How HAMNET sticks the landing

Film

I went into Hamnet cold, aware from the awards-circuit rumors that I could expect a lot of crying, but knowing little else. When I showed up for a screening at the Toronto International Film Festival at 8 in the morning, surrounded by exhausted festival-goers who were running on caffeine fumes and a steady diet of 5 films a day, I half expected I’d struggle to stay awake.

BRING HER BACK joins the Grief-Horror Assembly Line

Film

After Danny and Michael Philippou’s electrifying debut Talk To Me (2022) redefined possession horror with its brilliant blend of anxiety and supernatural dread, anticipation for their follow-up reached considerable heights (at least they did for me). Bring Her Back shoulders the burden of that promise—and unfortunately, shows just how tough it can be to follow a breakthrough first film.

Wolf Man Can’t Teach an Old Dog New Tricks

Film

When Leigh Whannell helmed The Invisible Man in 2020, he transformed a century-old monster story into a searing commentary on domestic abuse and gaslighting. His contemporary reimagining of an abusive man who can’t be seen proved that sometimes horror is most terrifying when it doesn’t feel supernatural at all. With Wolf Man, Whannell faces an even steeper challenge – and unfortunately, this time the transformation isn’t quite as complete.

Godzilla x Kong is part wrestling, part gymnastics

Film

You’ve heard the age-old adage: It’s about the journey, not the destination. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire banks on the opposite being true. It’s an exercise in reverse-engineering, taking a few key end points and mapping out a plot that could possibly get us there. We want a shot of Godzilla and Kong side-by-side and flying through the air in slow-mo while trying to punch an enemy – how do we do that? We want Kong to have a cool mecha-arm – why does he have it? Godzilla should be pink! But how? 

But how? For a movie about prehistoric creatures prancing around the Earth’s crust like it’s the interior of a wrestling ring, it’s a question Godzilla x Kong is surprisingly concerned with.

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