I’d be lying if I told you I ever played “The Last of Us.” I only know of it through various online game reviewers and understand the general gist of it. Going in blindly, I was able to completely separate myself from the source material and completely engulf myself in to this world. And I’m glad that I did because “The Last Of Us” thankfully works for gamers and the broader audience. “The Last Of Us” has a lot of information to dump on the audience to establish where it lies and what we’re playing with.
The Spinning Man (2018)
Director Jordan Rosenbloom’s “The Spinning Man” is what I’d call “The Conversation” if it were set in the post apocalypse. It spotlights the less sensational side that’s never explored in post apocalypse fiction, and it’s the paranoia that comes from surviving and surviving in a world where resources are dwindling fast.
The Thing That Ate the Birds (2021)
Director Dan Gitsham and Writer Sophie Mair’s horror short is a masterful creepy tale about dysfunction and what happens when your actions have dire consequences. I wasn’t sure what to expect with “The Thing that Ate the Birds,” but partners Mair and Gitsham deliver on all fronts as a complex and creepy genre entry.
Night of the Bastard (2023)
Erik Boccio’s horror survival thriller is a film that sets its foot firmly in the Satanic cult sub-genre. It’s “Straw Dogs” meets “Race with the Devil” but with none of the charm or creativity of the aforementioned. It’s not to say that “Night of the Bastard” isn’t a spirited effort, but the movie spends so much time propping up plot points that it never quite answers, and can also never quite get past the shaky performances and silly dialogue.
There’s Something Wrong With The Children (2023)
It’s not often anymore that we get horror movies about the horrors of domesticity. Films like “Rosemary’s Baby” and “Stepford Wives” turned the idea of domestic bliss in to an absolute nightmare, and “There’s Something Wrong with the Children” carries on that fine tradition. It’s a very creepy evil children flick that also works as a deeply embedded allegory for impending parenthood that sparks a slick sense of humor about itself. Director Roxanne Benjamin’s film is another one of the more intelligent horror entries of 2023 so far, as it uses the idea of impending parenthood as an absolute waking nightmare.
The Bootleg Files: The TV Cubana Version of “Hello, Dolly!”
BOOTLEG FILES 825: The TV Cubana Version of “Hello, Dolly!” (1985 Cuban television recording of the Havana theatrical staging of the Broadway musical).
LAST SEEN: On YouTube.
AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.
REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: Rights clearance issues and a perceived lack of commercial viability.
CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Nope.
One of the most polarizing films ever made was, oddly, the 1969 musical “Hello, Dolly!” This is not a film that inspires indifference – either you embrace as a grand, old-school screen musical with Barbra Streisand giving one of her best performances or you condemn it as an over-produced mess burdened by a star who was much too young for her role. And if you should ever stumble over a Facebook forum debate on the film’s merits and deficiencies, prepare yourself for one of the most rancorous discussions on social media – trust me, I’ve been audience to several of them!
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Sick (2023)
I think soon enough we’ll be at a point where the new generation of filmmakers will be making movies that reflect on the COVID pandemic and how it traumatized the world. The team of John Hyams, Kevin Williamson, and Katelyn Crab concoct what is easily one of the most clever slasher movies of the year, and yet another genre gem in what promises to be a year full of them. “Sick” is a movie that reflects on a COVID ravaged society that also explores ideas about self responsibility and how actions can have dire consequences.