In the years since its original publishing in 1911, author Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden has been replicated for stage and screen and has often been assigned for summer reading for many students, as was the case for this… Read More ›
Reviews
With Don Hahn’s “Howard,” the world becomes the custodian to Howard Ashman’s legacy.
For every actor, director, writer, composer, there’s typically a singular piece they call back to as the thing, the object that inspired within them the need to create. If you mention Little Shop of Horrors (1986), The Little Mermaid (1989),… Read More ›
Once the idea gets in your head, it’s inevitable that “She Dies Tomorrow.”
Contagions are a powerful force of nature, illustrated beautifully by the fact that I haven’t worn anything but basketball shorts and cheap t-shirts for the last four months because of a deadly, incurable one that has swept the world and… Read More ›
“House of Hummingbird” is an exercise in patience with a profound emotional payoff.
There’s something ubiquitous about adolescence that makes coming-of-age stories. It doesn’t matter what era or culture they derive or take place within, because there’s something universal, even in their specificity: the social awkwardness, the longing for connection, the need to… Read More ›
Horror thriller “1BR” offers pure, clever entertainment.
Apartment hunting is a living nightmare. There’s simply no way around the fact that every facet of moving to a new space is meant to test our mental and physical fortitude as humans, looking to see just how much stress… Read More ›
Bold, loud, and making no apologies, “We Are Little Zombies” is a striking feature debut for Makoto Nagahisa.
In spite of its colorful style and quirky video game motif, We Are Little Zombies is a surprisingly somber and thoughtful experience as it explores loneliness, death, and grief amid several ear worms. Written and directed by Makoto Nagahisa, We… Read More ›
HBO Documentary Films’s “Stockton On My Mind” creates a new story around impoverished towns and highlights the strength of local communities.
The 2020 American presidential election is well underway, one that may prove to be the most interesting (or frustrating) elections of the past few decades as the candidates navigate campaign strategies in the midst of a global pandemic. As voters… Read More ›
Lionsgate’s “Legacy of Lies” is a solid showcase for Scott Adkins talents.
Scott Adkins is one of those multi-talented artists in the filmmaking industry who is known to work on upwards of five or more projects each year. Skilled as an actor, martial artist, and stuntman, Adkins enjoys staying busy year-round. His… Read More ›
Adaptation of Indonesian comic superhero “Gundala” kicks off the beginning of a grand adventure.
Take the brilliant stunt choreography of Indonesian action film The Night Comes for Us (2018), the intrigue of Indonesian thriller The Raid: Berandal (2014), and mix with superhero elements you know from various Marvel and DC storylines and you’ll get… Read More ›
Leah McKendrick’s short film “Pamela & Ivy” reenvisions the ecowarrior’s origin.
Comic book stories have been on an upswing since, arguably, 1998’s Blade. There were comic book films before it, but many that came after tried to replicate the style and authenticity of Wesley Snipes’s badass vampire hunter. Even as other… Read More ›
Come for the story, stay for the music of “Fisherman’s Friends.”
Before the written word, one of the main ways of passing down stories from one generation to another was through song. Considering that music is currently showing no signs of slowing down, it should surprise no one that telling the… Read More ›
Romola Garai’s directing debut “Amulet” delivers on every twisted promise.
Actors turned directors are not rare occurrences in the film industry with many seasoned actors at least taking one crack behind the camera during the course of their career, from George Clooney, Ben Affleck, Tom Hanks, Warren Beatty, to Denzel… Read More ›
Get your action-adventure fix anytime with the home release of “Scoob!”
If you’re one of those folks who prefers physical media, get excited because one of the first 2020-slated films to hit Premium VOD is finally hitting shelves: WB Pictures’s Scoob!. In this soft-reboot of the beloved series, audiences are invited… Read More ›
Criterion brings the ’97 Palme d’Or winner “Taste of Cherry” to your home.
The way an audience perceives art is by framing it within their own experience. This can be taken literally, as in someone considers their lifetime experience against what they are engaging in, or it can be taken more figuratively, as… Read More ›
“Ghosts of War” is a solid haunted house movie set during World War II.
We all love a good World War II movie. Saving Private Ryan, Hacksaw Ridge, heck, you could even count Captain America: The First Avenger as a great World War II movie. World War II movies have a great way of striking so much emotion,… Read More ›
Unless you’re in the mood for incredible frustration, stay out of “The Room.”
In film criticism, there’s a guiding light that I try to stand by: review the film in front of you, not the film you wish you’d seen. That doesn’t mean that you can’t, don’t, or shouldn’t discuss a film’s failings…. Read More ›
Mind-bending docu-puzzle “In Bright Axiom” sets out to defy expectations, but gets lost in its ambition.
If you spend time with kids on a regular basis, then at some point you’ve probably been asked to play a confusing game with vague rules and unclear objectives that the kids invented themselves. It might be a live-action-role-playing-game that… Read More ›
Take a step back to the days of Brucesploitation with modern remake “Enter the Fat Dragon.”
Before digging into the ridiculousness that is Enter the Fat Dragon, a remake of a 1978 martial arts comedy, let us take a moment to marvel at the majesty that is Donnie Yen. This actor and highly trained marital artist… Read More ›
Wake up in “Palm Springs,” you may not leave.
There comes a time in just about everyone’s life where suddenly every day feels the same. Wake up, get dressed, eat, work, eat, work, eat, rest, and start it all over again. Maybe you’re lucky and you get to mix… Read More ›
The Breathtaking Melancholy of “Relic” (or How I Learned to Stop Panicking and Trust the Aging Process).
Both of my grandfathers died before my grandmothers (one of whom, my mother’s mother, is still with us), and what remained following their deaths was a peculiar phenomenon that I had never considered before. As women of the 1940s, they… Read More ›