Around Elements of Madness, story is everything. We’re not looking for giant budgets, major studios, or the biggest names; we’re looking for an interesting idea or an engaging twist on something old. Enter the Scott Thomas Reynolds-written (2nd Chance for… Read More ›
The “cinematic baggage,” as it is known, that we bring with us into each film-viewing experience always has an effect on our perception of movies, even if this sensation is unconscious. We may love a film with a greater zeal,… Read More ›
Over the last few years in America there’s been a surge of “gun fu” films: The Matrix (1999), Equilibrium (2002), all the way up to the recent John Wick series. It’s not that the combination of martial arts and weaponry… Read More ›
Shot over 20 days with the intent to premiere at the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival, writer/director BenDavid Grabinski’s genre-hybrid Happily eventually hit select theaters on March 19th, 2021, along with a simultaneous VOD and digital release. The film is difficult… Read More ›
Its 1996 and British gaming company Core Design has released action-adventure game Tomb Raider for PC, PlayStation, and Sega Saturn consoles. Centered around archeologist/adventurer Lara Croft, the title challenged gamers to solve puzzles and confront strange enemies in pursuit of… Read More ›
Welcome to Fistful of Features, a celebration of film preservation through physical media and the discussion of cinematic treasures to maintain their relevance in the cultural lexicon. Today we’ll be focusing on the directorial debut of BenDavid Grabinski, a morality… Read More ›
When you’re a teenager, every little upset feels like the end of the world. Failing a test, losing the big game, watching your crush take someone else to prom, or even finding out that your favorite band broke up can… Read More ›
Of the many decisions made for the 93rd Academy Awards, the shift away from running clips of films seemed like the most bizarre according to vocal viewers online. Whether it was for technical awards or the top six, not running… Read More ›
As a Jewish kid from Roanoke, Virginia, my music influences were around what was played on the radio; what played on music channels VH1, MTV, and BET; or what was played by my family across their eclectic tastes ranging from… Read More ›
Returning to the director’s seat for the second time, Hong Won-chan trades murder most foul within the blue collar arena for the underbelly of Asia and Southeast Asia in Deliver Us From Evil (다만 악에서 구하소서). In a film that’s… Read More ›
Death Has Blue Eyes (To koritsi vomva) is an easy film to summarize but a difficult one to describe. It’s a science fiction thriller in a sexploitation package. Beyond this, though, is where the film gets tricky due to a… Read More ›
Writer/director Olivier Assayas’s Irma Vep is many things at once. It’s a comedic look at the making of a film, capturing the swirling chaos as various departments and personalities come together to create art. It’s a dramatic piece exploring how… Read More ›
“During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heaves, I had been passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country; and… Read More ›
No one can accuse Tate Taylor of being the kind of director who’s confined to one genre or style. He’s tackled book adaptations with the Oscar-winning The Help (2011), biographical material with Get on Up (2014), suspense with The Girl… Read More ›
I’m a recent convert, but I love me some Monster Hunter videogames. They’re simple on the surface, but nearly impossible to truly master without pouring countless hours grinding and studying the habits and weaknesses of each bit of prey assigned… Read More ›
One of the great things about boutique distributors like Criterion, Arrow, Vinegar Syndrome, and others is that whether a film is lost or beloved, they find new life via a new release. Even though the major studios are starting to… Read More ›
Two years after the release of Man Push Cart (2005), writer/director Ramin Bahrani followed it with Chop Shop (2007), a thematic continuation of the immigrant story he began with Ahmad the Pakistani food cart owner. Though actor Ahmad Razvi does… Read More ›
It’s interesting how things rarely change with time. There are incremental changes, sure, shifts in the way people dress or the meanings of words, but, largely, there are some things which remain. A sadness, a true melancholy, shrouds our existence,… Read More ›
Consider the logline for Choi Jae-hoon’s feature film directorial debut The Swordsman (Geom-gaek) for a moment: a blinded swordsman comes out of hiding when his daughter is kidnapped by slave traders. With this type of description, one would presume a… Read More ›
Originally slated for February 7th, 2020, the second-part of the Fengshen Cinematic Universe went into stasis until a brief theatrical rollout in October 2020. Now, though, nearly a year after it was to hit cinemaplexes, Jiang Ziya (also known as… Read More ›