“War for the Planet of the Apes” Earns Another Victory for the Rebooted Franchise

by

Remember how Rise of the Planet of the Apes was a James Franco-laden disaster with John Lithgow wandering around forgetting everything and apes rampaged over the Golden Gate bridge being attacked by police helicopters? How far we’ve come. This Planet of the Apes reboot may be one of the most artistically successful reboots of a … Read more

“It” Spoils Potent Storytelling with Commercialized Horror

by

It appears to be one of the most crowd-pleasing horror films in recent memory. But a crowd-pleasing horror film is something of a contradiction in terms. If everyone finds it to their liking, then how unnerving, scary, or boundary-pushing can it possibly be? I’m not saying that every horror film has to have people throwing … Read more

State of the Blog – September 2017

by

Move to a new state, start a new job, and your movie blogging suffers. July was something of a testament to that, but I still got to see some cool movies. August was brutal, with only a couple of worthwhile releases, both of which I missed (but hope to get to soon). Anyway, Life Things™ are starting to get sorted, September will certainly be better than August with regards to releases, and thanks to my laziness, there’s a plethora of good content on the way.

Read more

Patreon Pick #1: Marin Ade’s “Toni Erdmann” (2016)

by

Writer-Director Marin Ade’s Toni Erdmann, Germany’s entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2016 Oscars, is a profoundly strange and wonderful film.  It wanders between awkward comedy, heartfelt drama, and outright farce with a complete control of its own voice and tone.  It’s an impressive and weird movie, and even though it stretches to … Read more