The attention-grabbing pitch for Jojo Rabbit — a little German boy near the end of World War II has an imaginary friend, and it’s Hitler — is ultimately secondary in importance to the film’s more serious, sentimental themes. That the film, adapted and directed by Taiki Waititi from...

In the Shadow of the Moon (on Netflix) is a reasonably OK science-fiction police procedural that begins with a flash-forward to 2024, where Philadelphia is in ashy ruins and the U.S. flag has been reconfigured to have five big stars instead of 50 little ones. With this indication that The Future...

Film is a strange medium. It requires creating images and moments that must have the semblance of reality but which are totally fictional. At least, that’s the conceit — more often than not, a little (or more) truth bleeds into the material, consciously or otherwise, and the lines between...

Crime films deal with criminals in a variety of ways, but there is a temptation (often indulged) to treat the criminal as an “other,” as “the bad guy,” allowing for a good deal of distance between the characters and the spectators. This happens so frequently that when a crime film comes...

Thorns and nails pressing into raw flesh, limbs twisting and contorting beyond the limits of nature, flames not-so-gently lapping at bare skin — religious fervor (especially that of the Catholic variety) has always made an alluring backdrop for body horror, and for good reason. As films like The...

I suppose there are multiple ways to go about having a good old-fashioned masculine midlife crisis — it just depends on your level of commitment. You know the obvious ones, of course: things like plunking down your life savings for a shiny red sports car, trading in your age-appropriate partner...

A fully loaded SUV, parked on a Buenos Aires street, is the setting for 4x4, a Saw-inspired take on income inequality from Argentine director Mariano Cohn. A petty thief named Ciro (Peter Lanzani) breaks into the car to steal the stereo, only to find himself trapped when the owner (Dady Brieva) --...

Set in Alabama and focused on two idiots who panic after making a mistake, The Death of Dick Long laughs at its characters' follies but ultimately shows the kind of affection for them and their habitat that can only come from someone who grew up there. Director Daniel Scheinert (who co-made Swiss...

Hollywood biopics generally focus on the biggest and most renowned figures in the realms of entertainment. Everyone knows and loves Ray Charles, Elton John, and Tina Turner, so it only makes sense to tell their personal stories in a biography-style movie. But what of the artists who aren't...

The Golden Glove is the remarkably unpleasant true story of a German serial killer in the 1970s, told with matter-of-fact, steely-eyed brutality by Turkish-German filmmaker Fatih Akin. Jonas Dassler is uglied up real good to play Fritz Honda, a hunched, oily psycho with a wispy mustache lingering...

(Screened at Fantastic Fest; release TBA.) We all have our own personal biases when it comes to movies. For example, I am instantly curious to see any H.P. Lovecraft adaptation -- partially because lots of his short stories and damn good but mostly because the man's work is notoriously difficult...

(Screened at Fantastic Fest; theatrical release TBA.) One simply cannot deny that the former Harry Potter, aka Mr. Daniel Radcliffe, has done a fine job of choosing unique, offbeat, and even downright weird scripts in recent years. Between Horns, Kill Your Darlings, and Swiss Army Man, it's...

Given the current sociopolitical climate and general state of the world, satire seems like a tall order. How can you comically exaggerate people and situations when everything that happens already feels like it’s already been exaggerated for comedic effect? But for that very reason, satire can...

Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead have been floating around the edges of indie sci-fi/horror for the last few years, writing and directing thoughtful under-the-radar films like Spring (2015) and The Endless (2018) that were acclaimed in certain circles but didn't get much mainstream attention. The...

You can tell pretty quickly that something is up with One Cut of the Dead. It starts in an old warehouse serving as the set of an amateurish, low-budget zombie movie, where the director, Higurashi (Takayuki Hamatsu), is having trouble getting convincing performances from his not-very-good actors....