For all the nasty, horrible parts of author H.P. Lovecraft’s legacy, there’s no denying the lasting impression his stories have made on tales of occult and horror. Using the unknown elements of the natural and spiritual worlds, colliding them together… Read More ›
There is nothing more disheartening that reading what a movie is about and it under-delivering on what the movie could possibly be. The only thing that makes that feeling worse is when that movie is a festival title that someone… Read More ›
Steve Buscemi (Interview) directs his first feature in 15 years (originally played Venice 2022) and somehow, without ever having seen anything Buscemi has directed, The Listener was not at all what I was expecting, but something much more grounded and… Read More ›
Fighting for peace is like screwing for virginity. ― George Carlin At some point in a colonizer’s life, they look back on the choices they’ve made. For many, they’ll see the civilizations they’ve liberated, the cultures they’ve enlightened, and the… Read More ›
February 21st, 1986, an action/fantasy RPG-like game released on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) called The Legend of Zelda. Unlike the console’s mascot, the Italian plumber Mario, who jumped, stomped, and power-uped his way through one obstacle or another on… Read More ›
In 2019, everyone was going mad for Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story, and after watching it, I was utterly dumbfounded. I mean, the movie is a whole lot of fine and doesn’t really say anything new. Sure, both Adam Driver and… Read More ›
A movie relies on a lot of things to be successful, but one thing it relies on to capture audiences that does not get talked about nearly enough is the atmosphere. A movie can be the most horrifying thing ever… Read More ›
The hope found in love is the only hope we have, or at least, that’s what Pietro Marcello‘s Scarlet (2023) seems to be saying. This French period piece is firmly rooted in the cynical positivity of the meta-modernist era. Everything… Read More ›
I was almost 11 years old when Michael Bay’s first Transformers film came out in the summer of 2007, and while I was never a fan of the toys (I was severely gay, and therefore loved my sister’s Barbies), I… Read More ›
There is always something exciting about a thriller, it is in the name after all. But when there is a distinct lack of either performance or development of a character, any and almost all that excitement dissipates as intentions are… Read More ›
If we’re lucky, when we start in this life, we approach it with a spark, an excitement for what’s to come. This could be pursuing a passion, exploring an idea, or just getting out of a dead-end town and away… Read More ›
Holden: Oh no, here’s the big test. Quick Stop. Alyssa: My best friend fucked a dead guy in the bathroom. Holden: You know that girl? Alyssa: I did, before she was committed. – Chasing Amy (1997) Anyone who’s taken the… Read More ›
Of the stories made in America, none are as prolific worldwide as mafia stories. They’re used to tell immigrant stories, crime stories, family dramas, and even comedies. You’d be hard pressed to find any genre today that doesn’t include some… Read More ›
Moviegoers and Cinephiles today are privileged to receive insights into their favorite films through any number of Vanity Fair scene breakdowns, WTF Pod confessionals, and, despite studios’ best efforts, the Blu-ray special feature. Maybe this is why David Lynch, an… Read More ›
It would be difficult to find an American adult who hasn’t heard of Playboy. Since the magazine was first printed in the 1950s, Hugh Hefner’s infamous publication has become an American cultural staple and a generalized symbol for a young… Read More ›
Crime stories are a staple in cinematic storytelling. These stories take the form of films like Internal Affairs (1990), Crime Story (1991), Heat (1995), and The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil (2019). Sometimes, the individual films are standalones (Point Break… Read More ›
Robert De Niro has built one of Hollywood’s most unique filmographies. He has worked with great filmmakers like Martin Scorsese (The Irishman), Sergio Leone (Once Upon a Time in America), Quentin Tarantino (Jackie Brown), and Michael Mann (Heat). De Niro’s… Read More ›
The stories we tell ourselves shape how we view the world. Sometimes the narrating voice is our own, unable to pull us up out of a self-defeating dive; other times, the voice is someone else’s, taking advantage of our vulnerability… Read More ›
2020’s Becky was arguably the definition of a sleeper hit, garnering some acclaim through word of mouth and possibly solidified Lulu Wilson as an action star who can certainly hold her own. Did the 2020 movie need a sequel? In… Read More ›
Disney’s track record of live-action remakes of animated classics has given mixed results. Certain live-action adaptations garnered praise, like Jungle Book (2016) and Cinderella (2015). Others, like The Lion King from 2019, were met with a more divisive response from… Read More ›