BARBARIAN is the real deal
Zach Cregger’s BARBARIAN is an unexpected delight, a horror movie that deftly avoids easy scares in favor of more unexpected mounting dread.
Category: Film
The 10 Best Films of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF)
We’re back from this year’s Toronto International Film Festival and after taking in tons of movies, here are the 10 best to look out for!
FRESH bites off more than it can chew
Hulu’s FRESH is an engaging, interesting thriller that struggles to wrestle with some of its darker elements.
THOR: LOVE & THUNDER gets cancer right
THOR: LOVE & THUNDER got a lot of backlash from folks exhausted by the MCU. But does it contain a smarter, more sensitive story than people give it credit for?
THE GRAY MAN is a less interesting BURN NOTICE
THE GRAY MAN, Netflix’s recent attempt at a blockbuster spy thriller from the Russo brothers, would feel more at home on basic cable.
With NOPE, Jordan Peele takes his biggest risk yet by playing it safe
Every now and then, a film comes along that defies everything that came before.
MR. MALCOLM’S LIST is charming but slight
Mr. Malcolm’s List could use a little more passion, but it is otherwise a delightfully charming romantic comedy with a stellar cast.
THE BLACK PHONE stretches a good short story past its breaking point
The latest adaptation from horror writing star Joe Hill, THE BLACK PHONE, takes a solid short story and stretches it into meaninglessness.
MARCEL THE SHELL WITH SHOES ON is a tiny miracle
More than a decade ago, a small anthropomorphic shell with a squeaky voice caught the collective eyes of the internet. Marcel, a shell with crude googley eyes and glued-on shoes, charmed in a series of stop-motion shorts where he described the world from his small point of view: a slice of life mockumentary about how he drives a bug for a car, wears a lentil for a hat, and uses human toenails as skis.
ALICE (2022) takes the easy way out
ALICE tells the semi-true story of an enslaved woman escaping captivity only to find herself in 1970s George. But is it worth your time?
Inside Out Film Festival’s THRIVE Shorts Were Delightful
INSIDE OUT film festival recently wrapped up with the Thrive series, a set of excellent short films about the trans and nonbinary experience.
MEN – shock and awe or shock and blah?
When Alex Garland made the jump from writing to directing, he was one of the few to successfully make the leap. Known for penning acclaimed films like 28 Days Later and Sunshine, Garland’s directorial debut of Ex Machina in 2014 turned heads. And if his follow up – the 2018 adaptation of the novel Annihilation, by Jeff VanderMeer – didn’t outright turn heads, it at least tilted them.
TOP GUN: MAVERICK, further evidence that Tom Cruise is our last great movie star
The long-awaited sequel, Top Gun: Maverick, is just around the corner – and miracle of all miracles, it’s as good as you’ve heard.
SELL/BUY/DATE: A CIFF 46 Review
SELL/BUY/DATE, a loose adaptation of Sarah Jones’ popular one-woman show, hides an anti-sex work polemic behind a documentarian facade.
AMERICANISH: A CIFF 46 Review
AMERICANISH is a solid but overstuffed romantic comedy/culture clash dramedy held together by an immensely charming cast.