2023 was a conflicted year for the movie industry. On one hand, it is the year that it finally found its post-COVID footing and audiences returned to theatres in droves. The year peaked with the dubbed “Barbenheimer” July weekend that saw the release of two major financial and critical hits, Barbie and Oppenheimer. On the […]

Cat Person opens with the following quote from author Margaret Atwood: “Men are afraid that women will laugh at them. Women are afraid that men will kill them.” There could not be a better summary of the themes explored in the film, and the quote comes to mind often while watching it. Could men really […]

Almost needless to say, 1989’s Road House is an essential ‘80s action movie. It stars the now-departed and dearly missed Patrick Swayze. It was directed by the highly underrated Rowdy Herrington (Jack’s Back, The Stick Up). And it was produced by the man behind some of cinema’s most classic action offerings, Joel Silver (Lethal Weapon, […]

A group of young men (Zac Efron, Andrew Santino, Jermaine Fowler) who have been friends since childhood have been getting away with mischief for years by blaming the trouble they cause/responsibilities they shirk on a fictional best friend they invented named Ricky Stanicky. When their loved ones eventually insist on meeting the mysterious friend behind […]

A small-town, widowed police chief (Jon Hamm) investigates the murders of two women with the same name, uncovering a strange conspiracy involving a corrupt sandwich shop chain owner (Micah Stock) and his efforts to steal from the corporation that employs him. Details get stranger as things progress and numerous quirky lowlifes and inept criminals litter […]

The 2002 French film, Irreversible, is one of the most disturbing and extreme films ever made. Directed and conceived by the fearless and thunderously provocative auteur Gaspar Noé, the breathtakingly bold film tells an overall simple story about two men (Vincent Cassel and Albert Dupontel) who are seeking revenge after their current lover/ex-lover (Monica Bellucci) […]

Meg Ryan stars in and directs What Happens Later, a wholly endearing and minimalistic romantic comedy. Poorly received by both audiences and critics, the film is far better than it has been given credit for being and deserves to have its day in the sun. Unfortunately, it might be a bit too unconventional for Ryan’s […]

Butcher’s Crossing is a powerfully dramatic film that grabs hold of its audience’s attention from the start and never lets go until it’s finished. It’s an equally stunning and saddening historical lesson that examines America’s continuous disrespect towards and mistreatment of animal lives. It offers an eye-opening depiction of commerce taking over morality in America’s […]

The idea of Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind screenwriter Charlie Kaufman penning a kids’ movie is ludicrous. The cynically hilarious, absurdly surreal, bluntly honest, and neurotically charged writer’s sensibilities have served his past, R-rated work quite well. The same mind writing for children is an utterly inappropriate concept at […]

Yorgos Lanthimos has become one of the most singular and identifiable forces in modern filmmaking. The Greek auteur made a name for himself and created an entirely individualistic style with absurdly funny, darkly disturbing, and uniquely inventive films like Dogtooth, The Lobster, and The Killing of a Sacred Deer. Following the footsteps of filmmakers like […]