Almost Famous is a favorite among many of the /Film staff members (both present and past), but the movie hasn’t been beyond criticism despite being loved by many entertainment journalists since its release nearly 20 years ago. In the years since, contemporary views have called out the movie for being one of many in the 21st century to utilize what has come to be called the “manic pixie dream girl,” a cliche female character often used in films to teach broodingly soulful young male characters to embrace life and its infinite mysteries and adventures. But director Cameron Crowe doesn’t see the character Penny Lane, played by Kate Hudson, as fitting into that criticized trope. Read More »
Just how scary can grass be? Ask Stephen King and Joe Hill, who crafted an immensely disturbing tale of terror called In the Tall Grass. Then ask director Vincenzo Natali, who has taken King and Hill’s story and worked it into an off-the-wall crazy adaptation that mostly captures the madness of the story…but not quite. Just when you think Natali will fully embrace the shocking twists of the source material, the filmmaker takes the easy way out, resulting in something that’s both horrifying but also oddly muted.
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Trailers are an under-appreciated art form insofar that many times they’re seen as vehicles for showing footage, explaining films away, or showing their hand about what moviegoers can expect. Foreign, domestic, independent, big budget: What better way to hone your skills as a thoughtful moviegoer than by deconstructing these little pieces of advertising?
This week, we celebrate 10 years by finna to get off death row, dance like everyone is watching, luxuriate in good design, watch some of America’s huddled masses try to eke out an existence, and get a little more book smart without all that readin’. Read More »
Did you know Weird Al Yankovic was voicing a villain on Teen Titans Go! vs Teen Titans? Are you excited to hear Birds of Prey is heading to DC Black Label? Want a glimpse of Angelina Jolie on the set of The Eternals? Ready for a Batman Day crossover on Fortnite? Why did Chris Hemsworth punch Tom Hiddleston on the set of Avengers? All that and more in this edition of Superhero Bits. Read More »
Mariano Cohn’s 4×4, which sadly is not a lumberjacked themed slasher, brings fresh conceptualization to the single-setting thriller format. Those suffering from “Amaxophobia,” peel off in the opposite direction. Ever get stuck in highway traffic, roasting on the interstate with no air conditioning and mounting frustrations? Cohn constructs a far scarier transportation lock-in scenario where moral quandaries rev all the right engines. Maximum tension without burning any rubber. Read More »
Fall is right around the corner, and as the leaves start to pile up outside and the air becomes more chilly, you’re gonna wanna toss on a hoodie and enjoying some time with your ole buddy Netflix. October brings a slew of library titles and a bunch of Netflix originals for you to enjoy, and we have the full list of all the TV shows and movies coming to Netflix that you might want to watch next month along with some of our favorites cherry-picked out of the line-up.
Find out all the best TV shows and movies coming to Netflix in October 2019.
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Fatih Akin‘s The Golden Glove is the rawest, most real, and most brutal serial killer movie since Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer. Unflinchingly gruesome, and covered in a thick layer of grime, Akin’s film tells the true story of Fritz Honka, a murderer who stalked 1970s Hamburg, preying on the weak, the old, and the destitute. Honka was able to easily navigate amongst the downtrodden because he was one of them himself – a physically unappealing loner with a serious drinking problem. The Golden Glove has seemingly taken Honka’s inner and outer ugliness and projected it large on the screen. Buried under gruesome makeup, actor Jonas Dassler transforms into Honka, creating one of cinema’s most repulsive-yet-fascinating characters.
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Sam Worthington is living every man’s nightmare: his wife and child go missing during a routine hospital exam. Okay, maybe not every man’s nightmare but it is a very specific nightmare that will play out in the new Netflix thriller, Fractured. Watch the Fractured trailer below.
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Scandinavians know how to draw out operatic misery from quotidian life, and Hope, filmmaker Maria Sødahl’s masterful take on a couple in crisis, illustrates just how effective delving into the misery of brokenness can be. Read More »
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September is almost gone. Good! Get the hell out of here, summer! It’s time to make way for autumn! Which means it’s also time to make way for new movies on Netflix. But the arrival of new titles comes with a bitter price: other movies have to leave. Which means if you’ve had the movies below sitting in your queue for the last few months, you might want to get around to watching them before they up and vanish.
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