125 Best Releases From the Genre Fantasy (Page 4)

Continue Reading →

Sean Ellis' werewolf period piece is a humorless medley of conflicting approaches that somehow ends up dull. (This review originally ran as part of our coverage of the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, under the film's original title "Eight for Silver." We're re-releasing it to coincide with its new title and wider release date.) It’s a well-known shorthand to criticize a movie by saying that it “should have been a short film.” Depending on whom you ask, it might even be a cliché. How’s this as a change of pace? Sean Ellis’ The Cursed shouldn’t have been a short film as much as it should have been a short story. If it were on the page, its medley of approaches probably would have worked in its favor instead of against it. It would have left more to the imagination instead of what we get here. Most importantly, its inability to choose a cohesive method to suspense wouldn’t have been so glaring. For those looking for a slow burn, this werewolf tale is too reliant on cheap jump scares. For those in the mood for gore and a good time, it’s far too slow—stagnant, even. Add in its lack of self-awareness for what’s an inherently silly script and you get something that’s just dull. Continue Reading →

(This review is part of our coverage of the 2022 Sundance Festival) Continue Reading →

In 1996, a peaceful time of American prosperity between the Cold War and Twitter, music’s biggest things were imports. One was Canadian Queen Celine Dion, with her classic “It’s All Coming Back To Me Now” playing from car radios on constant rotation. The other was Irishman Michael Flatley who came to our shores with the step dancing phenomenon Riverdance.  Continue Reading →

The Hotel Transylvania series is a surprising juggernaut amongst contemporary family entertainment. Who would have guessed that a movie about a hotel for monsters would create a franchise where every sequel grows in both box office and critical success? With no signs of slowing down, it made sense for Sony to greenlight a fourth film. How could another sequel not be a hit at the box office? Well, I think we know how.   Continue Reading →

In Asghar Farhadi’s A Hero, moral ambiguity runs rampant through the life of imprisoned Rahim Soltani (Amir Jadidi). Locked away for a debt he could not repay, Soltani has two days of leave to get his creditor, a family friend, to drop the charges. He owes the man a large sum, given as a pseudo-loan for a failing small business. A father to a young boy with a speech impediment, Rahim is understandably anxious to negotiate his freedom. When his girlfriend finds a lost bag filled with 17 gold coins, the moral conundrums begin, multiplying throughout the film with “nice” deeds and public interference.  Continue Reading →

The modern era of musicals moves fits and spurts. Over this young century, the form has repeatedly fallen in and out of fashion. 2021 was an on year—one pulsing full of musicals, which ranged from towering works like Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story remake to the dreaded and thoroughly mocked Dear Evan Hansen. Many of them were quite experimental too, like Leos Carax and Sparks’ Annette and Lin-Manuel Miranda’s tick, tick…BOOM!. But even against that august competition, Joe Wright’s Cyrano carves out a place as one of the most imaginative musicals of this modern era. Although The National’s newly-composed songs don’t immediately gel with the iconic story being told, Cyrano makes its way towards a moving, complex finale, thanks to a stellar set of performances.  Continue Reading →

To quote Mystery Science Theater 3000, “It’s the 80s! Do a lot of coke and vote for Ronald Reagan!” Continue Reading →

Once Upon a Time… Continue Reading →

One of the few moments of genuine humanity from Ghostbusters: Afterlife comes before the movie starts. In the press screening intro video, director and co-writer Jason Reitman shows up to tell everyone to please enjoy the movie. Then he briefly mentions the high stakes pressure of taking up the mantle of a beloved film property from his father, Ivan Reitman.  Continue Reading →

What if you were the only one in your entire family without magic? Disney's Encanto sets out to answer that question with music and charm as its fanciful powers. Continue Reading →

Watching Clifford the Big Red Dog, it immediately becomes clear that the titular canine’s red fur represents represent the blood of the proletariat spilled at the altar of capitalism. After all, why else would Clifford populate the cast with kindly working-class humans while delivering antagonists in the form of big Pharma executives, cops, and even a pesky landlord? Clifford’s slapstick rampage is directed at the bourgeoise, whose massive number of sins are reflected in Clifford’s gigantic stature. Old Dogs auteur Walt Becker is putting the transgressions of the privileged class on display and introducing children to the concept of class consciousness.  Continue Reading →

Eric McEver's scrappy ode to tokusatsu and kaiju pictures wears its heart on its magically-armored sleeve. I'm a proud member of the Power Rangers Generation, growing up in that perfect '90s-kids age where the teenagers with attitude absolutely dominated our TVs and playgrounds for a solid half a decade. I've got a great deal of nostalgia for the series (right down to revisiting -- and catching up with -- the still-running TV show into my adulthood), with its goofily sincere messages and plots right alongside silly, well-choreographed fights between dudes in spandex and furry costumes. It's an interest I suspect I share with Eric McEver, the co-writer and director of Iké Boys, which played this year's Fantastic Fest a few scant weeks ago. It's got old-school Power Rangers/Super Sentai written all over it, and its deep well of affection for its inspirations is more than enough to smooth over some rough spots. Continue Reading →

Madonna stands at the center of a black box stage dressed as George Washington. Complete with a tricorn hat and swimming waistcoat, she has fashioned herself as a revolutionary leader. Her latest concert film, Madame X, is supposed to be a manifesto, a call for artists to wave high the banner of agitation. Continue Reading →

Alexandre Koberidze's mystical romance is lovely and well-performed, but overly insistent on its epic status. This review is part of our coverage of the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival.) Like Alice Rohrwacher’s Happy as Lazzaro or Olivier Laxe’s Mimosas, Alexandre Koberidze’s What We Do When We Look at the Sky? begins as a promising addition to the subgenre of modern-day religious fables. But ultimately, it left me shrugging my shoulders. Continue Reading →

The Addams Family characters have existed since 1938 and yet they’ve never felt as tired as they do in The Addams Family 2. A “kooky and spooky” family once known for subverting the norms is now the star of a movie that couldn’t be more ordinary. If you’ve seen one subpar computer-animated kids film from the last 15 years, you’ve probably seen all the worst bathroom and slapstick gags The Addams Family 2 has to offer. Here’s a feature that can’t be called a success unless it’s intended goal was to make one yearn for the sophistication of Hotel Transylvania 2. Continue Reading →

Lady of the Manor is the very definition of a mixed bag. Judy Greer as a snooty, Southern Belle ghost? Just delightful! Justin Long and his brother inadvertently diving headlong into delicate racial issues in their directorial debut? Not so much! Continue Reading →

As evil witch Natacha (Krysten Ritter) exclaims in Nightbooks, she doesn’t like stories with “happy endings.” While it’s refreshing to have a children’s horror movie that doesn’t coddle the audience, Netflix's latest is hardly the spectacular, spooky adventure it packages itself to be. Instead, it’s more like the off-brand Halloween candy a kid might get trick or treating. It technically passes as a treat, but not one that will leave kids and parents coming back for more.   Continue Reading →

Nothing better encapsulates the derivative nature of Kay Cannon’s Cinderella than the presence of a trio of comic relief mice (played by Romesh Ranganathan, James Acaster, and, sigh, James Corden). These rodents were not a part of the original Cinderella story; the concept of this lady hanging out with talking mice came about solely due to the 1950 Disney cartoon. Why, then, is this new Cinderella, hailing from Sony Pictures and being released by Amazon, cribbing something from Disney? Because it’s familiar, easy, and cloying, all of which characterize this most recent adaptation. Continue Reading →