First up, a popular group focused on a very tiny shared purpose, meet Macro Mondays. As with most challenge groups, you can find the group description and rules right up front, on the group overview page, so you can see if this group is a fit for you. One of the key components to a…
Why Open Spaces Are a Big Deal Aaron Yates, a landscape photographer from Kerrvillephoto.com, summed it up perfectly: “Without public and Open Spaces, photography services would be limited, and fine art landscape photography would almost cease to exist as we know it.” What We Learned About Photographers and Open Spaces To get these insights, Flickr,…
Phantoms [4K UHD, Scream Factory] What is it? An ancient evil rises from the earth. Why see it? Dean Koontz’s Phantoms was the very first of his novels I ever read, and it remains a favorite of mine. This adaptation from the 90s should have been something special, but instead the Weinsteins made one poor…
By Rob Hunter · Published on July 15th, 2024 Welcome to Commentary Commentary, where we sit and listen to filmmakers talk about their work, then share the most interesting parts. In this edition, Rob Hunter revisits the newest feature from Radio Silence, with their commentary for this year’s Abigail. When it comes to the filmmaking collective known as…
By Rob Hunter · Published on May 3rd, 2024 Welcome to Commentary Commentary, where we sit and listen to filmmakers talk about their work, then share the most interesting parts. In this edition, Rob Hunter revisits the successful but much maligned Bullet Train with a commentary from its director. David Leitch and Chad Stahelski are the two big…
The Abyss [4K UHD] What is it? An underwater oil rig crew encounters something extraordinary. Why see it? Odds are you already know and love this film, but on the off chance it’s new to you allow me to tempt you with a thrilling adventure, huge emotional swings, stellar performances by Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth…
Five seasons in, one gets the sense that Noah Hawley’s Fargo is in danger of repeating itself. By Valerie Ettenhofer · Published on January 5th, 2024 Welcome to Previously On, a column keeping an eye on the latest returning TV shows. In this edition, Valerie Ettenhofer reviews the fifth season of FX’s Fargo. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect…
By Meg Shields · Published on January 5th, 2024 Welcome to Horrorscope, a monthly column keeping horror nerds and initiates up to date on all the horror content coming to and leaving your favorite streaming services. Here’s what horror to stream in January 2024: New year, same tenacious desire to watch as many horror movies as possible….
Our picks for the best action of 2023 come from six different countries and include originals, sequels, and maybe even a monster movie? By Rob Hunter · Published on December 29th, 2023 This article is part of our 2023 Rewind. Follow along as we explore the best action movies of 2023 from all around the world. Read moreA Guide…
Columbo: The 70s – Seasons 1-7 [KL Studio Classics] What is it? The first seven seasons of one of the great detective shows. Why see it? Peter Falk headlines this fantastic series as Lieutenant Columbo, a dogged detective with the Los Angeles Police Department with a habit of talking his way through every case to…
“I’m not letting you do this. I’m not letting you take this from me.” Falling Forward Films has revealed an official trailer for an indie psychological thriller titled Some Other Woman, the latest film directed by the actor Joel David Moore (most well known as Norm in the Avatar movies). He directed a few other…
Mark Wahlberg has displayed enough comic timing and action chops in previous work that it makes perfect sense that he would get one of those flicks that blend the world of espionage with suburban family tropes a la the excellent “True Lies” or even the underrated “Nobody.” There’s something about seeing an average family man become…
With writing credits on acclaimed series like “Watchmen,” “The Good Place,” and “Master of None,” Cord Jefferson has demonstrated an exceptional grasp of tone and a willingness to engage with complicated, profound questions of race, meaning, identity, and integrity. His first film as writer and director, “American Fiction,” is based on Percival Everett’s 2001 novel, Erasure. Read moreA Guide…
Though it’s been seven months, I remain haunted by “The Zone of Interest.” When I first watched writer-director Jonathan Glazer’s radical take on the Holocaust back in May, I couldn’t quite pinpoint what was so startling about it. There have been many films on this horrific chapter in history—from “Night and Fog” to “Schindler’s List”…
By Rob Hunter · Published on December 12th, 2023 Welcome to Commentary Commentary, where we sit and listen to filmmakers talk about their work, then share the most interesting parts. In this edition, Rob Hunter revisits Renny Harlin’s big action sequel, Die Hard 2. John McTiernan’s Die Hard (1988) remains an all-timer in the action genre and in…
The Critics Choice Association’s Celebration of Cinema and Television honoring Black, Latino, and AAPI (Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders) achievements occurred at the Fairmont Century Plaza this past Monday evening, Dec. 4, 2023, in Los Angeles, California. The celebration is typically a lively and joyous occasion, and this year was especially so due to combining…
It’s hard to imagine an American comic book movie that’s as proudly naïve and nostalgic as the fizzy Bollywood musical “The Archies,” which relocates the happy stock characters of “Archie” comics to a fantasy version of mid-‘60s India. It’s harder still to imagine another achingly sincere and light-hearted comic book adaptation that doesn’t also slavishly…
“I’m not a serial killer, I’m somebody who solves a problem for somebody else.” Yep. Netflix has debuted a 3-minute behind-the-scenes look at David Fincher’s The Killer, his assassin thriller from this year that’s now streaming on Netflix worldwide. Fincher is notoriously quiet about the behind-the-scenes, so it’s nice to get any time with him…
