Reviews of movies, television, games, and whatever else strikes our fancy.
The main complaint about Clint Barton’s Hawkeye as a character, at least when it comes to the MCU version, is that he’s boring. I’ve never quite thought that myself, but it’s easy to see where it comes from: he’s a spy that shoots good, and in most of the films, that’s kind of all he is.
What the new Disney+ series Hawkeye proposes is: what if that’s ok?
Continue reading “Review: ‘Hawkeye’ premiere episodes are lighthearted fun”
The bar for movies adapted from video games is pretty low. While there’s often a great well of source material to draw from in any given franchise, it is often either adapted too literally or too much is lost in translation, or in some cases, the filmmakers take a giant swing.
Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City is not one of these third films, but it does do one thing that many video-game movies don’t: it knows exactly what it is, and while I wouldn’t go so far as to say that it’s a good movie, that still ain’t nothin’.
Continue reading “Review: ‘Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City’ is probably exactly what some people want in a Resident Evil movie”
When you think of folk horror, your mind goes to certain places: witchcraft, nature, dark spirits. Flee The Light delves into these areas with enthusiasm and a minimal budget.
Continue reading “Blood in the Snow Review: ‘Flee the Light’ is a well-intentioned but underbaked indie folk horror”
There is a fine art to making an excellent bad movie. The kind of movie that never gets a lot of mainstream play but is fodder for young film nerds (like myself) surfing late-night channels looking for some new shock to discover. The Chamber of Terror wants to be one of those films, and it doubles down on most of its reasoning for doing so. The problem is that you can’t make a good bad movie on purpose, which is what these filmmakers must have been trying to do.
Continue reading “Blood in the Snow Review: ‘The Chamber of Terror’ is proof you can’t make a good bad movie on purpose”
In what has quickly become the go-to scenario for indie horror filmmakers, Peppergrass is set amid a pandemic. Characters wear masks, are wary of strangers, and lament the slow collapse of their societies. It’s hard to blame them; the last two years have provided ample inspiration. In this version, a restauranteur and a bar owner go on a road trip to the middle of nowhere on a mission to steal some priceless truffles, a plan that sounds simple enough but will, of course, go awry.
Continue reading “Blood in the Snow Review: ‘Peppergrass’ is a mixed bag”
Of all the ingredients that go into the recipe of a good slasher movie, a compelling and menacing killer is the most important. Freddy Kruger, Jason, Michael Myers, Ghostface all have their own je ne sais quois. With b-movies, you need a premise that will hook the audience early and keep them invested. With Vicious Fun, director Cody Calahan drops an 80s kid into a room with half a dozen archetypal killers having a support group meeting.
I’d say that qualifies as both.
Continue reading “Blood in the Snow Review: ‘Vicious Fun’ is Vicious and Fun”
Long is the battle between man and nature, whether large scale mining or smaller scale resource extraction, humanity destroys that which is green in the pursuit of that which is shiny. An oversimplification, yes, but not an inaccurate one. What The Feast posits is what if nature fought back?
Continue reading “Review: ‘The Feast’ will slow roast you in dread”
It isn’t an understatement to say that the 1998 anime series Cowboy Bebop, directed by Shinichirō Watanabe, written by Keiko Nobumoto, and scored by Yoko Kanno, is a masterpiece. Binding together influences from around our world, in particular noir thrillers like The Big Sleep, westerns like The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly, and science fiction classics like 2001: A Space Odyssey, it became a gateway anime for many –including myself.
Its 26-episode (and one movie) run is far more approachable than most anime series. Despite its near-flung future setting –where the earth is ruined, and the solar system colonized–, Cowboy Bebop became a stone-cold classic of the genre that holds up to this day.
It’s only natural that someone would want to remake it as a live-action series; the only surprise here is how long it took to do so. With such an intricate world and iconic characters, adapting it was never going to be easy. Still, while Netflix has wrangled a promising cast and put a ton of money into re-creating the future of the anime series, they managed to miss the mark.
