Simon West auteurism is not for the faint of heart. Unlike Joseph H. Lewis or Phil Karlsen, his compromised studio work has less of a moral component and much more to do with what he can get away with in a lowdown, agreeably grotesque and decent-looking package. Whereas the journeymen of yesterday were placed in

Weird is the name of the game at the Fantasia International Film Festival; you can always count on your average festival pick to feature some level of weirdness, or horniness, or avant-garde experimentation. (It’s telling when the most normal entries at a film festival are the blood-soaked action thrillers; more on those as these dispatches

The great comedic songwriter and performer Tom Lehrer passed away at 97 yesterday, outliving one of the writers credited with penning the “advance” obituary that The New York Times had been holding for many years, a phenomenon that sometimes occurs with notable people who live longer than expected. Lehrer might also have been amused by

“Cease and desist!” A “lawyer” in an ACME t-shirt yelled up at the “Coyote vs. Acme” panel in the biggest room at San Diego Comic-Con, Hall H, the cavernous 6700-seat venue people line up for days in advance. “Coyote vs. Acme” was of special interest to Comic-Con attendees. Inspired by a witty 1990 Ian Frazier

The “Final Destination” series had been dormant for fourteen years when its home studio, Warner Bros. Discovery, decided to bring it back with “Final Destination Bloodlines,” one of the most profitable films of the year. To oversee the re-launch, they chose the filmmaking team of Adam Stein and Zach Lipovsky. They delivered a deliciously wicked

“The wreckage of my past is haunting me, it just won’t leave me alone,” sang Ozzy on “Road to Nowhere,” the reflective closer on his bestselling 1991 album No More Tears. It’s a standout in a solo career that endeared him to Gen Xers as much as his Black Sabbath albums did for boomers and

We’re proud to present an excerpt from That Very Witch: Fear, Feminism, and the American Witch Film by Payton McCarty-Simas, which is now available. Find the synopsis below, followed by the excerpt. That Very Witch explores the cyclical rise and fall of the cinematic witch in American culture and her relationship to feminist movements over time.

As with many festivals, but especially Fantasia, a kind of analysis paralysis can creep in with even the most intrepid critic. What do you cover? What’s worth looking at and talking about? What can be paired together for snappy festival dispatches? Even (or especially) amid the Montreal-based fest’s genre brief, there’s a lot of variety

It may be about time, or perhaps far too soon, to craft a movie that explores the realities of living through Summer 2020. Regardless, director Ari Aster’s pugnacious and genre-pliant “Eddington” is here, and it offers up the best approximation of the unique hell of that time.  Bristling with natural ease, Joaquin Phoenix plays Joe

At the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, no honorary award is more prestigious than the Crystal Globe for Outstanding Artistic Contribution to World Cinema, bestowed annually on an individual who has made significant contributions to the art of filmmaking.  Stellan Skarsgård, who received the Crystal Globe at this year’s festival, most certainly fits that description,