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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Animator Masashi Ando’s directorial debut, “The Deer King,” is available on home video from Shout! Factory.
Adaptations, in live action or animation, are the lifeblood of storytelling. We, as audiences, like to think that the magic comes from original stories, but, more often than not, that thing you love is an adaptation of a story originating… Read More ›
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“Pearl” Blu-ray Giveaway
Writer/director Ti West released his slasher homage X upon the world during SXSW 2022 and, following its premiere, announced to everyone that a prequel film starring X actor Mia Goth had already been shot. That film, Pearl, offered audiences a glimpse… Read More ›
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Director Kim Han-Min’s second Yi Sun-shin film, “Hansan: Rising Dragon,” arrives on home video with bombast.
In 1592, Japan made its first attempt to invade Korea, leading to several skirmishes on land and at sea. As in other countries, the stories of military victories and failures have made for incredible cinematic opportunities. In 2014, director Kim… Read More ›
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George Miller’s “Three Thousand Years of Longing” may find the audience it deserves on home video.
If the story of your life was told by another, would it be a great tale involving the taming of wild beasts and passionate love affairs, would it rattle off the far-flung places you’ve explored, or would it be a… Read More ›
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Meta-murder mystery “See How They Run” releasing on home video is one puzzle you’ll be glad to solve.
“Well, now that you’ve seen our film you are an accomplice to murder. And so we ask you to remember that it’s very much within your interests not to tell a soul outside of this theater who dunit.” It’s with… Read More ›
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“Three Thousand Years of Longing” Blu-ray Giveaway
Few storytellers can jump back-and-forth between genres with such ease, yet George Miller is the mind equally responsible for the Mad Max films and Babe. This year, Miller went to a particularly fascinating place by examining the significance of stories in… Read More ›
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Jordan Peele’s third film, sci-fi thriller “Nope,” simultaneously works as a smart survival film and as an exploration of humanity’s darker tendencies.
Jordan Peele: writer, actor, producer, director. Even before his debut directorial film, Get Out (2017), audiences had a solid sense of Peele’s creativity from any of the projects he played any part in. Now, however, with his third film in… Read More ›
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“Hansan: Rising Dragon” Blu-ray Giveaway
After a string of theatrical and festival screenings, writer/director Kim Han-min’s war epic Hansan: Rising Dragon is headed home this month. Graciously, Well Go USA has given EoM two (2) of the Blu-ray to giveaway. If you’d like a chance to… Read More ›
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For all its exploration of grief and loss, Ryan Coogler’s “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” reminds us that everything is gonna be alright.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe experienced more than a typical reset after the conclusion of the Infinity Saga which made up the first three phases of films, ending with Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019). Navigating a shifting schedule due to COVID-19… Read More ›
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The Cine-Men, Episode 75: Shared Universes in Non-Connected Films.
At this point, the concept of an interconnected cinematic universe is a well-worn concept. But what about film universes that are connected through unintentional means? Films that, due to someone being cheeky or merely referential inadvertently create a connection that… Read More ›
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The world of “The Witch” explodes with the discovery of “The Other One.”
Writer/director Park Hoon-jung’s The Witch: Subversion is a remarkable sci-fi thriller, taking the coming-of-age tropes we know and blending them together with supernatural-like covert forces, culminating in an adventure that feels familiar and wholly unique. Just before the film ends,… Read More ›
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Celebrate 80 years of love and friendship with a first-time 4K UHD edition of “Casablanca.”
There are some films, some stories, which continue to find new audiences, year after year, generation after generation. They’re passed down, some as traditions, some as markers for reaching a certain age. Looking backward, there’s a notion that there’s nary… Read More ›
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“Causeway” captivates due to stirring performances from leads Jennifer Lawrence and Brian Tyree Henry.
At the time of her new film’s release, it’ll have been close to a year since audiences will have seen actor Jennifer Lawrence at work. Last year’s Don’t Look Up (2021) certainly divided audiences and critics, some marveling at its… Read More ›
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Looking back on sci-fi noir “Dark City.” [Poprika Reviews Noir November Project]
A protagonist who doesn’t know who he really is. A mysterious individual who promises answers. Antagonists lurking the shadows, dressing in black, and reshaping reality as they see fit. A world whose reality is masked in a collection of eras…. Read More ›
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Brandon Dermer’s “I’m Totally Fine” comedically, yet truthfully, explores the complexity of grief and healing.
“This, too, shall pass.” None of us ever really knows how much time we have. Depending on your outlook, that’s either an optimistic or pessimistic notion, one which will either spur you on to take chances or freeze you in… Read More ›
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“Casablanca” 4K Blu-ray Giveaway
In celebration of the 80th anniversary of Casablanca, Michael Curtiz’s Oscar-winning war drama featuring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, Warner Bros. Pictures is releasing the film for the first-time on 4K UHD with HDR. I know you’re shocked *shocked* to discover… Read More ›
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Lorcan Finnegan’s “Nocebo” plays on expectations, twisting what you think you know to present a disquieting, rage-inducing thriller.
Sometimes it only takes one film to make an impression on an audience. With his 2019 film Vivarium, writer/director Lorcan Finnegan did exactly that via a tale that takes a dark view of the life cycle, trapping a couple in… Read More ›
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“Top Gun: Maverick” delivers on just about every level imaginable and then exceeds it: plus ultra.
As more and more legacy sequels release due to studios mining their IPs for anything they think will resonate with audiences off the name alone, a follow-up to director Tony Scott’s Top Gun (1986) seemed all the more inevitable each… Read More ›
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The game is once more afoot in “Enola Holmes 2.”
Roughly 25 months since the Millie Bobby Brown-led Enola Holmes (2020) hit Netflix, a sequel drops on the streamer taking the same cast, as well as some new additions, on a brand-new mystery tour. Much as the 2020 outing is… Read More ›
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Illustrator-turned-director loundraw impresses with short film “Summer Ghost,” available from Shout! Factory and GKids Films.
One of the greater mysteries in life is whether or not there’s something after the living world. It’s a question that’s been explored through faith, philosophy, and art. Depending on the community or culture you come up within, the afterlife… Read More ›