SIFF 2024: 'Eternal' Capsule Review

In Eternal, a rift on the ocean floor threatens to destroy not only Earth’s climate but the burgeoning relationship between a young submarine pilot and aspiring singer. 

'Sadistic Intentions' Trailer: Horror, Metal, And Romance

Sometimes a movie is very much my shit, as the kids probably don’t say anymore. That certainly appears to be the case with Sadistic Intentions. It has everything: romance, murder, metal, and Larry Fessenden. What else do you need? Check out the trailer below.

'Entanglement' (2017) Movie Review

Ben (Silicon Valley and Verizon commercial star Thomas Middleditch) is depressed. In fact, Jason James’ dark comedy Entanglement begins with montage of failed suicide attempts. Fortunately, Ben’s too inept to die—he tries to gas himself with an exhaust pipe, but a kid steals his car; he takes a bath with a toaster, but forgets to plug it in; when he succeeds in slitting his wrists, he gets up to answer the front door.

Guillermo Del Toro's 'The Shape Of Water' Trailer Shows A Dark, Gorgeous Fairy Tale

I know everyone clamors for Guillermo del Toro to make more Hellboy movies, but while they’re fine, I don’t adore them like many. As a counterpoint, I’d much rather have him doing original films, like The Devil’s Backbone, Pan’s Labyrinth, and Crimson Peak. And, at least if this first trailer is to be believed, his latest, The Shape of Water falls into this category. This is as lovely as it is macabre.

SIFF 2017: 'Entanglement' (2017) Movie Review

Ben (Silicon Valley star Thomas Middleditch) is depressed. In fact, Jason James’ dark comedy Entanglement begins with montage of failed suicide attempts. Fortunately, Ben’s too inept to die—he tries to gas himself with an exhaust pipe, but a kid steals his car; he takes a bath with a toaster, but forgets to plug it in; when he succeeds in slitting his wrists, he gets up to answer the front door.

'Bokeh' (2017) Movie Review

Waking up one morning to find that everyone else in the world has disappeared has been a sci-fi staple since day one. Writing/directing duo Andrew Sullivan and Geoffrey Orthwein tackle this subgenre with their feature length debut, Bokeh, and though the film is amiable enough, thanks largely to its leads, it offers little in the way of freshness or insight and ultimately plays like an overlong Twilight Zone episode.

'Passengers' (2016) Movie Review

Movies are an accumulation of thousands upon thousands of choices. The collective decisions of directors, actors, writers, editors, DPs, and even casting agents, add up to the final product that makes it to the silver screen. And sometimes, just sometimes, a single one of those fucks it up for everyone and sends the flaming wreckage of a movie into the waiting fireball of a sun. Such is the case with Morten Tyldum’s deep space romance, Passengers, starring Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt.

'La La Land' (2016) Movie Review

After Whiplash whipped up a frenzy, writer/director Damien Chazelle could do damn near anything he wanted. Helm a superhero movie? Probably could have done that. Tackle a big-budget summer blockbuster or weighty Oscar-bait drama? So many others have followed that path. But what does he do? He makes La La Land, a full-on throwback musical. And he absolutely kills it.

Movie Review: 'The 5th Wave'

The latest entry into the based-on-a-popular-young-adult-novel, teenage-girl-saves-the-world cinema sweepstakes, The 5th Wave, is a mixed bag. It’s roughly a third of total meh, a third stuff I legit liked, and a third the funniest shit I’ve ever seen. Not in an intentional way.

'Crimson Peak' Movie Review

As the protagonist of the film would say, Guillermo del Toro’s Crimson Peak isn’t as much a ghost story as it is a story with ghosts. More than a horror movie, it’s a melodramatic gothic romance mystery, and it’s as unusual and compelling as that sounds.

'The Duke Of Burgundy' Movie Review: A Small Story About Extremes

Forget 50 Shades of Grey, the erotic thriller you need to watch this month is Peter Strickland’s The Duke of Burgundy. The Berberian Sound Studio director is back with another lush, giallo-inspired offering that brings along a fair amount of Hammer influences just for the hell of it. Every syllable uttered, every frame of film, is sexually charged and full of meaning.