Folk singer Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaac) is auditioning for Bud Grossman (F. Murray Abraham) in a last-ditch effort to salvage his fading chances of making it as a folk singer. This single pivotal scene defines what the Coen Brothers superb “Inside Llewyn Davis” is all about. During his audition toward the end of the film,…
Some things never change, according to the song that opens this film of the Broadway stage production. But as the final song reminds us, some things do change, and what happens between are the kinds of changes that happen to us and the changes we make happen. The Tony-nominated musical is based on a beloved 2007…
Celebrate the holidays with some ho-ho-horror movies. By Meg Shields · Published on December 7th, 2023 Welcome to Horrorscope, a monthly column keeping horror nerds and initiates up to date on all the horror content coming to and leaving your favorite streaming services. Here’s what to watch in December 2023: Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong…
In which Todd Haynes goes full Pedro Almodóvar and never looks back. By Meg Shields · Published on December 7th, 2023 There is a moment early in the set-dressing of May December when my jaw swung open like the doors of a well-loved saloon. On paper, it’s nothing out of the ordinary: a caress between a married…
“I don’t always feel like the most reliable source…” Gravitas posted the official trailer for this indie horror creation called Soft Liquid Center, made by a filmmaking duo called “Perry Home Video“. It premiered at a few fests earlier this year, including at the RiverRun & Chattanooga Film Festivals, with a VOD release set for…
A little over halfway through “Saltburn”—writer/director Emerald Fennell’s early aughts-set class study—it’s clear the jig is up. Wealthy golden boy Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi) takes the shape-shifting Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan) on a road trip to what he believes is a broken household helmed by a drunken, destitute mother. Winding down country roads in Felix’s…
You do a disservice to Werner Herzog’s movies—and maybe Herzog himself—by uncritically reducing them to extensions of his singular personality, known predominantly in American pop culture as a whimsical mythomaniac with a funny accent. To their credit, the makers of the artist’s profile documentary “Werner Herzog: Radical Dreamer” interview some of Herzog’s collaborators, including a…
“They will be remembered.” Master Chief is back!! Fire up the first look teaser trailer for the exciting second season of the live-action Halo series on Paramount+. Much like the other epic sci-fi series Foundation on Apple TV+, it looks like they’re kicking things up quite a few notches for Season 2, going even bigger…
Godzilla turns 70 next year, and to celebrate, his parent company Toho Studios waited until the end of this year to release the most conventional Godzilla movie in recent memory. “Godzilla Minus One” may also be the most sobering and least flamboyant Japanese-produced Godzilla movie since the original 1954 nuclear lizard disaster pic (though “Godzilla…
When I got to Boston in the winter of 2008 for schooling, I knew almost no one. I had family that I roomed with for a semester and took it as my burden that by living an hour’s train ride away, it wouldn’t be feasible or realistic to try and do much in the city, and…
“Family Switch” is a Dad Joke of a movie, genially corny but enjoying its corniness so much that it invites us to enjoy it, too. It is a body-switching movie where a character assures everyone, “This is a completely unique and original situation that has literally never happened before,” followed by a series of lightly…
A familiar voice cast returns for this bold, heartfelt, self-referential new take on a much-loved story. By Valerie Ettenhofer · Published on November 28th, 2023 Reboot, remake, revival, reimagining, legacy sequel: there are a half-dozen names for the surprising second comings of beloved and mediocre franchises alike, but none of them describe the precise alchemy of Scott…
The story of Maureen Kearney is one of the most confounding scandals of the present day. Kearney was a labor representative for workers in the French nuclear industry. In the early part of the 2010s, the Irish-born Kearney discovered dealings that would throw France’s nuclear sector into the hands of Chinese interests> one of many…
Only the living care about the cost of revenge. By Rob Hunter · Published on November 27th, 2023 John Woo may not be a big name for current filmgoing audiences — and to be fair, it’s been twenty years since his last wide theatrical release in the U.S. — but action fans know that he’s the real…
“Where did the money come from?” Another official trailer has arrived for the Hong Kong film called The Goldfinger, which is exactly what is listed (in English) in the title card of this trailer. The film is also going under the title Once Upon a Time in Hong-Kong, written and directed by the filmmaker Felix…
It could be argued that Oscar winner Julianne’s Moore’s finest hours are in her leading roles with writer/director Todd Haynes. From her ability to pull off a scene with emotional theatrics to sell her character’s turmoil to how she can shatter the viewer with a glance or a line reading, Haynes–a visionary who emphasizes character…
Just over 25 years after the debut of the original film, Nickelodeon reignited the nostalgic cult flame with the Paramount+ release of “Good Burger 2.” Dexter (Kenan Thompson) is a failed entrepreneur, and after his latest business venture literally goes up in flames, he returns to Good Burger hoping for a crutch from Ed (Kel…
“Why do I pull out my hair?” That’s the question Kelly typed into Google one day while in lockdown. And she ended up on a journey into the depths of the internet, spiraling around the hallowed halls of Google. Trichotillomania! is an animated short made by filmmaker Kelly Schiesswohl (aka “kelly4.me“) based in NYC. It’s…