Shot (2017)

A couple on the verge of divorce goes to lunch, on their way out, a random bullet hits the husband and wounds him badly. As he attempts to survive and re-adapt, the teen who shot him by accident tries the same.

Written by Anneke Campbell and Will Lamborn from a story by director Jeremy Kagan, Shot is a story that shows the danger of having guns on the streets and aims to encourage discussion about gun access and gun violence. The film here shows how an accidental gunshot can drastically change 3 lives in just a split second. This is done by telling both the story of the victim and his wife and the story of the teen who shot the gun. The film tackles both at the same in time in two different styles, part of the film showing their stories at the same time, with a split screen, and part of the film going back and forth between the two stories. This creates an interesting dynamic and causes a bit of an emotional overload at times which helps the film here as it shows the chaos caused by the situation.

Continue reading →

It (2017)

Andrés Muschietti’s “It” has proven in a year of really bad Stephen King adaptations, that it is very possible to put one of King’s most popular novels on screen and remind us once again why King is King. Muschietti, like Tommy Lee Wallace before him, has the daunting task of compressing an eleven hundred page novel in to what will end up being a five hour epic. Yet, “It” manages to come out mostly unscathed as a film that is both a spooky horror film and a stellar coming of age drama. Much like “Mama,” Muschietti’s work on “It” ends in a film that can be appreciated as a human drama and a pure horror movie packed with heart, scares, insight in to growing up in an unforgiving, cruel world.

Continue reading →

Survivor Type (2012)

So you saw “The Dark Tower” and were meh on it, but then you saw “IT” and were all over it.  As “Mr. Mercedes” is available for streaming and “Gerald’s Game” is coming soon, how else is a die hard Stephen King fan supposed to satiate their thirst, their need? Shorts, of course.  After watching tons of Stephen King short film adaptations, one of them stands out head and shoulders above the rest and every fan should make it a point to find it and see it.

Continue reading →

Shower (2013)

Perhaps one of the most controversial and polarizing short films of the year, “Shower” has inspired a lot discussion among the media. Is it shocking just to be shocking, is it exploitative, or is there an actual message to be absorbed here? I don’t think there is a wrong interpretation, but I will find it fascinating to see how audiences respond to it after watching it. It’s become a very volatile short film with a climax that I kind of knew was coming, but still left me pretty shocked. Love it or hate it, you have to ask yourself if it’s art, or just a ploy to shake audiences up?

Continue reading →

Message Received (2016)

Stephen Herman and David Chin’s “Message Received” is one of the sharpest and slickest revenge shorts I’ve seen all years, bar none. Herman’s knack for storytelling is evident in a short film that relies very much on pacing and deliberate twists in what is only a ten minute long narrative. Director/Writer Herman and Director/Star Chin thankfully manage to set up and deliver the gut punch of their film within a ten minute time span and I never felt like time was wasted at all.

Continue reading →

Gotham: The Complete Third Season [Blu-Ray/Digital]

Now that the gloves are off, FOX has managed to embrace the comic book universe tropes of “Gotham” and no longer have molded “Gotham” as an abysmal crime thriller. It’s now working as a somewhat new and radical take on the origin of Batman and Bruce Wayne’s molding in to the dark knight. The writers have taken even more liberties with the universe, centering so much more on Commissioner Gordon now and slowly sliding Bruce Wayne in to focus. The third seasons is a much lauded improvement over the former seasons for fans, as “Gotham” goes all out weird and eccentric, re-thinking the Batman universe and his origin in a new and often bold method.

Continue reading →