“The Haunting of Hill House” Made for 2018’s Best Horror On Netflix
The year in 2018 horror has seen such lauded stand-outs as A Quiet Place, Hereditary, and for some, even the reboot of Halloween. Yet, for as much acclaim as these big screen frighteners have garnered, the most significant achievement in the genre happened on Netflix this past October. There, the streaming miniseries The Haunting of Hill […]
“The Nutcracker and the Four Realms” Will Charm Kids More Than Adults
The new Disney film The Nutcracker and the Four Realms is many things: a children’s adventure story, an eye-popping spectacle, and a 109-minute endorsement of animated mice. (CGI rodents, actually. Mickey’s heirs?) What it isn’t, is the Nutcracker story in any traditional sense. Here, the famous ballet and score are almost treated as afterthoughts. Instead, this […]
Luca Guadagnino’s “Suspiria” Remake Scares But Mostly Shows Off
Bold is the person who attempts a remake of a classic horror film as distinctive as Dario Argento’s Suspiria. The classic 1977 horror movie about a German dance school for girls doubling as a coven of witches has the Italian filmmaker’s definitive fingerprints all over it. So, why did director Luca Guadagnino (I Am Love, […]
“The Hate U Give” Mixes Character and Politics for a Potent Punch
The Hate U Give may be a YA adaptation but its story is bigger and weightier than most aimed at teens. This is a brilliantly nuanced film that should appeal to adults as well as younger audiences with its rich characters and complex emotions. It also makes a number of bold statements concerning race, sex, […]
“Can You Ever Forgive Me?” Probes the Issues of Art and Acceptance
Rare is a film’s protagonist as unpleasant as Lee Israel is in Can You Ever Forgive Me? In the new movie, based on her 2008 memoir, she’s not only a bitter, down-on-her-luck writer, but she’s also an alcoholic, a slob, and rash in action and temperament. Despite authoring numerous magazine articles and three well-received celebrity […]
