When you get together with old friends, one of two things can happen: you realize that you’ve grown apart or you click together like no time passed. Both are beautiful and tragic in their own way, but it seems safer… Read More ›
XYZ Films
When one realizes that there’s always a “Next Exit,” life becomes an unending journey, not a quest with a hard stop. [Tribeca Film Festival]
**Trigger Warning: Next Exit explores concepts of life and death, which involves discussion/examination of self-harm, suicidal ideation, and euthanasia.** “On this bridge,” Lorca warns, “life is not a dream. Beware. And beware. And beware.” And so many think because Then… Read More ›
Addison Heimann’s “Hypochondriac” is horror as therapy. [SXSW Film Festival]
Addison Heimann deals with the ghosts in his past by bringing them to light, inviting scrutiny from whoever chooses to open the Pandora’s box that is Hypochondriac. While few directors probably choose to enter the game with an exposé into… Read More ›
Aisha Dee slays in Australian horror comedy “Sissy.” [SXSW Film Festival]
We’ve all had our experiences with bullies. Some more than others, certainly, but looking back on the pitfalls of adolescence in the light of adulthood, there’s always that nagging voice in the back of your head telling you “If you… Read More ›
A Conversation with “Hypochondriac” director Addison Heimann and actor Zach Villa. [SXSW Film Festival]
EoM contributor Lindsey Dunn speaks with Addison Heimann and Zach Villa, the director/writer and star of Hypochondriac. Heimann speaks frankly about the events in his life that inspired the movie and why he decided to detour from comedy for his… Read More ›
The haunting quality of “Ghosts of the Ozarks” is undercut by its silly approach.
I love me a good period horror film, and I particularly love those set on the American frontier, and while Ghosts of the Ozarks isn’t *technically* frontier territory, there was a down-home charm the trailer gave off that made me… Read More ›
Director Riley Stearns’s duplicitous “Dual” is a deceptively disarming droll deposition delving into diacritic distinction. [Sundance Film Festival]
Last at Sundance with his short The Cub (2013), writer/director Riley Stearns is back and brought his new feature film Dual which is, at a glance, a science fiction film in which a woman faced with losing her life must… Read More ›
Sion Sono’s odd and beautiful “Prisoners of the Ghostland” arrives in four flavors: 4K UHD, Blu-ray, DVD, and streaming.
If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it countless times: revisiting a film is always bound to reveal something new. We have to be willing — correction — open to that newness because, whether a film is a longtime favorite… Read More ›
“Prisoners of the Ghostland” Blu-ray Giveaway
There are some films that are so wild that once seen, cannot be forgotten. Such is the case with Sion Sono’s first English-language film, Prisoners of the Ghostland, which premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival. It’s a wild mix of… Read More ›
Enjoy some wholesome tokusatsu fun in Eric McEver’s “Iké Boys.” [Fantastic Fest]
Tell me if you’ve heard this one before: a group of outcasts finds themselves at the center of a prophecy that holds the fate of the world in its hands. In brief, that’s the summary for Eric McEver’s (A Utopia)… Read More ›
A riveting thriller from start to finish comes down to “The Execution.” [Fantastic Fest]
Between 1978 – 1990, a series of brutal murders were committed by Russian serial killer Andrei Chikatilo, totaling more than 50 women and children before he was captured, convicted, and executed via firing-squad. This absolute horror serves as the narrative… Read More ›
“Yakuza Princess” offers a breakout performance from lead MASUMI. [Fantasia International Film Festival]
The list of Yakuza-centric films runs the gamut from dramas like Lost Girls & Love Hotels (2020) to martial arts films like Chocolate (2008) to science-fiction horror like Versus (2000) to straight up thrillers like Black Rain (1989). What the… Read More ›
You may want to leave a few lights on to watch “The Last Thing Mary Saw,” a visually petrifying feature debut from writer/director Edoardo Vitaletti. [Fantasia International Film Festival]
You don’t necessarily need complex characters or ingenious plot twists to write an engaging story. With strong imagery and a clear, palpable tone that physically affects your audience, you can transform the most overdone plot into a memorable tale. Writer/director… Read More ›
“The Paper Tigers” reenter the ring thanks to Well Go USA’s home release edition.
Martial arts films hold a special place in cinema. Whether it’s the swirling wonder of wuxia or a straight-forward bare-knuckle brawler, the Asian import captured the imagination in the 1970s – 1980s and has yet to loosen its hold on… Read More ›
“Prisoners of the Ghostland” brings new meaning to the phrase “balls out” in its post-apocalyptic action/adventure tale. [Sundance Film Festival]
A nameless stranger. A damsel in distress. A suicide mission that no one but the best can handle. These three requirements appear in countless stories, from gunslinger westerns of the East to the samurai tales of the West, each possessing… Read More ›
Explore the time-bending sci-fi drama “Synchronic” from the comfort of your home.
The theatrical release of creative team Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson’s Synchronic did not go exactly as either had hoped. Though it did receive a rollout via traditional and drive-in theaters, Moorhead, Benson, and producer David Lawson implored audiences to… Read More ›
“Synchronic” Blu-ray Giveaway
If you’ve seen The Endless, Spring, or Resolution, then you understand exactly what creative team Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson are capable of. Due to the pandemic, you may have missed their latest project, Synchronic, when it hit select theaters in Fall 2020,… Read More ›
Horror thriller comic adaptation “The Owners” reminds that maybe it’s best to leave well-enough alone.
The horror genre is all about taking what terrifies you and giving it life so you can explore that terror in relative safety. Scared of the dark? Let’s personify it. Unnerved by the unknown? Let’s give it physical form. Chilled… Read More ›
Time is but a conduit for an examination of self in creative duo Moorhead and Benson’s unique sci-fi thriller “Synchronic.”
Creative team Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson have an obsession with time: how it moves, how it operates, how it functions in relation to the space we occupy. This curiosity has given rise to three films — Resolution (2012), Spring… Read More ›
Martial arts dramedy “The Paper Tigers” honors the heritage of the genre while exploring the cost of neglected bonds. [Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival]
The phrase “peaceful warrior” will always sound like an oxymoron to those who don’t understand it. The confusion lies in perceiving these terms as in opposition to one another — one can’t be peaceful if one is trained in the… Read More ›