“‘Carmilla’ proves to be a successful adaptation that will appeal to anyone looking for some unearthly shivers, or a coming-of-age story where being conscious of one’s own sexuality takes centre stage.”
“‘Yesterday’ didn’t need to be a dry, emotionless sci-fi story, but in taking such a basic approach to the concept, it really lessens the impact and results in a watered-down, forgettable experience.”
“Coppola’s recent work is not a ‘return to form,’ whatever that means, but rather part of an ongoing exploration of what the form can do, showing an artist increasingly interested in only trying things he hasn’t done before.”
“Hazarika’s is a voice that comes from outside of the Bollywood canon and reverberates sharp and hard throughout the cinemascape of the country. May it grow only louder.”
“Eggers is persistent in never revealing his hand, but I’ve got a hunch he’s hiding a royal flush.”
“By viewing a family over three generations, the audience can see patterns that the characters themselves cannot, and then see patterns in their own lives as well, hopefully.”
“Few animated films look like Yamada productions, fewer still feel like them.”
“There is little doubt that ‘Gabriel Over the White House’ was a test balloon of sorts, priming the audience for a discussion on the merits of the strongman leader, asking them what they would be willing to sacrifice in order to ameliorate the national plight.”
“‘Scrooged’ carries on Dickens’ themes and message in a way that speaks the most directly and urgently to its audience, teaching that “the miracle” of giving can happen to all of us, at any time. Provided, of course, we can turn off the TV for just long enough.”
“‘Krampus’ is the pinnacle anti-Christmas movie in the way it thrives on the sheer awfulness of the holiday. It is ugly, it is unpleasant, and it is still utterly festive in the fact that it embraces the nature of the season as it has always been.”
“Patient blood aficianados who stick with the filmmaker to the final reel will most certainly receive their crimson reward.”
“A swirling, tumbling vision of Cold War paranoia and coven politics, ‘Suspiria’ will both astound and baffle; the conflict that defines its muted streets, full of uneasy dreams and restless feet, will come to bear on its audience and their nightmares.”
“Ultimately, it seems that the film’s pleasant and inoffensive affect is exactly what Roth intends. The work is unassuming, competently handled and ably colored within its established lines. It aims clearly and unwaveringly to please a young target audience.”
“‘Good Manners’ isn’t without its share of redeeming factors, to be sure, but Dutra and Rojas are simply hamstrung by their chosen medium, which pits an overabundance of ideas to a constricting runtime.”
“The ‘Phantasm’ films may be the best and most consistent source for on-screen existential terror, and their dream logic that allows for numerous interpretations keeps them endlessly watchable.”
“Imhotep, like the Monster, has come from the dead, and this informs the ways in which he relates to the living. More importantly, it impacts the ways in which he relates to death and mortality.”
“The film is not without heart, though its heart exists in scattered fragments without assimilating into a cohesive whole.”
“‘Avengers: Infinity War’ is the apex of franchise movie-making, bringing together a plethora of heroes from a number of different franchises to form the blockbuster of blockbusters.”
“Indeed, in a film that so gleefully satirizes and undermines any attempts to impose order on existence, Betelgeuse can be regarded as a subversive savior for the families of Ronald Reagan’s America as much as a harbinger of destruction.”
“‘A Wrinkle in Time’ is for kids, and I mean ‘made for kids’ in the supportive definition rather than the usual lazy and disparaging connotation that’s carelessly applied to more lukewarm family films.”
