Mental illness is a subject that is often explored in movies, but rarely as raw and successfully done as in Writer/Director Dean Kapsalis’ (Jigsaw Venus 2000) The Swerve. The film stars a fragile, nearly stripped to the core Azura Skye (One Missed Call 2008) as Holly, a woman who slowly …
Read More »Panic Fest 2020: ‘The New End’ Is A Familiar Post-Apocalyptic Fable – Movie Review
Written and directed by Leonel Dietsche (3000 2015), The New End is a post-apocalyptic fairy tale, full of knights, kings, jesters, and magicians rotted beyond recognition in radioactive dust. But in this decaying kingdom, there’s only one fair maiden left. The moral of this story, eulogized in the simultaneously hopeful …
Read More »‘Lore” (2017) Is A Visually Beautiful, Slow Burn – Movie Review
Lore, written and directed by Christian Larsen (Another Time 2016) and Brock Manwill (White Salamander), is a visually spellbinding, slow burn thriller. It stars Lyndsey Lantz (By Day’s End 2020), Max Lesser (Ashby 2015), and Sean Wei Mah (Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee 2007). Synopsis: A woman searches for …
Read More »Panic Fest 2020: ‘Beyond the Woods’ Is An Awfully Long Walk – Movie Review
The reign of blue and orange color grading in movie-making is slowly fading away. As Hollywood leaves behind the tried-and-true contrasting color scheme, indie filmmakers have picked it up, rung it out, and pinned it up to dry. Director Brayden DeMorest-Purdy’s (Compulsion 2017) Beyond the Woods wears that rust and …
Read More »‘Nothing Man’ (2020) Is A Sympathetic, Compelling Thriller – Movie Review
Stephen Gallacher’s Nothing Man, a thriller about a homeless amnesiac, came at an interesting time for me. In Denver where I live, they are making a systematic, almost brutal effort to clear out the homeless. It’s even being framed as almost entertainment on the news. But the simple truth is that …
Read More »Overly Complicated Plot Drags Down Frank Spano’s ‘Humanpersons’ (2018)
From Director Frank Spano (Hidden 2017) comes a new thriller called Humanpersons, which is about a man who is trying to please his father, protect his son, and regain his humanity. It stars Luis Fernandez (Dynasty), Maria Cecilia Sanchez (Carmen G), Fabiola Candido (Exit), Alex O’Dogherty (Kingdom of Heaven), and …
Read More »The Host (2020) Is A Stylish, If Uneven, Thriller
The Host, a new thriller directed by Andy Newbery (Keeping the Faith TV series) is coming to On Demand January 17, 2020. The film stars Maryam Hassouni (Flikken Rotterdam), Mike Beckingham (Black Site), Dougie Poynter (The Academy), Suan-Li Ong (Justice League) and Togo Igawa (The Last Samurai). Synopsis: A chance …
Read More »‘A Rough Draft’ (2019) Is A Beautiful Disaster – Movie Review
From Sergey Lukyanenko, the mind that created the dazzling novels, Night Watch and Day Watch, comes a new sci-fi thriller directed by Sergey Mokritsky (Battle for Sevastopoi 2018) called A Rough Draft. It stars Nikita Volkov (Dance To Death 2017), Severija Janusauskaite (Unburied 2018), Vilen Babichev (Beyond the Edge 2018), …
Read More »Revisting My Favorite Sociopath: 20th Anniversary Retro Review of ‘The Talented Mr. Ripley’ (1999)
“It’s better to be a fake somebody, than a real nobody!” — Tom Ripley Of all the sociopaths I’ve seen on film, my favorite one has always been Tom Ripley. On Christmas Day 2019, we celebrate the 20th anniversary of Anthony Minghella’s The Talented Mr. Ripley, adapted from Patricia Highsmith’s …
Read More »Garo Setian’s Brilliant Sci-Fi Thriller/Comedy ‘Automation’ (2019) – Movie Review
Automation is what you get when you cross I, Robot (2004) with The Office TV series, and it’s a match made in heaven. That may be an odd mix to wrap your head around, but the filmmakers pull it off perfectly, marrying these two opposite concepts to make Automation a …
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