The rich exploiting the impoverished is nothing new. Seeing how they find new ways to skirt the rules of the law — both in fiction and reality — can depress. However, in Brandon Cronenberg‘s Infinity Pool, we are both witnesses and gluttons of punishment, taking in the gradual breaking down and rebuilding of Alexander Skarsgård‘s …
Alternately exhilarating and hysterical, The Legend of Vox Machina expands its ambitions in its second season, delving deeply into its sprawling cast’s backstory and dramatically upping the stakes at the cost of pace and having emotional beat land. The animated adaptation of the popular Dungeons & Dragons live play Critical Role spent its first season …
Like its unliving namesake, M3GAN is a vault of truly terrifying ideas — about who is raising our children in the modern age and what our apathy of their experience could turn them into — wrapped up in so much plastic and synthesized entertainment the horror within remains hidden and impossible to see. While M3GAN …
Roughly halfway through the 192-minute running time of Avatar: The Way of Water we watch young Kiri (Sigourney Weaver), the semi-messianic miracle child of Weaver’s previous character Dr. Grace Augustine, staring at a crab hole under the water, lost in the miracle of nature to the point all conception of time and space has faded away. Why …
Some time after the events of Avatar, Jake Sully and Neytiri have started a family. Their children are not only their biological offspring but adopted orphans as well. Kiri is the child of Dr. Grace Augustine’s avatar, who was unexpectedly pregnant while in suspended animation. They have also adopted a young human nicknamed Spider, who …
Summer, 1975. I am 5 years old. I can remember images, feelings, and memories of memories. My father, on a Saturday, says that we’re going to a movie. It’s a fishing movie. My father loves fishing. My entire family does, although I have to say it never quite grabbed me, not as a child, and …
The world of fairytales is back and magic is afoot. Back in 2007, we all fell in love with Giselle, the fairytale princess played by Amy Adams. She was transported to New York City and fell in love with Robert (Patrick Dempsey). They and Robert’s daughter Morgan (Gabriella Baldacchino) have been living their happily ever …
The Beatles’ “Glass Onion” from The White Album is a self-referential piece, lyrically calling back to past Beatles songs, and at times deliberately obtuse. But it’s also a song that suggests that the listener shouldn’t overthink it too much and just enjoy the melody. If you’re looking for a deeper meaning, examine “Glass Onion” as …
After the unexpected death of T’Challa from an unknown disease, the nation of Wakada finds itself in mourning. Queen Ramonda has lost her son and Princess Shuri has not only lost her brother, but role model and hero. But there is little time to mourn as Wakanda finds itself in a time of major transition. …
Sam Mendes’ Empire of Light is impressively shot by Roger Deakins, full of strong performances, a sweeping score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (one of two great scores this year, the other being Bones and All), and feels very evocative of its time and place. So why does it seem that the film is …
Black Adam is cotton candy – it’s cloyingly sweet, disappears after a few seconds, and nothing that full of sugar and chemicals can be good for you in the long run if you eat it constantly. This is another entry in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU, MCU, who can keep up these days), and to …
James Gray‘s coming-of-age film, Armageddon Time, is set in 1980. Most audiences would likely anticipate a nostalgic trip back in time, full of musical pop culture needle drops, lots of magic hour horizon shots, and big emotional Oscar bait moments with actors like Anthony Hopkins, Jeremy Strong, or Anne Hathaway giving heartfelt soliloquies as the …
It’s always fascinating to hear a story from a different perspective, especially ones we know so well. In the new Hulu Original film Rosaline, we’re getting William Shakespeare’s famous Romeo and Juliet, but from the perspective of Rosaline (Kaitlyn Dever), the woman Romeo mentions in the famous play before he sets eyes on Juliet. Romeo …
Trying to both look forward to the future and reveal something about the past, David O. Russell‘s Amsterdam is, like most period films, less about ‘yesterday’ than ‘today’ but unsure which part of ‘today’ it’s aiming at. It wants to remind us of moments in the past to keep us from Santayana-like repetition of them, …
No one questions the bonafides of Kevin Williamson when it comes to pop culture horror. He created the Scream franchise, after all, beloved by millions and now discovered by a new generation of horror fans with this year’s sequel. But outside of the Scream franchise, can Williamson still hold his own in the genre? If …
The Hellraiser franchise has always been a bit of a dichotomy – the profane and the beautiful, the elegant and the crass, the sexuality and the agony all go hand in bloody hand. Some entries are better than others, but this has always been a series where the point is the extreme nature of it. …
Bones and All, the new film by director Luca Guadagnino (Call Me by Your Name), wastes no time in establishing itself. Young Maren (Taylor Russell), at a sleepover, suddenly attacks her host, nearly biting off her finger, and escaping in the night. Maren feels a compulsion to consume human flesh. Whether this is a physical …
One of my favorite aspects of Marvel Studios’ output so far is that it feels like it’s starting to compartmentalize a bit. Want cosmic adventure? Here’s Guardians of the Galaxy. Want street-level action? Try some Daredevil. Espionage and intrigue? The Winter Soldier or Black Widow await you. Much like the comic books, there are tracks …
Martin McDonagh’s In Bruges is a distinct kind of hitman movie, one with a lot on its mind, a moral clarity in a world of nefarious criminals, and with terrific performances by Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson. All three return for The Banshees of Inisherin, but while many of the components are the same, Banshees …
Simultaneously explorative and deeply reductive, Andrew Dominik’s adaptation of Blonde delves as deeply into Marilyn Monroe’s (Ana de Armas) battle between her public and private personae as anyone ever has, but the film only manages to find tired Freudian pop answers beneath the sediment. Joyce Carol Oates’ semi-biographical novel (Order Now) provides a moderate starting point, turning …