In 2021, Claire Keegan’s novel on the Magdalene laundries Small Things Like These was released to acclaim, going on to be shortlisted for the famous Booker Prize. The turnaround between a book’s release and a film adaptation being made can vary, with some taking years to find their adaptive footing. In the case of Small …
Sundance thrives on a level of strangeness within their films. Some premises are so absurd one wonders if they can be successful. This year’s festival alone offered plenty of surrealist entertainment. Movies like Presence, Loves Lies Bleeding, and Freaky Tales delivered a level of hyper-stylized fantasy. It helped the festival to give audiences …
Annihilation is a 2018 sci-fi horror film directed by Alex Garland and written by Alex Garland and Jeff VanderMeer. VanderMeer also wrote the novel the movie is based on. I love this movie dearly. I was already interested in watching this movie because it features Natalie Portman and Tessa Thompson. But hardly anyone knows about it. And that’s because it …
Sony’s Spider-Man Universe. To say the least, it’s been a mixed bag. Venom, a film I thoroughly enjoyed for its edgelord sensibilities, made a mint at the box office despite negative critical reception. Its sequel, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, fared much better critically and commercially, but Sony’s next take on adapting …
Driving Madeleine (2022) is one of the most lovely films I’ve seen. Directed by Christian Carion, I haven’t seen many people talk about this movie, which makes me sad. The story of Madeleine Keller (Line Renaud), an older woman in Paris taking a last taxi ride thanks to driver Charles (Dany Boom) …
Happy Black History Month! I am back again with four more films I recommend you guys check out during Black History Month that feature black leads. I decided to focus on films that center the black experience. But I recommend films with experiences that are relatable to everyone, even if …
Surviving high school is no easy task, a sentiment that many of us can empathize with. Some thrived in high school, living at the top of the food chain, but it can be grueling if you’re not popular in some respect. Day in, day out, different day, same…well, you get …
Biopics about popular celebrities can be difficult to create, largely in part because they will try to capture the scope of one’s whole life rather than the key elements that made them who they were. It’s not necessarily an incorrect approach to the genre, but for every fun or creative …
Sundance can always be an interesting start to the cinematic year. The festival’s films thrive on teasing audiences about the potential of great movies. In some cases, those films can even lead to prestigious Oscar winners like Coda. That does not mean every Sundance film has to have aspirations for awards. …
You know how people will watch a movie solely because their favorite actor is in it? That is how I fell into the trap of watching He Went That Way, the 2023 crime drama film directed by Jeffrey Darling and written by Evan M. Wiener. It stars Jacob Elordi and Zachary Quinto, so of course, you would assume that this …
The DCEU world has been filled with incredible highs and hellish lows. What began as a strong contender in a battle to compete with the MCU, the DCEU rose quickly before crashing and burning just as fast. Some films, such as Man of Steel, Wonder Woman, and Birds of Prey, stand as testaments …
Director Nuri Bilge Ceylan has been a force to be reckoned with in Turkish cinema. In 2008, the filmmaker stunned everyone with his film Three Monkeys (Üç Maymun), for which he won the Best Director accolade at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. Three years later, Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (Bir Zamanlar Anadolu’da) made everyone …
The Brothers Sun is Netflix’s newest binge-worthy original series. Led by the formidable Michelle Yeoh, and also starring Justin Chien and Sam Song Li, this eight-episode dramedy starts with an expertly coordinated fight scene with Great British Bake Off playing in the background. That’s the perfect way to set the tone and start the series. …
I need to stop watching movies where there is a significant age gap in a “couple” because it is always upsetting to me. There are enough lecherous people in the real world, preying on the admiration of young people, that I don’t need to see that behavior on screen. But …
Director Jesse Eisenberg returned to Sundance this year with his sophomore directorial effort, A Real Pain. The film has already made waves in the industry, with the worldwide rights acquired by Searchlight Pictures for $10 million. This news has made the film hotly anticipated in the movie world, as fans are eager to see …
It’s not every day that you walk away from a movie feeling moved in ways you weren’t expecting when you started it. At least, that’s been the experience for me. However, 2023 was filled with movies that impacted me in ways that I can only begin to describe, which is …
At the beginning of last year’s holiday season, I was lucky enough to see Waitress: The Musical in theaters. This movie is the big screen version of the Broadway production. It features music and lyrics by Sara Bareilles and was adapted for Broadway (and thus the movie screen) by Jessie Nelson. The musical is based on …
Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2024) is a mix of danger, action, and romance that packs a punch. It’s a unique take on the genre, the spy version of a group project from hell with your crush, and is a ton of fun to watch. Mr. & Mrs. Smith is billed …
All Percy Jackson and the Olympians episodes, starring Walker Scobell, Leah Jeffries, and Aryan Simhadri, are now streaming on Disney+. Connor looks at the merits of one-to-one book adaptations and finds that the series lacks some of the books’ magic. When the Chris Columbus-directed movie Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief was released in 2010, young, avid …
Argylle sees Matthew Vaughn return with another silly, over-the-top spy movie. Mercifully, it’s not the Kingsman characters for once and a brand new story for the Kick-Ass filmmaker (Well, kind of). The film has a lot of derivative qualities, but for the most part, Argylle excels in its enjoyable casting and sequences, which are willing to go for …