This is a banner for a review of Sisu 2: Road to Revenge. Image courtesy of the filmmakers.

Sisu: Road to Revenge – Depraved, Gruesome and Ridiculous, But Viscerally Entertaining

Jalmari Helander’s blood-soaked Sisu was a true hidden gem. A Finnish answer John Wick or Rambo, the title is a fitting one: it comes from a Finnish concept with no exact English translation, yet roughly means a unique kind of resilience that allows one to overcome the most extreme of …

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Interview: Director Stephen Shimek talks ‘Murder at the Embassy’

Director Stephen Shimek recently sat down with us to discuss Murder at the Embassy, his new film that’s out now in theaters and on demand. It’s a murder mystery set in 1930s Cairo starring Mischa Barton along with Mido Hamada and Richard Dillane. It’s the second installment in the Miranda …

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This is a review of the book Batman: Revolution.

‘Batman: Revolution’ Book Review: John Jackson Miller’s Excellent Adventure

Gotham is still reeling from Joker’s attack on the city last year. Crime hasn’t gotten any better even with Batman swinging around and the city is like a fire looking for a match. And the Riddler is set to be that match. Backed by the Servants of Freedom, a paramilitary …

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Interview: Mido Hamada talks filming in Egypt and more for ‘Murder at the Embassy’

Travel back to 1930s Cairo in this exclusive interview with Mido Hamada, who discusses his role as the skeptical Head of Security Mamoud in the new murder mystery film Murder at the Embassy with Mischa Barton. It’s the second installment in the Miranda Green series and is a delightfully fun …

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‘Predator: Badlands’ Movie Review: Dan Trachtenberg Earns the Franchise Keys by Flipping the Hunt

I confess my expectations for a new entry in this saga were modest before Predator: Badlands, despite Dan Trachtenberg (Prey) returning. While Prey excelled at simplifying the formula and returning to basics, the ambition to completely shift the franchise’s point of view — transforming the antagonist into the protagonist — …

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‘Cain and Abel’ Film Review: A Brocka Tale At Once Biblical And Brutal

Made in 1982, restored and remastered by ABS-CBN Film Restoration Project in 2016, and released by Kani Releasing on Blu-ray in 2022, Lino Brocka’s Cain and Abel now plays on The Criterion Channel as part of the streaming service’s retrospective on the acclaimed Filipino director.  A two-fisted riff on the …

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‘Motor City’ Film Review: Alan Ritchson’s 70’s Stunt Spectacular

There is a fascinating new trend in cinema gathering steam: action movies with hardly any dialogue. Finland’s Sisu from 2022 shows Nazis being slaughtered without saying much about it, while America’s No One Will Save You from 2023 has a young woman fighting off an alien attack. And now Detroit …

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‘Marvel Zombies’ Review: A Rushed, Hollow Echo of a Great Idea

The new Disney+ series Marvel Zombies builds on a single episode from season one of What If…?, What If…Zombies?, which first imagined a world where Earth’s Mightiest Heroes had become its greatest threat. Directed by Bryan Andrews and written by Zeb Wells, the four-episode miniseries introduces a new group of …

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‘One Battle After Another’ Movie Review: A Star Is Born in One of the Year’s Best and Most Important Films

Of all the hype bubbles that form around the first reactions to a new release, One Battle After Another generated some of the most effusive of this century. And I mean that almost literally, since many of those reactions contained the pull-quote-ready taglines that marketing departments love so much — …

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‘Nobody 2’ Movie Review: Bob Odenkirk Returns in an Action Sequel That Knows Its Audience

When Nobody (2021) premiered, it was received as a sort of distant cousin to John Wick, but with its own identity rooted mainly in the unexpected charisma of Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul) and the spot-on balance between action, violence, and humor. Four years later, the sequel arrives under the …

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‘Murderbot’ Season 1, Episode 10 Review & Recap: The Perimeter

Upon the news that Murderbot has been renewed for a second series, we can all breathe more easily. This first series is the demonstration of how the Pinocchio became a real boy, or in this case, a genderless sentient construct that, without its armor, looks like an augmented human. But …

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‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Review: Netflix’s Top Animated Movie is a Visual and Sonic Smash

KPop Demon Hunters, the latest musical adventure from Sony Pictures Animation, is, in many respects, a global hit. Released in mid-June, the title is officially the most-watched animated movie of all time on Netflix, its distributor. Currently, the film sits comfortably at No. 2 on the streaming service’s Global Top …

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‘Murderbot’ Season 1, Episode 9 Review & Recap: All Systems Red

Finally we have reached the episode named after the novel from which the TV show Murderbot is adapted, although it’s only the penultimate one. The ways in which the differing plot strands twist together is incredibly impressive, not least in the amount of damage Murderbot (Alexander Skarsgård) suffers: the face …

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Fantasia 2025: ‘Redux Redux’ Film Review: Michaela McManus Travels the Multiverse in this Striking Grief Indie

It feels like every movie I’ve seen at this year’s Fantasia International Film Festival turns into an instant favorite, from A Grand Mockery, a hypnotic Super 8mm avant-garde trip from Sam Dixon and Adam C. Briggs, to Anything That Moves, an inventively transgressive Giallo/Bomba picture courtesy of Alex Phillips. Every …

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‘Murderbot’ Season 1, Episode 8: Foreign Object

Brothers Chris and Paul Weitz are maintaining the breakneck pacing of this show with what seems like the greatest of ease. As the mysterious enemy finally becomes clearer, there is at least enough respite to allow Bharadwaj (Tamara Podemski) to operate on Gurathin (David Dastmalchian), and for the throuple subplot …

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‘Murderbot’ Season 1, Episode 7: Complementary Species

Another action-packed episode, and packed with more than one kind of action, if you know what I mean. It’s Arada the biologist (Tattiawna Jones) who realises quicker than the others what the two creatures are doing on top of the hopper, which has glass panels in its roof. Murderbot (Alexander …

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‘The Pickup’ Movie Review: The Art of Wasting Good Talent

In a year full of forgettable productions and releases that fly under the radar, The Pickup arrives as just another film filling a slot on the calendar. With virtually nonexistent marketing and extremely low expectations – especially considering the names involved – this heist flick, written by Kevin Burrows & …

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