What’s New to Stream on Netflix for October 2020

What’s New to Stream on Netflix for October 2020

Some people spend their days arguing over the merits of Netflix, but the rest of us are too busy enjoying new movies, engaging series, and fun specials. It’s just one more way to re-watch the movies we already love and find new ones to cherish, and this month sees some of both hitting the service. The…

YELLOW ROSE Trailer

YELLOW ROSE Trailer

A teenage girl faces crossroads in Yellow Rose, the latest from co-writer and director Diane Paragas. Your teenage years are all about deciding where you want your life to go, but most people don’t have the complications Rose faces. As an undocumented immigrant, her dream of playing country music seems especially out of reach, and…

Pretty Boy Bond: Reflections on the Pierce Brosnan Era

Pretty Boy Bond: Reflections on the Pierce Brosnan Era

The name’s Bond. Bondathon. With twenty-four official James Bond films to conquer before No Time To Die hits theaters, Bond fan Anna Swanson and Bond newbie Meg Shields are diving deep on 007. Martinis shaken and beluga caviar in hand, the Double Take duo are making their way through the Bond corpus by era, so…

NYFF 2020: NIGHT OF THE KINGS: Storytelling Magic

NYFF 2020: NIGHT OF THE KINGS: Storytelling Magic

In the tradition of One Thousand and One Nights, Ivorian filmmaker Philippe Lacôte’s latest narrative feature, Night of the Kings, is an ode to the power of storytelling to transport and transform. Set inside a fictionalized version of a real prison in Abidjan that Lacôte visited as a child when his mother was held there…

NYFF 2020: City Hall

NYFF 2020: City Hall

In a world where much of the focus is on national and international politics, the specifics of local governments remain a mystery. While we, as citizens, have some say in who takes these primary seats of office, those who keep our cities alive go beyond elected officials. What exactly happens at our local hubs and…

DEATH OF ME: Mystical & Terrifying

DEATH OF ME: Mystical & Terrifying

Darren Lynn Bousman is perhaps best known for directing three Saw sequels as well as next year’s eagerly anticipated Spiral: From The Book Of Saw. Before Spiral is unleashed onto the world, Bousman brings us Death Of Me, a mystical, Thailand-set thriller. A Storm Is Coming Starring Maggie Q and Luke Hemsworth, Death Of Me…

NO TIME TO DIE Countdown: THE SPY WHO LOVED ME Revisited

NO TIME TO DIE Countdown: THE SPY WHO LOVED ME 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. Now, this is more like it. In 1974, The Man with the Golden Gun turned out to be a box office disappointment, at least…

Hopeful Existentialism: RUSSIAN DOLL and THE GOOD PLACE

Hopeful Existentialism: RUSSIAN DOLL and THE GOOD PLACE

Since the shift from cable TV to streaming services, we’ve seen an explosion of complex television shows that require the type of chronological viewing unique to our era. Serial TV shows thrive over their more formulaic, episodic counterparts, and they proliferate over myriad streaming services. With this saturation of affordable on-demand content, TV shows have…

Style is Substance in ‘Badlands’

Style is Substance in ‘Badlands’

Amidst the rapturous critical reception that Terrence Malick’s Badlands received upon its 1974 release, one dissenting voice stood out. While Vincent Canby called Malick’s feature debut “a most important and exciting film” in the New York Times, Pauline Kael turned in a scathing review at the New Yorker, breathing fire at everything from the performances…

NYFF 2020: THE HUMAN VOICE: Madness and Melancholy

NYFF 2020: THE HUMAN VOICE: Madness and Melancholy

The names Pedro Almodóvar and Tilda Swinton are individually enough to spark interest in the vast majority of film lovers. (If they don’t, then I honestly question your taste.) But both of those names, together, on the same project? Which happens to be the first-ever English-language film from the renowned Spanish auteur, responsible for such…

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…