At the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), writer/director John Barker unveiled his third feature film, the comedic caper The Umbrella Men. Filled with the sights, sounds, and life of Cape Town, Barker invited audiences to see a few good… Read More ›
Life has grown far more absurd in reality than any other satire could possibly conceive. We have states where the governor actively lobbies for (and signed into law) a reduction in the age to work so that adolescents and teenagers… Read More ›
Content warning: I’m not even going to list the triggers that Megalomaniac touches upon so extremely. Basically, if you have a content trigger of any kind, Megalomaniac probably exploits it for you. I can’t say I actually have any, but… Read More ›
In August 2022, director Huang Jianming (Bobby the Hedgehog) took audiences on an adventure on the island of Kunlun wherein a banished doctor tried to make things right. It’s a colorful tale featuring a collection of characters that seem inspired… Read More ›
When it comes to online dating, everyone has their red flags. Some folks will automatically swipe left on profiles with excessive group photos or one too many gym pics. For others, it’s the political and religious preferences that make all… Read More ›
For two days in January 1984, Hong Kong experienced its first riot in 17 years. The violence stemmed from outrage over a tax increase which impacted the taxi drivers of the region. According to The New York Times, over 150… Read More ›
“We don’t heal in isolation, but in community. Often it isn’t the initiating trauma that creates seemingly insurmountable pain, but the lack of support after.” – S. Kelley Harrell. If there’s one thing any of us know for certain, none… Read More ›
For every general genre in storytelling, there’s a subgenre within it that enables a storyteller to narrow their focus, thereby utilizing specific tools to explore their themes. It’s the difference between a chiller or thriller in horror, slapstick or screwball… Read More ›
Created by Belgian author Gabrielle Vincent, the characters of Ernest the bear and Celestine the mouse have been the center of several books, adapted into an award-winning 2012 film, Ernest & Celestine, and a 52-episode television series called Ernest &… Read More ›
“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’ To this day, especially in times of ‘disaster,’… Read More ›
There are movies that can really be defined as once in a lifetime kind of movies, and once they exist, anything that tries to convey a similar story usually cannot compare to what that benchmark has already done. That is… Read More ›
With the tragic death of Bruce Lee, there was a massive hole left in the martial arts cinema community that led to a genre of exploitation films centered on capturing the essence of Lee through imitation via actors Bruce Li… Read More ›
The stories of Wes Anderson’s films can be best compared to Russian nesting dolls. Throughout their running time, the layers and deeper meanings begin to present themselves. Films like Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009), Moonrise Kingdom (2012), The Grand Budapest Hotel… Read More ›
What do you think of when you hear “BDSM”? Do you think of pain and torture? Leather and dark dungeons? Confinement and control? Or do you think of pleasure and release? Do you think of freedom? There’s a good chance… Read More ›
As the ocean rises and falls, and the tide is the guarantor of its own return, so too does the astonishing black and white photography of Mami Wata step return a bygone style to modern folklore for a modern moment…. Read More ›
“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” – Ferris Bueller, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off So says Ferris Bueller, a righteous dude adored by all — the sportos, the… Read More ›
August 23rd, 2020, writer/actor/producer/director Benny Chan passed away from nasopharyngeal cancer, first diagnosed in 2019 while shooting the film Raging Fire with Donnie Yen and Nicholas Tse. Raging Fire did eventually get released in 2021, both in China and internationally,… Read More ›
One of the best films I discovered during Fantasia 2021 was director Junta Yamaguchi’s feature-length directorial debut Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes (ドロステのはてで僕ら), a time travel comedy presented entirely in one take. Now, two years later, Junta returns to Fantasia… Read More ›
Remember in school during group projects when you would be randomly assigned with the worst possible people possible, and then, unsurprisingly, you end up doing all of the work? And the ensuing urge to tell the teacher as many times… Read More ›
After making multiple documentaries centered on Kevin Smith’s creative process making films like Jay & Silent Bob Reboot (2019) and Clerks III (2022), writer/director Josh Roush unleashes his own intellectual progeny, Wrong Reasons. Conceived prior to the initial COVID-19 lockdown… Read More ›