Three years after her directorial debut Head Count, Elle Callahan returns with the allegorical Witch Hunt. A mixture of YA tropes, fantasy, and horror, Witch Hunt imagines an alternate Earth wherein witch craft is illegal in America to the point… Read More ›
Ambient music is one of those things that pervades your life in the basest of forms, but when you learn the depths of the genre within the modern music scene, it kind of blows your mind. This was my experience… Read More ›
Folk horror is something that, for a while, I didn’t know was genuinely one of my favorite forms in the horror genre. It’s difficult to categorize it as its own separate sub-genre as its products can be widespread and incredibly… Read More ›
Prescription drugs have become a dangerous enterprise encompassing our world today. Dealing drugs has become a business that isn’t what shows like “Breaking Bad” makes you think it is. In actuality, it resides in the category of being an industry… Read More ›
If you were to presume that co-directors Paola Calvo and Patrick Jasim’s documentary Luchadoras (Female Fighters) is about female wrestlers in Mexico, you’d only be about a quarter correct. While their film does follow four wrestlers — Lady Candy, Baby… Read More ›
Have you ever become instantly smitten with a film from the first few moments when it just felt like you’re vibing on the same level? With the rhythmic sounds of Oskar Cartaya’s “Get Up (Muévete)”, the audience is treated to… Read More ›
NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation has a running gag about “Ice Town,” the winter sports complex that series regular Ben Wyatt (Adam Scott) tried to build when he was miraculously elected mayor of his hometown at the age of 18…. Read More ›
There have been stories of gods and monsters for as long as there have been oral traditions in communities — stories of creation, stories of destruction, which warn of great evil or encourage altruism. Some of these stories turned into… Read More ›
In 1968, you couldn’t turn on the television, listen to the radio, or read something in print without seeing a White face. Even during the Civil Rights Movement, any presentation of the Black experience was almost always presented through a… Read More ›
I’m a recent convert, but I love me some Monster Hunter videogames. They’re simple on the surface, but nearly impossible to truly master without pouring countless hours grinding and studying the habits and weaknesses of each bit of prey assigned… Read More ›
When one looks back on a director’s early works, you can usually see the beginnings of whatever will become their signature POV or narrative approach. In The Land of Lost Angels is the first feature film from writer/director Bishrel Mashbat,… Read More ›
To paraphrase a line from director Craig Brewer’s (Dolemite Is My Name) Coming 2 America, Hollywood is nothing but superhero films, remakes, and sequels no one asked for. Without getting into the numerous ways that’s an oversimplification that ignores the… Read More ›
Like a well-choreographed action sequence, movies have a lot of moving parts. While certain aspects of a film might not fall into place, the film may do so well in other areas that it turns out alright in the end…. Read More ›
The latest Walt Disney Animation project, Raya and the Last Dragon, could not be coming at a more appropriate time. After years in development, the final version slated for theaters and Disney+ Premier Access on March 5th, 2021, is an… Read More ›
A lot of critics like to proclaim that women filmmakers are “on the rise” in Hollywood, but I find that wording to often feel degrading and lack accountability in the system. It’s not that women are suddenly deciding to become… Read More ›
When it comes to those who identify as Jewish, theirs is a life of constant reminders of threat, peril, and near-extinction several times over. Trying to explain holidays, for instance, to my eldest but still-quite-young son, is to find a… Read More ›
A silent lead. A gang of teenagers. A house of horrific animatronic monsters. With this trifecta, Willy’s Wonderland is either going to be the stuff of legends or nightmares. If you’re a fan of small budget horror films like Evil… Read More ›
Consider the logline for Choi Jae-hoon’s feature film directorial debut The Swordsman (Geom-gaek) for a moment: a blinded swordsman comes out of hiding when his daughter is kidnapped by slave traders. With this type of description, one would presume a… Read More ›
A nameless stranger. A damsel in distress. A suicide mission that no one but the best can handle. These three requirements appear in countless stories, from gunslinger westerns of the East to the samurai tales of the West, each possessing… Read More ›
The latest project from Mister Lister Films is at once existential and profound, while completely self-indulgent. In their balance, both of these can be true, combining into a film that’s as heartbreaking as it is hilarious. Conceived, developed, and shot… Read More ›