When people say that art should be political, what they really mean is that they don’t want to ingest films that might challenge their political views. They want to be entertained, not preached to. This is a childish perspective because… Read More ›
mystery
Cerebral thriller “Cinema of Sleep” posits that some dreams are worth existing within and some waking from and the danger is not knowing which is which.
A breath of our inspiration Is the life of each generation; A wondrous thing of our dreaming Unearthly, impossible seeming — The soldier, the king, and the peasant Are working together in one, Till our dream shall become their present,… Read More ›
“Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery” hosts another stellar cast with a less luminous mystery. [TIFF]
Rian Johnson is back with Benoit Blanc for a new mystery that is coming for a short theatrical window before hitting Netflix. His third entry in his murder mystery franchise is arguably the worst one unfortunately. This is not to… Read More ›
Timo Vuorensola’s sci-fi actioner “Altered” packs imagination, but none of the magic or madness one expects.
Stories are about as limited as one’s imagination. Peaceful creatures can find themselves on a quest to save the land, people of average heritage feel the pull to right wrongs, and villains can be born from the mildest of slights…. Read More ›
David Cronenberg’s “The Shrouds” joins The Criterion Collection with a bare-bones Blu-ray release.
Director David Cronenberg (A History of Violence) is known to many as a director of “body horror” stories. Underneath that horror, those stories remain riddled with deeper, more profound themes. His latest film, The Shrouds (2024), now available via Criterion… Read More ›
Genre-mashing “Mr. K” joins the hallowed ranks of nightmare hotel feature films.
Mr. K has a lot going for it and most of that energy comes from the always-captivating Crispin Glover (Back to the Future). In one of his most fascinating performances to date, Glover embodies a spiraling character trying desperately to… Read More ›
Mamoru Oshii’s “Angel’s Egg” is honored with a 4K restoration in its 40th year.
“Take the rod; and you and your brother Aaron assemble the congregation and speak to the rock before their eyes, that it may yield its water. You shall thus bring forth water for them out of the rock and let… 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 ›
David Lynch’s dreamlike, painfully beautiful, and brutal “Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me” is available on 4K UHD & Blu-ray Combo edition from The Criterion Collection.
My mother and I never shared any common interests until the spring of 1990 when we were introduced to the world of Twin Peaks. Full of quirky characters who seemed trapped in time in the beautiful Pacific Northwest town of… Read More ›
Zach Gregger’s horror thriller “Weapons” offers brief featurettes and a beautiful on-disc presentation in its home release.
Filmmaker Zach Cregger blew audiences away with horror thriller Barbarian in 2022, garnering big word of mouth after its 2022 San Diego Comic Con premiere ahead of its September release. In addition to fans clamoring for a physical release that… Read More ›
Don Lee’s 2018 dramatic thriller “The Villagers” comes available on digital via Well Go USA.
Since 2004, actor Don Lee (also known as Ma Dong-seok) has worked his way up from small supporting player (The Good, The Bad, The Weird) to scene-stealing supporting player (Train to Busan) to MCU hero (Eternals) to monster cop (Crime… Read More ›
A Conversation with “The Curse (咒死你)” writer/actor Ken’ichi Ugana. [Fantastic Fest]
EoM Senior Interviewer Thomas Manning recently spent time talking with writer and director Ken’ichi Ugana about his film The Curse, which screened at Fantastic Fest 2025. This gnarly, supernatural thriller comments on the increasingly dangerous potential of the digital world… Read More ›
A Conversation with “Affinity” co-writer/actor Marko Zaror.
EoM Senior Interviewer Thomas Manning recently spoke again with actor and martial artist Marko Zaror, this time focusing on his sci-fi action thriller Affinity. Directed by Brandon Slagle, Affinity features Zaror in his first English-language lead role, starring alongside Louis… Read More ›
Martial arts dramedy “Ghost Killer,” Kensuke Sonomura’s third film, is ready to join up with your home collection.
Those keeping track of modern martial arts action know the name Kensuke Sonomura between his work as a stunt director and as a director. If it hits hard, looks badass, and helps move the narrative forward, you can almost guarantee… Read More ›
“The Man in My Basement” walks a delicate moral and ethical line. [TIFF]
Co-writer/director Nadia Latif takes on double duty in their first feature while adapting Walter Mosley’s novel The Man in My Basement. While Mosley’s material has yielded something interesting in an adaptation before (Devil in a Blue Dress) and this adaptation… Read More ›
Filmmaker Ken’ichi Ugana’s onryō tale “The Curse (咒死你)” blends cultural customs with modern conveniences in order to craft maximum carnage. [Fantastic Fest]
It’s not an uncommon practice for a filmmaker to release two films in a year. John Huston released The Treasure of the Sierra Madre the same year as Key Largo (1948), Akira Kurosawa released Scandal in the same year as… Read More ›
Confidence crime thriller “Yadang: The Snitch” comes to home video, inspiring you to question who you trust the whole way.
Photosensitivity Warning: There are several party sequences and instances involving the press wherein lights either flash or strobe. Be advised. Everyone has a favorite type of story. For some, it’s romances; others, comedies; and, others still, horror. In my top… Read More ›
“Exit 8” utilizes the video game adaptation genre to dive deep into humanity and individual choices. [TIFF]
To go into a movie without knowing anything about it is a rare experience, but sometimes something drops into your inbox and you decide to jump head first into it knowing nothing other than that it is a festival screening…. Read More ›
Horror thriller “Burning” utilizes multiple perspectives to showcase how little we know about the people around us. [Fantasia]
In storytelling, the most obvious thing is that the narrative is based on perception, but it’s also the thing that we most take for granted as an audience. We presume that what we see, what we hear, is what happens;… Read More ›
Sci-fi psychological thriller “Descendent” explores masculine insecurities via an extra-terrestrial encounter.
The best alien movies are rarely just about aliens. While Ridley Scott’s genre-defining classic explores themes like corporate corruption, class, and gender, other alien movies like E.T. (1982) and Arrival (2016) utilize extra-terrestrial characters and elements to explore deep and… Read More ›