“Fear makes the wolf bigger than he is.” – German proverb. In the stories we tell, if there’s a hero, there’s a villain, someone for the bold and courageous to conquer; otherwise, how are they to be bold and courageous?… Read More ›
Netflix Original
“Extraction 2” goes harder and further than before in an action-packed thrill ride where the stakes are not only higher, but far more personal.
“Into every generation a slayer is born …” – Buffy the Vampire Slayer intro Steve McQueen. Carl Weathers. Michelle Yeoh. Sigourney Weaver. Danny Trejo. Jet Li. Gerard Butler. Milla Jovovich. Bruce Willis. Keanu Reeves. These are but a few of… Read More ›
Open Dialogue with “Florida Man” actors Edgar Ramírez and Abbey Lee.
In this edition of Meet Me at the Movies: Open Dialogue, Thomas Manning sits down with Edgar Ramírez and Abbey Lee to discuss the new Netflix limited series Florida Man. They discuss their previous personal experiences with the state of… Read More ›
“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” may not have you wishing upon a star, but it’s exploration of identity and love will resonate nonetheless.
Since its publication in 1883, Italian author Carlo Collodi’s The Adventures of Pinocchio has been adapted on paper and for stage and screen many times. The most well-known, of course, being the 1940 Walt Disney animated adaptation. It’s a story… Read More ›
With “Glass Onion,” it’s not a Rian Johnson whodunit, it’s a Rian Johnson hediditagain.
2019’s surprise of the holiday season was writer/director Rian Johnson’s Knives Out, a whodunit that takes all the hallmarks of the great mystery writers and gave it his own spin. First, there’s the rich family where motive is everywhere and… Read More ›
Director Rian Johnson’s “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” maintains the magic of the absurdist mystery in this setting outing. [Film Fest 919]
Three years ago, Rian Johnson’s humble follow-up to …let’s just say, polarizing… Star Wars: The Last Jedi came out in the form of Knives Out. Unlike said film set in a galaxy far far away, the consensus on Knives Out… Read More ›
Keep the beat whenever and however you like with “Vivo” on home video.
The recent go-to writer for making a family film, especially one with music, is Lin-Manuel Miranda. He’s not just the mind behind global phenomenon Hamilton, he’s the lyricist behind Moana (2016) and Encanto (2021). It makes sense, then, that if… Read More ›
The Cine-Men, Episode 71: Favorite Netflix Originals.
With the release of The Gray Man on Netflix, your Cine-Men hosts, Darryl and Douglas, decided to go through the deep Netflix catalogue to identify three of their favorite Netflix Originals. Despite common conception, this task proved harder than anticipated. In… Read More ›
It’s just another Thursday in the star-studded action-thriller “The Gray Man” from directing duo the Russos.
Directing team the Russos (brothers Joe and Anthony) are no strangers to adapting works for cinema. If their work on 2014’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier wasn’t enough to gain your attention, their directing of the end of the Marvel… Read More ›
Writer/director Bong Joon Ho’s Netflix Original “Okja” receives a Criterion home release worthy of the Best Superpig.
Before writer/director Bong Joon Ho would go on to win Best International Feature, Best Director, and Best Picture for his film Parasite (2019) at the 92nd Academy Awards, Bong Joon Ho was awarded Best Motion Picture in the Foreign Language… Read More ›
Jennifer Lopez-focused documentary “Halftime” offers a surprising chastisement for the entertainment industry which devours celebrity. [Tribeca Film Festival]
To most folks, Super Bowl LIV, the San Francisco 49ers vs. the Kansas City Chiefs, was a game like any other, an opportunity to cheer on their favorite team, to denounce their enemy, or gather together with friends and eat… Read More ›
Go on a wibbly wobbly timey wimey action adventure in new Shawn Levy film “The Adam Project.”
It all starts with the rhythmic strumming of a guitar plucking the notes off a string before cymbals, drums, and piano join in. As then-18-year-old Steve Winwood’s voice kicks in with “Well, my temperature’s rising, and my feet on the… Read More ›
Even by franchise standards, “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” is unceremoniously DOA.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise has been pretty brutal as a whole, and I’m not talking about the films’ violent content. Ever since the 1974 original from Tobe Hooper, there has been a major struggle with creating sequels, remakes, and… Read More ›
Open Dialogue with “tick, tick…BOOM!” actor Andrew Garfield.
Andrew Garfield is an award-winning talent of stage, TV and screen – earning honors from the British Academy, the Tonys, the Critics Choice, and the Golden Globes. His versatility ranges from comic book superheroes (The Amazing Spider-Man) to TV evangelists… Read More ›
Be prepared for the dark harvest by picking up “The Mitchells vs. The Machines” on home video.
In March 2020, Sony Animation released a trailer for Connected, a film centered on a family attempting to survive a robot apocalypse. It mostly focused on the relationship between the luddite dad and techno daughter before shifting gears to revealing… Read More ›
Just because you “Don’t Look Up,” doesn’t mean it’s not happening.
Don’t Look Up is, by far, the strongest, most searing piece of cinema writer/director Adam McKay (The Big Short; Vice) has put before us. Unlike his last two films which presented real-world events through a comedic lens, Don’t Look Up… Read More ›
Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “tick, tick…BOOM!” adaptation is a love-letter to both a lost artist and the medium he so loved.
Your musical theater tastes are all but defined by when you were first introduced. It doesn’t mean that you can’t shift or grow in tastes, but there certainly comes a heavy influence or leaning based upon your start. While I,… Read More ›
Halle Berry’s directorial debut is “Bruised” but not broken.
It’s perfectly natural to want to find ways to grow in your craft. Someone who starts as an intern likely has their eyes on a manager’s seat, wanting to absorb as much as possible in order to get there faster…. Read More ›
Don’t blink. Don’t move. Writer/director Jane Campion’s western thriller “The Power of the Dog” compels you to heel.
Director Jane Campion’s (The Piano) latest project is an adaptation of author Thomas Savage’s 1967 novel The Power of the Dog. Her film, a taunt western-drama, chronicles the intersecting lives of two families across several months in Montana 1925. Each… Read More ›
The bigger the legend, “The Harder They Fall.”
When Americans tell stories of the Old West, there’s typically a common thread running through them and it’s very white and heroic. With films like 3:10 to Yuma (1957) or True Grit (1969), The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly… Read More ›