Movie Reviews
Movie Reviews

“She Just Had an Accident”: “Seed of Chucky” at 20 | Features

“That’s the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen in my whole life!” a little girl (Bethany Simons-Denville) exclaims. She shouts it at the audience, who, in “Seed of Chucky“‘s first-person opening scene, takes a queer kid’s point-of-view. As she throws them into a toy chest, it’s like we fall into a closet. The kid comes out

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Movie Reviews

Apocalypse Then: Godzilla Minus One Minus Color | Features

“Godzilla Minus One” was already one of the best Godzilla movies, for the way it used the kaiju movie template to tell a story that was essentially a sweeping melodrama about surviving wars and other catastrophes. The announcement that it was going to be released in a black-and-white version was tantalizing, and the result is

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Movie Reviews

Tokyo International Film Festival 2024: Godzilla Turns 70 | Festivals & Awards

I’ve seen the original “Godzilla” three times in theaters. Most films benefit from being seen on a big screen, and “Godzilla” especially so: It’s the only way to get a proper sense of scale, even if most movie screens top out at a fraction of the monster’s original 50-meter (164 foot) height. (Tracking Godzilla’s size,

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Movie Reviews

Living Forward: Adam Elliot on “Memoir of a Snail” | Interviews

If you notice any aesthetic blemishes on the miniatures in director Adam Elliot’s stop-motion film “Memoir of a Snail,” just know they were left in intentionally. Elliot’s film is all about the importance of embracing imperfections and understanding how life’s tragedies may shape us, but don’t have to define us. This thesis is extended to

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Movie Reviews

Short Films in Focus: Don Hertzfeldt’s “ME” | Features

Don Hertzfeldt’s “ME” is available on Vimeo On-Demand.  Don Hertzfeldt’s “ME” will feel familiar to the filmmaker’s fans and admirers, with its expressive stick figures serving as our protagonists, its depiction of technological breakthroughs that cause societal disarray, and journeys through time and space that warrant repeated viewings just to take in all the ideas

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Movie Reviews

Nothing Left to Prove: Quincy Jones (1933-2024) | Tributes

Mention Quincy Jones to a bunch of people, and I’m sure each person will highlight a different achievement. There are so many milestones that naming them all would take far more space than I am afforded here. Jones was an Oscar-winning score composer, the arranger of great jazz albums by legends like Frank Sinatra, a

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Movie Reviews

Eddie Redmayne, Lashana Lynch Bring Gravity to “The Day of the Jackal” | TV/Streaming

Who is the Jackal? Is he a multimillionaire with a lavish estate who travels around the world? Is he a custodian who quite literally cleans up messes? Or is he simply a hired hand who also happens to be the world’s best sniper? As far as star Eddie Redmayne and the new series “The Day

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Movie Reviews

HBO’s “Like Water for Chocolate” is Downright Sumptuous | TV/Streaming

HBO’s new “Like Water for Chocolate” is sumptuously shot. And it’s not just the costumes or the sets, although they are both clearly rendered with care. Gathered skirts, wide-brimmed hats, and lace-up black boots. Colonial archways and formal sitting rooms. What makes this show feel so rich is the cinematography, framing a kiss between the

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Movie Reviews

10 Great Horror Films from 2024 (and Where to Watch Them) | TV/Streaming

It’s the time of year when even casual fans are looking for something spooky to watch, but where do you begin? Of course, all the streaming services have robust catalogs of some of the best that the horror genre has ever offered, but maybe you want to catch up with something from this year too?

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Movie Reviews

Finding Mr. Christmas: Jonathan Bennett on Hallmark’s New Reality Competition | Interviews

Hallmark Movies Now is becoming Hallmark+ this month with exclusive new movies, original series, and more featuring beloved Hallmark stars—or, as Jonathan Bennett calls them, the Hallmark Cinematic Universe (HCU). That’s a lot of happily ever after. Bennett played the handsome love interest in Hallmark’s “The Christmas House” and its sequel, “Deck Those Halls,” and

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