Photosensitivity Warning: There are several party sequences and instances involving the press wherein lights either flash or strobe. Be advised. Everyone has a favorite type of story. For some, it’s romances; others, comedies; and, others still, horror. In my top… Read More ›
The Unholy Trinity (2024) is a film that, at first glance, seems tailor-made for fans longing for a return to the gritty, dust-caked charm of old-school westerns. With its barren landscapes, tense shootouts, and a score that leans into the… Read More ›
What would you do to right a wrong? What wrong would you do to make something right? Where is the line by which a good person becomes bad and what rationale do they provide to defend themselves? In truth, from… Read More ›
November 2003 saw the release of director/co-writer Peter Weir’s (The Truman Show; Dead Poets Society) nautical wartime tale Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, an indirect adaptation of the stories from the Patrick O’Brian Master and Commander… Read More ›
On May 9th, 2017, actor Michael Parks, born Harry Samuel Parks, passed away. Among the many things he left behind, his entertainment-based legacy includes notable roles in television and cinema as well as a career in music. His performances were… Read More ›
Storyteller Wes Anderson broke onto the scene with 1994’s Bottle Rocket and hasn’t really looked back. He’s developed a signature style while assembling what’s best described as a theatrical troupe, a set of actors who relish the chance to return… Read More ›
Live-action remakes of coveted animated films can be a pain point of mine. Most of the time (well, all of the time), it’s an opportunity to juice more money out of an existing IP and less an opportunity to tell… Read More ›
Film scholar Joseph Fahim describes director Youssef Chahine’s 1958 crime thriller Cairo Station (باب الحديد) as a film that failed to connect with audiences and was viewed as a failure upon its initial release. He also states that the film… Read More ›
Before he directed one of the greatest films of all time, 1948’s Bicycle Thieves, Vittorio De Sica became the face of Italian Neorealism in 1946 with his first masterpiece Shoeshine. Italian Neorealism was a post-World War II film movement which… Read More ›
What would you do for love? Would you fight? Would you protect? What would you build? What would you sacrifice? Polish filmmaker Grzegorz Królikiewicz (The Dancing Hawk), having previously made a series of short films, released his feature debut, Through… Read More ›
Trigger Warning: Much of this black-and-white film features a flickering that is more noticeable in non-white/mostly-grey or dark sequences. This may prove triggering for photosensitive viewers. Stories of hubris are as old as time. Whether it’s literary figures like Lex… Read More ›
Reputation could make or break a film. While making what is arguably one of the greatest films of all time, Apocalypse Now, Francis Ford Coppola went through a plethora of production delays including casting switches, health problems with his lead… Read More ›
In 2007, director James Griffiths (Cuban Fury) and co-writers/co-stars Tom Basden (Plebs: Soldiers of Rome) and Tim Key (Wonderdate) released their short The One and Only Herb McGwyer Plays Wallis Island. The trio has been working since to adapting it… Read More ›
With recent releases like The Naked Gun (2025) and The Fall Guy (2024), one might possess a false presumption that the adaptation or transition from broadcast programming to theatrical is a recent feature of modern entertainment. Even if the ‘90s… Read More ›
The best small-town dramas welcome the viewer back to a place they remember but never visited. The town itself has nothing and everything to do with this film, serving as a setting, a cage, and a refuge depending on who… Read More ›
If there’s anything that cinema has taught us, don’t be a camp counselor. Either they have to build morale for a rag-tag group of kids coming from disparate backgrounds in order to help defeat an opposing camp, have to play… Read More ›
I could spend hours ruminating on all of the ways the Final Destination franchise shaped me as a lover of film from childhood, but eventually I would bore you with my stories of being afraid of the Final Destination 3… Read More ›
If someone is asked to identify their favorite war-related films, most likely they’ll name American-made films, not because they’re inherently better but because they are often more prolific. The truth is that war is one of the few concepts that… Read More ›
It only takes one person’s moment of greed to poison the lives of countless others. This isn’t to suggest that individuals aren’t in control of their choices, but, if one ascribes to Chaos Theory, there’s a strong inclination that our… Read More ›
Eephus (2024), now out on Blu-ray, is a great American movie because, like America’s Favorite Pastime, it captures the ways we can be and have forgotten how to be — communal, patient, and honorable, surprisingly loud, and sometimes surprisingly quiet… Read More ›