In the Jewish tradition, each person dies twice. The first is when the person dies, their bodily functions ceasing operation through natural causes or unexpected tragedy. The second comes when someone says your name for the last time. This isn’t… Read More ›
In Theaters
“Saturday Night” achieves the impossible in capturing the anarchy of airing the first ever episode of “SNL” [TIFF]
Live from Elements of Madness, its SATURADAY NIGHTTTTTTTTTT! Jason Reitman’s latest (co-penned by Gil Kenan) is one of the most incredibly stacked and impossible ensembles to bring together about the chaotic moments before the first ever episode of Saturday Night… Read More ›
Mike Flanagan adapts one of Stephen King’s non-horror works with great aplomb in “The Life of Chuck.” [TIFF]
If you’ve ever read, listened to, or watched an interview with Stephen King about the adaptations of his works, he typically hates them for one reason or another, but usually because they stray enough from the source material to make… Read More ›
Steven Kostanski delivers another ‘80s-set comedy horror in “Frankie Freako.”
From the director of “The Veggie Masher” from V/H/S/94 (2021), Canadian sci-fi horror The Void (2016), and one of the best campy monster movies, PG: Psycho Goreman (2020), comes a movie that feels directly ripped out of the 1980s in… Read More ›
Jean Luc Herbulot’s action thriller “Zero” is a high-octane ride hiding a geo-political gut punch. [Beyond Fest]
In 2021, writer/director Jean Luc Herbulot released his supernatural thriller Saloum, and it made a mark on anyone who saw it. The story is of three mercs whose plan goes awry, yet places them exactly where they need to be… Read More ›
Reactions to “Megalopolis” are as divided as the successes and failures within the film.
While every person on Earth has their own crop of favorite filmmakers, there are those who stand as an almost objective list of the most influential to ever live: Alfred Hitchcock (Rope), Akira Kurosawa (Hidden Fortress), Federico Fellini (8 ½),… Read More ›
Toby Jones’s “AJ Goes to the Dog Park” is an absurdist comedy possessing an important message. [Fantastic Fest]
Budget has nothing to do with telling a good story. A film can be backed by a major studio spending a billion dollars top to bottom can bomb and a film made on a nano budget can sell out regularly… Read More ›
“The Wild Robot” continues writer/director Chris Sanders’s run on delivering animated magic for all-ages.
The landscape of animated movies has been ever-changing. Over the years, animation has managed to pack a punch with audiences. Film franchises like The Lego Movie, Inside Out, and How to Train Your Dragon have emotionally stirred viewers to their… Read More ›
Documentary “Piece by Piece” leaves you feeling “Happy” exploring the magic of musician/producer Pharrell Williams. [TIFF]
Morgan Neville is no stranger to documentaries, nor musical documentaries, but his newest certainly provokes something new and manages to create a wonderfully whimsical documentary that captures the personality and soul of the subject matter at hand. Neville’s other works… Read More ›
“¡Casa Bonita Mi Amor!” aka The Price of Nostalgia.
One of my favorite questions to ask anyone is the following: “If you could store one memory in a bottle to revisit over again, what would it be?” My choice revolves around the first time I stepped into Walt Disney… Read More ›
Road trip dramedy “Bookworm” rewards the strong of heart and spirit with adventure. [Fantastic Fest]
Odd couple stories are the bread-and-butter of comedy. Putting mismatched people in situations (regular or irregular) is a breeding ground for hilarity as the two’s friction slowly grinds until it flares up. Add in estranged parentage with a little bit… Read More ›
“Apartment 7A” has all the elements of a great horror movie befallen by forcing the connection to Rosemary. [Fantastic Fest]
Over my recent vacation to Mexico (my first one in over half a decade), I spent most of my days with my Kindle reading in the pool as I baked in the Gulf sun. The first work I devoured in… Read More ›
Yusron Fuadi’s meta-horror comedy “The Draft! (Setan Alas!)” flips the bird at The Powers That Be while delighting audiences from start to finish. [Fantastic Fest]
With the quickness strike out for the less of us doubt Mercy of the man who put the pen in our mouth Word write us well signed, “Forgiveness for sale” I’m through being full, of all the might you want… Read More ›
Kensuke Sonomura returns to the director’s chair for a third time with supernatural action dramedy “Ghost Killer.” [Fantastic Fest]
In the world of martial arts action, there are few stunt directors like Kensuke Sonomura. Over the last 20 years, he’s worked on 12 prior projects as part of the stunt crew. Out of those, he was the editor for… Read More ›
Don’t sign on the dotted line with “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” until you’ve read all the fine print.
Every family has demons, every house has spirits, but some are a bit more literal than others. That’s what audiences discovered in director Tim Burton’s 1988 horror comedy Beetlejuice, starring Alec Baldwin (The Departed), Geena Davis (The Fly), Winona Ryder… Read More ›
“Speak No Evil” and the curse of the spineless American yuppies.
“It’s hard to say no, isn’t it?” – Paddy, played by James McAvoy in Speak No Evil (2024) Back in the early days of 2022, I sat down for my first (and only to-date) viewing of some Sundance Film Festival… Read More ›
Fargeat, Moore, Quaid, and Qualley congeal to deliver the chaotic horror that is “The Substance.” [TIFF]
If you’re a horror fan and exist on planet Earth, get ready to bow down to Coralie Fargeat (Revenge) and consume every fk’d up thing she ever dares to make. Her newest film, The Substance, blows away the audience by… Read More ›
Tragic, whimsical romance “Daniela Forever” perfectly doses audiences with Nacho Vigalondo’s trademark story-telling. [TIFF]
Have you heard of writer/director Nacho Vigalondo? If you haven’t, you’re truly missing out. While he’s certainly not new to the scene, he has cemented himself as a force to be reckoned with when it comes to weird, insane, crazy… Read More ›
“Presence” unsettles with its unique on-screen perspective and haunts long after. [TIFF]
While some audiences may think that Steven Soderbergh (Kimi; Ocean’s Eleven) may have lost the spark he once had, one thing is for certain — the choices of what he decides to partake in creatively in some capacity are all… Read More ›
Sci-fi romance “You Are Not Alone” is a unique study of characters, alienation, redemption, and hope. [TIFF]
Science fiction comes in a variety of subgenres and the first feature from Philippe Lupien and Marie-Hélène Viens breaks into the subgenre of science fiction romance, creating an other-worldly experience for the audience. While the end result may be something… Read More ›