‘Skin: A History of Nudity in the Movies’ is a fascinating and illuminating look at how social mores have changed, as well as how the industry itself treats the subject. Therefore, it was really great to speak with director Danny Wolf Wolf about his recent spate of work, and the art of presenting underrepresented topics onscreen.
Jay Baruchel’s ‘Random Acts of Violence’ is a steady stream of unpleasant encounters which alternate between teeth-grinding interpersonal interactions and blunt physical violence.
‘Murder in the Woods’ is a standard mainstream slasher, which means that, while the multicultural casting is something new, the way in which the cast is utilized isn’t.
In ‘The Rental,’ the acting’s competent, the score ups the tension fairly effectively, and the game of waiting to see whose secrets and failures will be discovered (and how) is entertaining enough.
This is a movie which could’ve been fun, but ‘Coven’ fails because it takes all of the tropes of the witch movie and only looks at the surface for its inspiration.
‘We Are Little Zombies,’ the debut from writer/director Makoto Nagahisa, is simultaneously nihilistic, adorable, and emotionally touching.
Given that the cast is essentially Nevin, Mortimer, and Heathcote for the majority of ‘Relic’, it hinges almost entirely on the performances of the three actors and the mood created by a dark country house gone ever-so-slightly to seed.
This rock doc fails to look more closely at 70s rocker Suzi Quatro’s influence on the current crop of musicians out there – but it still doesn’t stop ‘Suzi Q’ from being entertaining.
The scope of ‘Homewrecker’ might be narrow, but it results in an intense focus.
The sheer number of creative ways in which writer/director Jeffrey McHale uses footage for this retrospective movie documentary makes it the new gold standard of the genre, taking a movie you’re likely already biased against and leaving you feeling like you might just love it.
Think of ‘The Wretched’ as the peanut butter and jelly sandwich of horror: you’re unlikely to be surprised by what you’re getting, but you’ll certainly take it in without any complaint.
Dan Bush’s ‘The Dark Red’ is definitely watchable, but almost infuriating in how little it seems to regard its tonal shifts. Rather than “yes, and,” it chooses instead to go for “and then,” switching from one genre to another, choosing to keep the various aspects distinctly and ineffectively separate.
While these docs all stand on their own, as binged series, the interconnectedness of all these titles, genres, and personages come together in a very gratifying way.
Kirill Sokolov’s ‘Why Don’t You Just Die!’ is an astonishingly well-constructed piece of filmmaking, and the sort of movie destined to become necessary viewing for anyone who likes a chuckle with their shotgun blasts.
Marc Meyers’ heavy metal horror flick ‘We Summon the Darkness’ starts strong, but soon turns into a standard stalk-and-slash.