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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Mixed-media documentary “Eternal Spring (长春)” offers a unique perspective on what the persecution of people of faith really looks like.
In March 2002, in order to combat the persistent and often violent persecution practitioners of Falun Gong endured in China, several members decided to break into the evening news to project one of their DVDs. The idea being that if… Read More ›
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Paramount Pictures’s 4K UHD release of “Pulp Fiction” may just be the $5 milkshake you’re craving.
When one speaks of writer/actor/director Quentin Tarantino, the film in which they first meet his cinematic universe often colors how they view him and his work. If it’s his first film, Reservoir Dogs (1991), they likely speak with reverence as… Read More ›
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Before “Part Two” releases in 2023, catch up with Choi Dong-hoon’s sci-fi action fantasy “Alienoid” on home video.
If there’s one complaint that American audiences are prone to have, it’s that there’s never anything original hitting theaters. It’s all superhero stories, remakes, reboots, or some kind of sequel. It’s incredibly risky for studios to make original stories, so… Read More ›
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In the face of tragedy, the home release of “Clerks III” assures you that the Quick Stop is open.
“We’re not supposed to be here today.” – Randall Graves, Clerks III With one line, writer/actor/director Kevin Smith sent me into another fit of sobs. If anyone followed the production on his latest film, Clerks III (2022), there was already… Read More ›
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If nothing else can be said for “Amsterdam,” the cast is a collection of some of the best to do it.
We live in a period where the truest stories may be too hard to believe. It’s not just that conspiracy theories have received mainstream credibility, it’s that the decisions to voice and behave in the worst possible manner in public… Read More ›
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Late stage rom-com “Food and Romance” is cinematic comfort food with a few well-prepared surprises.
Just because you’ve been with someone a long time doesn’t mean that it’s either a good fit or meant to last forever. Good relationships are ones in which each participant invests in both themselves and their partner. Bad ones result… Read More ›
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Documentary short film “Ukrainians in Exile” puts the people in frame.
For as long as someone thought themselves superior to another, for as long as someone believed themselves owed what belongs to another, there has been colonization. The roots likely go deeper than we know for sure, but, starting in February… Read More ›
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“Alienoid” Blu-ray Giveaway
There have been few first-part-of-a-series films released in 2022 that have made me want to dive straight into the follow-up as much as writer/director Choi Dong-hoon’s genre-hybrid Alienoid. This complex comedic fantasy actioner does a lot of wild things in Part… Read More ›
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Suspense thriller “The Inevitable Death of the Crab (La Inevitable Muerte del Cangrejo)” is a strong first full-length outing by Ahcitz Azcona.
An observation about American cinema is made early into writer/actor/director Ahcitz Azcona’s The Inevitable Death of the Crab (La Inevitable Muerte del Cangrejo) that’s incredibly obvious yet startling once considered: whomever the latest “bad guy” is to the U.S., they… Read More ›
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Johannes Grenzfurthner’s experimental supernatural horror “Razzennest” is a disquieting sensory experience that’ll leave you stunned.
Satire is a sticky wicket requiring expert balance to nail. Films like Paul Verhoven’s RoboCop (1987) and Starship Troopers (1997) are as frequently misunderstood for their analysis of corporate greed and nationalism as Fight Club is (film (1999) or novel)… Read More ›
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Meet Me at the Movies: Episode 481
On this episode of Meet Me at the Movies, I join hosts Noel T. Manning and Thomas Manning to briefly discuss director Lila Neugebauer’s Causeway, now streaming on Apple TV+ and starring Jennifer Lawrence and Brian Tyree Henry. This beautiful character-driven… Read More ›
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The Cine-Men, Episode 76: Animated Universes We Want No Parts Of
The Cine-Men co-host Darryl Mansel and myself continue our trend of weirdness. In this episode we discuss the various animated worlds in cinema that exist and identify the one’s we’d like to (or not) live in. (Mostly not.) Join us… Read More ›
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“Emergency Declaration” Blu-ray Giveaway
Released in theaters earlier this year, director Han Jae-rim’s Emergency Declaration, a story of terror in the air based on real events, now comes to home video. Thanks to the generosity of Well Go USA, EoM is giving away one (1)… Read More ›
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With “Glass Onion,” it’s not a Rian Johnson whodunit, it’s a Rian Johnson hediditagain.
2019’s surprise of the holiday season was writer/director Rian Johnson’s Knives Out, a whodunit that takes all the hallmarks of the great mystery writers and gave it his own spin. First, there’s the rich family where motive is everywhere and… Read More ›
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Paramount Pictures honors John Hughes holiday classic “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles” with a 4K UHD edition for its 35th anniversary.
If someone were asked to name a filmmaker whose had a massive impact on American cinema, writer/director John Hughes is easily one of the first to come to mind. He directed eight films, each with their own respective fandoms, almost… Read More ›
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Some 30 years after theatrical release, Spike Lee’s masterful “Malcolm X” joins the Criterion Collection.
First there was Do the Right Thing (1989), then there was Bamboozled (2000), and now, for the third entry into the Criterion Collection, writer/director/actor Spike Lee’s Oscar-nominated Malcom X (1992) joins the illustrious physical format boutique distributor nearly 30 years… Read More ›
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Noah Segan’s directorial debut “Blood Relatives” explores the taboo subject of the reluctant parent via the metaphor of vampirism.
Parenthood changes you. It’s not for everyone and there’s good reason for people wanting to avoid it ever happening to them, but, for those who do become parents (by birth, by adoption, however), there’s a palatable shift in how one… Read More ›
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Live life. Taste Death: “Ski Patrol” hits the slopes for the first-time on Blu-ray via the MVD Rewind Collection.
There are a number of films that felt influential to my identity during my childhood. The Goonies (1985), Lethal Weapon (1987), The Terminator (1984), Spaceballs (1987) to name a few. These are films which, even now, with their various faults,… Read More ›
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“The Visitor” Digital Code Giveaway
Produced by Blumhouse, Paramount Pictures, and Epix and released toward the start of October, Justin P. Lange’s The Visitor seeks to unsettle through a tale of stolen identity and psychological thrills. Just before it comes available via Epix, the kind folks… Read More ›
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You’ll give your right ear for the 4K UHD edition “Reservoir Dogs” from Lionsgate.
Creatives don’t always have to have a large resume in order to make a big impact. Sometimes it’s what they do with the small contributions they offer that makes the difference. Such is the case with writer/actor/director Quentin Tarantino whose… Read More ›