In February of 2021, it was announced that LAIKA Studios and boutique home media distributor Shout! Factory made a deal to bring LAIKA’s incredible stop-motion films to U.S. audiences’ homes. Toward the end of 2021, Shout! Factory released Blu-ray/DVD combo… Read More ›
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 ›
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 ›
“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 ›
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 ›
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 ›
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 ›
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 ›
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 ›
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 ›
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 ›
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 ›
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 ›
“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 ›
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 ›
The French have such a knack for absurdist comedies and horror comedies (this film being the former), that it’s hard not to almost smile ear to ear and enjoy how far out there and how ridiculously things unfold on screen…. Read More ›
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 ›
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 ›
Three years ago, Rian Johnson’s humble follow-up to …let’s just say, polarizing… Star Wars: The Last Jedi came out in the form of Knives Out. Unlike said film set in a galaxy far far away, the consensus on Knives Out… Read More ›
It would be silly to think that in the year 2022 life wouldn’t somehow become an imitation of that childhood trauma (or, for the very few, memory) of playing Monopoly and realizing you never were the one with the gazillion… Read More ›