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’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 ›
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 ›
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 ›
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 ›
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 ›
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 (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 ›
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 ›
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 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 ›
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 ›
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 ›
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 ›
Summer may not officially kick off until June 21st, but the movies hitting theaters don’t know that. June brings with it films small (actor Seth Green’s directorial feature debut Changeland) and large (Men in Black: International), each competing for your… Read More ›
All art walks a line between reality and intention. This is made more complicated when the reality and intention the artist puts forth conflicts with that of the receivers. In many ways, the artist themselves becomes unimportant in comparison to… Read More ›
The Buckeye State is known for many things. Sports fans know Ohio as the home of the Cincinnati Reds and the Bengals. Foodies come for LaRosa’s pizza, Skyline Chili, and Graeter’s Ice Cream. Music lovers jam to the sounds of… Read More ›
February is becoming a strange month. Like January, February tends to be a dumping ground for films not likely to find an audience or for films leaning into Hallmark’s notion of love. While some aspects of this remain true (markets… Read More ›
M. Night Shyamalan erupted onto the scene with 1999’s The Sixth Sense and has a string of semi-hits and full-on flops ever sense. For many, Shyamalan’s signature “twist” ending is a parody of what it once was because it has… Read More ›