A good marketing campaign will make clear what the product is about so that consumers won’t feel flummoxed about how to engage with the object. It’s partly why marketing happens, so that there’s a sense of familiarity. When it comes… Read More ›
fantasy
Explore somewhere unexpected in time anomaly dramedy “The Map of Tiny Perfect Things.”
Books are a frequent source of mining in cinema. Sometimes their adaptations becomes something larger than possibly imagined (The Shawshank Redemption), while others support the notion that the imagination of the reader trumps anything celluloid can conjure (Artemis Fowl). Audiences… Read More ›
Armed with beautiful animation and a compelling story, “Jiang Ziya” is well worth the wait.
Originally slated for February 7th, 2020, the second-part of the Fengshen Cinematic Universe went into stasis until a brief theatrical rollout in October 2020. Now, though, nearly a year after it was to hit cinemaplexes, Jiang Ziya (also known as… Read More ›
“Jiang Ziya” Blu-ray Giveaway
The road to release has been a long one for Jiang Ziya as the theatrical release was pushed in early 2020 until a brief window was offered in October 2020. Now, however, everyone can enjoy the second installment of the “Fengshen… Read More ›
“The Wanting Mare” is a paradox: breathtaking and rich, yet hollow and vacant.
To quote Keanu Reeves, “I love movies.” While he has the joy of making them and watching them, I love them for their transportive abilities. They can move you through time to see a version of what has been, expel… Read More ›
Sorry, Studio Ghibli fans, “Earwig and the Witch” is terribly off key.
Studio Ghibli’s Earwig and the Witch marks their 22nd feature film and their first 3D animated feature. Adapted from the 2011 novel by Diana Wynne Jones (the second film of theirs adapted from her books, the first being Howl’s Moving… Read More ›
Experience director Ryûhei Kitamura’s newly restored exercise in controlled escalation, “Versus,” in a brand new way.
By director Ryûhei Kitamura’s own admission, labels are reductive and restrictive. Though they may help audiences to know where to look on the shelf for something or programmers to know where to schedule, labels imply as much the absence of… Read More ›
Beautiful and intimate, yet cold and distant, “The Midnight Sky” lacks the cohesion to make it wondrous.
When it comes to George Clooney films, there’s a little something for everyone. You like him endearing and silly, Return of the Killer Tomatoes (1988). You like him sexy and deadly, From Dusk Till Dawn (1996). Or perhaps more maudlin… Read More ›
Propelled by grief, haunted by loss, Johannes Nyholm’s repetitious “Koko-di Koko-da” is an unexpected ear worm of horror.
There is, in nature, an expectation of form and function. The seasons bring about growth and change as Earth undergoes a period of refreshment and blossoming before wilting and decaying, only to start it over again with the return of… Read More ›
“Luz: The Flower of Evil” offers a folk-horror tale that is both all-too-realistic and wonderfully fantastical.
Last year, Ari Aster set the bar high for “daylight” horror films with Midsommar, a terrifying fantasy that casts its disturbing events against a beautiful, blossoming, sunlit backdrop. The genre-play proved to be quite successful for Aster, although the effect… Read More ›
Supernatural thriller “Broil” is more of a low simmer.
Werewolves. Vampires. Zombies. Each of these monsters of the dark owe their origins to legends and myths, to a time before science when fear ran roughshod over reason. That part of ourselves remains present even now and yet we find… Read More ›
A Conversation with writer/director Jim Picariello. [Real to Reel Film Festival]
“Reel Conversations” highlights filmmakers behind official Real to Reel Film Festival Selections. On this episode of “Reel Conversations,” Thomas Manning speaks with Jim Picariello, the writer/director for The Mushroom Huntress. Jim Picariello is a Real to Reel alumnus, and The… Read More ›
Despite an engaging aesthetic and good performances, “The Block Island Sound” doesn’t totally manifest. [Fantasia Film Festival]
Everyone has their favorite urban legends, mine typically revolve around abandoned places and towns that have no explanation in their abandonments. Others like bigfoot, the Loch Ness monster, or the Bermuda Triangle. It’s easy to see that the latter is… Read More ›
Following the fish-out-of-water rom-com formula, “A Mermaid in Paris (Une sirène à Paris)” is a dazzling visual treat. [Fantasia Film Fest]
Multi-talented writer and director Mathias Malzieu, who is known for his success as a novelist and musician as well as filmmaker, returns to this year’s virtual Fantasia Film Festival with a delightful grown-up fairytale. Malzieu’s previous animated film, Jack and… Read More ›
Fantasia International Film Festival Selection, “Morgana,” is a must-see story for women of all ages. [Fantasia Film Festival]
Among the list of things that you might expect to save your life one day, perhaps one of the least likely is a night with an escort and a headfirst dive into the world of feminist pornography production. For middle-aged… Read More ›
Teddy Grennan takes a stab at rape-revenge with “Ravage,” a well-intentioned but misguided horror flick.
Anyone familiar with rape-revenge films knows that the formula for this horror sub-genre can be particularly tricky. While the genre continually offers up new ways for audiences to process and discuss trauma, rape-revenge films can be quite problematic when not… Read More ›
Alexandra Shipp shines in supernatural romance “Endless.”
Let me describe to you a movie in brief: two young lovers are ripped apart as one dies tragically while the other tries to cope with life without their partner, except — and here’s the twist — the one who… Read More ›
STX Entertainment’s “The Secret Garden” adapts the classic novel into something familiar, yet new.
In the years since its original publishing in 1911, author Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden has been replicated for stage and screen and has often been assigned for summer reading for many students, as was the case for this… Read More ›
Bold, loud, and making no apologies, “We Are Little Zombies” is a striking feature debut for Makoto Nagahisa.
In spite of its colorful style and quirky video game motif, We Are Little Zombies is a surprisingly somber and thoughtful experience as it explores loneliness, death, and grief amid several ear worms. Written and directed by Makoto Nagahisa, We… Read More ›
Mind-bending docu-puzzle “In Bright Axiom” sets out to defy expectations, but gets lost in its ambition.
If you spend time with kids on a regular basis, then at some point you’ve probably been asked to play a confusing game with vague rules and unclear objectives that the kids invented themselves. It might be a live-action-role-playing-game that… Read More ›