Hockeyland
When you think of Minnesota, you think of two things: Fargo and hockey. Tommy Haines’ latest documentary, Hockeyland explores the latter, immersing viewers into the hectic lives of two of the country’s...
View ArticleSpeak No Evil
Through a swell of fraught social interactions and breached etiquette, an atmosphere of creeping dread steadily pervades Speak No Evil. The Danish psychological horror film simmers with tension that...
View ArticleCriminally Underrated: The Lair of the White Worm
On its release in 1988, Ken Russell’s The Lair of the White Worm was met with reviews which were largely quizzical and an equally bemused audience reaction, not least because much of the film’s...
View ArticleThe Woman King
There is a rich vein of cinematic history that has been mined for raw material in the creation of action-adventures like Raiders of the Lost Ark and Braveheart―movies that carry the DNA of old-time...
View ArticleOeuvre: Scorsese: American Boy: A Profile of Steven Prince
While their length, form and quality may vary, Martin Scorsese’s documentaries fulfill a useful function in his filmography, acting as direct branch-offs to the current embodiments of his most active...
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Pearl
At peak powers, indie horror auteur Ti West excels at the slow burn. In his 2009 breakout The House of the Devil — still probably his high-water mark — the filmmaker accumulated satisfyingly textured...
View ArticleSee How They Run
Fans of theater and Agatha Christie alike will rejoice at the latest clever whodunit from director Tom George. See How They Run is a snappy, modern take on Christie’s The Mousetrap (also known as Three...
View ArticleMoonage Daydream
David Bowie’s artistic persona was so mutable during his six-decade career that even his death in 2016 initially felt, to some, like an act. Of course, it wasn’t. Bowie, privately suffering from liver...
View ArticleRediscover: Dim the Fluorescents
Daniel Warth’s 2017 film Dim the Fluorescents occupies the tragic and hilarious gulf between making art and making a living, following two women who have spent years trying to make the former but are...
View ArticleGod’s Country
The rage and exhaustion within Sandra (Thandiwe Newton), the protagonist of God’s Country, is palpable and only grows over the course of co-writer/director Julian Higgins’s debut feature. By the end,...
View ArticleThe Silent Twins
Agnieszka Smoczyńska, the director of The Silent Twins, wants to frustrate you. Her opening credits are playful, with two young actors giggling as they read the names of cast members aloud. The...
View ArticleFrom the Vaults of Streaming Hell: Dead & Buried
Gary Sherman’s 1981 cult classic Dead & Buried covers a lot of ground within its small-town setting. What begins as communal folk horror, in which unfortunate strangers who happen upon the tiny...
View ArticleThe Retaliators
Few genres can swerve like horror. Within the limitless bounds of terror, horror can wield well-trodden moments or even entire other genres like wily diversions and facades: the robbers-on-the-fun...
View ArticleCatherine Called Birdy
Before Catherine Called Birdy gets started, writer-director Lena Dunham wants you think about Clueless. She overlays the opening scene to the song “Alright,” originally by Supergrass, which was used...
View ArticleCarmen
Valerie Buhagiar’s latest work as director and writer of Carmen instills a particularly warm and personal connection to the film. Buhagiar, a Maltese-Canadian actor and director, welcomes her audience...
View ArticlePetrov’s Flu
Given the state of a world still dealing with the seemingly endless “final” stages of a global pandemic, the effect of writer/director Kirill Serebrennikov’s adaptation of as acclaimed (but...
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Revisit: Once Upon a Time in China
Naming any picture Once Upon a Time… already adds a mythic layer to the proceedings. It’s how many fairy tales begin, an indicator that this story will be taking us back to a time and place long ago....
View ArticleSection 8
It almost becomes a running joke throughout Section 8 that the “elite squad” of the title consists of morons who have no idea what they are doing. This includes the protagonist, a military man who...
View ArticleControl
Director James Mark has been active in the indie action space for over a decade: a career in stunt work and choreography leading to Kill Order, his debut blend of sci-fi puzzle box with super-powered...
View ArticleHoly Hell! The Quiet American Turns 20
After the Darren Aronofsky film The Whale was met with standing ovations at the Venice and Toronto film festivals, Brendan Fraser finally has the reconsideration he long deserved. He was a ubiquitous...
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