The concept of “punk” is a rebellion against the mainstream. As it relates to music, the term was used to describe rock bands of the late-‘60s to early ‘70s that played rock tunes fast, hard, and, often, in brief. For… Read More ›
fantasy
Léa Mysius’s fantasy thriller “The Five Devils (Les Cinq diables)” explores familial discord through an adolescent lens. [The Overlook Film Festival]
Who are you? This is a simple question that precedes an overly complex answer. You are not merely your thoughts, your feelings, your experiences, the sum total of everything you have encountered up until this moment, you are also everything… Read More ›
Despite the beautiful music, video game adaptation “DEEMO Memorial Keys” strikes as off-key, overlong, and uninspiring.
For those not in the know, the video game subgenre “rhythm” is of a music-oriented or music-centric design, the intent being to get the player to engage with music in some way. This could be by using one’s feet to… Read More ›
“With Love and a Major Organ”: A Rare Science Fiction Gem. [SXSW]
In the surreal and quirky With Love and a Major Organ, director Kim Albright deftly examines the difficulty of finding love and connection inside a world ruled by the algorithm. Based on a play by Julia Lederer, who also wrote… Read More ›
With a giggle and a wink, Tomas Gomez Bustillo’s “Chronicles of a Wandering Saint” asks audiences whether we notice that heaven is a place on earth. [SXSW]
How do you know if you’ve lived a good life? That’s a hard question to answer objectively because of the various cultural and social rules that come to define what “good” is. Do intentions really matter if someone gets hurt… Read More ›
“Code of the Assassins” Blu-ray Giveaway
Black Mask (1996) and Dragon Blade (2015) director Daniel Lee Yan-Kong released wuxia action drama Code of the Assassins (青面修罗) in 2022, with it landing on streamer Hi-YAH! at the start of March and on home video via Well GO USA toward… Read More ›
To destroy the systems that keep us in place, we may need “The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster.” [SXSW]
Content Warning: The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster feature several scenes involving flashing lights. Photosensitive audiences should take precautions before viewing. Those who proclaim that America isn’t racist or isn’t built upon racist structures is either profiting from it… Read More ›
Children’s book adaptation “The Magician’s Elephant” reminds the audience to never grow too old to ask ‘What if?’.
Award-winning children’s author Kate DiCamillo is the creator of such works as Because of Winn-Dixie, The Tale of Despereaux, Flora & Ulysses, and The Tiger Rising. While she’s also written several others, these four are particularly notable as they’ve each… Read More ›
The bonus features included with “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” expound upon everything you might’ve noticed or secrets you missed entirely.
Between Puss in Boots films there was an 11-year gap. 11 years where original voice actor Antonio Banderas (Desperado; Official Competition) played several supporting roles in other Shrek-related projects big and small, but not where the fearsome fighting feline took… Read More ›
If you must blink, do it now as you’ll want to take in all the details in the first-time 4K UHD edition of “Kubo and the Two Strings,” available from Shout! Factory and LAIKA Studios.
In February of 2021, it was announced that LAIKA Studios and boutique home media distributor Shout! Factory made a deal to bring LAIKA’s incredible stop-motion films to U.S. audiences’ homes. Toward the end of 2021, Shout! Factory released Blu-ray/DVD combo… Read More ›
Shout! Factory and LAIKA Studios invite you to revisit the world of Cheesebridge in the first-time 4K UHD edition of “The Boxtrolls”
In February of 2021, it was announced that LAIKA Studios and boutique home media distributor Shout! Factory made a deal to bring LAIKA’s incredible stop-motion films to U.S. audiences’ homes. Toward the end of 2021, Shout! Factory released Blu-ray/DVD combo… Read More ›
“Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” Blu-ray Giveaway
After an 11 year hiatus between solo outings, the tailored tabby Puss in Boots (voiced by Antonio Banderas) returned to theaters in DreamWorks Animation’s Puss in Boots: The Last Wish with a brand-new look and an unexpected adventure. Enjoyed by general… Read More ›
A particle-sized adventure leads to infinite possibilities in “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.”
Content Warning: Photosensitive viewers may have trouble enjoying Quantumania as there are many sequences involving flashing lights. There are far more than I expected and, though I did leave the theater without a migraine, I did wake to one the… Read More ›
“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” the final film of the MCU’s Phase Four, comes home.
Marvel Studio’s 2016 release Captain America: Civil War did more than close out the Captain America trilogy and severely weaken the cinematic version of Avengers ahead of Avengers: Infinity War (2018), it introduced audiences to T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman), the prince… Read More ›
Ho-ho-HOLY S#@T! Christmas actioner “Violent Night” is out on home video.
Saint Nicholas. Kris Kringle. Père Noël. Weihnachtsmann. Babbo Natale. Дед Мороз. Noel Baba. Święty Mikołaj. Sinnterklaas. These are just a few of the names Santa Claus goes by in communities and cultures around the world. He’s a figure known for… Read More ›
Every year for the last 30 years we celebrate “Groundhog Day.” This year, Sony Pictures does it with a commemorative steelbook.
Though there have been plenty of films that used time travel as a narrative mechanism for the entirety of storytelling, in recent memory, few do it as well as the Harold Ramis-directed, Danny Rubin-co-written, Bill Murray comedy Groundhog Day (1993)…. Read More ›
The “New Gods” cinematic universe expands with the visually stunning “Yang Jian.”
Animation studio Light Chaser Animation has released seven films with ones most likely known in North America being White Snake (2019), New Gods: Nezha Reborn (2021), and Green Snake (2021), the latter two likely because of their accessibility on Netflix…. Read More ›
“Violent Night” Blu-ray Giveaway
Kicking off the holiday season in style back in early December 2022 was director Tommy Wirkola’s Violent Night, an action-filled romp starring David Harbour as Santa Claus who finds himself in an unexpectedly brutal situation. Seems this Santa is not… Read More ›
In honor of the 15th anniversary of Matt Reeves’s “Cloverfield,” Paramount Pictures releases a commemorative 4K Steelbook into the wild.
I remember seeing Transformers with my father during summer 2007, and while my memories of the film itself have faded away, I will never forget the silence of the theater as a shaky, bombastic, horrifying teaser played before it, showing… Read More ›
Director Terry Gilliam’s sixth Criterion Collection entry is the comedic fantasy “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen.”
You can often tell a bit about a person based upon where they know an artist or creative from. Specifically, what period of their work. For instance, if someone were to mention the musician Sting, they could just as easily… Read More ›