As a film critic there is nothing better than watching a stimulating film. Something that feeds the mind and gives you nights of discussion with fellow cinephiles were one can debate the symbolism or message of a certain work or filmmaker. You know what else is great? watching a film that reminds you of the fun you’ve had as a kid or a teenager, a film that seeps into your memory and becomes a ... more >
Archives for October 2020
ARCHIVES
One truth and one prediction for ya: “Wolfman’s Got Nards” starts streaming today and fans of 1987 horror classic “The Monster Squad” will be all over it
Exploring the cult movie from soup to nuts
Shane Black and Fred Dekker
Directed by Andre Gower
Coherent and intense horror indie “Fishbowl” started streaming on Tuesday. We got a sit-down with the brother-sister team who directed it and this is what they said
"I like a slow burn, where you take [something] realistic and maybe exaggerate it a little bit" (S. Kinigopoulos)
Stephen and Alexa Kinigopoulos wanted to make a movie where they came from. The siblings, who co-directed the new psychological thriller “Fishbowl,” grew up near Baltimore, and so when they were seeking a setting for their film, they simply cast their gaze out the window. “When you’re surrounded by those locations every day, you maybe see them differently. And it’s always great to shoot in ... more >
Some thoughts on the pedestrian Ben Wheatley-directed “Rebecca” (hint: we did not like it all that much)
The legacy of a life cut short
Armie Hammer and Lily James
Directed by Ben Wheatley
The new Netflix produced “Rebbeca” is a film haunted by the very present ghost of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1940 Oscar-winning namesake, also adapted from Daphne du Maurier’s 1938 gothic novel. Armie Hammer, who is carving out an interesting career for himself and who can be great, is much too wooden in his portrayal of the dashing and wealthy heir Maxim de Winter. Maxim cannot overcome nor recover ... more >
“Borat Subsequent Moviefilm,” or when our favorite dunce throws a wrench in the works for everyone’s delight
Wear mask. Save live.
Sacha Baron Cohen, Irina Novak and Luenell
Directed by Jason Woliner
Who knew we needed Borat as much as we apparently did? Well, welcome once again to 2020, a year that continues to surprise and anger in so many multitudinous ways that counting the reasons why has long since stopped being either fun or funny. But there’s probably no better time to laugh at how ridiculous everything is than now, and for that we can “thank” Sacha Baron Cohen. Cohen has ... more >
Mystery-tinged historical thriller “Fanxiao” (“Detention”) harks back to a dark period of Taiwan’s history
1 Production Film; Filmagic Pictures Co.; Gamania Digital Entertainment Company
Gingle Wang, Meng-Po Fu and Jing-Hua Tseng
Directed by John Hsu
Taiwanese director John Hsu’s first feature length film is a political statement disguised as a historical thriller tinged with moments of horror. “Fanxiao” (“Detention” in the Mandarin original) is a compelling and generally effective hybrid that walks its characters through the hell of existing in a dystopian society while confronting the difficulties of their reality. Fang Ray-Shin and ... more >
The cast is heavies central and Aaron Sorkin directs, are you thinking what we’re thinking? “The Trial of the Chicago 7”
This film is airing currently
Eddie Redmayne, Alex Sharp and Sacha Baron Cohen
Directed by Aaron Sorkin
Some critics have faulted as “too good” the new Aaron Sorkin film aired on Netflix after a short theater run. To be sure, it can be considered slick. It’s about the trial of the leaders of the unrest in Chicago during the August 1968 Democratic Party’s convention in Chicago by yippies, hippies, Black Panther and generally unkempt many thousands gathered in Chicago’s Lincoln Park. “Chicago 7” may ... more >
Driving upstate and the world ends, “Save yourselves!”
Sunita Mani, John Reynolds and Ben Sinclair
Keshet Studios; Last Rodeo Studios; Washington Square Films
Directed by Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson
“Save Yourselves” is a blend of indie relationship comedy, social commentary, and sci-fi/horror that is a unique and quirky little pleasure to help get you through the chaotic year that is 2020. As Kyoshi Kurosawa did so well in his prophetic 2001 Japanese horror film “Kairo” (“Pulse”), this film warns against the dangers of disconnecting; from the world, from our families, and from ourselves. Too ... more >