Author Archive
Film Review – Nocturne
The third film in the “Welcome to the Blumhouse” series is Nocturne (2020). Easily the weirdest – and therefore most interesting – of the four entries, this examines the classic case of an artist sacrificing themselves for the sake of their work. Seeing someone accomplish…
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Film Review – The Lie
The distribution deal between Blumhouse and Amazon Studios involves the streaming release of four thrillers in the month of October, labeled “Welcome to The Blumhouse.” The release schedule groups them into pairs. The first two feature the excellent Black Box (2020) and the not so…
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Film Review – Black Box
Black Box (2020) is an ingenious sci-fi thriller that makes a lot out of a little. I don’t mean that as a backhanded compliment, but to illustrate that good storytelling doesn’t need to rely on big budgets or extravagant production value. In fact, many blockbusters…
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Film Review – On the Rocks
The premise of On the Rocks (2020) contains all the ingredients of classic screwball comedy. A woman develops a nagging feeling that her husband is having an affair. Egged on by her Lothario father, she begins to track her husband’s whereabouts in anticipation of catching…
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Film Review – Possessor
Brandon Cronenberg’s Possessor (2020) plays like a nightmare. There is a story here, and from a distance it contains elements that look familiar. But with Cronenberg’s writing and direction, it’s constructed with a dark and twisted vision. It’s a sci-fi/horror film that aims not to…
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Film Review – Ava
Ava (2020) is the cinematic equivalent of painting by the numbers. It follows the outline of the thriller genre so strictly that you have to wonder if this is some kind of deconstruction or parody. Almost every trope you can think of makes an appearance.…
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Film Review – The Devil All the Time
The title The Devil All the Time (2020) is an apt description for the story it tells. This is a brutal tale of despicable characters doing despicable acts to one another. Those that populate it are either the perpetrators of cruelty or the victims of…
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Film Review – Antebellum
Antebellum (2020) hinges everything on a plot twist so thinly veiled that anyone paying attention can decipher it right away. I’m sure if you think about it hard enough, you’d be able to figure it out without even watching the movie. I don’t know if…
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