Chris McKay’s take on the Dracula dynamic with Renfield has a lot going for it, but it also has so much stacked against it from the starting gate. In a year teeming with Dracula iterations, “Renfield” has a real shot at standing out among the other interpretations of Bram Stoker’s lore, but never really rises to the occasion. That’s mainly because while the concept is interesting “Renfield” never decides what it wants to be. It wants to be a satire on “Dracula,” and a commentary on abusive relationships. It tries to be a cop action, a buddy comedy, a vampire film, and straddles the dangerous line of being a satire on the abuser and abused relationship at times.
Tag Archives: Gangster
The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster (2023)
Bomani J. Story’s horror film is one part family drama, one part Frankenstein, and one part Re-Animator. Deep down beneath its grue and gore is a very relatable and heartbreaking tale of a family divided by death and a girl determined to beat it. Much of “The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster” is centered around young Vicaria, a literal mad genius who is convinced that she can cure death, and like most mad geniuses, she finds out along the way that what is dead should stay dead, and that her madness might be symptomatic of the world she lives in.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)
While “In to the Spider-Verse” demonstrated Stan Lee’s philosophy that anyone can be Spider-Man, and anyone could be a hero, “Across the Spider-Verse” is an exploration of the hero’s biggest mantra. “Spider-Man’s” core philosophy has always been that with great power, comes great responsibility, and with the follow up to the immensely successful “In to the Spider-Verse” we garner a look at the fallout from the abuse of massive power, and how it can corrupt even the best of us.
Cocaine Bear (2023): Maximum Rampage Edition [Blu-Ray/DVD/Digital]
I don’t think anyone could predict that one of the weirdest drug crime stories would turn in to a bona fide cult horror comedy– and then directed by Elizabeth Banks, of all people. Suffice it to say, though, “Cocaine Bear” despite being one of the many movie memes of the year, it does live up to being a wildly funny, and gory nature run amok movie. Banks’ comedic sensibilities are perfect for what is such an unabashedly silly horror comedy. “Cocaine Bear” is a movie that you either love or hate. It’s a movie you’ll accept in to your heart, or just outright reject with extreme prejudice. Oddly enough I haven’t seen too much middle ground when it applies to reacting to the movie and its success.
You Have to See This! Becky (2020)
Streaming on: Paramount Plus, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Redbox
When it comes to revenge pictures, there’s no beating the wrath of a female scorned. Even worse there’s no beating the wrath of female child scorned. The whole concept of a child unleashing their wrath is an underused trope in Hollywood and it’s a shame that there aren’t more of these pictures (There is “The Aggression Scale,” though). For what it’s worth we have Cary Murnion, and Jonathan Milott’s “Becky,” a considerably schlocky but vicious bit of revenge fare that I just love.
Cocaine Bear (2023)
With “Cocaine Bear” you’re either in for the ride, or you aren’t. Going in to Elizabeth Banks’ horror comedy, I knew exactly what I was getting, so I had a blast with it, suffice it to say. Everyone in the film seems to know what kind of movie they’re in as it wears everything about itself on its sleeve. It’s a movie about a rampaging black bear on a coke trip. What more are you expecting?
Training Day (2001) [4K UHD/Blu-Ray/Digital]
No matter how many times I watch “Training Day,” it remains one of my favorite crime thrillers of all time. It’s not only a stunning and mesmerizing crime film, but one of Denzel Washington’s most brilliant performances. In a career filled with roles where he portrayed mostly nice guys, his performance as Alonzo Harris is a departure that he fits in to beautifully. Alonzo Harris has to be one of the conniving and vindictive movie villains of all time. He’s a cop that’s not only been corrupted by the system but has unapologetically embraced his role as a slimy bastard who twists the system for his benefit.
You Have to See This! Dead Man’s Shoes (2004)
“When they get to heaven they’ll be forgiven. God will forgive them and let them in. And I can’t live with that.”
I’ve been a fan of Paddy Considine’s since I saw him in his utterly frightening performance as a mentally imbalanced recluse in “A Room for Romeo Brass.” I also loved him in the schmaltzy albeit well-intentioned family drama in “In America,” and he flexes his keen ability to be both menacing and vulnerable with Shane Meadows’ “Dead Man’s Shoes”. Meadows’ revenge thriller is a very visceral revenge film that delves in the fall out from the breaking of a cardinal rule: Don’t ever fuck with a man’s family.