Parenthood changes you. It’s not for everyone and there’s good reason for people wanting to avoid it ever happening to them, but, for those who do become parents (by birth, by adoption, however), there’s a palatable shift in how one… Read More ›
streaming
Faux documentary “Taurus” lacks that “Behind the Music” magic.
Movies have been around since the late 1800s and music has been around even longer, so to have someone want to create something to be classified in either medium that is original or even inspired is a difficult task. I… Read More ›
You’ll give your right ear for the 4K UHD edition “Reservoir Dogs” from Lionsgate.
Creatives don’t always have to have a large resume in order to make a big impact. Sometimes it’s what they do with the small contributions they offer that makes the difference. Such is the case with writer/actor/director Quentin Tarantino whose… Read More ›
Animator Masashi Ando’s directorial debut, “The Deer King,” is available on home video from Shout! Factory.
Adaptations, in live action or animation, are the lifeblood of storytelling. We, as audiences, like to think that the magic comes from original stories, but, more often than not, that thing you love is an adaptation of a story originating… Read More ›
Director Kim Han-Min’s second Yi Sun-shin film, “Hansan: Rising Dragon,” arrives on home video with bombast.
In 1592, Japan made its first attempt to invade Korea, leading to several skirmishes on land and at sea. As in other countries, the stories of military victories and failures have made for incredible cinematic opportunities. In 2014, director Kim… Read More ›
Jordan Peele’s third film, sci-fi thriller “Nope,” simultaneously works as a smart survival film and as an exploration of humanity’s darker tendencies.
Jordan Peele: writer, actor, producer, director. Even before his debut directorial film, Get Out (2017), audiences had a solid sense of Peele’s creativity from any of the projects he played any part in. Now, however, with his third film in… Read More ›
Noah Baumbach’s “White Noise” is so boldly unconventional, it makes this white whale of an adaptation feel somehow even more tremendous. [Film Fest 919]
Three years ago, Film Fest 919 opened the 2019 festival with Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story, and I was taken. It was a much more muted affair for the Frances Ha and While We’re Young filmmaker, known for his quirkier approach… Read More ›
Enjoy French comedy “Incredible but True (Incroyable Mais Vrai)” on physical or digital formats via Arrow Video now.
The French have such a knack for absurdist comedies and horror comedies (this film being the former), that it’s hard not to almost smile ear to ear and enjoy how far out there and how ridiculously things unfold on screen…. Read More ›
The world of “The Witch” explodes with the discovery of “The Other One.”
Writer/director Park Hoon-jung’s The Witch: Subversion is a remarkable sci-fi thriller, taking the coming-of-age tropes we know and blending them together with supernatural-like covert forces, culminating in an adventure that feels familiar and wholly unique. Just before the film ends,… Read More ›
Celebrate 80 years of love and friendship with a first-time 4K UHD edition of “Casablanca.”
There are some films, some stories, which continue to find new audiences, year after year, generation after generation. They’re passed down, some as traditions, some as markers for reaching a certain age. Looking backward, there’s a notion that there’s nary… Read More ›
Director Rian Johnson’s “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” maintains the magic of the absurdist mystery in this setting outing. [Film Fest 919]
Three years ago, Rian Johnson’s humble follow-up to …let’s just say, polarizing… Star Wars: The Last Jedi came out in the form of Knives Out. Unlike said film set in a galaxy far far away, the consensus on Knives Out… Read More ›
The horror comes home with “Barbarian” available on digital.
It would be silly to think that in the year 2022 life wouldn’t somehow become an imitation of that childhood trauma (or, for the very few, memory) of playing Monopoly and realizing you never were the one with the gazillion… Read More ›
Vampire enthusiasts should RSVP ‘yes’ to “The Invitation,” on home video now.
There are movies that tend to give away entirely too much in either art, title, or even trailers. Then there are movies that do all of this all against the director’s wishes, making it hard for the audience to avoid… Read More ›
“Causeway” captivates due to stirring performances from leads Jennifer Lawrence and Brian Tyree Henry.
At the time of her new film’s release, it’ll have been close to a year since audiences will have seen actor Jennifer Lawrence at work. Last year’s Don’t Look Up (2021) certainly divided audiences and critics, some marveling at its… Read More ›
Brandon Dermer’s “I’m Totally Fine” comedically, yet truthfully, explores the complexity of grief and healing.
“This, too, shall pass.” None of us ever really knows how much time we have. Depending on your outlook, that’s either an optimistic or pessimistic notion, one which will either spur you on to take chances or freeze you in… Read More ›
Lorcan Finnegan’s “Nocebo” plays on expectations, twisting what you think you know to present a disquieting, rage-inducing thriller.
Sometimes it only takes one film to make an impression on an audience. With his 2019 film Vivarium, writer/director Lorcan Finnegan did exactly that via a tale that takes a dark view of the life cycle, trapping a couple in… Read More ›
Get ready, get set, “Run Sweetheart Run.”
We’ve all been to at least one work event that went incredibly sour, but the average person’s worst day at the office has nothing on the nightmare of a client dinner that unfolds in Run Sweetheart Run. When pre-law student… Read More ›
“Top Gun: Maverick” delivers on just about every level imaginable and then exceeds it: plus ultra.
As more and more legacy sequels release due to studios mining their IPs for anything they think will resonate with audiences off the name alone, a follow-up to director Tony Scott’s Top Gun (1986) seemed all the more inevitable each… Read More ›
The game is once more afoot in “Enola Holmes 2.”
Roughly 25 months since the Millie Bobby Brown-led Enola Holmes (2020) hit Netflix, a sequel drops on the streamer taking the same cast, as well as some new additions, on a brand-new mystery tour. Much as the 2020 outing is… Read More ›
If you dig the vibe of David Leitch’s action-comedy “Bullet Train,” snag a ticket to go on unlimited home viewing rides now.
Realism is overrated. We experience it every day: the fear, the frustration, the constantly moving goal posts. Sometimes, it’s really nice to experience something so off the rails, so unrealistic, that all you can do is hold on and go… Read More ›