The Exorcism
SimilarA History of Violence (2005), A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987), Constantine (2005), Ghostbusters (1984), Godzilla (1998), Insomnia (2002), Just Cause (1995), Misery (1990), Saw (2004), Saw II (2005), Saw III (2006), Silent Hill (2006), The King of Comedy (1982),
The Name of the Rose (1986) The Science of Sleep (2006), The Shawshank Redemption (1994), The Silence of the Lambs (1991),
Watch afterAquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023), Dune (2021), Five Nights at Freddy's (2023), Morbius (2022), Napoleon (2023), Society of the Snow (2023), The Marvels (2023),
StudioMiramax,
The biggest challenge any director making an exorcism movie faces is: How do you top The Exorcist? William Friedkin's apocalyptic, daring 1974 classic defined the genre so thoroughly that any subsequent entry is both indebted to, and haunted by, its mastery. The smartest move, really, is to just embrace its fog-covered shadow; The Exorcism, a meta-textual possession film that swims happily in the iconography of its forebear. In so doing it comes away with surprisingly melancholic ruminations on the strain that came with, well, making The Exorcist.
The film is co-written and directed by Joshua John Miller (Final Girls), whose most direct connection to The Exorcist comes from being the son of Jason Miller, the actor who played Father Karras in Friedkin's original. In a way, this story feels like Miller exorcising demons of his own, likely spurred by watching the emotional toll his father experienced working on Friedkin's famously chaotic and unpredictable set back in 1974. Here, the timeline is moved to the present, where a film called The Georgetown Project (a nod to the town in which The Exorcist is set) is put on hold after the actor playing the priest (a brief turn from Adrian Pasdar) meets a grisly fate late one night in the film's doll-house like soundstage.
In desperation, the film's director (Adam Goldberg) turns to Anthony Miller (Russell Crowe), a washed-up movie star freshly sober and looking for his way back into the spotlight. In an early scene of confession -- a perpetually useful device for Catholic-flavored exposition -- we learn that Miller is a lapsed Catholic whose life has been haunted by childhood sexual abuse as an altar boy. This itself rippled out into drug and alcohol problems and a strained relationship with his daughter Lee (Ryan Simpkins), who comes home after washing out of college just in time for Miller to contemplate a return to screen. Continue Reading →
The Pope's Exorcist
SimilarA Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987), All the President's Men (1976), American Psycho (2000), Apt Pupil (1998), Arlington Road (1999), Buffalo Soldiers (2002), Carrie (1976), Chinatown (1974), Conspiracy Theory (1997), Constantine (2005), Die Hard (1988), Eyes Wide Shut (1999), Fallen (1998), Ghost Rider (2007), Godzilla Raids Again (1955), Happy Death Day 2U (2019), I Stand Alone (1998), Jaws: The Revenge (1987), JFK (1991), Klute (1971), Minority Report (2002), Ocean's Twelve (2004), Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004), Rosemary's Baby (1968), Silent Hill (2006), Smilla's Sense of Snow (1997), The 39 Steps (1935), The Bourne Ultimatum (2007), The Crow: Salvation (2000), The Devil's Rejects (2005), The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005), The Godfather Part III (1990), The Omen (2006), The Rage: Carrie 2 (1999), The Shining (1980), We Own the Night (2007),
Watch afterAnt-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023),
Avatar: The Way of Water (2022) Evil Dead Rise (2023), Five Nights at Freddy's (2023), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023), John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023), Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (2023), Saw X (2023), The Equalizer 3 (2023), The Nun II (2023), The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023),
If you like loud noise jump scares, you’re going to love The Exorcist: Believer. Continue Reading →
The Greatest Beer Run Ever
Watch afterBullet Train (2022),
“What is Vietnam?” is not a question with an easy answer, but The Greatest Beer Run Ever tackles the challenge anyway. Like the plethora of media featuring the country—in any capacity—Peter Farrelly’s film runs headlong into the notion that what is an S-shaped piece of land in Southeast Asia can also be a dream after the Fall of Saigon. Or that the starry banner that international bodies recognize is not the triple-striped one flying overseas. Or that any example henceforth will possess the same gist: try to ring up nuance when discussing Vietnam. Continue Reading →
Thor: Love and Thunder
Watch afterJurassic World Dominion (2022),
StarringBrett Goldstein, Ray Stevenson, Stellan Skarsgård, Tom Hiddleston,
It's no understatement to say that Taika Waititi's Thor: Ragnarok was a welcome shot in the arm for both the titular God of Thunder (Chris Hemsworth) and the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a whole. There's something to be said for cutting out the creaky Shakespearean grandeur of the first two Thors in favor of whiz-bang sitcom theatrics, with a dash of Guardians of the Galaxy's signature irreverence thrown in, all leather and ironic needle-drops and "well that happened"s. The result was a whiz-bang sci-fi action comedy that made a buttload of cash, extended Thor's lease on cinematic life, and catapulted Waititi into Hollywood's A-list. Continue Reading →
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
Even after the umpteenth re-watch, I feel I’m only starting to scratch the surface of Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master. Initial reviews and reactions gravitated towards the film’s relationship with Scientology and its co-founder L. Ron Hubbard. In the decade since, this fixation has dissipated, depriving confused viewers of an easy handhold while scaling this towering cinematic achievement. Make no mistake: Philip Seymour Hoffman’s Lancaster Dodd is a character clearly inspired by Hubbard. But labeling The Master “a movie about Scientology” is about as silly as thinking you can cure leukemia by accessing past lives. Continue Reading →
Zack Snyder's Justice League
Watch afterBlack Widow (2021), Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021), The Suicide Squad (2021),
StarringWillem Dafoe,
Zack Snyder’s Justice League is a good movie. Its cast brings the famous DC superhero team to life through performances that range from reliably solid to very strong. Its action is clear, creative, and in a few places downright stupendous. Its thematic work is interesting, both on its own and in the greater context of its long and winding road to existence. There are multiple moments that qualify as full-on fantastic filmmaking, sequences that successfully connect western superheroes to the larger-than-life feeling of mystical Arthurian lore. To put it simply, I like it. I like it a bunch. Continue Reading →