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 ›
Universal Pictures
In a world full of criminals, what we need is an “Honest Thief.”
At this point in Liam Neeson’s career, the frequency of Taken-like stories he headlines has got to be purposeful. For one, Neeson makes for a damn fine action hero. His characters tend to be believable in their strength and skill,… Read More ›
A Conversation with Alfred Hitchcock scholar Laurent Bouzereau.
In this conversation, EoM contributor Thomas Manning sits down with documentarian, film historian, and Alfred Hitchcock scholar, Laurent Bouzereau, to discuss the new Alfred Hitchcock Classics Collection. The brand new collection includes four iconic films from the universally recognized Master… Read More ›
Character drama “The King of Staten Island” comes home with plenty of in-depth bonus features.
Inspired in-part by his own real-life trauma, comedian Pete Davidson (Saturday Night Live) crafted a story in partnership with director Judd Apatow (This is 40) and writer/producer Dave Sirus that presents a fictional tale of heartache, profound pain, and, ultimately,… Read More ›
A Conversation with writer/producer Dave Sirus.
Elements of Madness contributor Thomas Manning spoke with The King of Staten Island co-writer/producer Dave Sirus. Over the course of their 12-minute conversation, they discuss Dave’s process of writing, his relationship with Pete Davidson, and his contributions to the film…. Read More ›
“The King of Staten Island” Digital Code Giveaway
Elements of Madness is excited to announce we’ve partnered with Universal Pictures on the upcoming home release of The King of Staten Island. In anticipation of the Blu-ray/DVD release on August 25th, we are giving away five (5) digital codes of… Read More ›
Front row seats just opened up for “Trolls World Tour” and it’s at your house.
2020’s been one series of surprises after another. You’d run out of fingers trying to list all of the unexpected events and I’m here to present you with another: Trolls World Tour is a near-perfect exploration of cultural appropriation and… Read More ›
There is no controversy to be found in “The Hunt.” Only assholes.
“There’s no such thing as bad publicity.” This phrase is commonly attributed to Phineas T. Barnum, the circus owner and renowned asshole. Despite what you’d believe from the wondrous and heartfelt The Greatest Showman, Barnum was more likely to take… Read More ›
Unabashedly forthcoming, documentary “Inmate #1: The Rise of Danny Trejo” contains a story of destruction and perpetual self-healing.
Boxer. Prisoner. Chulo. Geronimo. Navajas. Gilbert. Johnny-23. Razor Eddie. Slim. Luis. Machete. These are just a few of the names of the characters actor Danny Trejo took over his 37-year career as an actor. He’s played everything from a stereotypical… Read More ›
Surprise, Leigh Whannell’s “The Invisible Man” is a masterwork of tension.
When the words “remake” or “reboot” get thrown out, the reaction online is often filled with a great deal of righteous indignation. Along these cries of “you’re destroying my childhood!” often comes a strange forgetfulness that a new version doesn’t… Read More ›
Watch “The Photograph” develop anytime you like on home video.
There’s an authenticity that radiates outward from every frame of writer/director Stella Meghie’s The Photograph. One thing that keeps being repeated in each of the three brief featurettes included with the home release of The Photograph is the simplicity of… Read More ›
A stellar cast energizes the docu-drama “The Current War: Director’s Cut.”
The path to release has been a difficult one for director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon’s (Me and Earl and the Dying Girl) latest film The Current War. Itself a dramatization of the struggle for control over the burgeoning birth of electricity throughout… Read More ›
Bring the immense theatrical scale of “1917” home now.
Of the films to drop in 2019, none impressed this reviewer more from a technical perspective than Sam Mendes’s 1917. Designed, shot, and edited to create a seamless one-take feel, 1917 became one of the year’s most immersive experiences without… Read More ›
Writer/director Stella Meghie’s “The Photograph” asks her audience to look beyond the frame and love completely.
Writer/director Stella Meghie’s (Everything, Everything) new film, The Photograph, is a drama/romance depicting two love stories (one in the past, one in the present) connected by a picture. That description just scratches the surface of Meghie’s tale which examines not… Read More ›
Tom Hooper’s adaptation of Broadway hit “Cats” is more the cat’s meow than the dog’s bullocks.
The play Cats is a strange and mysterious thing. Lacking a typical narrative, the story unfolds as each cat introduces itself in song and details of a larger undertaking are revealed upon each new tune. By and large, though, Andrew… Read More ›
Technical mastery and a poetic approach to direction make director Sam Mendes’s “1917” an unforgettable experience.
Dunkirk. Hacksaw Ridge. Saving Private Ryan. The Thin Red Line. All Quiet on the Western Front. Each of these films found a provocative way to tell a war story. Whether it’s the tickticktick of Hans Zimmer’s Dunkirk score accompanying overlapping… Read More ›
Director Melina Matsoukas’s directorial feature debut “Queen & Slim” is a time bomb disguised as a powerhouse drama.
Director Melina Matouskas’s directorial debut, Queen & Slim, is a devastating drama about a couple thrust into the spotlight after a traffic stop gone wrong. At least, that’s one way to read it. Another way is that the screenplay from… Read More ›
Amid all the holiday rom-com trimmings, “Last Christmas” possesses unexpected layers.
The moment the clock hits midnight on the last day of October, the speed with which Halloween is tossed in the bin and Christmas pops up is enough to disorient. It shouldn’t surprise anyone that the first major studio Christmas… Read More ›
Sudeikis, Pace, and Greer make “Driven,” the somewhat true story of John DeLorean’s fall from grace, an emotional ride.
If you’re a child of the ‘80s, there’s one car that pops into your mind the moment you think about the era; a vehicle made famous by Robert Zemeckis’s Back to the Future series and infamous throughout automotive history. The… Read More ›
It may not yet offer justice for Han, but “Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw” brings all the popcorn-munching, adrenaline-fueled action you desire.
When it comes to the Fast & Furious films, the first thing you do is check your brain at the door. These aren’t films for intellectuals, but are pure popcorn-munching, adrenaline-fueled action spectaculars where the men and women are fierce… Read More ›