Criminally Underrated: Sphere
Sphere has its roots in literature—namely, Michael Crichton’s 1987 novel of the same name—but also has such clear similarities to its contemporary works of science-fiction cinema that it’s been...
View ArticleShari & Lamb Chop
These days, if you walk into any pet store looking for dog toys, there is a 100% chance that among the Classic KONGs, Nylabones and rope toys, there will be Lamb Chop. And not just one version of Lamb...
View ArticleOh, Hi!
In 2020, writer-director Sophie Brooks was asked by her agent to write a screenplay that could feasibly be produced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although slated to shoot in 2021, the production of the...
View ArticleThe Home
The Home is one of those movies where you shouldn’t trust anything you observe, which is like a wobbly house of cards balanced precariously atop the head of a circus performer riding a unicycle. That...
View ArticleShoshana
For the last two years, the world has been laser-focused on the October 7th attacks in Israel and the subsequent Israeli response in the Gaza Strip. It’s been mortifying to see such well-documented...
View ArticleOeuvre: Kurosawa: The Most Beautiful
Casuals to the work of Akira Kurosawa likely know the big names of Seven Samurai and Rashomon and maybe even a late period work or two, while enthusiasts will have a passing familiarity with his...
View ArticleFolktales
Folktales does not begin with a folktale, but with a myth. In darkness, with the help of a voiceover, the Norse God Odin approaches Yggdrasil (the tree of life), below which the three Norns spin the...
View ArticleAJ Goes to the Dog Park
Meager of budget but joyously zany to the brink of the anarchic, animator Toby Jones’ largely live-action AJ Goes to the Dog Park delivers an unrelenting geyser of gags throughout its succinct runtime....
View ArticleRediscover: Riddle of Fire
Since 1986, almost every movie about an unsupervised group of children having a formative experience together has existed in the shadow of Stand by Me. It’s not the worst shadow to be in; Rob Reiner’s...
View ArticleTogether
Alison Brie and Dave Franco are a real-life couple – not that you’d know it from watching Together. By the time we meet Millie (Brie) and Tim (Franco), the couple at the center of Michael Shanks’...
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