Horror films involving demonic possession seem to be one of the hottest trends in recent years. From the Conjuring series, the Insidious series, and the upcoming Suspiria remake, horror films about possession utilize supernatural elements recycled time and again in… Read More ›
review
Light the fuse on “Mission: Impossible – Fallout” and get ready for the ride of the summer.
There are few cinematic franchises as consistent in delivering action and thrills as the Mission: Impossible franchise. While not as institutionalized as the James Bond: 007 series nor as gratuitous as the Fast & Furious franchise, the Mission: Impossible films… Read More ›
Introspection and patience reward when “The Night Eats The World”.
The wealth of film hitting theaters and VOD services is enough to overwhelm even the most discerning cinephile, which is why it matters to remain open to films beyond your borders both physical and metaphysical. Locking ourselves into genres, into… Read More ›
Netflix’s Martin Freeman-led zombie apocalypse feature ‘Cargo’ meanders narratively, reducing tension and emotion along the way.
For years now, zombie-related stories have been the rage on screens big and small. Whether telling the on-going story of a group of survivors (AMC’s The Walking Dead) or a one-shot of a father protecting his daughter (Train to Busan),… Read More ›
Save your quarters, folks. You’re not going to want next on ‘Rampage’.
Adapting video games for film tends to underwhelm at the box office. It either takes a straight-forward premise and mucks it up (poor besmirched Super Mario Bros) or largely misunderstands what made the game fun (this includes you Street Fighter)…. Read More ›
Director James Demo Shines a Light on an Unsung Hero in ‘The Peacemaker’.
Documentarian James Demo picked a heck of a subject for his first full-feature subject: Padraig O’Malley. O’Malley is a brilliant man who has written several books on his experiences working with various world leaders, who gathered together a group of… Read More ›
Nerds rule on ‘Game Night’.
Everyone knows that one super-competitive person. The one who will bury your nose in their victory or flip over the table in defeat. Yet we love them because they’re family and it’s usually only during game night that their inner… Read More ›
Duncan Jones latest film ‘Mute’ is a perfect fit for Netflix’s Instant offerings.
Writer/director Duncan Jones broke onto the scene with the 2009 underground hit Moon, which tracked lunar engineer Sam Bell’s (Sam Rockwell) last days of his three-year mission as his solitary life finally begins to take its toll. Unfortunately, Jones’s follow-ups… Read More ›
“12 Strong” – an imperfect, yet surprising biopic.
An alternate version of this review was published by CLTure on their site on January 19, 2018. September 11th, 2001 is a day that everyone in the U.S. remembers; a day of great pain and sorrow which inspired men and… Read More ›
“Saturday Church” is a quasi-musical journey of self-acceptance.
Audiences will quickly compare Saturday Church to Moonlight, the 2017 Best Picture Oscar winner which also tells a personal, character-driven story about a boy’s search for self at the intersection of sexual identity and race. While both excel at telling… Read More ›
Netflix’s ‘The Polka King’ is full of potential, but misses the beat.
Based-on-a-true-story biopics tend to fall into one of two categories: gritty or glossy. Weirdly, Netflix’s latest original feature The Polka King can’t decide which one it wants to be. Drawing from the documentary film The Man Who Would Be Polka… Read More ›
‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ is the spark of hope long-time fans have waited for.
Star Wars fans are a tricky bunch to please. They’re excited at the prospect of something new, something that delves further into the mythos of the Force, but when presented with something as half-baked as midichlorians, they riot. That was… Read More ›
‘Justice League’ is a bittersweet experience for DC Comics fans.
It’s been a long road for comic book fans of all stripes to get to Justice League. We’ve endured false starts, writer strikes, and contractual arguments. With each one, our hopes rose for that one moment when the Gods of… Read More ›
Director Taika Waititi’s ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ completely reinvigorates the superhero film.
Marvel Studio’s run of 17 films impressively introduces new characters, new worlds, and new adventures, all while building toward every Marvel nerd’s greatest dream: the Infinity War Saga. Thor (Chris Hemsworth), a central character in this film run, never seems… Read More ›
‘Menashe’ delivers one of the most unique films of the year.
Some stories take time to be told properly. They require cultivation and care. They require patience. In the case of Menashe, it took director Joshua Z Weinstein seven years to develop this a quiet, family-focused story centered on a widowed… Read More ›
There’s no redemption when you have a ‘Good Time’.
There’s something about watching a film where the main character is scrambling, always on the move, trying to survive in a world that feels like it’s crashing down on them; a world that is out to get them. Sometimes it’s… Read More ›
Joyful, heartbreaking, and utterly quixotic, ‘Brigsby Bear’ is not to be missed.
Long-time collaborators Kyle Mooney and Dave McCary have developed short films, videos for Epic Rap Battles of History, and sketches for Saturday Night Live during their partnership, but it’s Brigsby Bear that should rightfully make them both household names. A… Read More ›
‘War for the Planet of the Apes’ is a bleak, harrowing, and hopeful war for the soul.
Bleak. Harrowing. Griping. Heartbreaking. Hopeful. Words you don’t expect to describe the Matt Reeves co-written and directed War for the Planet of the Apes, the final film in the Planet of the Apes prequel trilogy, are words that perfectly capture… Read More ›
“The Beguilded” is an abject lesson in betraying Southern women
On a hot southern morning, with the fog still making its way through the woods, a twelve-year-old girl hunts for mushrooms accompanied by the sound of cannon fire in the distance as the Civil War rages outside the wood. Soon she finds a hurt man hiding among the leaves and dirt at the base of a tree. Though he’s a Union soldier in these Confederate lands, his wound is severe and she does the only thing she can – takes him to her nearby seminary for aid. There, while passed out from pain, his fate is decided by seven women who, in turn, decide their own.
“Okja” explores the best and worst of humanity in Bong Joon Ho’s Netflix Original feature.
Don’t let its fairytale premise of a girl and her mythical companion confuse you into thinking this is some carefree adventure. Channeling more Grimm than Disney, “Okja” explores the morals of man in a deeply compelling, utterly heart-wrenching way, all while managing to still uplift.
Truly a remarkable experience.