The one thing about Sam Raimi’s movies is that good or bad, very few of them age poorly. Even for a movie made in the early nineties at an age where every studio were seeking to duplicate the success of “Batman,” Raimi makes “Darkman” his own movie. It’s a superhero movie in the horror vein where our masked dark avenger is also a deformed an unhinged Frankenstein monster. Something in the vein of Brundlefly, Liam Neeson really does offer up a wildly unique and off the rails performance.
A Creature Was Stirring (2023)
Coming to Blu-ray and DVD February 13th from Well Go USA
During a blizzard, a duo breaks into a nurse’s house where she’s taking care of her daughter with an unusual affliction. Soon, things take a turn for the worse and everyone involved is forced to fight for their lives.
Lights Out (2024)
A former soldier looking for his way meets an ex-con who sees the potential in this man to become the best fighter in the underground fight world. Soon, they find themselves entangled in something much more complex and riskier. Continue reading
Suncoast (2024)
Now Streaming on Hulu.
Laura Chinn’s “Suncoast” feels like it comes from a very deep and personal place. It’s a movie about loss, and grief, and trying to find a way to live again when a big piece of you has been taken out of your life. Suffice to say “Suncoast” is one of the first great films of 2024 and an excellent drama I’d place right alongside gems like “Ladybird” and “The Perks of Being a Wallflower.” Chinn manages to evoke so many core emotions about coming to terms with death and how tough it can be to move and move forward after happiness has disappeared. How do you begin? Where do you begin? And most of all, when can you begin?
No Way Up (2024)
It seems like not many remember what a good survival film is, anymore, and while so many present prime opportunities for knuckle biting tension, often times they tend to fall so flat. Claudio Fäh’s “No Way Up” is a great idea for a survival thriller where the odds are deliriously stacked against a group of people. It’s just shocking that so much of this opportunity is wasted in favor of what is mostly a flat, redundant, and dull thriller. I don’t know how you take a great idea like “No Way Up” and leave it feeling like nothing is ever really fleshed out or fully developed.
May December (2023)
Director Todd Haynes’ dissection of the groomer and predator relationship really is a movie that deserved so much more notice in 2023. Haynes’ approach to tackling a real criminal case notorious in the nineties is a fascinating platform to stage a complex drama and darkly comic film about stunted growth and Hollywood exploitation. Haynes’ film peels away at so many layers and how relationships tend to be somewhat glorified and sensationalized, especially in the realm of what occurs in “May December.” For those involved in this kind of dynamic, the whole interplay between the partners is somewhat spur of the moment, but the long-term effects amount to much more psychological baggage that the movie only skims the surface on.
The ABC’s of Book Banning (2023)
Can now be Streamed on Paramount Plus.
Director Sheila Nevins’ Oscar nominated short is an Important film and one that provides a scathing indictment of the American Education system and our head on collision with fascism and anti-intellectualism across the board. With the rise of smaller special interest groups, the idea of book banning has become a niche topic for aspiring politicians seeking power, thus creating a maelstrom of controversy. Rather than comment on the entire absurdity herself, director Nevins hands the platform over to a group of prepubescent children.