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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Paranoid insanity or cold reality? Find out the truth in the home edition of Yorgos Lanthimos’s “Bugonia.”
In the last nine years, actor Emma Stone and filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos have collaborated on five different projects — a short and four features — that have explored the ridiculousness of cruel friendship (The Favourite), of the human experience (Poor… Read More ›
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Bring the latest adventure of the Grid home as Joachim Rønning’s “TRON: Ares” comes available to own.
In 1982, audiences were invited to go on a sci-fi fantasy adventure in which a programmer, Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges), determined to find proof he’d been cheated by a former co-worker, found himself digitally deconstructed and reconstituted within the very… Read More ›
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Walt Disney Home Entertainment offers a 25th anniversary 4K UHD edition of “The Emperor’s New Groove” that’ll have you reaching for the lever.
Boom, baby. WRONG LEVER! The poison. The poison. The poison for Kuzco, the poison chosen especially to kill Kuzco, Kuzco’s poison. Llama face! Why do we even *have* that lever? Beware the Groove…Squeaker, squeak, squeak, squeakin’. These are just a… Read More ›
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20 Anticipated Films of 2026.
It’s a brand new year and while there are plenty of 2025 titles to still see and catch up on, here’s a short-list of 20 titles that I’m excited to see in 2026. We’ve got big titles and small, adaptations… Read More ›
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15 Films to Track Down in 2026.
One of the great joys of exploring cinema is the opportunity to see films from around the world. Sometimes that includes seeing films before they receive wider distribution, which allows for the opportunity to herald a film’s arrival. What follows… Read More ›
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Filmmaker Zak Hilditch’s zombie horror drama reminds us that “We Bury the Dead” to say goodbye.
At the start of 2025, the documentary Eternal You from co-directors Hans Block and Moritz Riesewieck released on digital and VOD. The feature sought to explore the ways in which companies are developing artificial intelligence to participate in the grieving… Read More ›
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Say yes to taking “A Big Bold Beautiful Journey” from the comfort of home.
“I think all of us tend to act a lot, David. That we perform more than we think we do.” – Female Cashier (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) in A Big Bold Beautiful Journey In all three of filmmaker Kogonada’s feature films, a… Read More ›
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Western thriller “Frontier Crucible” is a by-the-numbers tale with a few worthy standouts.
The idea of American Individualism is a fascinating way in which an entire populace has recontextualized selfish and detrimental behavior into something to be sought after. Impressively, the arrogance of the U.S. is a key component in western thriller Frontier… Read More ›
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On home video now, “Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie” seeks to remind the varied audience that we’re never too old to play.
Children’s entertainment is nothing new; in fact, it’s well-established and business is booming. Past generations grew up with Mister Rogers in his neighborhood (1968 – 2001) while newer ones grew and grow up with Mister Rogers’ own Daniel Tiger in… Read More ›
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“Minority Report” 4K UHD Giveaway
If there’s a sci-fi film you treasure, there may be a good chance that it’s an adaptation of one of Philip K. Dick’s books: Blade Runner (1982), Total Recall (1990), A Scanner Darkly (2006), to name a few. In 2002, director Steven… Read More ›
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“Withdrawal” takes the audience inside for a sincere look at two battles for sobriety.
It doesn’t particularly matter what your income level is when it comes to drug addiction. In fact, historically, there was a time in which using cocaine was not only viewed as safe and medicinal, it was a staple of high… Read More ›
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Dramedy “Misfits” is a celebration of found family and the bonds that matter.
“The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb.” – Proverb The bonds we form in our youth ripple into adulthood. Even if their presence ebbs, the impact of those connections remains. These people, perhaps found… Read More ›
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Psychological thriller “HIM” aims for the highest honor and ends up just another Them.
Those who follow sports, who watch *their* teams battle *your* teams, participate in a form of tribalism that extends beyond one’s immediate borders, beyond country, beyond cultural, and, sometimes, beyond time, as said fandom gets passed down through the generations… Read More ›
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Tell ‘em Large Marge sent ya when you pick up The Criterion Collection’s 4K UHD restoration of Tim Burton’s “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure.”
One can never really know the impact something can have until well after a moment in time has passed. Considering the stories shared by the creative team behind Tim Burton’s feature film debut, Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, in the featurette “I… Read More ›
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“Avatar: Fire and Ash” is a film about cycles which can’t break its own to embrace a new path and move forward.
Since the 2009 release of filmmaker James Cameron’s Avatar, audiences have been invited to explore the world of Pandora via video games, books, music, art, and a 2022 sequel, The Way of Water. These two films have broken box office… Read More ›
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Rian Johnson’s “Wake Up Dead Man” continues the filmmaker’s fascinating exploration of intentional kindness and cruelty.
Photosensitivity Warning: There is a brief sequence of strobing that may trigger migraine or other neuro reactions from sensitive viewers. Be advised that it’s well into the film and occurs only once in the back half of the adventure. Less… Read More ›
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Comedic adventure “One More Shot” reframes the time loop conceit to provoke introspection by turning passive choice into deliberate action.
“Go on and close the curtains ‘Cause all we need is candlelight You and me, and a bottle of wine To hold you tonight (oh, yeah) Well, we know I’m going away And how I wish, I wish it weren’t… Read More ›
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2000’s “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas” drops in a brand-new 4K UHD with a few new goodies.
‘Tis the season where, no matter the denomination, one is either characterized as “full of spirit” or a “grinch.” The description of such a person who rains of holiday cheer (or cheer of any kind) is directly tied both in… Read More ›
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Bryan Fuller’s fantasy horror adventure “Dust Bunny” wrestles with the monsters we make.
Storyteller Bryan Fuller has made a career out of “making it weird.” This is by no means a compliant, it’s an apt descriptor when one considers his calling-card projects are titles such as TV series Dead Like Me (2003-2004; 2009),… Read More ›
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88 Films releases another Yuen Biao 2K restoration with action comedy “Rosa.”
By the time 1986 arrived, Yuen Biao, one Hong Kong’s “Three Dragons,” had appeared in the Sammo Hung-co-directed Warrior’s Two (1978), lead Brandy Yuen Jan-Yeung’s The Champions (1983), and co-starred in Jackie Chan’s Project A (1983) and Sammo Hung’s My… Read More ›