Partland’s “God & Country” deftly lays out the historical evidence that explains the current rise of Christian Nationalism. [SBIFF]
E Pluribus Unum. This brief Latin phrase meaning “one from many” was first added to United States coins in 1795. It’s a motto that speaks to all citizens of the United States of America, even in an era when those… Read More ›
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Documentary “The Movie Man” deftly reminds that filmgoing is a social experience that requires social responsibility to maintain. [SBIFF]
Though the first moving pictures were shown in the 1800s and began as a sideshow, they transformed into a main event with the advent of the movie theater. No longer having to go into a tent or side space, people… Read More ›
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Paramount Pictures celebrates 4 years of cutting loose on the dance floor with a first-time 4K UHD edition of “Footloose.”
If you’re a child of the ‘80s, there are some songs that are deeply tied to your adolescence and almost all of them come from musician Kenny Loggins. “Danger Zone” from Top Gun (1986), “I’m Alright” from Caddyshack (1980), “Meet… Read More ›