With the premiere of the Paramount Network’s Waco miniseries alongside continued controversy over Quentin Tarantino’s upcoming Manson-era film, there’s never been a better time to revisit the allure of the cult. But where real-life leaders like Jim Jones, Charles Manson, and David Koresh saw...

Editor's note: After we'd published two of these columns, we discovered that Noel Mellor already has a well-established podcast and book called "Adventures in VHS." We chose the name at the last minute and neglected to check whether anyone was already using it -- totally our mistake. We apologize...

“You know, Hollywood has us convinced that it takes a hundred million dollars to make a quality piece of art, and that’s a piece of crap statement. I think you just saw that, right?” As labels for filmmaking styles, movements, or sub-genres go, it’s hard to name one more patronizing than...

Based on my own research. Additions and corrections welcome (@ me), will update accordingly. Total wide releases (600+ theaters): 155 Sequels, prequels, remakes, reboots, and franchises: 44 Based on novels (or comic books not previously made into films): 25 Based on a true story...

When bad numbers happen to good movies. Now, you'll notice we didn't say these movies were "flops." Several of them were on Video on Demand at the same time as their limited theatrical runs and might very well have made millions that way. (Or they might have flopped there, too. No way of knowing,...

You know how half the movies now are based on young-adult novels about adolescent girls in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, and the other half are about zombies? The Girl with All the Gifts is both! It's a clever improvement on both genres, offering a rare look at what happens after society is...

Colossal seems destined to become a cult film, one that we’ll look back on and wonder how audiences missed it. Though it received its share of raves upon release last April, it proved (apologies) a colossal flop, earning less than a third of its initial budget. This is a great shame, as...

What is Girlfriend’s Day? An extended Mr. Show sketch built around a single joke? A genuine film noir with a goofy premise? Or evidence that Netflix will throw money at literally anything in an attempt to appeal to every single niche on the planet? Whatever it is, Girlfriend’s Day is unlike...

Studio comedies are in a rut: In 2017, we had to contend with such junk as The House, Rough Night, and (shudder) CHIPS, to name a few. Fortunately, the independent world is as vibrant and vital as ever, offering up such excellent films like The Little Hours, written and directed by Jeff Baena. His...

With all due respect to troubled figure skaters from the ‘90s, if you see only one I, movie this year, make it I, Olga Hepnarová. Like the more high-profile American movie to which it bares titular similarity, this Czech film is also based on a shocking true crime story, albeit a far more...

It was just this week that we saw the biggest merger in recent history between Fox and Disney. What does this mean to us? What does this mean to a free press that’s just as reliant on reporting the news as it is pleasing the people and institutions that provide it? All of this is terrifyingly...

At a time when indie filmmakers are increasingly turning to crowdfunding platforms to bring their modestly budgeted visions to life, many genre films arrive with a cult audience baked right in. The Void doubles down on that by being about a cult, specifically of disciples in thrall to a...

Despite the never-ending flood of sexual harassment accusations and our President just ... talking, this was a pretty amazing year to be a woman. Or, to at least see the feats of amazing women on-screen. While everyone was rightfully cheering Wonder Woman, though, one film slipped under the radar...

Any movie starring the eternally great Song Kang-ho is a movie worth seeing, but his latest manages to be more than just terrific entertainment. The true story follows 48 hours in the life of the eponymous blue-collar worker during South Korea’s military coup in the early '80s that followed the...

One of the year’s most quietly devastating performances can be found in Terence Davies’ immaculately rendered portrait of poet Emily Dickinson. That is, it’s quiet until the moment Emily (played with a fierce, undeniable intelligence by Cynthia Nixon) releases the emotions she’s kept pent...