Netflix’s latest thriller about a young girl trapped in a smart house is pure, unapologetic schlock, with workmanlike performances and plot holes you could throw a supercomputer through. This piece was originally posted on Alcohollywood Tau, Netflix’s latest original fim, tells the story of Julia (Maika Monroe), a street-smart gal who uses her wiles to steal ... TAU Review: Netflix’s Perplexing Smart House Thriller
Marvel’s first placeholder till the next Infinity War is a more assured caper comedy than the first Ant-Man, but it’s almost too lightweight to make a real impression. This piece was originally posted on Alcohollywood When the credits rolled for Avengers: Infinity War, we all walked out of the theater thinking the same thing: We ... Ant-Man and the Wasp Review: Marvel’s Latest Shrinks the Stakes
This piece was originally posted on Alcohollywood (You can find an English-language version of the interview here. Read our review of the film here.) La Enfermedad del Domingo es diferente a cualquier película que hayas hecho hasta la fecha. ¿De dónde vino la inspiración? La inspiración para la película debería ser Susi Sánchez, con quien trabajé ... La Enfermedad del Domingo: Entrevista con Ramón Salazar (Español)
We sit down to talk to Sunday’s Illness director Ramón Salazar about the creation of the film and the importance of telling women’s stories. This piece was originally posted on Alcohollywood (Una versión en español de la entrevista se puede encontrar aquí. Read our review of the film here.) Sunday’s Illness is unlike any film ... Sunday’s Illness: Ramon Salazar on Creating Female-Driven Stories (English)
Ramón Salazar’s direct-to-Netflix Spanish drama is a heartfelt exploration of the tenuous bonds between mother and daughter, anchored by sumptuous filmmaking. This piece was originally posted on Alcohollywood (You can read our interview with Salazar – in both English en español – here.) For most people, their most powerful relationship is the one they’ve had since ... Sunday’s Illness Review: Netflix’s Elegant, Stately Mother-Daughter Drama
Brad Bird’s 2018 sequel offers more of the same superhero fun as the original, but brings along some of its more pernicious politics. This piece was originally posted on Alcohollywood I admit, I enjoyed the first Incredibles movie. Who couldn’t? It had great action, heart, and humor, with all the emotional resonance Pixar has become ... Incredibles 2 Review: A Sneakily Regressive Message Under All That Fun
Director X’s slick, hip-hop fueled remake of the blaxploitation classic trades in 70s crime for music video slickness, and is none the better for it. This piece was originally posted on Alcohollywood Beyond its artistic and entertainment value, a film is also a snapshot of the era in which it was made. In film, we ... SuperFly Review: A Gritty Remake That’s Far From Groovy
Morgan Neville’s documentary about Fred Rogers is sweet, earnest, and filled with a wellspring of love for one of television’s kindest souls. This piece was originally posted on Alcohollywood Won’t You Be My Neighbor? succeeds in telling the story of one of the most beloved heroes of so many of our childhoods. But where it ... Won’t You Be My Neighbor? Review: A Beautiful Doc on the Life of Fred Rogers
Drew Pearce’s pulpy near-future potboiler about a futuristic hotel/hospital for bad guys lets its stacked cast have fun amongst some shaky plotting. This piece was originally posted on Alcohollywood Grungy, retro sci-fi seems to be making a comeback the last few years – cyberpunk potboilers whose scripts wouldn’t be out of place in a direct-to-video ... Hotel Artemis Review: A Grungy Sci-Fi Shoot-’em-Up With a Five-Star Staff
A24 continues its mean streak of unrelentingly interesting horror films, merging The Exorcist, The Witch and The Shining into pure cinematic nightmare fuel. This piece was originally posted at Alcohollywood From its opening frames, Hereditary digs its claws into you and doesn’t let go. A long, slow tracking shot pans across the workroom of Annie ... Hereditary Review: A24 Keeps Haunting, Existential Horror in the Family
