Musicals about the apocalypse or the end of the world are certainly not new territory, but they all succeed to various mileage. While there is no world where a Mad Max-type movie is going to put to song, Joshua Oppenheimer’s… Read More ›
fantasy
The fists and comedy fly fast and hit hard in Yuen Woo-ping’s “The Miracle Fighters,” newly restored in 2K from Eureka Entertainment.
There are few names in action that command respect in the way that Yuen Woo-ping does. A stuntman turned actor, writer, and director, Yuen Woo-ping is responsible for films like Jackie Chan’s Drunken Master (1979) and Donnie Yen’s Tiger Cage… Read More ›
Book-to-film adaptation “The Watchers” stumbles on pacing and dialog in Ishana Night Shyamalan’s feature debut.
Back in April, at the beginning of a particularly sleepy 12-hour shift manning the box office of the downtown Durham theatre in which I work, I opened A.M. Shine’s The Watchers on my Kindle, having impulsively downloaded it via the… Read More ›
Claude Schmitz’s “The Other Laurens (L’autre Laurens)” offers a stunning visual genre mashup, but sacrifices plot for tone and style.
The Other Laurens is a movie that’s all dressed up with everywhere to go. But after it gets one foot out the door, it can’t seem to go any further. With a nostalgic neo-noir/grunge visual style that’s sprinkled with touches… Read More ›
“The Umbrella Fairy” utilizes fantastical elements to explore real-world struggles of personal agency. [Fantasia International Film Festival]
“Forty-two,” said Deep Thought, with infinite majesty and calm.” ― Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Of all the questions humanity has ever asked it, of all the philosophies and faiths, there’s been a guiding question behind it… Read More ›
When the last eagle flies over the last crumbling mountain, the 4K UHD remaster of “The Last Unicorn” from Shout! Studios will have you believing.
Originally published in 1968, author Peter S. Beagle’s adventure fantasy The Last Unicorn would be tapped by The Hobbit (1977) co-directors Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin, Jr. for adaptation. Their theatrical release of the same name, The Last Unicorn (1982),… Read More ›
Eureka Entertainment brings home the messy but entertaining “The Miracle Fighters,” an ‘80s mashup of kung fu, fantasy, and comedy.
Those not used to extreme tonal shifts, a mixture of martial arts, comedy, and fantasy in one may be in for a shock watching Yuen Woo-ping’s cult hit The Miracle Fighters (1982). Within the first 10 minutes, we witness a… Read More ›
“IF” delights friends both real and imaginary with a home release packed with bonus features.
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 ›
Witness the end of the Tomorrowverse as Warner Bros. Animation’s “Crisis on Infinite Earths” concludes with “Part Three.”
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 ›
GKIDS Films’s “The Boy and the Heron” reveals itself on home video in 4K.
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 ›
“Dead Dead Full Dead” slays with laughter as a genre mashup. [Fantasia International Film Festival]
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 ›
Within the weird and zany world of “Ghost Cat Anzu” lies a bittersweet story of broken hearts searching for healing. [Fantasia International Film Festival]
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 ›
With a physical release, fans of Choi Dong-hoon’s “Alienoid” films can delight in the action-packed conclusion, “Return to the Future,” as often as they wish.
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 ›
Director Tatsuya Oishi composites the “Monogatari” prequel trilogy into “Kizumonogatari -Koyomi Vamp-” an interesting curio of a cinematic experience. [Fantasia International Film Festival]
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 ›
“Chainsaws Were Singing” falls short on its promise but is well worth the price of admission. [Fantasia International Film Festival]
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 ›
“Deadpool and Wolverine” brought the buddy cop mantra but left everything else in the cab.
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 ›
“Alienoid: Return to the Future” Blu-ray Giveaway
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 ›
“Vulcanizadora” delivers on its promise to those who dare to tread past the point of no return. [Fantasia International Film Festival]
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 ›
Filmmaker Fábio Powers’s “The Old Man and the Demon Sword” asks its audience to consider the value of a soul. [Fantasia International Film Festival]
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 Goes all-in for “The Queen of Spades.”
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 ›