1st Reviews

  The   Alien  franchise has always been centred on building suspense in the vast dark galaxy we call space. Most of the time, humans and cyborgs are trapped in a spaceship with a Xenomorph or other strange alien creatures.   Throughout the franchise, each filmmaker has left their mark in choosing which new creatures to develop with practical effects. As technology advances, it’s interesting to see where the  Alien  franchise takes the artificial intelligence and cyborgs. However, the creatures they introduce will always return to the original foundation and keep the practicality of it all.  In the new series  Alien: Earth,  Noah Hawley gives audiences and fans of the franchise an epic sci-fi/horror that combines everything from its predecessors perfectly. Hawley presents a unique visual approach when creating the intensity in atmosphere on the spaceship with the crew on their way back to Earth.  Similar to Ridley Scott’s steady pacing i...

  When’s the last time you watched a movie that truly delivered on its potential, exceeding your every expectation? I’m talking about a one of a kind experience that gave you exactly what you were looking for, right when you needed it most - kind of like the way Amazon Prime delivers packages quickly and efficiently to millions of people around the world, every day. Yeah, War of the Worlds is not a movie that delivers anything, on any level. Actually, it’s barely a movie at all. This embarrassing adaptation must have H.G. Wells spinning in his grave. Very loosely based on his original novel, and blatantly stealing from past adaptations, this movie shows us a side of the story nobody asked for. We get to see the whole thing play out from a government official’s desktop computer and webcam.  In a career worst performance, Ice Cube reacts to stock footage and glitchy shaky cam video for a full hour and a half. The highlights include watching him chat on Microsoft Teams, lurk peop...

  Zach Cregger’s Weapons is a triumphant sophomore feature, catapulting him into the ranks of the most talented filmmakers working in horror today. Ambitiously structured, deliriously twisted and entirely absorbing, this is not only the best horror movie so far this year, but the best movie - period.  Broken into chapters, with each following a different character, the film plays out as more of a mystery crime drama than a traditional horror (at least, it does at first). There are some jump scares here and there, and a constant, eerie feeling of dread, but this isn’t your textbook scary movie. With each passing chapter, we’re given a new perspective, while also unearthing more answers surrounding the kids’ disappearance. The mystery burns slowly, but the revelation of crucial details, and their placement within each chapter is brilliant. You know there’s something sinister at play, but the film deliberately makes you wait quite some time before its first big, heart dropping re...

  Created by Maddy Foley,   Becky Swannick and Katelyn McCulloch.  The series follows Meg, an awkward millennial played by Maddy Foley. Meg is a very anxious, talk out-laud kind of girl who like the title says is very relatable. Meg goes through many issues that an average Millennial woman goes through in life from Loosing her job, to having to interact with people from high-school, trying new trends like spin classes; the list is endless. Meg also speaks out loud and says the things that people usually don’t say in a particular setting which makes her character that much more spectacular. The genius behind the series is the one location specific episodes dedicated to a particular issue or socially awkward moment. It is never easy crafting dialogue that can hold an audience without changing locations but Everybody’s Meg does it in brilliant fashion.  I had the privilege of interviewing Katelyn McCulloch a few years ago for a short film she created titled I Do(n’t)....

  Weapons  is a film that bids farewell to all the tropes we’re used to in even the best of modern horror movies, throwing us first into how a community is affected by such cruel and unexplainable loss. Julia Garner is at the film’s heart as a gentle teacher who suddenly loses all but one of her students — and is quickly blamed by her peers for it. Garner is immediately bondable with the audience due to her desire for answers and peace amidst her unfair situation. But on the other side of the public tensions is what comes off as rage but reveals itself to be fear and desperation in Josh Brolin’s performance as a father hellbent on finding his missing son. His hardness reveals itself as pain and vulnerability and stands out among many others of the actor’s roles. Though writer-director Zach Cregger sets out to make  Weapons  feel far more patient than other horror films, he also goes for broke structurally, stylistically, and graphically. The editing, score, and cinem...

  The Secret Agent is an outstanding balance of tone, telling a story that’s equal parts exciting, tense, and somber. Wagner Moura shines in the magnetic leading role he’s deserved all his career, a noble and seemingly ordinary man risking everything for the right thing. Moura is tender yet hardened and courageous in a role we can connect to and easily root for in every frame of this 158-minute film. But the entire cast is stellar here, creating a marvelous community of allies (and a few foes) around Moura. The film reflects on a dark era in Brazil’s dictatorship, including “forced disappearances” — the regime quietly murdering anyone who speaks out against or disobeys them. It fully conveys its serious matter that resonates, while also having moments of fun. The maximalist style, including the colorful camerawork and score, plays out like a nail-biting caper, and even boasts lots of unexpected humor that allows for personality, humanity, and exhalation.  The final few minutes...