★★★★ Kiersey Clemons leads a fun mystery/thriller in writer/director Sophie Kargman’s Susie Searches, based on her own 2020 short film. Similar to Tribeca favorite Poser, Susie Searches catalogues a struggling outsider as she goes to great lengths to help her podcast go viral. Of course, there are many more layers of nuance to what happens … Continue reading Film Review: Susie Searches
Film Review: Sympathy for the Devil
★★★★ Nicolas Cage somehow delivers one of his most unhinged performances yet while keeping it grounded in the grittiness of the movie, opposite an electric Joel Kinnaman, in Yuval Adler’s demented road trip horror/thriller, Sympathy for the Devil. This twisted little treat should give genre fans everything they want and more from one of cinema’s … Continue reading Film Review: Sympathy for the Devil
Film Review: Cobweb
★★★★ Channeling J-horror vibes and Malignant meets The Black Phone energy, Cobweb is an eerie throwback horror doused in Halloween-season atmosphere. Written by Chris Thomas Devlin (2022’s excellent Texas Chainsaw Massacre) and directed by Samuel Bodin (Netflix’s Marianne), this simplistic but highly effective chiller follows many horror tropes, before consistently flipping them on their head. … Continue reading Film Review: Cobweb
Film Review: God is a Bullet
★★★★★ Based on the book of the same name by Boston Teran, God is a Bullet may be the feel-bad movie of the year. The film, written and directed by Nick Cassavetes (Alpha Dog, John Q), has especially gnarly gore sequences, coupled with explicit sexuality/violence—think: a modern, less horror-centric The Last House on the Left … Continue reading Film Review: God is a Bullet
Film Review: Bird Box Barcelona
★ 2018’s Bird Box, adapted from the novel by Josh Malerman, still stands as one of Netflix’s most-streamed movies ever. The Sandra Bullock-led horror thriller featured a spectacularly tense atmosphere, by way of its The Happening meets A Quiet Place premise. Five years later, and Bird Box Barcelona enters a very different post-pandemic environment with … Continue reading Film Review: Bird Box Barcelona
Film Review: We Might Hurt Each Other
★★★★ Formerly titled Pensive, co-writer/director Jonas Trukanas makes his directorial debut with instant-classic slasher, We Might Hurt Each Other. Jason Vorhees may be in the rearview for some horror fans—after all, the iconic villain has not seen a proper cinematic entry since 2009’s gory Friday the 13th. Yet, Lithuanian horror We Might Hurt Each Other … Continue reading Film Review: We Might Hurt Each Other
Tribeca 2023: Cold Copy
★★★★★ Many a film has examined the unfortunate price of success and fame. How many likes and followers we accrue has become some kind of sick metric with which people are judged. In a society that values popularity and clickbait over proof and facts, being cutthroat certainly seems more appealing than trying things the old … Continue reading Tribeca 2023: Cold Copy
Tribeca 2023: Suitable Flesh
★★★★★ The future is female in director Joe Lynch’s twisty new horror film, Suitable Flesh. The zany excess of this slimy erotic genre flick could only have hatched from the collective insanity of Lynch (Wrong Turn 2: Dead End, Mayhem) and screenwriter Dennis Paoli (Re-Animator, The Dentist). Ahead of its debut at the Tribeca Film … Continue reading Tribeca 2023: Suitable Flesh
Tribeca 2023: He Went That Way
★★★ Anchored by a captivating, intense performance from Jacob Elordi, He Went That Way is a strange crime comedy based “mostly” on the true story of a traveling chimpanzee. Director Jeff Darling passed away shortly after filming wrapped, making the movie an understandably somber affair for all involved. That said, Darling would definitely be proud … Continue reading Tribeca 2023: He Went That Way
TV Review: The Crowded Room
Apple TV+ adds to an already stellar lineup (including The Afterparty, Servant, Black Bird, and Ted Lasso) with their new crime/mystery/thriller The Crowded Room. Starring an ensemble cast of rising talent, The Crowded Room is unique in the way it approaches how we view mental illness and trauma. Tom Holland delivers an acting masterclass that … Continue reading TV Review: The Crowded Room