Imagine yourself in a confined space. There are two ways in, yet it feels like there’s no way out. You’re surrounded by life-long friends who adore you, until they don’t and then all bets are off. As French philosopher Jean-Paul… Read More ›
Reviews
The broken bloom in ‘Flower’.
Describing Flower, the second feature film by Max Winkler as idiosyncratic would be the tip of the iceberg. The trailer centers on sexually promiscuous 17-year-old Erica (played by the versatile Zoey Deutch), a teen who spends her free time scouting… Read More ›
Director James Demo Shines a Light on an Unsung Hero in ‘The Peacemaker’.
Documentarian James Demo picked a heck of a subject for his first full-feature subject: Padraig O’Malley. O’Malley is a brilliant man who has written several books on his experiences working with various world leaders, who gathered together a group of… Read More ›
You won’t sleep while ‘They Remain’.
With only one other directorial credit under his belt, writer/director Philip Gelatt helms the full feature adaptation of Laird Barron’s Lovecraftian short story —30– under the name They Remain. Tracking the complex relationship between two scientists working in a remote encampment,… Read More ›
Nerds rule on ‘Game Night’.
Everyone knows that one super-competitive person. The one who will bury your nose in their victory or flip over the table in defeat. Yet we love them because they’re family and it’s usually only during game night that their inner… Read More ›
Duncan Jones latest film ‘Mute’ is a perfect fit for Netflix’s Instant offerings.
Writer/director Duncan Jones broke onto the scene with the 2009 underground hit Moon, which tracked lunar engineer Sam Bell’s (Sam Rockwell) last days of his three-year mission as his solitary life finally begins to take its toll. Unfortunately, Jones’s follow-ups… Read More ›
‘Fifty Shades Freed’ from Reality
The Fifty Shades book series by E.L. James never personally struck a chord despite its global appeal. So when I got the opportunity to review Fifty Shades Freed, the climactic chapter of the noteworthy series, I did my due-diligence and… Read More ›
Love or hate ‘Black Panther’, we all agree it’s Wakanda Forever.
A long time coming, Black Panther is making his solo cinematic debut in Marvel Studio’s 18th addition to their Marvel Cinematic Universe. In an era of Black Lives Matter and #MeToo, representation matters more now than ever. Audiences desire good… Read More ›
Sociopaths are all the rage in ‘Tragedy Girls’.
Last October audiences were inundated by interesting films that drew them in a multitude of directions. Blade Runner 2049, The Florida Project, The Foreigner, and The Square all hit cinemas small and large, so it’d be hard to blame anyone… Read More ›
“12 Strong” – an imperfect, yet surprising biopic.
An alternate version of this review was published by CLTure on their site on January 19, 2018. September 11th, 2001 is a day that everyone in the U.S. remembers; a day of great pain and sorrow which inspired men and… Read More ›
Liu Jian’s ‘Have A Nice Day’ is an odd mix of peace and violence.
An odd, animated film, Liu Jian’s ‘Have a Nice Day’ is a mixture of meditative imagery, thoughtful dialogue, and creative characters resulting in an unique cinematic experience when a driver who decides to rob the money courier sets off a… Read More ›
“Saturday Church” is a quasi-musical journey of self-acceptance.
Audiences will quickly compare Saturday Church to Moonlight, the 2017 Best Picture Oscar winner which also tells a personal, character-driven story about a boy’s search for self at the intersection of sexual identity and race. While both excel at telling… Read More ›
Netflix’s ‘The Polka King’ is full of potential, but misses the beat.
Based-on-a-true-story biopics tend to fall into one of two categories: gritty or glossy. Weirdly, Netflix’s latest original feature The Polka King can’t decide which one it wants to be. Drawing from the documentary film The Man Who Would Be Polka… Read More ›
“The Strange Ones” is a fever dream with side effects.
The Strange Ones already spent time on the festival circuit in 2017 – earning awards at SXSW, BAM Cinema Fest, Greenwich International Film Festival, and others – before being made available exclusively through DIRECTV starting December 7, 2017 and is… Read More ›
Ten Films From 2017 That Stuck With Me
It’s the end of 2017, which means it’s time for the End of Year lists to come rolling out. Just like last year, you won’t be hearing about my top films, but my sticky films. The films which – after… Read More ›
‘Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle’ makes for surprising holiday fun.
In 1995 audiences were taken on a fantastical adventure when two young children began to play the board game Jumanji, a magical game which, once started, cannot be stopped until the end is reached. The film, titled after the game,… Read More ›
Come one, come all! ‘The Greatest Showman’ celebrates the rebels and outcasts.
December ushers in two types of films: the prestige pictures (The Post, The Disaster Artist) and the family-friendly pictures (Pitch Perfect 3, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle). Then there’s The Greatest Showman, a film that offers an anthemicly-infused look into… Read More ›
‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ is the spark of hope long-time fans have waited for.
Star Wars fans are a tricky bunch to please. They’re excited at the prospect of something new, something that delves further into the mythos of the Force, but when presented with something as half-baked as midichlorians, they riot. That was… Read More ›
Listen: Poprika Podcast’s 2017 Year End Show
The end of the years means everyone is going to put out their Best of 2017 lists in music, television, film, books, games, etc. While EoM will be posting their non-traditional End of list soon, for now, here’s something a little special…. Read More ›
Make room for ‘The Disaster Artist’, a glorious celebration of failure.
If 2016’s La La Land is an homage to the glory days of Hollywood, a tale of dreamers whose fantasies merge with reality to take audiences on a journey of sight and sound that’s almost completely fantastical in execution, then… Read More ›