When asked to define the word eephus, many may just give up. The word sounds almost made-up if you do not come from the world of baseball. If you are a fan of the great American pastime, however, an eephus is a known quantity. It is the name for a …
I consider James Hawes’ feature directorial debut, One Life, one of the most memorable films of its release year. Based on the director alone, expectations for his sophomore effort were already high. Add to that The Amateur being a spy thriller starring Rami Malek – whose career-best performance remains his …
Directed by Patricia Riggen (Miracles from Heaven) and written by Caitlin Parrish & Erica Weiss (The View from Tall) and Noah Miller & Logan Miller (White Boy Rick), G20 follows U.S. President Danielle Sutton (Viola Davis) as she tries to prevent a terrorist attack during a G20 summit. When a …
One of the best films ever made is Planes, Trains and Automobiles. It had a lot of comedic elements throughout, and it balanced comedy with bits of humanity. The 1987 film features a bitter man who becomes worn down emotionally by an incessantly friendly traveler. As the movie unfolds, the …
The only flaw in the magnificent The Return is that, by virtue of the casting, the audience is able to predict the plot before the characters can. This is however an extremely small complaint in the grand scheme of an unusually subtle and thoughtful war movie. For one thing, it’s …
Karan Kandhari’s Sister Midnight seems, upon its opening, to be a quotidian domestic drama. Uma (Radhika Apte) has one key problem taking over her life: she and her new husband, Gobal (Ashok Parthak), are not at all compatible. Those who arranged their marriage failed to account for fundamental differences in …
Director Erico Rassi has become one of the most fascinating voices of the newest Brazilian cinema. He combines the classical codes of the Western genre and gives them another significance. In his debut feature, the 2016 Comeback, he narrates the story of a man who lost the magnificence of his …
In 1970, Judy Blume’s eponymous novel Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret was published. The book, a grounded curtail pull on teenage sexuality, was met with indignation by certain literary factions of the USA, going as far as banning the book in certain states over its discussion of menstruation …
This year’s Slamdance Festival featured a film that perfectly blended the horror and humor genres and gave viewers a unique film to cherish on. Yes, we are talking about Woody Bess’ Portal To Hell. This film twists the age-old Faustian bargain into something fresh, unsettling, and deeply thought-provoking. The movie …
Society’s infatuation with social media has grown and evolved over the years. What started with sites connecting long-distance/old friends (looking at you, Facebook) has morphed into something else. The culture constantly compares itself, making it hard for the younger generation to grow without feeling bad about themselves. Such a methodology …
Cinema represents reality by allowing us to imagine ourselves in situations that may seem far from our daily existence. In her directorial debut, Mexican director Urzula Barba Hopfner envisions the life of Corina (Naian González Norvind), an agoraphobic woman. She has an anxiety disorder that affects her when she is …
Throughout its violent process of independence and establishment of national identity, Ireland grew tentatively separating from the colonial exploitation of the British Empire. The Catholic church contributed massively to the societal construction of the Irish; however, it led to a misogynist and oppressed culture in the earliest years. As the …
Unusually, September 5 faced one main question before its release: why has it been made? Well, since the last presidential inauguration, we have our answer. September 5 is one of those biopic-style (but not a documentary) re-enactments of tragic real-world events. Here the disaster is at the 1972 Munich Olympics, …
In his essay Defense of an Adaptation, French film critic and co-founder of the historical film magazine Cahiers du Cinema André Bazin states that a literary adaptation for the cinema is impure. He points out how dependence on another medium affects filmmaking and how leaning over another source material, either …
The number of underrated actresses in today’s industry is so vast that any cinephile can bring a different name to the table and present solid arguments. Personally, one of the names at the top of my list is none other than Ash‘s lead, Eiza González. From Baby Driver to The …
One of the films that generated a lot of buzz at the Sundance Film Festival in 2023 was Magazine Dreams, from writer and director Elijah Bynum. Star Jonathan Majors was definitely on the come up, starring in critically acclaimed pieces like The Last Black Man in San Francisco and Lovecraft Country and playing Kang in the MCU. …
There are only a handful of movies that have managed to capture the horrifying nature of Alzheimer’s. Films such as Still Alice , Away From Her, and The Father talk about this disease and the devastation it causes in a surreal manner. At this year’s Slamdance Film Festival, viewers got …
Leigh Whannell’s Wolf Man, starring Christopher Abbott, Julia Garner, and Matilda Firth arrives on home video this week. The film received mixed reviews from critics (including our Manuel São Bento), but a UHD Blu-ray release is always a reason to celebrate, and this one is no exception. So, let’s take …
Samara Weaving has become a recurring presence in horror, thriller, and action flicks with a touch of dark humor. From The Babysitter to Ready or Not, along with Guns Akimbo and Azrael, the Australian actress has cemented herself as a modern-day final girl, embracing roles that balance stylized violence and …
Long Day’s Journey into Night has been a core of the theatrical canon since its 1956 debut. It won the Pulitzer Prize posthumously for its author, Eugene O’Neill, and has been in worldwide repertory ever since. The role of the mother, Mary Tyrone, is one of the best in the …