It’s a shame that in 2022, a year filled with movies about movies that landed with a thud, that the best one, “5-25-77” will have gone largely unnoticed and ignored. “5-25-77” is a love letter about movie making, it’s an ode to the art of filmmaking, and how film can also be a reflection of how we view life. Director Patrick Read Johnson’s coming of age drama comedy is a pretty excellent indie film, one that I’ve been waiting for over five years to watch that is now being available to view for a wider audience.
Rita Hayworth: The Love Goddess
You can put the blame on Mame, boys, because the 7th season of “The Online Movie Show with Phil Hall” has launched with a celebration of the ultimate Love Goddess, the one and only Rita Hayworth. Actor-writer Joe Mannetti returns as the guest for this season premiere episode.
The Last of Us: Series Premiere
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.