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Josh Bell

Josh Bell is a freelance writer and movie/TV critic based in Las Vegas. He's the former film editor of 'Las Vegas Weekly' and has written about movies and pop culture for Syfy Wire, Polygon, CBR, Film Racket, Uproxx and more. With comedian Jason Harris, he co-hosts the podcast Awesome Movie Year.

News archive

Review: <i>Disturbing the Peace</i> — Josh Bell

Review: Disturbing the Peace

Jan 14th, 2020

No matter how hard they work, Nicolas Cage, Bruce Willis, and John Travolta can only star in so many direct-to-VOD thrillers a year, so someone has...

Review: <i>Three Christs</i> — Josh Bell

Review: Three Christs

Jan 7th, 2020

It sounds like the set-up for a bad joke: Three Jesus Christs walk into a mental hospital, each claiming to be the real thing. But there’s nothing...

Josh Bell Says Don't Forget: <i>Fast Color</i> — Josh Bell

Josh Bell Says Don't Forget: Fast Color

Dec 23rd, 2019

The dominance of the Marvel Cinematic Universe has essentially crowded out the kind of smaller-scale, diverse superhero stories that are more common...

Josh Bell Says Don't Forget: <i>Sweetheart</i> — Josh Bell

Josh Bell Says Don't Forget: Sweetheart

Dec 23rd, 2019

J.D. Dillard’s fascinating survival horror movie Sweetheart premiered at Sundance and was produced by the genre specialists at Blumhouse, who’ve...

Review: <i>Hell on the Border</i> — Josh Bell

Review: Hell on the Border

Dec 17th, 2019

A title card at the beginning of writer-director Wes Miller’s Western Hell on the Border laments the erasure of the black cowboy from popular...

Review: <i>Beyond the Law</i> — Josh Bell

Review: Beyond the Law

Dec 7th, 2019

Back in 2001, fading action star Steven Seagal starred with rapper DMX in Exit Wounds, one of the last Seagal movies to get a wide theatrical...

The McG-enius of <i>Charlie's Angels</i> — Josh Bell

The McG-enius of Charlie's Angels

Nov 13th, 2019

“Another movie from an old TV show,” sighs a character at the beginning of 2000’s Charlie’s Angels when confronted with the fictional T.J....

Review: Primal

Nov 8th, 2019

The one advantage of Nicolas Cage starring in approximately 87 straight-to-video movies a year for the past decade is that he sometimes adds a bit...

<i>Cluny Brown</i>, <i>Downton Abbey</i>, and the British Class System — Josh Bell

Cluny Brown, Downton Abbey, and the British Class System

Sep 30th, 2019

“It’s 1927. We’re modern folk!” Lady Edith’s husband Bertie (Harry Hadden-Paton) declares in Downton Abbey when he and his wife (Laura...

<i>Rock 'n' Roll High School</i> and Female Friends, 40 Years Later — Josh Bell

Rock 'n' Roll High School and Female Friends, 40 Years Later

Aug 1st, 2019

Being a teenager is tough, but it’s also thrilling, and the best teen movies capture the angst and the exuberance of adolescence in equal measure....

Palm Springs Film Fest Report: Risky Business

Jan 16th, 2019

Although it caters to a large community of retirees, the Palm Springs International Film Festival still features its share of daring selections, on a...

Josh Bell Says Don't Forget: <i>Thoroughbreds</i> — Josh Bell

Josh Bell Says Don't Forget: Thoroughbreds

Dec 26th, 2018

Two teenage girls, one a self-admitted sociopath, the other a spoiled schemer, conspire to commit murder in Cory Finley’s brilliantly incisive...

Josh Bell Says Don't Forget: <i>Never Goin' Back</i> — Josh Bell

Josh Bell Says Don't Forget: Never Goin' Back

Dec 26th, 2018

In an alternate (and, frankly, better) universe, Augustine Frizzell’s Never Goin’ Back would have been one of the biggest comedy hits of 2018,...

<i>Christmas Evil</i> (1980): Not Your Typical Holiday Slasher — Josh Bell

Christmas Evil (1980): Not Your Typical Holiday Slasher

Dec 5th, 2018

The title Christmas Evil (also released as You Better Watch You) does not promise a complex psychological drama, and anyone going into Lewis...

Raising the Zombie <i>Halloween</i>s from the Dead — Josh Bell

Raising the Zombie Halloweens from the Dead

Oct 17th, 2018

In between Jamie Lee Curtis’ stints in the Halloween movies — after her character’s death in 2002’s Halloween: Resurrection and before her...

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