Category Archives: Reviews
[SUNDANCE 2021] MOVIE REVIEW: MASS is a devastating look at those left behind in the wake of a tragedy and the cross they bear in the aftermath.
Posted by Victor Moreno
Writer/director Fran Kranz makes his feature debut with this stunning and heartbreaking portrayal of the parents of the victims of a school shooter meeting the parents of the shooter to try and find a way forward. In the Catholic tradition,
[SUNDANCE 2021] MOVIE REVIEW: CENSOR is a Lynchian character study on the depths to where obsession can lead us.
Posted by Victor Moreno
Writer/Director Prano Bailey-Bond presents a mind-bending Giallo-tinged portrait of a repressed film censor on the edge of a nervous breakdown in Mary Whitehouse’s 1980s England. Film censor Enid (Niamh Algar) takes meticulous pride in her work as a film censor,
MOVIE REVIEW: John Lee Hancock’s THE LITTLE THINGS is a throwback to the 90’s neo-noir thriller genre.
Posted by Victor Moreno
THE LITTLE THINGS feels at home along 90’s procedurals like SEVEN, 8MM, and THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, but its lead performances by Rami Malek and Denzel Washington make it appointment viewing. One of my favorite genres back when I
MOVIE REVIEW: SAINT MAUD delivers a dark baptism in psychological horror
Posted by Victor Moreno
Writer/director Rose Glass makes her feature debut following a flawed nurse who might either be going mad or just might be experiencing the ecstasy of being chosen for a higher purpose. History is filled with stories of ordinary figures being
MOVIE REVIEW: PSYCHO GOREMAN is a hilarious send-up of the ’80s kids and an alien on the run’ film genre for the Rick and Morty Generation.
Posted by Victor Moreno
Director Steven Kostanski crafts a uniquely funny film that’s one part ALF/E.T./My Pet Monster meets Power Rangers on bath salts that somehow manages to be both nostalgic & a one-of-a-kind splatter gorefest One of my favorite feelings as a culture
TV REVIEW: WANDAVISION is a quirky and unique delight that sets an intriguing path forward for the next phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe
Posted by Victor Moreno
Writer Jac Schaeffer and director Matt Shakman have created an engaging and retro throwback to the vaudeville vibe of the classic TV shows of yesteryear; a show whose subtext promises an ominous beginning to the next stage of big-screen Marvel
REVIEW: WONDER WOMAN 1984 is a great throwback to the grandeur of the epic superhero film of the 1980s
Posted by Victor Moreno
Director Patty Jenkins channels the Salkind-produced Christopher Reeve Superman films in this bombastic and bigger-than-life follow-up to 2017’s Wonder Woman The opening lines of Patty Jenkins’ WONDER WOMAN 1984 speak to the power of nostalgia and childhood, a time when
REVIEW: NEWS OF THE WORLD delivers an engaging journey of discovery in Tom Hanks’ first outing in a western.
Posted by Victor Moreno
Director Paul Greengrass transports us in this character piece to the recently post-Civil War United States and one man’s journey to find his place in it. The amazing thing about film and art is its ability to take what has
BLU-RAY REVIEW: THE GODFATHER CODA: THE DEATH OF MICHAEL CORLEONE is a fitting close to the Godfather saga
Posted by Victor Moreno
Francis Ford Coppola’s restoration and re-edit of THE GODFATHER 3 yields a much better movie and a definitive epilogue for the effort on par with Coppola’s Apocalypse Now Redux. Francis Ford Coppola’s THE GODFATHER is unabashedly one of my favorite
FILM REVIEW: THE CRAFT LEGACY doesn’t add much to the legacy of The Craft
Posted by Victor Moreno
Writer/director Zoe Lister-Jones’ follow-up to the 1996 cult classic The Craft runs short of the compelling characters & storylines of the original with a jumbled film that doesn’t really come together. It’d be very hard to argue that the 1996
BLU-RAY REVIEW: Roninflix delivers a great treat for Halloween with HAUNT Blu-Ray release.
