Returning to the director’s seat for the second time, Hong Won-chan trades murder most foul within the blue collar arena for the underbelly of Asia and Southeast Asia in Deliver Us From Evil (다만 악에서 구하소서). In a film that’s… Read More ›
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Zhang Yimou’s spy thriller “Cliff Walkers” subverts expectations at every turn, offering a meal for hungry audiences.
Writer/director Zhang Yimou is many things, but subtle is not one of them. His projects often feature beautiful cinematography and elegant performances while exploring the complexities of humankind, resulting in films that are often far more poetic than narratively straight…. Read More ›
“Deliver Us From Evil” Blu-ray Giveaway
From Well Go USA, the distributor that brought you such films as The Villainess, Synchronic, The Swordsman, and Better Days, comes the action thriller Deliver Us From Evil from director Hong Won-chan. Ahead of its May 25th home release, the wonderful folks at Well… Read More ›
Though magnetic and fascinating, “Things Heard & Seen” is ultimately a harmless a slow-burn haunted house tale.
Horror films are like snowflakes. Some may look incredibly similar to each other, but at their heart, each one has something unique and new to bring to the table different than anything before (unless you’re Gus Van Sant remaking Psycho…that… Read More ›
Arrow Video’s 2K restoration of “Death Has Blue Eyes” exemplifies their mission of cinematic preservation.
Death Has Blue Eyes (To koritsi vomva) is an easy film to summarize but a difficult one to describe. It’s a science fiction thriller in a sexploitation package. Beyond this, though, is where the film gets tricky due to a… Read More ›
Martial arts action comedy “The Rookies” is best left on the bench.
When you market a film based on being from the writer of 2004’s New Police Story, a continuation/reboot of Jackie Chan’s action-martial arts-drama series, then you’d better be on par or be willing to lose a lot of face. Sadly,… Read More ›
“The Banishing” ultimately leaves viewers with a bunch of delicious ingredients that just refuse to mix together properly.
Rarely does it ever occur, but every now and then, my very public love of horror and my more privately held love of period dramas overlap, and these slower, quieter works of eerie horror almost always speak to me in… Read More ›
Trippy, manic, and violent only begins to describe Ben Wheatley’s “In The Earth.”
Off-the-bat: Major epilepsy/strobe warning in effect for In The Earth. Stay far away from this film if that concerns you in any way. Director Ben Wheatley is no stranger to putting on different filmmaking hats, from his takes on British… Read More ›
Ran Slavin’s feature debut, “Call for Dreams,” is “A Page of Madness” for the 21st century.
According to the press notes for Call for Dreams, Israeli director Ran Slavin started the project in pursuit of a “new cinematic form.” Slavin began with the idea to collect dreams from strangers that he could use as inspiration for… Read More ›
Writer/director Patrick Picard’s “The Bloodhound” is the best unfaithful adaptation of Edgar Allen Poe you can experience at home.
“During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heaves, I had been passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country; and… Read More ›
Jacob Gentry’s jazzy tech noir “Broadcast Signal Intrusion” takes us down a rabbit hole. [SXSW Film Festival]
Imagine being in the middle of a favorite television program, only to have your television hijacked by unwanted and disturbing images. While the interruption doesn’t last long, what appeared on screen you can’t unsee. While this sounds like an old… Read More ›
“Nobody” brings comfort like family.
Audience expectations are killer. They will ruin you every time, which is often why the marketing has to work so hard to manage them. A little tease here, a little explanation there — just enough to get folks interested without… Read More ›
If you can stomach it, “Violation” from writing/directing team Dusty Mancinelli and Madeleine Sims-Fewer has something worth hearing.
**Trigger Warning: Discussion of topics surrounding sexual assault** There’s this strange sort of thought process that goes into the writing of the stereotypical rape-revenge film. Woman (always a woman, because that’s totally not something that ever happens to a man,… Read More ›
Liberate tutemet ex inferis. “Event Horizon” Collector’s Edition coming from Shout! Factory.
Have you taken time to praise our lord and savior Paul W.S. Anderson today? For his truth and wisdom are great and mighty, and his camp polished and lively. For he…also made the Resident Evil movies, and that’s pretty cool,… Read More ›
Powered by Andrea Riseborough, “Here Before” will catch you completely off guard. [SXSW Film Festival]
Andrea Riseborough. That’s it; that’s the review. …okay fine, I’ll say more. If there’s anyone who has been a film festival genre darling in the past couple years, it’s been Andrea Riseborough. Her transformation from British prestige drama actress to… Read More ›
“In The Land of Lost Angels” is an indisputable debut for writer/director Bishrel Mashbat.
When one looks back on a director’s early works, you can usually see the beginnings of whatever will become their signature POV or narrative approach. In The Land of Lost Angels is the first feature film from writer/director Bishrel Mashbat,… Read More ›
Action/adventure flick “Burn It All” trips and stumbles over its stiff dialogue, making it difficult to take the story seriously.
Like a well-choreographed action sequence, movies have a lot of moving parts. While certain aspects of a film might not fall into place, the film may do so well in other areas that it turns out alright in the end…. Read More ›
Director Natasha Kermani’s new film is both “Lucky” and good.
A lot of critics like to proclaim that women filmmakers are “on the rise” in Hollywood, but I find that wording to often feel degrading and lack accountability in the system. It’s not that women are suddenly deciding to become… 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 ›