The Iconic Underdog Sports Film Ages Surprisingly Well After 40 Years

Category: Reviews

The Iconic Underdog Sports Film Ages Surprisingly Well After 40 Years

Following the success of Sylvester Stallone's Rocky, one of the biggest trends of the 1980s became underdog sports stories, with one of the more iconic being The Karate Kid. Helmed by original Rocky director John G. Avildsen, the 1984 teen…

Ralph Fiennes Smolders In Slow Burn Vatican Thriller [Telluride]

TELLURIDE – If you know anything about the long history of the Catholic Church you know that it can be messy, cutthroat, and political. And that’s just in the confines of the Vatican. It’s no surprise then, that the ritualistic…

Angelina Jolie’s Oscar Vehicle Sees Pablo Larrain Exquisitely Navel-Gazing Once More

Following Jackie and Spencer, Maria is Pablo Larraín's latest snapshot portrait of the publicly glamorous but privately tragic. And after Oscar nominations for Natalie Portman as Jacqueline Kennedy and Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana, one for Angelina Jolie as Maria…

‘Slingshot’ Review – Casey Affleck and Laurence Fishburne Sci-Fi Is Best When Bleak

A few months back, I saw the unrelentingly bleak yet still oddly beautiful 2018 science fiction film Aniara for the first time. An adaptation of an epic poem, it journeys through space with a large group of passengers fleeing an…

Hell Squad Featured, Reviews Film Threat

It’s camcorder dreams of endless screams with the superb shot-on-videotape slasher short Hell Squad, written and directed by Carter Bentley and Grayce Anne Mosier. Cheerleader hazing time! In order for new cheerleaders to be allowed on the squad, they have…

A Terrifying Symphony of Retro Horror

The Alien franchise has been a mixed bag over the years—sometimes brilliant, sometimes bewildering. But with Alien Romulus, director Fede Alvarez delivers a cinematic experience that takes the best of what we love about the original films and propels it…

A Taut Survival Horror Flick That Takes A Bite Out Of Toxic Masculinity

Like the best hunters,Out Come the Wolves (2024) excels because of its restraint. Directed and co-written by Adam MacDonald (Slasher), the survival-horror film is a tight 87 minutes, but economy of runtime isn’t its only strength. The cast features just…

Nicole Kidman & Harris Dickinson Sizzle in Halina Reijn’s Erotic Drama [Venice]

To the uninformed bystander, Romy (Nicole Kidman) leads a perfect life. She is a beautiful CEO living in a lavish New York townhouse with two loving teenage daughters and a doting husband who still desires her after two decades of…

‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ Review – Jenna Ortega Leads Tim Burton’s Fun Throwback

Was a Beetlejuice sequel on your 2024 bingo card? Did anyone honestly expect it to manifest some 36 years later out of the blue? The original grossed only $74 million in 1988, though it immediately established Tim Burton as a…

‘Tell Me Lies’ Season 2 Review

After a long two-year cleanse, we can finally indulge in one of the most toxic shows on television again. (And I mean that as a compliment.) Tell Me Lies Season 2 features less studying than ever, instead choosing to major…

Light Up Featured, Reviews Film Threat

Director Ryan Ashley Lowery’s documentary Light Up presents intimate profiles of four Black gay men and a transgender woman. Lowery surrounds them with support and encouragement to tell their stories of being ostracized and rejected, followed by later success and…

Awkwafina and John Cena Deserve Better

Jackpot!, directed by Paul Feig and written by Rob Yescombe, promised to be a rollercoaster of laughter and thrills with its unique premise and an ensemble cast featuring Awkwafina, John Cena, and Simu Liu. However, what could have been a…

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