Despite some familiar story beats, Alpha puts a novel, prehistoric spin on the classic tale of canine friendship, along with some stunning visuals. This piece was originally posted on Alcohollywood Alpha doesn’t seem like the typical Albert Hughes film -the idea that a man who’s made a name for himself by directing urban crime thrillers ... Alpha Stands Out from the Pack with a Prehistoric Boy and His Dog Story
Gaspar Noe’s kaleidoscopic Cannes favorite gets a new trailer and poster promising all the Satanic dance mayhem the French provocateur can muster. This piece was originally posted on Alcohollywood Gaspar Noé is no stranger to deeply weird, bold, provocative films – Enter the Void and Irreversible are practically the poster children for confrontational, arguably sexist European New Vulgar cinema. His ... The Trailer for Gaspar Noé’s ‘Climax’ Does the Danse Macabre: Watch
The shark schlock comes at you hard, fast, and fun, as Jason Statham battles giant sharks with an international cast in the Deep Blue Sea remake you never knew you needed. This piece was originally posted on Alcohollywood Why release The Meg two entire weeks after Shark Week is over? It’s a perfect fit – ... The Meg is the Goofiest, Cheesiest, Most Sharktastic Fin-tertainment of the Summer
Blumhouse’s latest thriller is tense and deceptively clever, but undoes its thrills with no shortage of irritating fakeouts. This piece was originally posted on Alcohollywood Trauma appears to be the monster in Sonny Mallhi’s Hurt, but things aren’t exactly as they seem. While the Blumhouse-produced thriller maintains an almost uncomfortable sense of tension, it suffers ... Fantasia 2018: Hurt Is Blumhouse’s Latest, Spookiest, Most Uneven Scare-Fest
Andy Milton’s atmospheric haunted house film is inscrutably scary and beautifully lit, balancing bone-chilling existential horror with compelling domestic drama. This piece was originally posted on Alcohollywood Here it is, 2018’s version of The Witch and It Follows, a horror movie in which half its audience will appreciate its slow, moody burn, and the other ... Fantasia 2018: The Witch in the Window Scares Without a Drop of Blood
The web-footage sequel to the first Unfriended sees the series move in more believably conventional directions, eschewing supernatural scares for more haunting domestic terrors. This piece was originally posted on Alcohollywood We live in an age of overwhelming technology. Most of us spend most of day in the digital world, our computers becoming individual microcosms ... Unfriended: Dark Web Elevates Its Premise to Scarier Screen-Based Dimensions
Justin McConnell’s lean, fascinating horror-drama blends an intriguing structure with some novel investigation into the psychology of its shape-shifting horror monster. This piece was originally posted on Alcohollywood There’s stalking, and then there’s what the narrator of Lifechanger does. Canadian horror-drama from writer-director Justin McConnell, it jumps right into the action right away, with Drew, ... Fantasia 2018: Lifechanger is a Bleak & Eerie Story About Identity & Never Letting Go
The writer/director of Fantasia-debuting horror film Lifechanger talks about the origins of the project and getting into the mind of his film’s main monster. This piece was originally posted on Alcohollywood Lifechanger is a sneakier, more fascinating thriller than it might seem at first glance – the tale of a man doomed to feed off and ... Fantasia 2018: Lifechanger’s Justin McConnell on Shape-Shifting, Memory and Toxicity
Superbly acted and beautifully shot, Neomanila is a morally ambiguous tale about what we do to survive and crimes we commit for the ones we love. This piece was originally posted at Alcohollywood Set against the backdrop of President Duterte’s war on drugs in the Philippines, Neomanila is a grim and gritty tale of family ... Fantasia 2018: Mikhail Red Explores Violence, Morality and Family in Neomanila
While the Rock maintains his larger-than-life presence, this taller Die Hard knockoff buckles under the weight of its sizeable lack of humor. This piece was originally posted on Alcohollywood Ever since my childhood days of watching professional wrestling, I’ve wanted Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson to succeed. Whether it was in the ring (where he would ... Skyscraper Review: The Rock Cooks Up Another Underdone Summer Thriller
This piece was originally posted on Alcohollywood If you want festivals full of soulful contemplation of the human condition, and solemn documentaries about Serious Issues, Cannes and Sundance have you covered. Want to see blood, gore, sleaze, and Nicolas Cage getting in a chainsaw fight? You go to Fantasia. Fantasia is a genre film festival ... Four Crazy Horror Flicks We Want to See at Fantasia
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
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
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
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
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)