Every story is designed to convey something. Doesn’t matter if it’s a comedy, drama, mystery, or horror tale, from the surreal to the pointed, stories possess something that they want to pass along to the audience. Some grow richer through… Read More ›
The version of American History that most students learn is that the American Revolution took place largely due to the concept of “taxation without representation.” That the colonists found it frustrating and unfair to have to send taxes to a… Read More ›
There is always something daunting about writing or directing one’s first feature, but Delaney Buffett decided to write, direct, and star in her feature debut. Adult Best Friends stems from her real life and also stars her real-life best friend,… Read More ›
Joshua Erkman (director and co-writer) and Bossi Baker (co-writer) are certainly going to be names to look out for in the future. Both of them have teamed together to direct and co-write their first feature, A Desert, which focuses on… Read More ›
Comedy is tragedy plus time. – Samuel Clemens Early into Gilbert/Harmantown director Neil Berkeley’s new film Group Therapy, one of the central cast members, comedian Mike Birbiglia, comments that comedy is similar to therapy in that the comedian opens themselves… Read More ›
**Photosensitivity Warning: A club sequence includes a prolonged sequence of flashing lights that may prove triggering for sensitive viewers.** Shared joy is double joy; Shared sorrow is half a sorrow. – Swedish proverb Just about everywhere one looks, there’s a… Read More ›
Genuinely speaking, I don’t want to condone a movie, but the trance, anxiety, and dread that Thordur Palsson creates with his directorial debut, The Damned, needs to be studied as A Clockwork Orange-style of torture. This movie is the one… Read More ›
Elements of Madness returns to cover the Tribeca Film Festival for the third year in a row! In the run-up to the festival, we thought we’d offer up our recommendations of what we hope to check out during the fest…. Read More ›
“Take my love, take my land Take me where I cannot stand I don’t care, I’m still free You can’t take the sky from me … .” – Sonny Rhodes, The Ballad of Serenity Speaking at Rice University on September… Read More ›
Photosensitivity Warning: The opening title/credit sequence before the film begins and all of the breaks between scenes are accompanied by bright flashes of white light. Viewers with photosensitivity issues should watch with caution. College campuses across the U.S. have been… Read More ›
Photosensitivity Warning: There are multiple sequences — some short, some prolonged — of intense strobing and glitching effects, which may trigger migraine or other neurological issues. In the age of digital media, developing parasocial relationships occurs before most even realize… Read More ›
January 16th, 1865, American Civil War: General William Sherman includes in Special Field Orders No. 15 that 40 acres will be given to slaves as part of their freedom. It’s one of the largest redistributions of land in the country… Read More ›
In nature, there’s no such thing as evil. There’s the ecosystem with predator and prey, but while there are behaviors that some groups would define within a power dynamic, it’s atypical for the natural world to engage in behavior humans… Read More ›
For the first time, Elements of Madness will be covering Atlanta Film Festival and we thought we’d offer up our recommendations of what to check out during the fest or what to keep an eye out for in wider distribution…. Read More ›
In the most Abed Nadir voice possible — “Nicolas Cage maaaaaaaaan” — and that alone should either have an audience immediately ready to dive into what absolute madness whether good, bad, or Cage, they’re about to get into. While the… Read More ›
There are movies that focus on courtroom procedurals and the drama that comes from the hearing itself that either are so effective they’re traumatizing or so dull they entirely lose the audience. Pascal Plante’s Red Rooms (Les chambres rouges) thankfully… Read More ›
Horror movies usually tend to fixate on fears to engage their audience or do something truly horrifying and disturbing. The latter are typically easier to digest since they’re easier to shake off as they’re not exploiting something the audience may… Read More ›
There are so many ways that a film can get under an audience’s skin, whether that be intentional or not, but beating the proverbial dead horse with a children’s bat is certainly not the way to get things going in… Read More ›
EoM Senior Interviewer Thomas Manning recently sat down with writer and director Tara Pirnia to discuss her work on the romantic comedy Switch Up, which premiered at SXSW. Pirnia talks about the importance of setting the film in Texas, collaborating… Read More ›
The pandemic did a lot of things to the citizens of the world in the early years, the least of which was take thousands of lives. Those who remained in those initial months and years dealt with physical isolation, financial… Read More ›