X, Pearl, and MaXXXine together form one of the most distinctive and ambitious horror trilogies of the modern era — films that dared to bring intelligence, style, and emotional heft back to a genre that had been drowning in soulless jump scares. These… Read More ›
When it was announced that contemporary cinema’s most interesting enfant, Ari Aster, was developing a COVID-19 western, it did more than turn a few heads. Tackling one of the most uncertain and anxious times in recent memory seemed like an… Read More ›
As someone who once lived in The Big Apple, I know a thing or two about dating within its whimsical-yet-chaotic parameters. From trying to have smooches on the subway to debating your dinner on the busy sidewalks of St. Mark’s,… Read More ›
Writer/director Celine Song broke our hearts in 2023 with Past Lives and returned to theaters this year with another romantic drama, Materialists, possibly to do the same. If watching Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans, and Pedro Pascal in a love triangle sounds like… Read More ›
In Episode 581 of Meet Me at the Movies, Thomas Manning sits down with breakout star Carlos Diehz, who portrays Cardinal Benítez in Edward Berger’s gripping drama Conclave. From the soul of his performance to the spiritual undercurrents of the… Read More ›
The sin Cardinal Lawrence fears may be “certainty,” but Conclave (2024) is a film forged with it, and the 4K UHD home release is no different. The extras include a featurette on the making of the film and a director’s… Read More ›
Directed by Edward Berger (All Quiet on the Western Front) and based on a 2016 novel of the same name, Conclave is a tense drama that pits progress, ethics, coexistence, and empathy against corruption and abuses of power, a battle… Read More ›
In what could be described as a movie that lives in the same spiritual world as Daina Oniunas-Pusić’s Tuesday (2023), Andrea Arnold’s Bird, similar in vibes and tonal elements in storytelling, focuses on coming-of-age and growing up faster than needed… Read More ›
How does one, specifically Edward Berger, follow up All Quiet on the Western Front (2022)? With one of the most interesting and captivating stories about selecting a new Pope and the events that happen during the conclave. For a task… Read More ›
MaXXXine (2024) is a tribute to giallo horror of the ‘80s, The First Omen (2024) pays homage to the psychological horror of the late ‘70s/early ‘80s, In A Violent Nature (2024) adds a twist to the great American slasher film,… Read More ›
Perhaps my favorite movie-going story is how right after graduating college I went on a long-awaited trip to Europe with my mother and, at the same time, Ari Aster’s debut film, Hereditary (2018) was released into theaters. My Twitter timeline… Read More ›