Ready for a trauma dump? Because unfortunately, it’s necessary for me to properly explain why I did not like Parker Finn’s Smile very much. One week before Smile dropped into theaters in September of 2022, my best friend killed themself… Read More ›
Reviews
Coming-of-age film “Bird” captures the drama of needing to grow up too soon. [TIFF]
In what could be described as a movie that lives in the same spiritual world as Daina Oniunas-Pusić’s Tuesday (2023), Andrea Arnold’s Bird, similar in vibes and tonal elements in storytelling, focuses on coming-of-age and growing up faster than needed… Read More ›
“The Shadow Strays” delivers on all aspects anticipated in filmmaker Timo Tjahjanto’s latest bloody crime action thriller. [TIFF]
If you’ve never heard of the name Timo Tjahjanto (The Night Comes for Us; The Big 4) then there is something you need to fix, immediately. One of the most exciting directors to exist today, he never misses and continues… Read More ›
Believe. “Signs” in 4K is happening.
In 2002, two-time Academy Award nominated writer and director M. Night Shyamalan was still trying to live up to the hype from The Sixth Sense (1999), a massive success and guarantor for a career that would become one of the… Read More ›
Seek out “Caddo Lake” and the secrets within.
In looking to distract the masses from the fact that their leader, David Zaslav, is a monster, Warner Bros. Pictures (along with its genre subsidiary, New Line Cinema) has been striking lucrative deals with industry titans to strengthen the brand… Read More ›
Garfield and Pugh elevate “We Live in Time” to romantic drama classic status. [TIFF]
Romantic films are easy to find. There are entire network television channels dedicated to them, but finding one rom-com that is so brilliant yet mediocre is a magical feat. And that isn’t necessarily a back-handed compliment but more commentary on… Read More ›
Who needs Whammies when you’re “The Luckiest Man in America”? [TIFF]
The Luckiest Man in America is both the title of Samir Oliveros’s second feature and also could be used to identify the star of the movie, someone who exploded onto the scene a few years back and continues to shine… Read More ›
Live-action family adventure “Harold and the Purple Crayon” has drawn its way to home video.
Board book, hard cover, or soft — chances are, at some point in your life, you encountered author Crockett Johnson’s children’s book Harold and the Purple Crayon. A tale of wonder, the brief adventure features a toddler/little kid-aged boy in… Read More ›
Explore where the “A Quiet Place” film series begins with the Michael Sarnoski-directed “Day One,” available on home video now.
Originally created by Bryan Woods (65; Heretic) and Scott Beck (65; Heretic), under the vision of actor/writer/director John Krasinski (IF; A Quiet Place), the A Quiet Place film series is a creature feature with a character-driven heart. The first film,… Read More ›
Investigate Yorgos Lanthimos’s cautionary tale “Kinds of Kindness” in your own living space.
Trigger Warning: Kinds of Kindness is a darkly comic film that features murder, maiming, and sexual assault. Some elements, even handled with thought and care, may be troubling for some audiences. Growing up in the South you learn very quickly… Read More ›
Latest “My Hero Academia” film, “You’re Next,” solidifies the next generation of heroes as the true successors.
Can anybody tell me the way to make it? I guess no, I’m the only one. I never offered me a wrong future. No matter what happens, I won’t chill, I won’t stop. I’ll make you prouder step by step!… Read More ›
Writer/director Joseph Sims-Dennett’s new film, “Baal,” demonstrates a mastery of cinema’s visual language even if the resolution does not. [Beyond Fest]
Trigger Warning: There is a sequence in the climax of the film with extensive cross-cutting that may be disturbing for photosensitive viewers. There are some films which, from the start, communicate to the audience that what they’re about to witness… Read More ›
The not rated (very NC-17) 1998 film “Happiness” gets a Criterion restoration on 4K.
Trigger warning: Themes that will be discussed in this review include pedophilia, rape, and incest. Masturbation and sex are also largely discussed and analyzed, so maybe just get the bath ready for when you’re done with this review and you… Read More ›
Angie Dickinson shines on Blu-ray with Imprint Films’s “Jessica.”
Angie Dickinson (Rio Bravo; Dressed to Kill) was famously beautiful, and a defining example of the “sexpot” archetype of Hollywood movie star in mid-century cinema. She was beautiful, and men loved looking at her butt and bust. That’s basically what… Read More ›
It’s no shared delusion that “Joker: Folie à Deux” may be one of the best recent DC properties.
As a huge fan of Batman, I can confirm and say confidently I thought Todd Phillip’s Joker was good, but that’s about it. It certainly was not the Clown Prince of Darkness we’ve come to see on screen or really… Read More ›
“Hold Your Breath” keeps you in a chokehold until the very end. [TIFF]
No one has ever questioned Sarah Paulson’s (Serenity; Ocean’s 8) ability to breathe life into something, and with her newest film, Hold Your Breath, this streak will continue as she is effortlessly brilliant in it and genuinely transforms the movie… Read More ›
Faux true crime documentary “Strange Harvest: Occult Murder in the Inland Empire” challenges audiences to separate facts from fiction in its conclusion. [Fantastic Fest]
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 ›
“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 ›