Of the Phase Four MCU films released thus far, Destin Daniel Cretton’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings remains my favorite of the bunch. As such, when the opportunity arose to snag the physical 4K UHD release on sale,… Read More ›
fantasy
Delightfully shocking and surprisingly gruesome, “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” is decidedly a Sam Raimi MCU movie.
After 27 films, there exists roughly three factions of people: those who are stupid excited for any new Marvel project, those who are exhausted, and those who don’t particularly care. Some of the malaise stems from the fact that, like… Read More ›
Let the gales of song guide you to director Mamoru Hosoda’s “BELLE,” coming to home video from Shout! Factory and GKids Films.
One can never really predict what we’ll discover with art — what emotions, what memories, what reactions will be triggered through an artist’s work. When I first learned of writer/director Mamoru Hosoda’s BELLE, I presumed, like most, that it would… Read More ›
Your one way ticket to midnight is worth a double feature in this “Heavy Metal/Heavy Metal 2000” limited-edition steelbook release.
Thanks to the way that art tends to feed itself, throughout history, the written word has often inspired songs, paintings, dance, and vice versa with much more. For metalheads, the combination of fantasy and science fiction with music and art… Read More ›
Director Vittorio De Sica’s fantastical dramedy “Miracle in Milan (Miracolo a Milano)” is the latest release to join the Criterion Collection.
“You have to keep me in shoes.” Of all the stories my late grandmother Naomi Pearl Russin Royal told, the one involving my late grandfather’s proposal and her response always amused me. As she told it, she had larger feet… Read More ›
Before the multiverse explodes into madness, journey though the final entry in the “Homecoming” Trilogy with “Spider-Man: No Way Home” on home video.
“When you can do the things that I can, but you don’t, and then the bad things happen? They happen because of you.” – Peter Parker, Captain America: Civil War (2016) Since 2016, actor Tom Holland as had the unenviable… Read More ›
The message of Augusto Sandino’s “A Vanishing Fog (Entre la niebla)” stays with you long after the credits roll. [SXSW Film Festival]
In recent years, Colombia has really begun to reveal itself as a very interesting home for strange, introspective indie cinema in a way I don’t think anyone expected. With global voices taking the mainstream stage and with storytellers unafraid to… Read More ›
Even newbies will get into dark fantasy manga adaptation “Jujutsu Kaisen 0.”
Started by creator Gege Akutami in March 2018, Weekly Shōnen Jump series Jujutsu Kaisen is a supernatural horror/comedy action series involving sorcerers who protect the world’s population by destroying or controlling curses (primarily sentient monster-like creatures) that come to being… Read More ›
The bonus features accompanying Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune: Part One” delight longtime fans while enriching the experience of the novice.
There are some works of science fiction that never seem to let go once they get their grasp on society. William Gibson’s Neuromancer was published in 1984, but it still felt just as vital and prescient when I read it… Read More ›
Writer/director Mamoru Hosoda’s “BELLE” brings together the heart and imagination, creating a transcendent cinematic experience.
In a career spanning over 20 years, writer/director Mamoru Hosoda has cultivated a filmography of works which communicate to the general masses (Digimon: The Movie (2000)) and to a specific niche audience (Summer Wars (2009); Mirai (2018)). Full disclosure: Mirai… Read More ›
No more waiting on a miracle. “Encanto” is available for home viewing.
Walt Disney Studio’s 60th animated film released in November with the same promise of any of its predecessors: 90-ish minutes of adventure, magic, and wonder. Directors Jared Bush and Byron Howard (Zootopia) and co-director Charise Castro Smith (who shares co-writing… Read More ›
One look at “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” on home video and you’ll be saying there’s love in the air.
At the end of every year, it seems, the theaters become flooded with awards-centric films, one after the other. It’s at this time that audiences are encouraged to set aside their popcorn fare and engage in something elevated and intellectual…. Read More ›
Snag yourself a ticket to ride on the “Mugen Train” as it heads to home video via Funimation.
In 2020, the first feature-length film from the manga-adapted anime Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Mugen Train, released in Japanese theaters and absolutely dominated to the point where it was the highest-grossing film of the year. After some time, Mugen… Read More ›
“Prisoners of the Ghostland” Blu-ray Giveaway
There are some films that are so wild that once seen, cannot be forgotten. Such is the case with Sion Sono’s first English-language film, Prisoners of the Ghostland, which premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival. It’s a wild mix of… Read More ›
Writer/director Lisa Joy’s neo-noir feature debut “Reminiscence” offers a new perspective on a time-tested genre.
There’s an interesting line in writer/director Lisa Joy’s Reminiscence, which suggests that our past doesn’t haunt us. It’s gone. We, however, through our memories, haunt it by revisiting moments in our mind over and over. There’s psychological proof of this… Read More ›
GKIDS’s complete series Blu-ray release for “Neon Genesis Evangelion” is a strong way to kickstart a new fandom obsession.
Somehow, in one way or another, stories transcend times and locations, growing to become global phenomena. We’ve seen it with the characters of DC Comics and Marvel Comics, the Transformers series (based on the run of Hasbro toys), and, of… Read More ›
Using the natural world as a fantasy playground, “Petite Maman” is able to explore loss and grief with tenderness. [Film Fest 919]
Two years ago, even during the height of Parasite-mania, there was one film that stole the entirety of Film Fest 919 for me: that being Céline Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire by a country mile. Presenting truly one… Read More ›
“Space Jam: A New Legacy” Blu-ray Giveaway
Who is ready for a slam jam?! 1996’s Space Jam saw b-baller Michael Jordan come out of retirement in order to help the Looney Tunes from extraterrestrial enslavement. 25 years later, it’s LeBron James who needs help from the Tune… Read More ›
Body horror/buddy comedy “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” is the definition of a popcorn-flick.
The road to 2018’s Venom was a long one. First introduced as merely an alien costume in The Amazing Spider-Man #252, the symbiote known as Venom wouldn’t appear for about four years later in The Amazing Spider-Man #300 kicking off… Read More ›
Enjoy some wholesome tokusatsu fun in Eric McEver’s “Iké Boys.” [Fantastic Fest]
Tell me if you’ve heard this one before: a group of outcasts finds themselves at the center of a prophecy that holds the fate of the world in its hands. In brief, that’s the summary for Eric McEver’s (A Utopia)… Read More ›