“Fear makes the wolf bigger than he is.” – German proverb. In the stories we tell, if there’s a hero, there’s a villain, someone for the bold and courageous to conquer; otherwise, how are they to be bold and courageous?… Read More ›
streaming
Music doc “Anthem” is frequently sobering, but lacks temerity. [Tribeca Film Festival]
It’s a strange thing to be a person of a country. You can’t just identify as yourself in the singular as too many things require you to announce in the binary if you’re in support of or against where you… Read More ›
Enjoy the surprisingly charming and enjoyable “The Pope’s Exorcist” at home now.
It’s sometimes tough as a horror fan to not occasionally roll my eyes at certain sub-genres under the umbrella due to being burned one too many times by vapid copycats. Strangely, the exorcism sub-genre of horror, while defined by William… Read More ›
“Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant” may be special feature-free, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty to explore in the home release.
“The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb.” – Proverb of unclear origin. By October 2001, within a month of the U.S.-based terrorist attack on September 11th, 2001, U.S. armed forces moved into Afghanistan in… Read More ›
Documentary “Stan Lee” honors the life and legacy forged by The Man through his own words. [Tribeca Film Festival]
Before I dive into this review of the documentary simply titled Stan Lee, I just want to make a little bit of a note on myself and who I was as a child. It is particularly interesting that I always… Read More ›
Dramatic thriller “The Other Side of Darkness” battles itself in an effort to serve two genre masters.
What lies on the other side of darkness? The most obvious answer is “light.” But there’s a big difference between the knowing of something and the actual experience of the thing. So while one might presume to find light on… Read More ›
“Extraction 2” goes harder and further than before in an action-packed thrill ride where the stakes are not only higher, but far more personal.
“Into every generation a slayer is born …” – Buffy the Vampire Slayer intro Steve McQueen. Carl Weathers. Michelle Yeoh. Sigourney Weaver. Danny Trejo. Jet Li. Gerard Butler. Milla Jovovich. Bruce Willis. Keanu Reeves. These are but a few of… Read More ›
John Slattery’s “Maggie Moore(s)” pulls off a blending of sweet rom-com and devilish murder mystery. [Tribeca Film Festival]
“Some of this actually happened…” This is the message that greets audiences after a rather tense opening in actor John Slattery’s (Mad Men/Iron Man 2) second feature film, the darkly comic mystery Maggie Moore(s). No matter how weird or wild… Read More ›
Once Stewart Thorndike’s “Bad Things” checks you in, you may never leave. [Tribeca Film Festival]
A movie relies on a lot of things to be successful, but one thing it relies on to capture audiences that does not get talked about nearly enough is the atmosphere. A movie can be the most horrifying thing ever… Read More ›
Bring the dinos and Adam Driver home with Sony’s home release of “65.”
When I first saw some promotional material for 65 I was beyond excited as it was something that was immediately up my alley, a science fiction movie starring Adam Driver. At worst it was going to be a fun outing… Read More ›
Dramatic thriller “Decibel” is strongest when it leans into the thoughtful drama and relies less on the acoustics.
Marketing can be the best tool and the worst for selling movies. We’re not talking about deliberate misleads (like the trailer for Avengers: Infinity War (2018) that contained differently edited scenes compared to the final film) or the accidental kind… Read More ›
“All Man: The International Male Story” captures a sweet but brief moment in time.
It would be difficult to find an American adult who hasn’t heard of Playboy. Since the magazine was first printed in the 1950s, Hugh Hefner’s infamous publication has become an American cultural staple and a generalized symbol for a young… Read More ›
“Warm Water Under a Red Bridge” is a hidden treasure no more.
Shoni Imamura’s final film, Warm Water Under a Red Bridge (2001) has finally come to Blu-ray. The last work of this Japanese New-Wave master, Warm Water Under a Red Bridge finds office worker Yosuke Sasano, played by Koji Yakusho (Cure,… Read More ›
Coming to home video, you can now materialize “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” into your bag of holding.
It says a lot about a film when it’s not even close to over and you’re already excited about the *idea* of a sequel, about what new story the characters could go on in this strange and exciting-yet-familiar world. As… Read More ›
Dig deeper into the horror of “V/H/S 99” thanks to the special features included on the home release.
I generally try to keep politics and state of affairs out of my reviews because the review should focus on the sole product itself and not how the industry around it is changing and effecting the content or the distribution… Read More ›
Welcome the whole Shazamily home with “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” available on home video.
Photosensitivity warning: The climatic fight involves a great deal of lightning which may trigger issues within viewers who suffer from migraines or other ocular issues. One of the bigger surprises of 2019 was director David F. Sandberg’s Shazam!. After so… Read More ›
Sun’s out and the beer is cold: must be time for “Buddy Games 2: Spring Awakening.”
We should all be so lucky as to work with our friends. It makes the hard days easier and the light days more fun. Doesn’t matter what the gig is, doing it with people that you trust just improves the… Read More ›
“Giving Birth to a Butterfly” brings surreal performance to the front of house.
“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 ›
It may be wise to find another group of “Righteous Thieves” for your next heist.
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 ›
“Assassin Club” forgets to turn the safety off.
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 ›