Gary Ross’ gender-swapped revamp of the slick heist franchise doesn’t offer its female leads enough worthwhile things to do, despite the cast’s pedigree. This piece was originally posted on Alcohollywood Certain movies bring out a strong reaction in me not just because I happen to disagree with their values, but because they claim to represent ... Ocean’s 8 Review: Female-Forward Heist Antics Don’t Cover A Lack of Depth
This piece was originally posted on Alcohollywood Alcohollywood’s spinoff mini-cast On Tap returns! Every so often, we’ll be providing you with exclusive interviews, reviews and festival coverage alongside the regular podcast. Hope you enjoy! To kick off our (semi-) inaugural installment, Clint reviews Leigh Whannell’s upcoming sci-fi thriller Upgrade. After losing his wife and the use ... INTERVIEW: Upgrade’s Leigh Whannell on Crafting the Futuristic World of BH Tilt’s Latest Thriller
Cobbled from footage of a pre-Grey Gardens attempt to tell the tale of Big Edie and Little Edie, this documentary offers scintillating new footage of the Beales, but offers little new insight. This piece was originally posted on Alcohollywood Few things fire the imagination of a cinephiles quite like hearing that a film you love ... That Summer Review: Illuminating New Areas of Grey Gardens
Dominic Cooke’s sumptuous adaptation of the Ian McEwan novel tells the tale of a marriage doomed from the start, using luscious photography and brilliant performances from Saiorse Ronan and Billy Howle. This piece was originally posted on Alcohollywood This film played at the 6th annual Chicago Critics Film Festival – read our capsule review here. ... On Chesil Beach Review: A Picturesque Tale of a Broken Honeymoon
It’s messy and more than a little overlong, but Disney’s latest Star Wars prequel manages to coast by on just enough charm to work. This piece was originally posted on Alcohollywood In Disney’s grand experiment to give us one or two new Star Wars movies every year until we die or the universe expires from ... Solo: A Star Wars Story Review: Never Tell Disney the Odds
Netflix’s Australian zombie drama sports some fascinating twists on the undead genre, and drips with as much atmosphere as it does infected blood. This piece was originally posted on Alcohollywood Zombie movies can often be judged by the balance they strike between the expected rules of a well-traveled world and the twists each new film ... Cargo Review: Netflix’s Sprawling, Intimate Zombie Travelogue
Rudiger Suchsland’s second documentary on the cinema of Hitler’s Germany takes a fascinating, if surface-level, look at the ways entertainment gave rise to fascism. This piece was originally posted on Alcohollywood When people think of Nazi films, they probably think of the Third Reich’s propaganda films; Riefenstahl’s Triumph of the Will, or Fritz Hippler’s The ... Hitler’s Hollywood Review: Doc Explores Dark Periods of German Cinema History
The Merc With a Mouth is back in a sequel with more slicing, dicing and R-rated quips – but it’s only a slight improvement over the sophomoric original. This piece was originally posted on Alcohollywood While Marvel Studios seems to have solved the equation for how to make great (or, at their worst, pretty passable) ... Deadpool 2 Review: Ryan Reynolds Returns for More Quips, Gore and Gags
Now that the 6th annual Chicago Critics Film Festival has closed, it’s time to look back on some other highlights we loved this year. This piece was originally posted on Alcohollywood The 6th annual Chicago Critics Film Festival has come to a close, and what a year it was! Curated by the Chicago Film Critics ... Chicago Critics Film Festival 2018: Capsule Reviews (Part 3)
Part two of our coverage of the Chicago Critics Film Festival features reviews for films about unwitting superheroes and a documentary about a girl’s tragic kidnapping. This piece was originally posted on Alcohollywood FAST COLOR (dir. Julia Hart) With superhero fatigue setting in, big studios could stand to learn a lot from Fast Color, a ... Chicago Critics Film Festival 2018: Capsule Reviews (Part 2)
This over-the-top throwback to exploitation and queer films from the 60s and 70s revels in its tastelessness, delivering an edgy yet affectionate ode to its fruity forebears. This piece was originally posted on Alcohollywood The last few decades have seen a significant change in the way GLBTQ people are perceived by the general public. In ... Fags in the Fast Lane Review: A Madcap Race to Campy Bad Taste