To herald the start of the fourth season of their Film School Shorts on PBS, northern California-based KQED has made the acclaimed short film, The Lotus Gun, available for instant streaming. Written and directed by Amanda Milius, daughter of John… Read More ›
entertainment review
Where’s The Rock n’ Roll We Were Promised? Suicide Squad – New Release Review
Suicide Squad, DC Films’ third live-action feature in the newly established DC Extended Universe, is intended to connect with audiences in a way Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice failed to. Batman V Superman, even months after its release, is… Read More ›
Take Downs Take Time – The Infiltrator Review
A shorter version of this review, originally published for CLTure, was posted on their site on July 14th, 2016. For most folks, everyday life is a series of innocuous moments: getting up, eating breakfast, kissing your family before you leave the house for work, the commute, the… Read More ›
Cinematic Shakespeare: The Films You Need To See
Growing up, there was no writer better than William Shakespeare. His words, while seeming fancy, were easy to understand and possessed a fantastic rhythm. Read one way, they inspired menace. Read another, delight. As I grew older, I learned that… Read More ›
Team Work Makes The Dream Work – The Secret Life of Pets Review
A shorter version of this review, originally published for CLTure, was posted on their site on July 6th, 2016. From the studio that brought you Despicable Me and Minions, comes The Secret Life of Pets, an animated tale (tail?) that provides a peek into the lives of… Read More ›
An Uneven Magical Spectacle – The BFG Review
I wrote a shorter version of this review originally for CLTure and it was posted on their site on June 30, 2016. There is barely a bookshelf that has not held the weight of their words of Roald Dahl. His stories delight our… Read More ›
Anomalisa – DVD New Release Recommendation
If the name Charlie Kaufman doesn’t mean anything to you, I’m sure that will change if I were to mention Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, or, my favorite of his work, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Each of these films… Read More ›
Status Update for EOM
It’s with great pride that Elements of Madness has been able to publish content – reviews or recommendations – for the last twelve weeks. It’s been a personal mission for myself and my editor to release content each Friday in… Read More ›
Is The End Nigh? X-Men: Apocalypse Review
I wrote this review originally for CLTure and it was posted on their site on May 15, 2016. X-Men: Apocalypse, the eighth installment in the X-Men cinematic series, aims to do something new within an old story in a genre that’s kicking… Read More ›
Fair is Fair: The Legend of Billie Jean Recommendation
Movies from our childhood tend to hold a special place in our hearts. Rarely do we look back on them and think back with anything other than affection. Since my son was born nearly a year ago, I have spent… Read More ›
ICYMI Recommendation: American Hero
It’s no secret that Marvel’s latest feature Captain America: Civil War hits theaters today. It’s going to make big money at the box office and, if the rumors are true, it’ll be well-deserved. We at EOM will likely have to… Read More ›
This is my SHIT! – Keanu Review
If you’re not already familiar with writing/acting partners Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele, I’m not sure where you’ve been for the last few years. They met on the set of MadTV, forming an intense nerd-bond almost immediately. Their partnership gave… Read More ›
Let It Go: The Huntsman-Winter’s War Review
Chris Hemsworth has been a busy guy ever since he doned his cape as Thor in 2011, making a name for himself with his versatility in a wide range of pictures. Starting when he doned his cape as Thor in… Read More ›
Embrace Your Inner Strange: Everybody Wants Some!! Review
From the mind of Waking Life, the Sunrise trilogy, and Dazed and Confused comes writer/director Richard Linklater’s newest, Everybody Wants Some!!, out nationwide this Friday, April 22nd. Billed as the “spiritual sequel” to the 1993 classic Dazed and Confused, Everybody… Read More ›
EOM Must Apologize
It has come to our attention that the release date for Everybody Wants Some has been moved from today, April 15th, to next Friday, April 22nd. As such, we are required to pull our review until the release date. We stand… Read More ›
Strike Two, Snyder: Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Review
On March 25th, two titans of DC comics collide in a cinematic battle heralded as the fight to end all fights. Unfortunately, I found myself thinking only one thing as I walked out of the theater – strike two, Mr…. Read More ›
Beware of Misfire: The Last Stand [movie review]
As a child, my first R-rated film was The Terminator – a quintessential piece of cinematic history – and it was merely the first of other films that would become tent poles of my life. Commando (prepare for World War… Read More ›
Ahnold’s “Last Stand” [review primer]
Releasing today is Arnold Schwarzenegger’s The Last Stand, his first real picture since leaving office. I choose not to include The Expendables 1 & 2 or The Rundown, as he didn’t play a huge role in any of them (though… Read More ›