Ryan Murphy‘s Hollywood is an alternate history of Tinseltown in its Golden Age, a fantasy narrative in which the underdogs and the minorities win the respect they never got in our own timeline. Now we are able to relive the glamour of the 1940s while watching a wildly different story than we’re used to. The worldbuilding…
Steven Spielberg‘s Indiana Jones films are, quite simply, some of the most beloved action movies ever committed to celluloid. The franchise acts as a four-film highlight reel of every pre-show Saturday serial ever made, in other words: it’s just plain fun. Photography on Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984),…
Hulu has been stuck in the third-place position when it comes to movie streaming behind Netflix and Amazon Prime because most people still see them strictly as a home for next-day television. They have movies too, though, and more than a few of them are gems that make Hulu a destination beyond last night’s TV…
Welcome to this week in home video! Pick of the Week Butt Boy What is it? A hard detective investigates the abduction of a young boy. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonWhy see it? Here’s the thing. This is a sincere film about a cop with issues chasing a killer with a…
This edition of Movies to Watch After… recognizes the direct and indirect cinematic roots of Extraction as we recommend fans go back and learn some film history, become more well-rounded viewers, and enjoy likeminded works of the past, even if it’s the fairly recent past. As always, we try to point you in the easiest…
Welcome to 4:3 & Forgotten — a weekly column in which Kieran Fisher and I get to look back at TV terrors that scared adults (and the kids they let watch) across the limited airwaves of the ’70s. The late, great Robert Bloch remains best known as the creator of Psycho (1960) as it was his novel from the…
Cannabis isn’t the reefer madness your grandma made you believe! Welcome to Higher Education, a column that investigates – and destigmatizes – marijuana in movies and TV. While cannabis has been consumed for centuries, we don’t have a lot of first-hand accounts of what stoners enjoyed doing while high before the 1960s, outside of what…
Welcome to Filmographies, a biweekly column for completists. Every edition brings a new actor’s resumé into focus as we learn about what makes them so compelling. In all the resume dissections featured in Filmographies so far, this column has yet to really delve into the work of the most blockbuster-adjacent of actors (bar indie favorites…
This edition of Movies to Watch After… recognizes the direct and indirect cinematic roots of Sergio as we recommend fans go back and learn some film history, become more well-rounded viewers, and enjoy likeminded works of the past, even if it’s the fairly recent past. As always, we try to point you in the easiest…
Welcome to this week in home video! Pick of the Week When the Wind Blows [Synapse Kids] What is it? An elderly married couple cope with nuclear winter. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonWhy see it? Everyone knows about Threads and The Day After, but for my money this mid 80s animated…
What’s in a name? A lot apparently. Spider-Man: Homecoming was a cute little nod of a title, winking at an audience eager to have Spider-Man back in the fold of the Marvel Cinematic Universe while also acknowledging he’s a high school hero. Spider-Man: Far From Home works given the plot driving the movie, but it’s…
Netflix. The streaming platform has ingrained itself more fully in our collective consciousness than perhaps any other technology in the past five years. It’s a part of our lexicon (who hasn’t heard of ”Netflix and chill”?). It’s a way to socialize (see: the massive popularity of the Netflix Party Chrome extension). Netflix has become so…
If Hollywood did anything right during the studio era, it was escapism. We’re lucky enough to get to watch the fantastic musicals and comedies of that time whenever we may need them. For the days when we are stuck inside, there are no better movies than those that make you sing and dance. And no…
Welcome to The Prime Sublime, a weekly column dedicated to the underseen and underloved films buried beneath page after page of far more popular fare on Amazon’s Prime Video collection. We’re not just cherry-picking obscure titles, though, as these are movies that we find beautiful in their own, often unique ways. You might even say we…
Cannabis isn’t the reefer madness your grandma made you believe! Welcome to Higher Education, a column that investigates – and destigmatizes – marijuana in movies and TV. A decade ago, I wrote my college senior thesis on marijuana law reform. I thought that, when compared to alcohol and based on the proven medicinal benefits, that…
When Charles Band and Full Moon Features announced Corona Zombies, the internet threw a bit of a fit. Chris Alexander, the writer/director/musician and an all-around good dude who works closely with Band on his various ventures, shared the news on his Facebook page and was met with a collective response of “now is not the…
Ending Explained is a recurring series in which we explore the finales, secrets, and themes of interesting movies and shows, both new and old. In this entry, we dive into the Parasite ending. So, you finally saw Parasite. All 132 glorious minutes of Bong Joon-ho‘s Oscar-winning work of tragicomic genius. Let’s discuss that ending already….
Things are looking pretty bleak. We’re all trapped indoors. We’re starved for outside entertainment, and we’re begging film studios to drop their theatrical plan and rescue us through their streaming platforms. It’s a weird era, one that Netflix and other companies seek to take advantage of while our attention is guaranteed. Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem…
Since making waves in 2011 with his Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner Like Crazy, filmmaker Drake Doremus has carved out a remarkable niche for himself in the American indie scene. He has a knack for elegantly capturing intimacy onscreen, as shown with such films as Breathe In and Equals. In addition, he recently dipped his…
Movies are infections. Or, at least, the good ones are. They come in through your eyes, and root around in your brain; from there, they poison the bloodstream, seeping into every particle of your being. Days, months, years, decades go by, but the best films remain inside. Before I experienced David Cronenberg, I was a…
Welcome to this week in home video! Pick of the Week Tin Cup [Warner Archive] What is it? A has-been gets a second chance at life and love. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonWhy see it? Golf is a boring ass sport to watch, and that’s just one of the reasons why…