Music is a significant part of the oral tradition. Even if we lack words for our feelings or experiences, we can always chant, using the power of our lungs to vibrate our breath into song and story. This is why… Read More ›
Reviews
Screenlife real-time techno thriller throws everything at you except what it needs: “Mercy.”
The insertion of artificial intelligence (A.I.) in storytelling used to be entirely science fiction in the same way that submersible technology (Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea) or watch phones (Dick Tracy) were. Now, however, A.I. is being worked into… Read More ›
Johnnie To’s mixed-genre “Romancing in Thin Air” gets a first-time US and UK Blu-ray via Radiance Films.
When a storyteller — whether writer, director, actor, etc. — becomes known for something, they very often get pigeon-holed and face difficulty escaping that perception. People known for westerns do westerns, for action do action, for horror do horror, and… Read More ›
“Affection” keeps audiences off kilter and guessing during its entire runtime in the best way. [The Overlook Film Festival]
No one knows the name BT Meza, but after his feature debut, which he wrote and directed, everyone is going to have some Affection for him. The film is an unsettling nightmare that no one ever wants to experience. Whenever… Read More ›
Sam Raimi’s survival horror comedy battle of the sexes “Send Help” is now available to watch at home.
A recent report by the Economic Policy Institute shows that the gender wage gap has increased in the past year. On average, women are paid 18.6% less than men. In addition, protections meant to enforce equal employment and prevent discrimination… Read More ›
“Flush” is an entertaining comedy thriller for those who can stomach it. [The Overlook Film Festival]
There is something about potty humor and potty horror that, if done right, works, and if it misses it by the slightest of margins, it becomes something irredeemable. Somehow, director Grégory Morin (Ultimate Zombie Feast) and screenwriter David Neiss (Noir… Read More ›
Yûta Shimotsu’s sophomore film, cosmic horror “New Group,” challenges the meaning of “one of us.” [The Overlook Film Festival]
Muno (Yo, right), he’s tall and friendly Foofa (Oh, hehehehehe), she’s pink and happy Brobee (Woah), the little green one Toodee (Yeah, woo), she likes to have fun Plex (Woah), a magic robot Let’s all come and play with DJ… Read More ›
Conjugate the verb to go and pickup The Criterion Collection’s 4K release of Monty Python’s “Life of Brian.”
Over the last few years, the comedy troupe known as Monty Python has made their 4K UHD debuts and every transfer thus far has looked incredible. Whether it be a standard amray for The Meaning of Life (1983) or a… Read More ›
For those who came in late, “The Phantom” is bestowed a first-time 4K UHD with brand-new features via Kino Lorber.
Before comic films were cinematic, extended, or otherwise franchise driven, they were more often singular. It’s hard to believe given the proliferation of them today, however, before the 1990s, major studio cinematic comic adaptations were limited to Superman (1978) and… Read More ›
Just a “Normal” nefariously good time. [The Overlook Film Festival]
“Yea, and if some god shall wreck me in the wine-dark deep, even so I will endure… For already have I suffered full much, and much have I toiled in perils of waves and war. Let this be added to… Read More ›
“We Bury the Dead” home release offers little incentive to purchase as it lacks special features.
We Bury the Dead features a strong central performance from Daisy Ridley (Ophelia), but, unfortunately, that standout performance is not enough to elevate a film weighed down by familiar genre problems and uneven storytelling. While Ridley brings emotional commitment and… Read More ›
Hot Contents: dark-tinged crime comedy “Chili Finger” may scald parents young and old. [The Overlook Film Festival]
There are many weird things regarding the rules of storytelling and one of them is tied to the concept of reality. Unless one is dealing with space wizards and laser swords, orcs and elves, a certain adherence to what is… Read More ›
Taratoa Stappard’s Māori gothic horror “Mārama” offers retribution and reclamation without making space for false righteousness. [The Overlook Film Festival]
“Kia whakatōmuri te haere whakamua (I walk backwards into the future with my eyes fixed on the past).” – A Māori proverb. There’s this strange belief coursing through some in the United States that European culture is being threatened by… Read More ›
“Hamlet” is a fun shadow play of its own ambition.
Times are so tough that even Hamlet no longer dreams of shadows. Instead, as Riz Ahmed (Sound of Metal; Bait) says of the Prince he dreamt his whole life of playing “Hamlet is someone who is grieving the illusion that… Read More ›
“The Good Shepherd” Blu-ray release is better left to pasture.
The Good Shepherd follows a young, dedicated, and occasionally merciless fictional CIA agent named Edward Wilson (Matt Damon). Tracking his early years at Yale in the secret Skull and Bones society to the failed Bay of Pigs invasion, the film… Read More ›
Head back to 1987 with Paul Michael Glaser’s “The Running Man” on Blu-ray.
Most folks know a dystopia when they see one. It’s not all Escape from New York (1991), Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), or The Hunger Games (2012); sometimes it looks exactly like your regular life does just with more distinct… Read More ›
Stephen Fung’s wuxia comedy “Tai Chi Zero” is the latest addition to Imprint Film’s Imprint Asia sublabel.
There’s something about an ensemble cast that can make a movie. We’re talking from the lead actor to the barely there scene-stealers, the right collection of actors can elevate even the dullest of tales while they can send a strong… Read More ›
Mona Fastvold’s musical drama “The Testament of Ann Lee” brings its hunger and thirst to home video.
Each award season brings frustration as a film that one loves (for any reason) doesn’t make it onto the short list — it gets snubbed. In a sea of talented performances, gifted crew, and dazzling creative leadership, there’s always going… Read More ›
“Seekers of Infinite Love” provides little payoff for enduring a road trip with an estranged family of adults. [SXSW]
What were to happen if someone took the concept of losing a loved one, made it a road trip family drama comedy about deprogramming them, and applied it to a suicide cult? Well, for starters, it would be a cringe-inducing… Read More ›
“The Man with the Big Hat” mirrors the style of its focal point, Steven Fromholz. [SXSW]
Documentarian Austin Sayre’s The Man with the Big Hat reintroduces audiences to the independent legend of country music, Steven Fromholz, name that, for many, has lived just outside the mainstream despite a songwriting legacy that quietly shaped the genre. Having… Read More ›