Continue reading “Review: ‘Cowboy Bebop’ recreates the look, but not the feel, of the classic anime series it’s based on”
Kate and her daughter are in hiding. They live in a farmhouse, far from anyone and everyone, but mainly from Beth’s father, who was recently arrested for the murder of one of Beth’s young friends. They’re in the witness protection program, and while Kate is happy to be away, Beth is buckling under the weight of all the downtime.
One night, their past comes calling in the form of a home invasion. The cat and mouse game that ensues is mostly good, except that you will see the ending coming from a mile away.
Continue reading “Blood in the Snow Review: ‘Motherly’ works as a cat and mouse thriller, despite a predictable ending”
Every city has its film culture, and every film culture has its devotees of the weird, the wonderful, ad the out there. In their new book Warped & Faded: Weird Wednesday and the Birth of the American Genre Film Archive, Austin Film Society (and former Alamo Drafthouse) programmer Lars Nilsen (with help from many Austin film lovers) explores that particular niche in Austin, Texas.
Continue reading “Book Review: ‘Warped & Faded: Weird Wednesday and the Birth of the American Genre Film Archive’ examines a specific film nerd subculture”
A ghost is, in most tellings, the spirit of a person with unfinished business on earth. Sometimes that business is vengeance; sometimes it’s simply an inability to let go. In Double Walker, it’s both.
Continue reading “Review: ‘Double Walker’ balances on a tight rope between genres, and (mostly) succeeds”
Passing feels like it might be the most appropriate to the format in a year full of exceptionally shot black and white films. Chronicling the story of two black women in the 1920s –one of whom is passing for white, and all the complications that entail, it’s a heartbreaking story elevated by the central performances from Tessa Thompson and Ruth Negga.
Continue reading “Review: ‘Passing’; Rebecca Hall’s directorial debut is a heart-rending film with two exceptional performances”
Breaking into the music business is difficult work. Weeks, months, and years of gigging and living poor are often the story, and they are again with Australia’s self-proclaimed queen of Honky Tonk, Wanita. The determined but divisive character has spent her entire life trying to break big in country music in Australia. But, despite possessing a voice specifically tuned to the classic style, she’s had trouble getting out of her own way.
Continue reading “Raindance ’21 Review: ‘I’m Wanita’ highlights how hard it is to achieve dreams, but that doesn’t make it worth giving up”
How does one end up in a cult? It’s a question we’ve all asked ourselves at some point. How does someone end up entirely under the sway of another person’s will? The Shrink Next Door can’t answer that question for everyone, but it can answer it for Marty Markowitz, a successful but anxiety-ridden new york businessman who ended up in the thrall of his psychiatrist for nearly thirty years.
As with many shows that are based on real-life, the story is almost too much to be believed. Markowitz (played by Will Ferrell), struggling with his business and an ex-girlfriend, seeks therapy from Dr Isaac “Ike” Herschkopf (Paul Rudd). Herschkopf’s methods immediately stand out as skirting the line of professional ethics –he literally tells off the ex-girlfriend, in person, while Marty stands there nearly helpless– but Marty is enamoured. “People take advantage of you,” Herschkopf says, “but not anymore. I am going to take care of you.”
It wouldn’t be a series of things didn’t get weird. These eight episodes of television chronicle just how deeply Herschkopf ingratiated himself into Marty’s life, and serve to showcase excellent performances from stars Paul Rudd and Will Ferrell.
Continue reading “Review: ‘The Shrink Next Door’ is a showcase for Paul Rudd and Will Ferrell”
Horror is one of the essential genes we have, even though it’s treated as an afterthought by awards bodies and film snobs. It is one of the genres of film that sees the most creativity and one that, when deployed right, can shine light onto areas of our world in more interesting and relatable ways.
Where’s Rose is one of these.
Continue reading “Raindance ’21 Review: ‘Where’s Rose’ is creepy, socially relevant horror”
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