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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Watch “The Photograph” develop anytime you like on home video.
There’s an authenticity that radiates outward from every frame of writer/director Stella Meghie’s The Photograph. One thing that keeps being repeated in each of the three brief featurettes included with the home release of The Photograph is the simplicity of… Read More ›
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Genre mash-up “Samurai Marathon” gets off to a messy start but comes together mid-stride.
Described as “a lively action flick with a samurai twist,” latest Well Go USA release Samurai Marathon meets that description with a unique vigor. Directed by Bernard Rose (Candyman) and adapted from the novel “The Marathon Samurai: Five Tales of… Read More ›
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Take flight anytime you want with “Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)” on home video.
As I left the theater in early February, I knew instantly that director Cathy Yan’s Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) was not for me. The post-fight margaritas, the bullet-proof bustier, the severity of Black… Read More ›
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Chinese YA adaptation “Better Days” is a genre-bending coming of age story.
Trigger Warning for discussion of bullying, suicide, sexual assault, and violence. In a conversation between an older and younger cop early into the 135-minute Better Days, one says to the other something to the effect that either you were the… Read More ›
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Slow burn neo-western “Arkansas” is a strong first feature directorial debut for Clark Duke.
When you do something for the first time, you don’t expect a grand slam, even out of a big swing. You might hope, you might dream, but you’re more likely to keep expectations close. For author John Brandon, this meant… Read More ›
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Animated adaptation of Chinese tale “Ne Zha” asks children what we owe each other.
Myths and legends, stories like those of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round, Robin Hood, and Paul Bunyan and those of gods, goddesses, demons, and immortals, are often given the adaptation treatment in cinema. These stories are often… Read More ›
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The Cine-Men, Episode 29: Cult Films
We’ve got something really special for everyone on this, the 29th episode of The Cine-Men. This time around, co-hosts Douglas and Darryl are joined by Adam Frazier to discuss their favorite cult films. That doesn’t sound special for you? Frazier… Read More ›
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Paramount Pictures unveils the first three films of their new “Paramount Presents” home release label.
The Paramount Pictures library contains some of the most cherished films in cinema history, films like It’s a Wonderful Life (1946), Footloose (1984), and all four Indiana Jones films; critically acclaimed films like Oscar-nominated Hustle & Flow (2006) and Oscar-winner… Read More ›
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“Tammy’s Always Dying” is an honest, non-judgmental look into toxic relationships.
For her first feature script, Joanne Sarazen (I Came Here Alone) nails the endless pain and difficulty of a parental toxic relationship: the way the parent, an incubus born of weaponized love, cycles through terrible behavior after terrible behavior, pulling… Read More ›
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Ready for home viewing, “The Rhythm Section” is an interesting twist on the spy thriller whose sum is rarely as strong as its parts.
Sometimes, no matter how many strong pieces a story has or how fantastic of a cast and crew, it doesn’t gel as expected. This is the case with The Rhythm Section, a film starring Blake Lively (All I See Is… Read More ›
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Discover surrealist artist Reine Paradis in the VOD documentary “Queen of Paradis.”
The tale of Reine Paradis begins with the story of how the French-born artist came to the United States to pursue her dream of being an artist. After being fired as a photographer’s assistant, she had to make a decision,… Read More ›
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Netflix Original “Extraction” is a theater-quality adventure that deserves a big screen.
The names Joe and Anthony Russo have become synonymous with big blockbuster comic book films thanks to their work with Marvel Studios directing Captain America: The Winter Solider, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame. However you… Read More ›
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The Cine-Men, Episode 28: Films from First-Time Directors.
This may be the episode that finally breaks Douglas. That’s right, everyone, Darryl came up with a topic so simple, yet so complicated, that it nearly broke Douglas’s ability to make decisions. On episode 28 of The Cine-Men, these two… Read More ›
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Guy Ritchie’s uproarious gangster comedy “The Gentlemen” is available on home video now.
There are many lies we tell ourselves. The one that impacts audiences the most is, “nothing good comes out in January.” Of course, there is anecdotal evidence people can pull from to support this claim, but it’s largely not true…. Read More ›
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“Time Warp: The Greatest Cult Films of All-Time, Vol 1” is an informative, if imperfect, beginning of a cult film documentary series.
If you’ve ever felt lost, unseen, unacknowledged, or just generally without people, chances are that something came into your live and turned all of that around. We’re not getting into something as deep as religion, but, for many, the art… Read More ›
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“Like a Boss” celebrates friendship making for a wonderful catharsis: a home release review.
A Word of Warning: This home release review is going to get a little personal. If you want to know about the film without all the excess, jump to the spoiler-free theatrical review. The whole reason I love movies as… Read More ›
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Smartly layered feature-film debut “Why Don’t You Just Die!” brings the carnage as it explores the price of vengeance.
While anyone can insert their influences into their art, it’s something else entirely when the creation stands on its own. Writer/director Kirill Sokolov is open about his fondness for directors Sergio Leone (The Good, The Bad and the Ugly), Martin… Read More ›
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A stellar cast energizes the docu-drama “The Current War: Director’s Cut.”
The path to release has been a difficult one for director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon’s (Me and Earl and the Dying Girl) latest film The Current War. Itself a dramatization of the struggle for control over the burgeoning birth of electricity throughout… Read More ›
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The Cine-Men Minisode
In this brief minisode, hosts Darryl Mansel and Douglas Davidson discuss the challenges that cinema currently faces: theater closures, shifting release dates, and a focus on VOD. If you missed of the last 27 episodes, you can jump right on… Read More ›
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“The Witch: Subversion” balances multiple genres within a singular narrative to keep audiences on the edge of their seat.
There’s an elegance and simplicity to writer/director Hoon-jung Park’s The Witch: Subversion that all begins with the opening. Via photo montage with intense tonal scoring, The Witch sets up a mysterious cabal performing medical experiments on children: iron lungs, tubes… Read More ›