There is something about potty humor and potty horror that, if done right, works, and if it misses it by the slightest of margins, it becomes something irredeemable. Somehow, director Grégory Morin (Ultimate Zombie Feast) and screenwriter David Neiss (Noir… Read More ›
French
“Heritage” utilizes creativity in the found-footage genre to create an atmospheric experience. [Unnamed Footage Festival]
Heritage is a strong example of how found-footage filmmaking can still feel fresh when handled with restraint and intention. From its opening moments, the film carries a quiet confidence that immediately recalls the tonal playbook of the Coen Brothers, not in… Read More ›
Maya Annik Bedward’s “Black Zombie” is a strong piece in the restoration of dignity to Black and Vodou cultures criminalized by media representation. [SXSW]
Zombies are everywhere. They’re on your television set, in your movie theaters, in your comics, in your novels, in your video games, and, yes, even in Minecraft nerdcore tunes. Why? What’s the obsession with zombies and where did they come… Read More ›
Criterion brings a third format of Jacques Tati’s “PlayTime” into the Collection.
The world of physical media is constantly changing and evolving, impacting the way collectors gather movies. Criterion is occasionally regarded as the benchmark of the crème of the crop for collectors, however, with them continuing to dip their toes into… Read More ›
“Magellan:” Everything is Magellan now.
In the opening shot of Magellan (2025), an Indigenous Malaysian woman walks into a stream, filling a vessel. Suddenly, she spots a white man past the fourth wall of the proscenium and takes off running. She shouts through her village… Read More ›
Jodie Foster est magnifique in French dark comedy thriller “A Private Life (Vie Privée).”
Born in Paris, French filmmaker Rebecca Zlotowski initially planned to be a teacher and graduated from École Normale Supérieure before earning an Agrégation higher degree in literature. Then she joined the screenplay department of La Fémis and met several students… Read More ›
“Steal Away” with actors Mallori Johnson and Angourie Rice. [TIFF]
Clement Virgo (Brother) is back with another powerful drama while, again, pulling double duty as director and as part of the co-writing team with newcomer Tamara Berger. Steal Away balances a multitude of themes, ensuring that the film cannot get… Read More ›
One of Jacques Audiard’s early hits, the unique romantic thriller “Read My Lips”, comes home to Blu-Ray, courtesy of The Criterion Collection.
Before he brought us the polarizing 2024 crime musical Emilia Pérez, the Palme d’Or winning 2015 Dheepan, and the 2009 critically acclaimed gangster film A Prophet, director Jacques Audiard brought us the complex romance thriller Read My Lips in 2001…. Read More ›
Filmmakers Dusty Mancinelli and Madeleine Sims-Fewer invite audiences to experience psychotic drama “Honey Bunch.” [TIFF]
Writers and directors Dusty Mancinelli and Madeline Sims-Fewer are back with another movie entrenched in trauma and decision-making. After their last outing, Violation (2020), which is a much more difficult watch content-wise, they deliver Honey Bunch which focuses on the… Read More ›
Realities collide in Lucile Hadžihalilović’s fantastical drama “The Ice Tower.” [Fantastic Fest]
Danish author Hans Christian Andersen is known for many a tale from The Emperor’s New Clothes, The Princess and the Pea, The Ugly Duckling, Thumbelina, and, of course, The Little Mermaid. One title that’s well-known in the U.S. is his… Read More ›
“Re-Creation” poses a judicial what-if of a well-known cold case. [Tribeca]
I am not going to pretend that the name Sophie Toscan du Plantier means anything to me outside of the context of the film as I do not follow famous deaths or cold cases. However, maybe if I was older… Read More ›
“Jane Austen Wrecked My Life” strikes all the typical Austen rom-com notes.
Back in 2013, Director Jerusha Hess brought to life the silly world of Shannon Hale’s novel Austenland. In it, Jane Hayes (Keri Russell), a 30-something fangirl for the works of Jane Austen, travels to a British resort themed to the… Read More ›
Julien Colonna’s crime thriller “The Kingdom” grapples with the complexity of choice and consequence. [ATLFF]
Choices and consequences. Most of the time, when we think of choices and consequences, it’s within the framework of ourselves. We view it from the perspective of the decisions we make and the repercussions that follow. In reality, our choices… Read More ›
A Conversation with “Zero” filmmaker Jean Luc Herbulot and actors Hus Miller and Cam McHarg.
In this interview for EoM Presents, Senior Interviewer Thomas Manning talks with the cast and crew of the new film Zero, including writer and director Jean Luc Herbulot, actor, writer, and producer Hus Miller, and actor Cam McHarg. This geo-political… Read More ›
The Criterion Collection’s Blu-ray release of 1973’s “The Mother and the Whore” exceeds the 4K release in quality and value.
Last week I got an admittedly excessive 4K UHD Blu-ray in the mail. Normally $75.99, I caught it at 48% off at $39.20. It was the 40th Anniversary Edition of Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), and it came… Read More ›
Crime drama “Eat the Night” seeks to explore real versus digital existance.
The real world is a mess. Just about everywhere you look there’s something to be despondent about, whether it’s the state of the global climate, the power grab by nationalist parties within global governments, or the general vibe of “get… Read More ›
Parental thriller “Endless Summer Syndrome” seeks deep philosophical examination yet undercuts itself with a telegraphed conclusion.
Wherever we are in our lives, all of it — our successes, our failures — begins at home. Someone born into a home with extensive resources can achieve absolutely nothing of their own while someone with scant resources can achieve… Read More ›
“The Beast” appears … on shelves thanks to Janus Contemporaries.
Janus Contemporaries’s newest unnumbered entry into the Criterion Collection is priced just right at $20.99. The Beast, the latest film from Bertrand Bonello (House of Tolerance; Saint Laurent), is a surreal tale starring two of the best actors working today,… Read More ›
The betrayal and revenge of “The Count of Monte Cristo” gets the Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre De La Patellière treatment.
“He who seeks revenge digs two graves.” – Confucius In December 2023, director Martin Bourboulon’s The Three Musketeers – Part I: D’Artagnan released into U.S. theaters, kicking off a brand-new adaptation of author Alexandre Dumas’s classic novel. It currently remains… Read More ›
Animated adventure fable “Sirocco and the Kingdom of Winds” envelopes for a pleasant sensory experience.
There are fables that challenge children (The NeverEnding Story), that push children (Labyrinth), and that are not safe for children (Pan’s Labyrinth). In each instance, no matter their differences, the perspective of the child is the focal point through their… Read More ›