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 ›
Reviews
Janus Contemporaries brings “Tótem” and its unforgettable family home.
In Tótem (2023), newcomer Naíma Sentíes plays Sol, a little girl who we first meet taking her turn on a public toilet while her mother Lucía, played by Iazua Larios (Apocalypto; Sundown) makes her laugh by peeing in the sink…. Read More ›
Jessica Chastain and Anne Hathaway shine in the gorgeous-but-forgettable “Mothers’ Instinct,” now home on Blu-ray.
Benoît Delhomme’s directorial debut Mothers’ Instinct (2024), a remake of Olivier Masset-Depasse’s French-language thriller of the same name (2018), feels like it was born out of a cinephile’s (or actor-phile’s) dreamboard. Oscar-winners Jessica Chastain (It: Chapter Two) and Anne Hathaway… Read More ›
The “Bad Boys” universe continues to expand in fourth outing “Ride or Die,” out on home video now.
Nearly 39 years after audiences were introduced to Miami, Florida, detectives Marcus Burnett and Mike Lowrey (Martin Lawrence and Will Smith; respectively) in the 1995 action comedy Bad Boys (1995), a fourth entry in the series landed in theaters: Bad… 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 ›
Experience the slow and steady madness of Daniele Campea’s “Mother Nocturna.”
Written and directed by Daniele Campea, Mother Nocturna (Madre Notturna) is a psychological drama about isolation, female rage, and a handful of Freudian family issues. Bathed in moonlight and steeped in folkloric imagery, the film takes viewers to a dark… 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 ›
Game on! Yuen Biao’s sports comedy “The Champions” gets an HD release from Eureka Entertainment.
Martial arts fans know Yuen Biao from turns in Bruce Lee vehicles like Enter the Dragon (1973) and Game of Death (1978), as well as various appearances in Jackie Chan projects like Project A (1983) or My Lucky Stars (1985),… Read More ›
Radiance Films releases a lovely high-definition restoration of Seijun Suzuki’s surprising yakuza dramedy “Tattooed Life.”
Art is chaos and chaos is life, therefore, art is a manifestation of the chaos of life. Our experiences, our views, everything that is “us” is transported into what we create. In some instances, what is absent from it is… 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 ›
“The Shadow Boxing” is welcomed into the 88 Asia Collection with a bare-bones limited edition HD transfer.
In his lifetime, Lau Kar-leung’s worked as an actor (How Wong Fei-Hung Defeated Three Bullies with a Rod (1953); Golden Swallow (1968)), a stuntman (The Black Musketeer ‘F’ (1968); Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1993)), a writer (Legendary Weapons of… 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 ›
“Coup!” highlights how history tends to rhyme via a pandemic-set class warfare dark comic satire.
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” – Writer/philosopher George Santayana There’s a presumption that everything that happens to you now, for the first time, is happening now for the first time. This is partially what… 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 ›