No one really knows when from where inspiration will strike. An innocuous action, a stray thought, a random observation — anything is ripe for seeding a new concept or approach. For writer/director/actor John Krasinski (A Quiet Place), inspiration for his… Read More ›
Within the home release of Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part One, the featurette “Crisis Prime(r)” lays out how just how long the plan for Crisis on Infinite Earths had been in the works, detailing that each film… Read More ›
In the months since the winter release of The Boy and the Heron (2023), the following events have clarified the meaning and depth of this inscrutable film in my mind: The Megalopolis (2024) trailer, the Supreme Court’s sweeping theft of… Read More ›
Comedies are always subjective. Sometimes we discover that the films we’re used to are not as good as we thought as we get exposed to so many different cultures bringing their own unique looks and flare to films. Pratul Gaikwad’s… Read More ›
In Japanese folklore, there exists what’s known as “kaibyō,” a cat that possesses supernatural properties. Of the three types within kaibyō — bakeneko, maneki-neko, and nekomata — manga creator Imashiro Takashi took inspiration from the bakeneko type for his series… Read More ›
August 2022 saw the U.S. release of writer/director Choi Dong-hoon’s cinematic hybrid Alienoid (외계+인 1부) into theaters. A mixture of martial arts, comedy, drama, and science fiction that takes place in 2022 Korea *and* the Goryeo Dynasty, Choi’s work may… Read More ›
Shtriga, vrykolakas, strigoi, vampire — they are mythical creatures of the night who feed on human blood, exist in a perpetual outward appearance of the moment of their transformation, and can live forever under specific conditions. Stories of their existence… Read More ›
When a movie is pitched as “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) meets Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) meets Les Misérables (2012),” there is something that immediately grabs my attention because a musical that is zany and over-the-top… Read More ›
There will be no spoilers in this review as there are plenty of surprises that will be used to great effect for those who care. Basic plot points will be covered, but nothing that wasn’t in the trailers. When the… Read More ›
Choi Dong-hoon’s Alienoid (2022) kicked off a time-travel sci-fi adventure in which the present is saved by going to the past. However, in Return to the Future, released in U.S. theaters in January 2024, in order to keep things safe, they had… Read More ›
A slow burn — something that either turns out great or, on occasion, as something audiences despise and generally hate in films. There is no real winning ground when it comes to films as there are things about traditional movies… Read More ›
Every day, someone picks up a camera — 8 mm, 16 mm, 35 mm, iPhone, iPad, Android, whatever they can find — and they tell a story with it. They combine image with sound to inspire, delight, terrify, or simply… Read More ›
Imprint Films has played a great hand with their Blu-ray (debut) of The Queen of Spades, the 1949 horror film famously beloved by filmmakers like Martin Scorsese. They’ve stacked the deck with special features, including three commentary tracks, an introduction… Read More ›
Sasquatch Sunset is a vulgar, trippy mockumentary. It’s full of sex, urine, feces, and engorged Bigfoot penis — but that’s just a disguise over a melancholic, soulful, and beautiful adult drama about life, growing, and loss, and one of the… Read More ›
If you watched The Vourdalak with no background information, you might think you’d discovered a lost made-for-TV gem from 1980-something. With its grainy appearance, humble sets, and Jim-Henson-esque puppet villain, how could this dark yet charming vampire fantasy not be… Read More ›
A sequel is a tricky proposition. Audiences who enjoy one story are keen to want more, yet the follow-ups aren’t always as strong or long-lasting as the initial outing. When you add in the complaint of feeling like nothing new… Read More ›
If you have been following my writing and my thoughts on things when it comes to media, it should be apparent that my stance is, and always will be, physical media is king. It is really hard to make the… Read More ›
16th century Chinese novel Fengshen Yanyi (Investiture of the Gods) is the inspiration for a number of adaptions in Chinese entertainment. Adaptations in written forms, television programs, and, of course, cinema. Sometimes it’s in individual portions, such as with studio… Read More ›
The cult cinema streaming service Arrow Player is no stranger to the grotesque, the bizarre, and the gloriously macabre, making it the perfect home for the French dark fantasy film, Pandemonium. This visceral and nightmarish flick, which made the rounds… Read More ›
The 16th century Chinese novel Fengshen Yanyi (Investiture of the Gods) has been told (and re-told) in portions in text, television, and film over the years with versions animated and live-action. In the fall of 2023, Wuershan’s Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom… Read More ›