The dinner table is a universal symbol of community, nourishment, and respite, but directors of horror movies often repurpose the place where people come together for a meal to create some of the most awkward and unsettling cinematic moments of… Read More ›
foreign film
By the time folk horror doc “Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror” ends, you’ll want even more. [SXSW Film Festival]
Folk horror is something that, for a while, I didn’t know was genuinely one of my favorite forms in the horror genre. It’s difficult to categorize it as its own separate sub-genre as its products can be widespread and incredibly… Read More ›
Raw, unflinching, and defiant “Luchadoras” follows the reclamation of personhood in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. [SXSW Film Festival]
If you were to presume that co-directors Paola Calvo and Patrick Jasim’s documentary Luchadoras (Female Fighters) is about female wrestlers in Mexico, you’d only be about a quarter correct. While their film does follow four wrestlers — Lady Candy, Baby… Read More ›
Writer/director Djibril Diop Mambéty’s “Touki bouki (Journey of the Hyena)” finally gets a solo Criterion release.
Since its inception, The Criterion Collection has become both preservationist and distributor of arthouse cinema (with a few exceptions for more populist material (what’s up, Armageddon?)). In keeping with this, they’ve partnered with Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Project on three… Read More ›
Akira Kurosawa Series: A Look Back on “Stray Dog.”
By the end of Akira Kurosawa’s 1949 detective drama, Stray Dog, there is not a character that escapes the fray without rolling around in the mud, figuratively and literally. Every decision has consequences, and every action has a reaction. Some, more… Read More ›
Arrow Video’s HD restoration of director Park Chan-wook’s “JSA: Joint Security Area” is an opportunity to learn from the past.
One of the great things about boutique distributors like Criterion, Arrow, Vinegar Syndrome, and others is that whether a film is lost or beloved, they find new life via a new release. Even though the major studios are starting to… Read More ›
“Crazy Samurai: 400 vs. 1” Blu-ray Giveaway
Tak Sakaguchi was a street fighter when writer/director Ryûhei Kitamura hired him to play Prisoner KSC2-303 in Versus (2000). Since then, Sakaguchi developed quite the resume as a live actor, voice actor, and stunt coordinator in films large and small. Now… Read More ›
Despite some muddled aspects, Lu Yang’s “A Writer’s Odyssey” will make you a believer.
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 ›
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 ›
“The Swordsman” Blu-ray Giveaway
Ahead of The Swordsman‘s home release on February 16th, EoM has partnered with Well Go USA to offer up a Blu-ray copy of the film to two lucky winners! If you’ve enjoyed their prior releases like The Villainess (2017), Furie (2019), or Shadow (2019),… 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 ›
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 ›
Psychological thriller “The Night” masters the familiar haunted hotel setting with technical excellence.
Kourosh Ahari’s psychological thriller, The Night, is a stellar example of a film that may not have the next best original ideas within its genre, but is so well done that it is nonetheless entertaining and worthwhile. Despite a handful… Read More ›
Travel the globe with gentlemen thief Lupin III in his latest adventure “Lupin III: The First.”
First created by artist Monkey Punch in 1967, the adventures of gentlemen thief Lupin III have generated multiple mangas, tv series, and films depicting a variety of escapades. During a press interview for Lupin III vs. Detective Conan: The Movie… Read More ›
Explore Alejandro Iñárritu’s first feature film, “Amores perros,” in a brand-new way thanks to its addition to the Criterion Collection.
Before The Revenant (2017), before Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014), before Biutiful (2010), and before 21 Grams (2003), writer/director Alejandro Iñárritu made his feature debut with 2000’s hard-hitting Amores perros, a title translated to English as “Love’s… Read More ›
Return to Busan in the highly anticipated “Peninsula,” available on home video.
2016’s Train to Busan (Busanhaeng) is a marvel of a film. Directed by Yeon Sang-Ho and co-written with Park Joo-Suk, the story of a zombie outbreak in South Korea beautifully balances the emotional stakes (father-daughter) with the larger scope implications… Read More ›
Jackie Chan’s “Vanguard” offers the comedic martial arts spectacle you expect.
The simplest way to describe writer/director Stanley Tong’s (Rumble in the Bronx) latest film Vanguard is a mixture of the Fast & Furious, Mission: Impossible, and The Expendables series of films. You don’t even have to squint to see it… Read More ›
The good intentions of dramatic thriller “Choir Girl” fall flat as the story devolves into a questionable savior fantasy.
Choir Girl sets up a story that begs to be told through pictures. Its protagonist, Eugene (Peter Flaherty), is a shy street photographer who hopes that his pictures will expose the hardships of everyday life in his neighborhood and, eventually,… 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 ›
“Train to Busan presents: Peninsula” Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack Giveaway
Elements of Madness is excited to announce we’ve partnered with Well Go USA on the upcoming home release of Train to Busan presents: Peninsula. In anticipation of the Blu-ray, DVD, and digital release on November 24th, we are giving away two… Read More ›