The experimental director and visual artist Ben Rivers is a respected name in the film festival circuit. The director debuts his works in principal events, such as the Locarno Film Festival, where he premiered his 2024 film Bogancloch and his new work, Mare’s Nest, both in the Concorso Internazionale. In …
Frankenstein is a masterpiece, an instant classic and a complete and utter triumph. It sticks very close to the source material while managing to be something fresh and new, it maintains its historic setting while never forgetting the current moment, and it all hangs on two extraordinary central performances that …
Toronto-based filmmaker Grace Glowicki is no stranger to the bizarre. Recently she, along with husband Ben Petrie, starred in the schlocky, romantic gothic horror Honey Bunch which premiered at Berlin in 2025. Her feature debut, Tito, was an offbeat comedy where she herself played an agoraphobic man whose world is …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
This mid-series run of Murderbot is some of the tightest episodes of television in a while. This episode also contains a great deal of humour, backrubs, some awfully graphic surgery, and then some even more graphic violence. The tonal shifts flow more naturally than that description sounds, which is especially …
Touch Me is the sophomore effort by Addison Heimann. The director premiered with Hypochondriac, a 2022 release. His new film is another addition to the tendency of contemporary horror films to use genre conventions to tackle trauma and abuse. In his latest film, Joey (Olivia Taylor Dudley) is a traumatized …
The American indie director Albert Birney has had a prolific career in the last few years. He is releasing his sixth feature film, OBEX. Birney released before Strawberry Mansion, Tux and Fanny, Sylvio, Eyeballs in the Darkness, and The Beast Pageant. The director uses the 1980s setting to tell his …
Before the review begins: an apology. I originally misgendered Murderbot in my reviews of the previous four episodes, which have now been corrected. A publicist got in touch to inform us that Murderbot has no gender; I should not have presumed the gender of the human actor playing it had …
Superman IV: the Quest for Peace was considered a massive failure upon release. With such a poor response, it forced film studios to evaluate the need for more Superman movies. The result of which forced the franchise to remain dormant for years. Nineteen years later, another attempt was made with …
The duo of directors Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani is known for their approach to genre cinema, especially the giallo, an Italian sub-genre of slasher films marked by its distinctive visual style. They are back with their latest film, Reflection in a Dead Diamond (Reflet dans un diamant mort), a …
Eight years after Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, it became apparent that a sequel wasn’t going to happen. While financially profitable, neither film (including the 2005 original) was a critical success. That made the prospect of an eventual Fantastic Four remake feel inevitable. That is what intrigued everyone …
2025’s Fantastic Four: First Steps hopes to reignite the love for The Marvel Cinematic Universe. That film aims to continue the larger story at play, while also reintroducing classic heroes into an ever-expanding framework. It’s a tall order due to the history of these characters and their previous lackluster adaptations. …
In film criticism, talking about a bad movie is easy. For many, discussing something negative can be enjoyable and cathartic. Breaking down the “why” and “how” a film doesn’t work can be fun. Attacking those aspects can be both an entertaining and educational prospect for film critics, as it enables …
After the juggernaut films of Superman and Superman II, Superman III was inevitable. Coming three years after Superman II, Superman III had a significant challenge ahead. Unfortunately, the film failed to meet the previously established standards. With a smaller budget (and a significantly smaller profit), the results proved that the …
Superman is more than just a good comic book movie; it’s a good movie and is especially relevant in the moment we find ourselves in as a world. The newest film from James Gunn, and the opener to the renewed DC universe under the banner of the Gunn and Safran-led …
Continuing our rewatch of classic Superman films before 2025’s Superman, we have now reached Superman II. To clarify for those unaware, Superman II had a unique history. The initial theatrical version was released in the 1980s. While warmly received, the behind-the-scenes drama plagued the film with mystery. With the director …