Release: Friday, October 4, 2019 (limited) →Netflix Written by: Scott Alexander; Larry Karaszewski Directed by: Craig Brewer The way Craig Brewer captures the response to Dolemite, the movie-within-his-movie and at least part of its raison d'être, is so warm and uplifting. Yet it's also quaint if considering today's cinematic landscape. Cynics like me are tempted to dismiss the ending as … Continue reading Dolemite is My Name
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Month in Review: October ’19
(Flicks a cockroach off keyboard) God! Leave me alone, Wounds!!!! October was certainly bloody and gutsy. I made a conscientious effort to increase the posting frequency while keeping the reviews tailored to the genres of horror/psychological thriller/gross-out (is that a genre? It feels like it should be a genre.) It was a risky approach, because … Continue reading Month in Review: October ’19
The Perfection
Release: Friday, May 24, 2019 (Netflix) →Netflix Written by: Eric C. Charmelo; Nicole Snyder; Richard Shepard Directed by: Richard Shepard Thanks to Twitter, The Perfection will be remembered more for its gross-out moments rather than what it's actually about. The notorious Netflix horror/thriller certainly does get messy and intense, but it is more skin-crawling in terms of its thematic content. … Continue reading The Perfection
Fractured
Release: Friday, October 11, 2019 (Netflix) →Netflix Written by: Alan B. McElroy Directed by: Brad Anderson There's something inherently off-putting about hospitals and treatment centers. Anyone who has spent some time in them (not to mention contend with their bureaucratic ways) can attest to just how much stress they can bring out in a person. They might even … Continue reading Fractured
In the Tall Grass
Release: Friday, October 4, 2019 (Netflix) →Netflix Written by: Vincenzo Natali Directed by: Vincenzo Natali Last year Netflix inadvertently triggered the Bird Box Challenge, which set a new standard for stupidity when it comes to audience interaction/reaction. This year it's given us another curio ripe for parody in the form of Vincenzo Natali's In the Tall Grass. A horror film … Continue reading In the Tall Grass
I Am Mother
Release: Friday, June 7, 2019 →Netflix Written by: Michael Lloyd Green Directed by: Grant Sputore I Am Mother is another movie ideally suited for those of us already harboring a healthy distrust of robots. An often disconcerting experience, this post-apocalyptic thriller from Australian and first-time director Grant Sputore uses the relationship between a matronly AI and her flesh-and-blood daughter to … Continue reading I Am Mother
Mission of Honor (Hurricane)
Release: Friday, March 15, 2019 →Netflix Written by: Robert Ryan; Alastair Galbraith Directed by: David Blair David Blair's World War II film arrived on American shores earlier this year as Mission of Honor. It was originally titled Hurricane. Just to be clear this is not an account of violent weather but instead one of heroic actions taken by a … Continue reading Mission of Honor (Hurricane)
Paddleton
Release: Friday, February 22, 2019 (Netflix) →Netflix Written by: Mark Duplass; Alex Lehmann Directed by: Alex Lehmann It's not often that the Duplass brothers make a heavy movie. Darting in and out of the so-called mumblecore scene and playing with time in pleasantly nostalgic trips down memory lane (Blue Jay) or lurching ahead into the future with spirited … Continue reading Paddleton
Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile
Release: Friday, May 3, 2019 (limited) →Netflix Written by: Michael Werwie Directed by: Joe Berlinger Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile may appear on the surface as a redundant exercise. Do we really need another take on the American nightmare that was Ted Bundy? Like it or not we have come to know the man behind at … Continue reading Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile
Point Blank
Release: Friday, July 12, 2019 (Netflix) →Netflix Written by: Adam G. Simon Directed by: Joe Lynch Point Blank isn't a very good crime drama, but in its pairing together of some famous superheroes (third-tier Avengers, but who's counting) it surely hopes to distract you from that inconvenient fact of quality. I suppose that depends on how you define … Continue reading Point Blank