SIFF '13 Review: 'Yesterday Never Ends'

One of the key components in speculative fiction is imagining various potential futures based on the current state of the world. In her new film, Yesterday Never Ends, Spanish writer-director Isabel Coixet’s (Map of the Sounds of Tokyo) takes the current economic crisis in her native country and extends it by a decade, out into the year 2017. In this iteration, the crisis worsens, taking the entire country down with it. Unemployment is at seven million, civil unrest runs rampant in the streets, fiscal cut backs hamstring every social service, and the government is powerless to do a damn thing about any of it.

'Warm Bodies' Movie Review

If you can make it through the first part of “Warm Bodies”, and get around the fact that they’re obviously trying to do for zombies what “Twilight” did for vampires—make them sexy, clean, and appealing to crowds of teenage girls in a non-threatening, non-sexual way—then you might enjoy the remainder of the film. You won’t be blown away, but there’s earnestness and certain charm that’s difficult to deny. Before you get to that point, however, the movie is a tedious wreck. And I’ll try to contain my rant on zombies until later in our program. I make no promises, but I will certainly do my best.

'Another Earth' Movie Review

“Another Earth” starts off with an interesting enough, if completely ridiculous premise. Scientists have found a heretofore-unnoticed planet, an exact replica of Earth to be exact, hiding behind the moon, and the movie attempts to explore the impact this discovery has on the people of “Earth One”. What it actually does is meander around for a while, trying to be moody, but succeeding only at boring the ever loving crap out of you. At times it is painfully indie, full of long, static shots of characters walking from one side of the frame to the other. Once in a while that device is okay to use, but it comprises roughly half of “Another Earth”. You just want something interesting to happen, but it never does.

'Crazy, Stupid, Love' Movie Review

If nothing else, “Crazy, Stupid, Love” is about being kicked in the nuts by love, and all of the fucked up things people do in the pursuit—how they go after it, how they try to keep it, and how they cope when it crumbles into shit at their feet. It’s not quite a comedy, not quite a drama, not quite a romance, and the story can be convoluted and is full of unearned coincidences and pseudo-shocking reveals at moments of heightened dramatic tension. What carries it through, however, keeping it from falling into tedious mediocrity, is the intelligence of the script, the strong, distinctive characters, and the cast. This is an earnest look at a man doing his level best to pick up the shards of his ruined life. Even when the characters are doing horrible, horrible things to each other, the actors have a charisma and an onscreen chemistry that makes it watchable.

'Bridesmaids' Movie Review

I’m going to start this review with a time saver, with two words that serve as a litmus test of whether or not “Bridesmaids” is for you. If you read them and giggle, by all means, go see this film. If you read them and make a face like you smell something foul and rancid, you’ll want to sit this one out. And these two words are…sink diarrhea.

DVD/Blu-ray Review: 'Blue Valentine'

“Blue Valentine” garnered a great deal of buzz in December 2010 when it was slapped with an NC-17 rating. Eventually the Weinstein Company managed to release is with an R rating without having to make any cuts to the film. I honestly don’t see what the big deal was about, the sex scenes that were cited in the original ruling are way less graphic, and way more tame than what you get in a lot of standard R movies. The discussion about the arbitrary nature of the ratings system is a topic for another time, but “Blue Valentine” is now out on DVD and Blu-ray, so if you, like me, missed out on the theatrical release, you can check it out and judge for yourself.

'Paul' Movie Review

As a concept, “Paul” has more potential than any film to come around the bend in a long, long time. First and foremost the film stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, who also handled the scripting duties, and since Pegg is largely responsible for movies like “Shaun of the Dead” and “Hot Fuzz”, you can’t be blamed for expecting big things. Add Greg Mottola (“Superbad”, “Adventureland”) to this mix, and you seem like you’re well on your way to something wonderful.

'The Adjustment Bureau' Movie Review

Spooky little dudes in fedoras secretly run the world. Didn’t know that, did you? At least if George Nolfi’s “The Adjustment Bureau”, and adaptation of a short story by Philip K. Dick, is to be believed. They may be angels; they’ve apparently been called a lot of things. But whatever else they may be, they are little more than mid-level bureaucrats, middle management suck ups who operate behind the scenes, subtly tweaking the destinies of the unsuspecting populous to make sure everything happens according to “the plan” written by “the Chairman”.