November 2003 saw the release of director/co-writer Peter Weir’s (The Truman Show; Dead Poets Society) nautical wartime tale Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, an indirect adaptation of the stories from the Patrick O’Brian Master and Commander… Read More ›
If someone is asked to identify their favorite war-related films, most likely they’ll name American-made films, not because they’re inherently better but because they are often more prolific. The truth is that war is one of the few concepts that… Read More ›
Fifty years ago, on June 20th, 1975, Steven Spielberg (Hook) unleashed Jaws into theaters and audiences immediately became terrified to go into the water. Widely regarded as the first blockbuster film, its legacy is indelible between its John Williams (Star… Read More ›
Under the relentless sun in the coastal Spanish town of Almería, a chronically ill woman and her daughter/caretaker grapple with years of suppressed tension and resentment as the mother seeks treatment for a mysterious condition that has left her unable… Read More ›
This film is a miracle of cinema. Let me explain. After struggles making the film, including production delays, cast conflicts, and more, William Friedkin’s tense masterpiece of a thriller Sorcerer was finally released in cinemas in 1977. Another film released… Read More ›
If you’re Gen X, or older, you might remember a creepy toy from your childhood, a monkey with unsettling eyes that, when wound up, would bang cymbals together frantically, bob its head up and down while grinning, and sometimes make… Read More ›
From September 2nd, 1945, until April 28th, 1952, the U.S. American military, backed by the U.K., occupied Japan in order to supervise the surrender of their competition in World War II. It’s easy for U.S. history today to recall the… Read More ›
Author H.P. Lovecraft can be recognized for producing some great stories in the horror genre while acknowledging his general terribleness as a human being. Thankfully, as his works have been replicated or adapted, they’ve found ways to be true to… Read More ›
What is it that gives life meaning? Is it the brevity? Is it what you do with it? Who you meet along the way? Is it the service you provide or the service provided to you? On the one hand,… 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 ›
“In every generation, there is a Chosen One …” – Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997 – 2003) Writer/director Eli Craig is no stranger to comedic horror between 2010’s Tucker and Dale vs. Evil and 2017’s Little Evil. While the latter… Read More ›
Theo James, even when he’s good, such as in White Lotus season two (2022) or the ill-fated HBO adaption of The Time Traveler’s Wife (2022), has apparently been miscast his entire career until The Monkey (2025). Usually playing a George… Read More ›
Oscar hopeful I’m Still Here (2024) opens with where, when, who, and what’s it like. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 1970. Eunice Paiva, the wife of a retired left-wing senator is on a beach as armored personnel carriers drive down 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 ›
People always say “if at first you do not like something, you should give it another chance,” and that general principal is typically a good one, the exception being that if you have deep vitriol for something, your mind is… 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 ›
“You can’t see everything.” These four words were a commonplace statement by me on episodes of The Cine-Men (RIP), a way to deflect and soften the fact that while the mind is willing, time and opportunity don’t often allow someone… Read More ›
Last week, the Justin Baldoni-directed adaptation of the Colleen Hoover novel, It Ends with Us, released on physical formats. If you’re curious to check out the film, EoM is giving away the digital code that accompanied the review copy provided by… Read More ›
Trigger Warning: It Ends with Us explores domestic abuse and includes an instance of attempted sexual assault. In 2024, a film released in theaters in which a woman has a meet-cute with a man, finds herself falling love, struggles to… Read More ›
Redemption stories come in a great many forms. Time loops stories utilize the constriction created by a repeated day(s) to force introspection and change, the loop broken in comedies (Groundhog Day), dramas (The Map of Tiny Perfect Things), and horror… Read More ›