Before Guttenberg changed how we share stories with the birth of the printing press in 1450, it was the oral tradition which kept the past in the memories of our present. Even well after the emergence of printed word, the… Read More ›
Reviews
Enjoy some wholesome tokusatsu fun in Eric McEver’s “Iké Boys.” [Fantastic Fest]
Tell me if you’ve heard this one before: a group of outcasts finds themselves at the center of a prophecy that holds the fate of the world in its hands. In brief, that’s the summary for Eric McEver’s (A Utopia)… Read More ›
“Baby Assassins” is a bubbly action crime comedy that’s not afraid to kick a lot of ass. [Fantastic Fest]
If you’ve ever sat absorbing something for the first time — a song, a book, a play, a movie — and thought to yourself, “I can’t wait to revisit this,” then you’ll have some sense of what will await you… Read More ›
If you can get on its frequency, Bertrand Mandico’s fantasy western “After Blue (Dirty Paradise)” is a surreal ride. [Fantastic Fest]
Thanks to the recent release of James Wan’s Malignant (2021), there’s been a lot of talk within certain circles about the desire to see big swings in cinema that create vigorous division over something good but safe. Having not seen… Read More ›
A riveting thriller from start to finish comes down to “The Execution.” [Fantastic Fest]
Between 1978 – 1990, a series of brutal murders were committed by Russian serial killer Andrei Chikatilo, totaling more than 50 women and children before he was captured, convicted, and executed via firing-squad. This absolute horror serves as the narrative… Read More ›
Beloved Hong Kong director Johnnie To joins The Criterion Collection with 2004 genre-hybrid “Throw Down.”
If you’re well-versed in Hong Kong cinema, then the name Johnnie To will carry a great deal of weight. Among those who know, his films like A Hero Never Dies (1998), PTU (2003), and Election (2005) exemplify the Kong Kong… Read More ›
Celebrate 50 years of Stanley Kubrick’s “A Clockwork Orange” with a first-time 4K UHD release.
Published in 1962, Anthony Burgess’s dark satire A Clockwork Orange hit the streets of England with a 21-chapter tale of a teenager’s prevalence for extreme violence and antisocial behavior. Written in a Russian-influenced language called “Nasdat,” most of what central… Read More ›
“Lady of the Manor” possesses the potential for a high-spirited comedy but tumbles in the execution.
Comedy is one of the most subjective forms of art. What one viewer finds to be right up their alley might completely turn another viewer off. When a film plays around with a blend of comedy subgenres, it is even… Read More ›
Go on a swashbuckling animated macabre adventure in the adaptation of “Petite Vampire.”
There are many things about cinema that The Cine-Men co-host Darryl Mansel laments, but the one that he laments the most is the lack of swashbuckler films. Disney’s recent Jungle Cruise possesses traits of these films, though mostly due to… Read More ›
Shout! Factory’s LAIKA Studios Edition Examination, Part 3: “ParaNorman.”
For the last 15 years, LAIKA Studios has amused, entertained, amazed, and, in some cases, downright terrified audiences with their stop-motion animation tales that continually place children at the center, offering a chance for audiences old and young to see… Read More ›
Equal parts devastating and inspiriting, “What She Said” is a powerful directorial debut.
Reactions to trauma are specific to each person and situation. No two people respond to a harrowing event in the exact same fashion because the human experience and each person’s perception of the world around them is so unique. When… Read More ›
4K restoration of Frank Perry’s “Mommie Dearest” joins the Paramount Presents label.
Actor Joan Crawford started acting in 1925 with the short The Casting Couch and worked her last job in a guest role on the television series The Sixth Sense in 1972, five years before her passing. In addition to acting,… Read More ›
The HDR in the 4K UHD remaster of “The Shawshank Redemption” will dramatically shift how you react to the film you know.
“Get busy livin’ or get busy dying.” One of the more famous phrases in cinema history and originally uttered by Tim Robbins’s Andy Dufresne, the only innocent man in all of Shawshank Prison, is more often recalled as said by… Read More ›
Guy Noland’s “Stage Managed” offers a pilot that raises the kinds of questions only a full season can answer. [Dances With Films Festival]
Making a movie or television show in the style of a mockumentary can be very challenging. It takes the right combination of a sharp script, talent behind the camera, an editor who knows exactly what they’re doing, and pinpoint precision… Read More ›
“Holidays At All Cost (Vacances á Tout Prix)” has enough unique flourishes to make a well-worn journey worth the travel. [Dances With Films Festival]
Vacations are meant to be an enjoyable time of rest, relaxation, and quality time with one’s family. Of course, when you get to a certain age, odds are that you will find yourself having gone through your fair share of… Read More ›
Arrow Video releases a fourth Yasuzô Masumura remaster, 1969’s “Blind Beast.”
As with previously reviewed films Giants and Toys (1958) and Irezumi (1966), Arrow Video is restoring and offering up to audiences outside of Japan another Yasuzô Masumura film: Blind Beast. Arrow Video provides an opportunity to expand what viewers may… Read More ›
Inherit the dreams of Dreamers with “In the Heights.”
In so many ways, truth is stranger than fiction. According to actor Olga Merediz (The Place Beyond the Pines) in the featurette “That Music in the Air,” playwright/actor Lin-Manuel Miranda told her that he’d begun writing songs that would appear… Read More ›
Styled like a documentary, dramatic fiction “Dark Blood” feels like watching the spiritual obliteration of innocence.
Few films have shaken me quite like Harold Trompetero’s Dark Blood has. Uncut Gems (2019) left me vibrating from anxiety; If Anything Happens I Love You (2020) left me stunned, silently crying over the credits; Violet (2021) left me raw,… Read More ›
In the style of teen classics like “The Breakfast Club” and “Dead Poets Society,” Daigo Matsui’s “Remain in Twilight” appeals to our restless youthful spirits with wit and sincerity. [Fantasia International Film Festival]
It’s not every day we get the chance to chat with a loved one who has passed on. Skeptics would say that we never get that opportunity. If you’ve lost someone important to you, you’ve probably at least imagined having… Read More ›
Documentary “Kipchoge: The Last Milestone” reminds audiences that our limits are of our own making.
There are certain landmark achievements in human history, whether physically or intellectually or a combination of the two, that only come along once every century or so, representing the pinnacle of human potential. The documentary Kipchoge: The Last Milestone, directed… Read More ›