★★★★ Much ado has been made of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe being a bit all over the place in its fourth phase. It contained some of Marvel’s finest works (WandaVision, Spider-Man: No Way Home) but also some major missteps (Eternals, Thor: Love and Thunder). Consistency is key, and at least in the first entry of phase … Continue reading Film Review: Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
Genres
Film Review: Of An Age
★★★★ Queer dramas frequently fall into trope territory, often without even doing so on purpose. How many times have we seen coming out stories, forbidden romances, or “bury your gays” cliches? Thankfully, the new film from writer/director/editor Goran Stolevski does not fall into any of these familiar patterns. Set in the summer of 1999, Of … Continue reading Film Review: Of An Age
Film Review: Emily
★★ Emily was a film I had been anticipating for what felt like eons, debuting all the way back at 2022’s Toronto International Film Festival. A simple period piece romance was expected, and Emily is absolutely not that kind of movie. Writer/director Frances O’Connor depicts a bleak and painfully slow biographical drama with little stylistic … Continue reading Film Review: Emily
Film Review: At Midnight
★★★ Classic rom-com and old Hollywood vibes abound in silly, adorable At Midnight from co-writer/director Jonah Feingold. As he did before with Dating & New York, Feingold easily pays homage to the romantic comedies of yesteryear while putting his own delicious stamp on the genre. If he has more in store, I would love to … Continue reading Film Review: At Midnight
Film Review: Your Place or Mine
★★★ Rom-coms are true comfort food, and in the same breath, they elicit some of the laziest scripts by virtue of their almost insistent happy ending scenarios. For its credit, in a change of pace, Netflix’s Your Place or Mine does at least save the actual romance part for the last ten minutes. Whether this … Continue reading Film Review: Your Place or Mine
TV Review: You – Season 4, Part 1
During its unexpected journey in the transition from being an overlooked Lifetime gem to an unexpected Netflix smash hit, creepy romance/thriller You evolved beyond its Dexter counterpart and into something truly special. Season three ended in a sort of reset, appearing to promise that Joe (Penn Badgley) would be stalking librarian Marienne (Tati Gabrielle) and … Continue reading TV Review: You – Season 4, Part 1
Film Review: Sharper
★★★★ There has been no shortage of excellent thrillers in recent years, so each time a new one is releasing, it is almost like being a kid in a candy store with too many options. How can one filter out the rotted garbage from the premium goods? Certainly, any film boasting an ensemble cast this … Continue reading Film Review: Sharper
Film Review: Consecration
★★ Jena Malone has been in some of my favorite films of all time, including mind-bending sci-fi thriller Donnie Darko, and body horror masterpiece The Ruins. Seeing her name listed on a title is always enough to get me excited regardless of the genre. Unfortunately, co-writer/director Christopher Smith’s Consecration is the rare dud in Malone’s … Continue reading Film Review: Consecration
Film Review: The Outwaters
★★★★ Found footage horror is one fickle beast, mainly because there is an extremely fine line between masterpiece and straight garbage. Audiences can quickly turn on a film they do not understand with little care for the craft that went behind it. No one is more aware of this obvious divide than writer/director/star of The … Continue reading Film Review: The Outwaters
Film Review: Baby Ruby
★★★ After missing mystery/thriller Baby Ruby at 2022’s TIFF, it seemed a long shot that it would be available to watch anytime soon. Starring a post-Game of Thrones Kit Harrington and Portrait of a Lady on Fire/Tár actress Noémie Merlant, an intriguing premise coupled with writer/director Bess Wohl’s directorial debut made this a must-see. I … Continue reading Film Review: Baby Ruby