Horror movies are filled with tropes. Those tropes contribute to the lack of critical acclaim for the genre as a whole, but they are also largely what […]
Tag: streaming
‘Magician’s Elephant’ offers message of hope
One of my favorite movie monologues is given by Morgan Freeman at the end of “Shawshank Redemption.” It is a manifesto about hope and it never fails […]
‘JUNG_E’ questions class and personhood
A few years ago, I was absolutely blown away by Korean director Bong Joon Ho’s “Parasite.” And in 2021, the whole world was taken by storm with […]
‘The Greatest Beer Run Ever’ comes off a little bland
One of the most cliche ways to show appreciation for someone can be to offer to buy them a beer. It represents a small token of gratitude […]
‘Werewolf by Night’ brings the best bits of a B monster movie
Most of the old monster movies I’ve seen have been on Mystery Science Theater 3000, where the hosts are lovingly mocking them, so my knowledge of the […]
‘Spiderhead’ doesn’t quite make the cut in dystopian fiction
I love dystopian fiction. When I discovered “Black Mirror,” I devoured it. I am not a fast reader, but I finished “The Hunger Games” series in just […]
‘The Survivor’ serves as a reminder to fight
As we enter an era when few living Holocaust survivors remain and when there is a concerted effort to ban books like Maus that directly confront the […]
Dreaming of better streaming
It came as mild surprise that Netflix reported a sharp drop in viewers and even less surprise that CNN canceled its CNN+ channel. It’s not enough for […]
‘Metal Lords’ taken down by uneven tone
The high school rock band is something that I would swear was an invention of movies if I wasn’t married to someone who played in one. He […]
‘Rothaniel’ is a piece about secrets
BY ALISE CHAFFINS There’s a saying that comedy is just tragedy plus time. Story-telling comedians like Mike Birbiglia, John Mulaney and Hasan Minhaj have proven this over […]