Posted by Victor Moreno
Roninflix’s regular and deluxe releases of the 2019 extreme haunted house slasher film deliver a great package for hardcore fans of the cult favorite, as well as a great regular release to match. I was a big fan of Scott
FILM REVIEW: BORAT: SUBSEQUENT MOVIE FILM works best when it exposes the raging id of America’s far right wing.
Posted by Victor Moreno
Despite the notoriety of Sasha Baron Cohen’s Borat & his political pranks in this sequel, Cohen’s latest really operates best in showing the rise of partisanship in the wake of the global pandemic. It’s hard to believe, but Sasha Baron
(NIGHTSTREAM 2020) FILM REVIEW: AN UNQUIET GRAVE is a haunting meditation of how unchecked grief can turn you into a monster.
Posted by Victor Moreno
Director Terence Krey’s film is built on two compelling standout performances that anchor this story of grief gone too far. Grief is one of the most powerful forces that one experiences in their lifetime. It can destroy the foundations of
FILM REVIEW: EVIL EYE embraces its cultural roots to tell a relatable tale with a strong Indian influence.
Posted by Victor Moreno
Elan and Rajeev Dassani direct this unique Hindi-influenced supernatural horror from playwright Madhuri Shekar It’s a very difficult struggle for filmmakers to make genre films about different cultures that will appeal to either the original culture the subject matter hails
FILM REVIEW: NOCTURNE is a welcome call-back to the madness of the performance artist horror subgenre.
Posted by Victor Moreno
NOCTURNE invokes films like Suspiria, The Perfection, and Black Swan in this tale of how far an ugly duckling pianist will go to outshine her gifted fraternal twin in this engaging horror film. I’m a big fan of the artist-driven
(NIGHTSTREAM 2020) FILM REVIEW: SURVIVAL SKILLS is a surreal and absurdist VHS-tinged mind trip.
Posted by Victor Moreno
Director Quinn Armstrong presents a darkly satirical look at how social constructs like the pilce fail people in the form of a forgotten 1980s police training video. I’m a big fan of absurdist comedy. From Adult Swim’s Too Many Cooks,
(NIGHTSTREAM 2020) FILM REVIEW: In ANYTHING FOR JACKSON, beware hitchhiking ghosts in this darkly humorous family exorcism drama.
Posted by Victor Moreno
Director Justin G. Dyck scares up a unique premise in this genre entry showing what lengths a privileged family will go to make their desires come true. Exorcism horror tends to be one of my least favorite modern horror subgenres.
(NIGHTSTREAM 2020) FILM REVIEW: THE DOORMAN channels the spirit of Die Hard to deliver an action packed heist film with a solid emotional core.
Posted by Victor Moreno
Ruby Rose plays an ex-soldier with a tortured past looking to reconnect with her family when a small cadre of art thieves takes over the high rise where she is starting her life over. The everyman hero is a staple
(NIGHTSTREAM 2020) FILM REVIEW: BLOCKS is a darkly comedic take on the often thankless tasks of motherhood.
Posted by Victor Moreno
Director Bridget Maloney and star Claire Coffee impress in this tale of a mother losing and regaining her agency and the walls of building blocks in between those states. Motherhood is oftentimes a thankless task. Watching young children and tending
(NIGHTSTREAM 2020) FILM REVIEW: SHOCK VALUE: THE MOVIE — HOW DAN O’BANNON & SOME USC OUTSIDERS HELPED INVENT MODERN HORROR argues the blueprint of the slasher can be found in the masters’ student work, but needs some curatorial intent.
Posted by Victor Moreno
While it is a useful exercise to revisit these early student films from John Carpenter & Dan O’ Bannon amongst others, USC archivist Dino Everett needed to exert some editorial & curatorial voice in making his argument in this collection.
