For as big as the waves that SpectreVision is making in the indie horror scene with cult hits like The Greasy Strangler and Mandy, it’s a real wonder why a major distributor hasn’t taken a bigger chance putting their films… Read More ›
In Theaters
Despite a subversion of genre tropes and bevy of homages, Jennifer Reeder’s “Knives and Skin” isn’t as sharp as it aims to be.
The textbook definition of “teen movie” has taken a sharp left turn in the past decade. Gone are the days of lighthearted slapstick comedies à la American Pie and Superbad, or the mushy romance films like She’s All That and… Read More ›
“The Curse of the Monkey Bird” pairs the familiar with the modern for an undeniable fun Looney Tunes adventure.
A pig and a duck ride an elephant into the jungle. No, this isn’t the set-up for a joke, it’s the basis for The Curse of the Monkey Bird, the latest in a series of Looney Tunes cartoons set for… Read More ›
Technical mastery and a poetic approach to direction make director Sam Mendes’s “1917” an unforgettable experience.
Dunkirk. Hacksaw Ridge. Saving Private Ryan. The Thin Red Line. All Quiet on the Western Front. Each of these films found a provocative way to tell a war story. Whether it’s the tickticktick of Hans Zimmer’s Dunkirk score accompanying overlapping… Read More ›
Director Melina Matsoukas’s directorial feature debut “Queen & Slim” is a time bomb disguised as a powerhouse drama.
Director Melina Matouskas’s directorial debut, Queen & Slim, is a devastating drama about a couple thrust into the spotlight after a traffic stop gone wrong. At least, that’s one way to read it. Another way is that the screenplay from… Read More ›
Crime thriller “The Irishman” is Martin Scorsese at his most self-assured.
In his recent years, and more specifically in recent months, Martin Scorsese has really stepped away from the spotlight…oh my god, could you imagine if I was serious with that? The argument has been made that Scorsese made the controversial… Read More ›
“Knives Out” is more than a whodunit. It’s the most fun you’ll have at the cinema.
There’s been a lot of trash tossed around on writer/director Rian Johnson since his Star Wars film hit theaters in 2017. It’s wonderful that audiences feel such ownership for a film series, but there comes a point where the community… Read More ›
Peter Strickland’s Giallo-inspired “In Fabric” crafts an inspired modern tale out of vintage filmmaking. [Film Fest 919]
It’s no secret that Suspiria is one of my favorite films of all time, with the 2018 remake just ever so slightly edging out the 1977 original thanks to its expansion on the film’s themes and plot to make something… Read More ›
“The Aeronauts” doesn’t seek to exist as a quiet, introspective costume drama, but as an adventure of the grandest scale imaginable. [Film Fest 919]
Whatever happened to wonder in films? Whatever happened to the sweeping scores layered over long, grand shots of adventure and peril? Why does everything feel so commercialized and insincere nowadays? I feel like whenever big blockbusters make you feel something,… Read More ›
“Frozen II”: Bigger, Bolder, Colder.
In 2013, you couldn’t turn on a radio without hearing Idina Menzel belting “Let It Go” and, by 2014, Halloween looked like an army of Elsas and Annas coming to pillage your candy. As much of a pop culture phenomenon… Read More ›