First there was the reduction of available discs to rent via services like Netflix, then streaming rights for entertainment jumped from one streamer to another. To make matters even harder for consumers, some services straight up started deleting their films… Read More ›
“Gah, everyone’s in their own fucking cage” – Owen Cambell as Andrew. There’s a fine line between a bad performance and a surreal one, and Giving Birth to a Butterfly runs that tightrope effortlessly. Wearing its Lynchian influences on its… Read More ›
There’s something about a good confidence film. They’re not always A-List-led romps like Ocean’s Eleven (2001) or explorations of morality like Rififi (1955). Sometimes, they’re a mixture of both, keeping the audience on their toes the entire time like Confidence… Read More ›
Photosensitivity Warning: During an interrogation scene late into the film a brief but prolonged flashing sequence occurs. Within crime stories, there is a specific subgenre born from Japan: yakuza films. These stories center on the lives or operations of members… Read More ›
Wabbit season, duck season, James Bond casting season. In 2004, Daniel Craig proved he could sex it up and shoot it up in Matthew Vaughn’s Layer Cake (2004), leading to his 14-year run as James Bond. In 2023, the assassin… Read More ›
Crime stories get a lot of play in storytelling. Could be as classic as Othello or as modern as The Legend of Jack and Diane (2023); stories in which someone either gets in too deep, trusts the wrong person, or… Read More ›
In the world of martial arts action, names like Jimmy Wang Yu (One-Armed Boxer), Gordon Liu (The 36th Chamber of Shaolin), Bruce Lee (Fist of Fury), Sammo Hung (Enter the Fat Dragon), Jackie Chan (Drunken Master), and Donnie Yen (Tiger… Read More ›
“…a thrill ride in the Hitchcock sense..” – Director Robert Rodriquez. Remaking Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo (1958) is an unofficial right-of-passage for many auteur directors, and after 21 years of trying, Robert Rodriquez has finally made his. Hypnotic seems to view… Read More ›
“Do nothing, works for tons of actors.” – Ray Liotta as The Producer. Fool’s Paradise is the directorial debut of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (2005-present)’s Charlie Day. It’s a comedy about the absurdity and tragedy of the business of… Read More ›
Since November 2021, physical media boutique distributor The Criterion Collection has included at least one in 4K UHD in their monthly new releases. These might be first-time additions to their collection (Terry Gilliam’s The Adventure of Baron Munchausen) or remasters… Read More ›
When it comes to automotive competition, there’re different forms of endurance racing. In the U.S., there’s NASCAR, whereas in Europe, there is Le Mans. But if you really want to push yourself as a driver, there’s the road rally, often… Read More ›
Biography pictures come in all shapes and sizes. Sometimes they take a more chronological approach (Malcolm X), sometimes they’re more focused on a specific moment in time (Chevalier), and, for others, it’s more interpretive (Rocketman). This doesn’t just apply to… Read More ›
You’ll Believe a Man Can Fly. – Superman: The Movie tagline Everyone has their heroes. Athletes, actors, activists, first-responders — individuals that represent the kind of ideal you want to become. Me, I wanted to be Superman. Not because he… Read More ›
Canadian-born and -bred Matt Johnson is no stranger to wearing many hats as he is constantly writing, directing, and starring in his projects (Nirvanna the Band the Show/Operation Avalanche), no matter what they might be. The man behind many constant… Read More ›
Myths, legends, and the stories that form the basis of regional culture are often the basis for artistic interpretation in music, books, and cinema. In America, there’s Lin-Manuel Miranda’s play Hamilton, reimagining the founding fathers as potentially far more honorable… Read More ›
Romance has been a part of storytelling for centuries. There’s a Greek myth that Zeus tore humanity from their original form of two heads, four arms, and four legs because he worried about their strength, thereby causing humanity to search… Read More ›
Personal stories can be the most challenging stories to tell. Talking about yourself is easy, but refining a personal story in order to share it with others takes skill and humility. For an unskilled writer or filmmaker, the result is… Read More ›
Say what you will about the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but, in the early days, no one expected to be so taken by a collection of assassins, thieves, marauders, and murders brought to live action from the mind behind Tromeo and… Read More ›
It used to be that when something horrible happened, citizenry had to wait for official word before they knew what was going on. This meant that their imaginations could run wild with speculation, their worst fears, their most depraved visualization,… Read More ›
From the titular King of Wuxia, King Hu’s A Touch of Zen is what wuxia cinema is all about. In this groundbreaking entry in the genre, a poor scholar named Gu (Shih Chun) paints the portrait of a mysterious stranger… Read More ›