LET’S SCARE JULIE: A One-Take Bore

LET’S SCARE JULIE: A One-Take Bore

Films claimed to be shot in one long, continuous take are often wondrous technical achievements, from Hitchcock’s Rope to Sam Mendes’ war epic 1917. Most of these contain several hidden cuts in order to preserve the illusion and to make it logistically easier to achieve. source: Shout! Studios Rolling a camera for 90 minutes uninterrupted…

THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7 Trailer

THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7 Trailer

Protesting goes before the court in The Trial of the Chicago 7, the latest from writer/director Aaron Sorkin. Much like today, the ’60s was a time when America was showing its warts. The Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War had given people plenty of reasons to get out in the streets and protest, and by…

What to Watch Next if You Like ‘Enola Holmes’

What to Watch Next if You Like ‘Enola Holmes’

Welcome to Movie DNA, a column that recognizes the direct and indirect cinematic roots of new movies. Learn some film history, become a more well-rounded viewer, and enjoy likeminded works of the past. This entry recommends movies to watch after Enola Holmes. With adaptations and inspired works going back to the dawn of cinema, Sherlock Holmes…

NYFF 2020: MLK/ FBI

NYFF 2020: MLK/ FBI

When looking back on history, there is a plethora of knowledge and perspectives that have still yet to be tackled. And only by truly seeing the entire picture can we understand the past and move forward with the future. Though, with racism, sexism, and oppression in place, many stories have remained untold and unknown to…

Dario Argento: The King of Giallo

Dario Argento: The King of Giallo

Welcome to Carnage Classified, a monthly column where we break down the historical and social influence of all things horror, then rank the films of each month’s category accordingly. Franchises, movements, filmmakers, subgenres, etc. This entry is about Dario Argento’s giallo films and includes a ranking of his six best from the subgenre! There’s something…

NYFF 2020: THE MONOPOLY OF VIOLENCE

NYFF 2020: THE MONOPOLY OF VIOLENCE

The balance of power and the legitimacy of violence has been shifting for some time throughout the world and the challenge of defining illegal force has been building, growing into a cry for change. As citizens of a state, country, or republic, we give the power to the institution, yet we have no power to…

NO TIME TO DIE Countdown: THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN Revisited

NO TIME TO DIE Countdown: THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN Revisited

In the No Time To Die Countdown, Jake Tropila takes a look back at every Bond film – official and unofficial – in anticipation of the release of the latest entry. I’ll be the first to admit that these Bond revisits have been largely agreeable affairs, bordering on being excessively effusive in praise. Sure, things…

Nostalgia Done Right In COBRA KAI

Nostalgia Done Right In COBRA KAI

A couple of years ago, I learned that The Karate Kid would be rebooted as a television series. Like others of a certain age that grew up with a particular property, I had my doubts. Rebooting or bringing back a franchise, whatever you want to call it, is a risky move. You have to appeal both to…

REPOSSESSION: Finally, Some Middling Horror For The Upper Class

REPOSSESSION: Finally, Some Middling Horror For The Upper Class

At several points, while watching Repossession, the work of co-directors Ming Siu Goh and Scott C. Hillyard, I had to ask myself: “Did that really just happen?” These lapses in the understanding of timeline and plot seem at times intentional – often during unexpected flashback sequences that suggest something is amiss with the outwardly straightforward…

AGENTS OF CHAOS: The US Election-Themed Film You Must See

AGENTS OF CHAOS: The US Election-Themed Film You Must See

As Abraham Lincoln once famously said, don’t believe everything you read on the internet. You have to be savvy in the Information Age, and the garish katzenjammer of fake news, clickbait and “alternative facts” makes a battle out of separating the wheat from the chaff. I’m skeptical about a lot of things on the world…

THE WOLF OF SNOW HOLLOW Trailer

THE WOLF OF SNOW HOLLOW Trailer

There’s a monster afoot (apaw?) in The Wolf of Snow Hollow, the latest from writer/director Jim Cummings. John already had enough going on before people started getting ripped apart. A sobriety battle, an aging father, and the joys of a teenage daughter were keeping him plenty busy, then strange murders started happening in his otherwise quiet town….

‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’ Was Will Smith’s Acting School

‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’ Was Will Smith’s Acting School

Acting is an art form, and behind every iconic character is an artist expressing themselves. Welcome to The Great Performances, a bi-weekly column exploring the art behind some of film and television’s greatest characters. This time, we turn the spotlight to Will Smith’s breakout role on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Will Smith starred in The…

FILM TITLE POEM: Matching Experimental Charms With Cynical Cinephilia

FILM TITLE POEM: Matching Experimental Charms With Cynical Cinephilia

Movies love the movies. From Man with a Movie Camera to Schizopolis, many iconic films are drenched in cinephilia and self-referentiality. But no movie loves movies as much as Film Title Poem, a 67-minute experimental traversal of film history, both canonical and personal, entirely by way of title cards. Watching Jennifer West’s Film Title Poem…

ENOLA HOLMES: No Mystery To This Charmer’s Success

ENOLA HOLMES: No Mystery To This Charmer’s Success

Oh no, not a reboot of an existing universe with a female-centric spin. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, except that it’s a well-trod and fraught approach, one with naysayers coming from all sides. When it’s not the vocal few who seemingly hate women in their universes (gag me) torpedoing a perfectly fine movie…

SPONTANEOUS Trailer

SPONTANEOUS Trailer

The kids are not all right in Spontaneous, the directorial debut of Brian Duffield. They’re not okay because a bunch of high school kids are blowing up. Popping, as one character puts it as if a mysterious illness is spreading and causing the messy tragedies. In the meantime, they’re still teenagers, blithely going about their business…

Teenage Horrors Become Our Pick of the Week

Teenage Horrors Become Our Pick of the Week

Streaming might be the future, but physical media is still the present. It’s also awesome, depending on the title, the label, and the release, so each week we take a look at the new Blu-rays and DVDs making their way into the world. Welcome to this week in Home Video for September 22nd, 2020! Our pick…

Video Dispatches: ALPHABET CITY, GEMINI, EuroSleaze and More

Video Dispatches: ALPHABET CITY, GEMINI, EuroSleaze and More

Video Dispatches is a regular column covering recent home video releases. Alphabet City (1984) – Fun City Editions Alphabet City (1984) – Fun City Editions Fun City Editions (FCE) is a new boutique label working under Vinegar Syndrome that purports to be “focused on reissues of maverick repertory cinema and music that can best be…

WE BARE BEARS: THE MOVIE: A Most Adorable Social Commentary

WE BARE BEARS: THE MOVIE: A Most Adorable Social Commentary

Since its premiere on Cartoon Network in 2014, We Bare Bears showed the more playful side of modern interaction, be it meme culture, dating, creating a viral social media presence, or simply making new friends all through the eyes of three unlikely characters; Grizz, a happy-go-lucky brown bear, along with his brothers Panda, a love-sick…