Awards season has come and gone once again, like another overblown, overwrought, overlong thief in the night, spanning an impressive seven months from the beginning of the Venice Film Festival to that of the Academy Awards. Though, unlike other years,… Read More ›
Guillermo del Toro (Pacific Rim; The Shape of Water) calls Crimson Peak (2015) his most beautiful film, comparing this gothic romance to the works of Charles Dickens (Great Expectations; David Copperfield), Jane Austen (Pride and Prejudice; Emma), Emily Bronte (Wuthering… Read More ›
The shuriken throwing star, the black mask and suit, the high-flying moves — the few identifiers synonymous with the ninja archetype. Radiance Films brings home one of the most respected and influential ninja films of all time with the Shinobi… Read More ›
Typically, studio-released 4Ks have been poor and strip-mined of late. Usually, if you want a good edition, you’re paying out extra payola to a boutique brand with a severely limited run. But the Paramount Presents label has outdone itself with… Read More ›
Having only seen one Frank Henenlotter film, Brain Damage, prior, there was some idea of what to possibly expect from his directorial debut, Basket Case. However, even having seen Brain Damage, I don’t think anything could have properly prepared me… Read More ›
For a “movie” that is 65 years old and was originally a two-part series premiere pilot, never in my wildest dreams would I have thought this would look as clean and crisp as it possibly does. It is truly so… Read More ›
Photosensitivity Warning: The opening sequence and several throughout the film include either flashes of light or strobing that may be triggering for photosensitive viewers. There are certain phrases, certain references, one can make that will elicit a specific response within… Read More ›
Photosensitivity Warning: There are multiple scenes in which either a character is using a camera with flash or a strobe is used (often at length). Proceed with absolute caution. In the realm of action fantasy, John Milius’s 1982 sword and… Read More ›
In nature, there’s no such thing as evil. There’s the ecosystem with predator and prey, but while there are behaviors that some groups would define within a power dynamic, it’s atypical for the natural world to engage in behavior humans… Read More ›
The summer movie season happens earlier and earlier every year. What once started in June has now begun as early as April. This has set a precedent for the summer movie season as a whole. No matter the film, it… Read More ›
Since 2017’s The Outlaws, actor Ma Dong-seok (a.k.a. and credited here as Don Lee) has led what would become the Crime City series, an action crime series that borrows from Korean headlines for the foundation of each film. Each film… Read More ›
Remakes are almost always met with the same reaction upon announcement: “why?”. To many, remakes are a sign of laziness on the part of studios, opting to lean-in on what audiences know or have a relationship with rather than taking… Read More ›
Adaptations are growing in number more and more these days in entertainment. If there’s not a cinematic version of a book, show, or comic, there’s a television one. Often times, these tales involve beings of incredible strength or speed, of… Read More ›
Trigger Warning: The Shape of Night contains an exploration of sex work, the narrative of which may prove difficult to endure for those who’ve suffered sexual assault. In 1929, Japanese film studio Shochiku was established, transitioning from the theatrical arts… Read More ›
Despite living in an age where thousands of films are available at the touch of a button, there’re still far too many films that are either difficult-bordering-on-impossible to stream, thereby making physical media the best way to access what you… Read More ›
A backwater tennis court, a “challenger” tennis tournament, in Rochelle, New York. Mike Faist (West Side Story; The Bikeriders) as Art and Josh O’Connor (La Chimera; Cinderella) as Patrick are battling on this small-town court. Zendaya’s (Dune Part Two; The… Read More ›
It all starts with an idea. Then, if you’re lucky, that idea blossoms into a complete story that can then be transformed from words on a page into a fully-staged production. For all the films released in a week every… Read More ›
Yellow Smiley offers me X Like he’s drinking 7-Up I would rather drink six razor blades Razor blades from a paper cup He can’t understand, I say too tough It’s just that I’ve seen the future and boy it’s rough… Read More ›
Monster (2023) was one of the best films of last year that no one saw, as is typical of Hirokazu Kore-eda’s (Shoplifters; Nobody Knows) films as of late. It’s also part of a worrying trend and aftershock of American politics… Read More ›
2023 provided a proper glut of delicious action flicks. In addition to the obvious theatrical blockbusters like John Wick: Chapter 4, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, and Teenage Mutant Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, we also got Sisu,… Read More ›