J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings saga struck such a colossal nerve when it was first published because it was a reaction to the loss of the first World War. The displacement of the muddy, modern conflict into a deliberately regressive story of magic and magical creatures …
There is a long history of verite cinema within the documentary format. Within conversations that surround the ethics of this more observational form, we discern a conflict: on the necessity of intervention. This is a contentious topic, particularly within the filming of nature documentaries, where the observer must not intervene …
Netflix’s The Man with 1000 Kids tells the shocking story of Jonathan Jacob Meijer, a “serial sperm donor” who has admitted to donating sperm for 500-600 children – but some say the number is actually in the thousands. The three-episode mini-series follows a group of families raising a child in …
Angel Studios’ recent movie, Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot is not immune to the studio’s typical criticism (yes, it uses children suffering as a tool to proselytize Christianity), but the film isn’t as bad as its detractors say it is, nor is it as good as its …
Musician and filmmaker H.P. Mendoza’s newest release The Secret Art of Human Flight looks like a B-movie and has an absurd premise usually seen in average-quality YouTube shorts. Known for his skill directing small-budget movies, Mendoza manages to take a film that even at its premise, teeters toward collapse and …
Unlike the rest of my reviews for this season of Doctor Who, this review will contain spoilers for the episode. What marks this change is that Empire of Death is one of the worst finales of Doctor Who, and to efficiently discuss and critique the episode in a manner that …
So, in most places, growing up, there are usually books that are required for reading in school. Here in the U.S., you’d find books like Catcher In The Rye, Of Mice And Men, The Great Gatsby, as well as books by Ernest Hemingway, Charles Dickens and such among those reading …
The cinematic format holds the privilege of imagining numerous variables of what the future may be like. The screen platforms artists to compose frames through camera lenses to reflect on the present and create a future through imagery. In this sense, the French director Aude Léa Rapin, who previously directed …
Kiyoshi Kurosawa is one of the most prolific directors in world cinema. This year, he premiered Chime at the 74th Berlinale. The French remake of his 1998 film, Serpent’s Path, went to the San Sebástian Film Festival. Concluding his year, Cloud debuted at the Biennale di Venezia, and Japan selected …
The gauchos are cowboys and cowgirls living traditionally in South America. Their values as a community are to live respectfully in harmony with nature. In the late stage of capitalism, where financial institutions and capital are the focus of humanity, the Gauchos look back at the root of their history …
Errol Morris is a legend in the documentary community. His highly engaging and provocative films have been echoing in the film industry since the 1970s, including titles like The Thin Blue Line, Gates of Heaven, and The Fog of War, which won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in …
DC Comics has no shortage of quality animated material. This includes numerous direct-to-DVD films (the most recent being the Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earth trilogy). While those have offered mixed results, one corner of DC that has remained popular is its animated television content. HBO Max’s shows, such as …
The typical Netflix action thriller and neo-western can fall into two distinct categories. The first involves straightforward generic and forgettable procedurals. Such films simply go through the motions of the genre, delivering stories and bland action sequences seen time and time again. The other involves something much darker, going against …
In modern society, human beings learn to follow societal norms. Means of production and organizational schemes have forced people to live in urban spaces, educate themselves in formal institutions, and get their food from factories. Therefore, anyone who does not follow the norms defies the standard conventions. Nik Payne and …
Carry-On is the latest thriller from Netflix and stars Taron Egerton, Sofia Carson, and Jason Bateman. We’re well past the golden age of Die Hard knockoffs but the formula remains a very reliable one for making high-grade B-movies if you can assemble the right team to make it. Jaume Collet-Serra has …
2017’s The Greatest Showman is a musical drama whose popularity I struggle to understand. For all its huge setpieces and hyper-stylised choreography its narrative and thematic substance was cloying and often faux, with overwhelmingly bland songs – minus Rewrite the Stars – to boot. Director Michael Gracey at last returns …
Well, it seems that we need to say happy holidays to Netflix. Black Doves is the Christmas present you never knew you needed. Think…socks. An expensive, robust pair of socks that doesn’t have holes in them by March. They might not be what you asked for, might not have been …
The year I got divorced my job sent me to a career event for women in our line of work that purported to be a fundraiser for a domestic abuse charity. What it actually entailed was a group of wealthy women reassuring each other, with no sense of irony, that …
Musical horror comedies have long been a place to explore gender-expansive themes. Obviously, one of the most famous is the 1975 cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show, but there have also been cases made for Little Shop of Horrors to be a trans allegory. Genre films are meant to push boundaries, so seeing …
On the 26th September 2021, screenwriter Russell Hainline posted on Twitter: “Just had the best idea for a Hallmark Christmas movie holy sh-t holy sh-t holy sh-t.” On the 13th November 2024, Netflix released the end result of this tweet: Hot Frosty. Mr. Hainline’s tweet made allusions to Hot Frosty …