'Upstream Color' Movie Review

We’ve been waiting almost a decade for Shane Carruth’s follow-up to his 2004 time travel mindfuck, Primer. Filmed for like fifty bucks and some personal favors, and largely inside a storage locker, Primer is a layered, intricate portrait of a character going back in time over and over again in an attempt to right the wrongs of his past, only to make things worse with each subsequent trip.

'Trance' Movie Review

Dark, brutal, hypnotic; these are a few choice adjectives you could use to describe Danny Boyle’s latest psychological thriller, “Trance.” The “Trainspotting” director is no stranger to this shadowy territory—remember the arm-cutting scene in “127 Hours”—but we’re talking an entirely different level here. At one point the top of a man’s head is blown clean off, yet his mouth keeps talking, and there’s a rotting corpse that’s as horrific as anything you’ll see in the most gruesome horror film. And let us not forget to mention the fingernail pulling and the dick shooting, which are both not to be missed. Not for the squeamish, there’s a gleeful layer of the macabre to this noir tale.

'Elysium' Trailer Is Coming After Your Ivory Tower

Are you ready for some heavy, thematically dense science fiction in the guise of a kick ass action vehicle? So are we. Now we have the first trailer “District 9” director Neill Blomkamp’s upcoming “Elysium” to gawk at. And it is good. 

Check it out for yourself after the break.

Blu-Ray Review: 'Woochi: The Demon Slayer

Based on popular Korean folk tales, 2009’s “Woochi: the Demon Slayer (AKA “Jean Woo-chi: The Taoist Wizard”) finally has a domestic Blu-ray release, courtesy of the fine folks at Shout! Factory. And who doesn’t want to sit in the comfort of their own home and watch giant rat monsters scurry up walls and do battle with a scatterbrained wizard and his sidekick that used to be a dog? If that doesn’t sound like a good time to you, then this probably isn’t the movie for you. However, if that sounds like a total blast, then by all means, give “Woochi: the Demon Slayer” a shot.

Blu-Ray Review: 'Zulu Dawn'

Watching “Zulu Dawn,” now out on Blu-ray, you get the distinct impression that this is a British version of frontier mythology. Instead of the wide, wild American west, you’re given Britain’s colonialism in Africa. Even the music feels like a sweeping western score. The 1979 prequel to “Zulu” rides the line between being a pure artifact of a bygone era—one that depicts a romanticized, unrealistic version of the time—and a modern, revisionist take that strives for a more accurate portrayal of historical reality.

'Evil Dead' Movie Review

When we learned that there was going to be an “Evil Dead” remake, or reboot, or whatever it’s supposed to be, most of us groaned and chalked it up to another unnecessary rehash of a beloved movie from our past. While I still don’t see the need for the new “Evil Dead,” over the intervening months the production has done something none of us thought possible, they made their movie look really, really good. That was unexpected. Whether or not “Evil Dead” lives up to this newfound potential is another thing.

TV Review: 'The Walking Dead'-3.16-"Welcome To The Tombs"

Season three of AMC’s hit zombie drama The Walking Dead has been a bumpy ride. It started off strong, introducing new characters, new arenas, pushing together groups of survivors, and generally establishing other humans as the most dangerous enemy of all. The first half of the season pushed the pace, the show was more consistent week to week, and things actually happened, which addressed one of the biggest complaints about the series: that you could skip an entire episode and not miss anything important. Up to the midway point, season three wasn’t great, but it was moving in the right direction, and things were looking up.