International Reviews
THE BIRTHDAY PARTY Review: Willem Dafoe Cuts Imposing Figure as Tyrannical Greek Oligarch
When Patrikios (Christos Stergioglou), onetime/longtime physician to Marcos Timoleon (Willem Dafoe), an Aristotle Onassis-inspired Greek titan of industry and all-around oligarch, casually suggests the latter’s resemblance behavior-wise to Marlon Brando’s title character in The Godfather, Marcos laughs, instead suggesting the...
KUNG FU SOCCER Review: Stephen Chow's Dreadful All-Female Sequel Deserves a Straight Red Card
Twenty five years after scoring a resounding critical and commercial hit with the martial arts sports comedy Shaolin Soccer, Hong Kong film industry legend Stephen Chow unleashes an absolute howler of a sequel that fails to replicate anything that made...
THE WRONG GIRLS Review: Stoner Caper Hits the Laughs and Love
Frankie (Kristen Stewart) was once a star engineering student at Stanford, until the pressure made her flunk out. Molly (Alia Shawkat) is an amazing and inventive chef whose personality is not suited to the high-pressure stakes of the contemporary restaurant...
TRAIN TO BUSAN Review: Plunging Into Zombie Chaos
Directed by Yeon Sang-ho, the zombie thriller, remastered and revived, stars Gong Yoo, Jung Yu-mi, Ma Dong-seok, and Kin Su-an.
FEED Review: Social Media Meets Horror in the Irish Woods
Marco van Belle's horror thriller stars Grace Collender, Clinton Liberty, and Flynn Gray.
COUP DE TORCHON Blu-ray Review: Sleepy Policeman, Hidden Malice
Philippe Noiret and Isabelle Huppert star in Bertrand Tavernier's startling adaptation of Jim Thompson's pulp noir, now available on a Criterion Collection Blu-ray.
Fantasia 2026 Review: THE GLORIOUS DEAD, When it is The End of The World But You Still Have to Clock in
On a cold, winter day, in rural America, It was supposed to be Sheriff Deb’s day off. But one of her deputies, Mikey, is knocking on her door early in the morning. The power is out. No one else has...
Now Streaming: THE SHARDS and STERLING POINT, The Kaia Connection
Ryan Murphy teams with Brit Easton Ellis for an 80s serial-killer adaptation, while Megan Park refreshes modern YA tropes. It was a warm and sunny day. The Shards The first two episodes are now streaming on Hulu and Disney Plus....
STAR WARS: VISIONS PRESENTS - THE NINTH JEDI Review: Back to its Samurai Roots, Shaking up The Lore, For The Better
Lah Kara, the daughter of lightsaber-smith Lah Zhima, is pursued by dark forces while on a dangerous mission to deliver his newly crafted lightsabers to those she deems worthy to have one - masterless, wandering Force-sensitives. When we first meet...
Fantasia 2026 Review: THE SPECIALS, A Crowd-Pleasing Yakuza Subversion
A yakuza member named Kumashiro hires four independent, rival assassins to eliminate Boss Honjō, the powerful leader of the rival Honjō-gumi syndicate. Executing the hit has always been complicated because Honjō frequently uses body doubles, leaving constant doubt regarding his...
Fantasia 2026 Review: TOKYO BURST: CRIME CITY, Trades in Solo Grit For Buddy-Cop Chaos in a Worthy Expansion of THE ROUNDUP Universe
Welcome to Kabuki-cho, an entertainment district in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. Called the "Sleepless Town", it is home to a sprawl of host and hostess clubs, love hotels, nightclubs and yakuza hangouts. Shiro Aiba, the Shinjuku Central Police Station’s newest,...
THE SAMURAI AND THE PRISONER Review: Historical Murder-Mystery, Full of Modern-Day Questions
A new film by Kiyoshi Kurosawa.
Fantasia 2026 Review: RECLUSE, Screenwriter Henry Chaisson Conquers Visual And Sonic Terror in Neo-Gothic Horror
Joan is dragged back to her childhood home. There has been an accident and she has received an ominous call from her ailing, disfigured father. She is a sound engineer by trade, he is a famous artist and long...
PINOCCHIO: UNSTRUNG Review: Poohniverse Unfortunately Continues to Live Up to Its Name
Impressive puppetry and the grace of famous horror faces still aren't enough to save the Twisted Childhood Universe from its own darkness.
Home Video: Severin Films Home Entertainment Roundup
I've been overdue for some Severin release coverage. Part of it involves finding all the time I need to sift through their extras-laden releases and the number of first-time watches involved. This batch was all first-time watches and all movies...
Fantasia 2026 Review: CHERRY AND VIRGIN, A Nervous and Experimental Work of Genius
I was 18 years old when an adult friend I met at a summer factory job recommended that I see Federico Fellini's 8 1/2. I could not make heads or tails of the movie, in Italian, in black and white,...
Fantasia 2026 Review: CAPTURED! Of Ghosts And Growing Up
Misaki is a bright high-school senior who has the grades to get into a good university. Misaki’s reservation is that she lives alone with her mother, who works a night shift to make ends meet. She is more or less...
Fantasia 2026 Review: VILLAGE OF EIGHT GRAVESTONES, Takashi Shimizu Proves Traditional Murder Mysteries Are Better With Ghosts
When Tatsuya’s estranged mom suddenly passes away, he is forced to head out to her old, isolated village and meet the family he has never known, the Tajimi Family. On the way there, he bumps into private detective Kosuke Kindaichi,...
Now Streaming: THOUGH I AM AN INEPT VILLAINESS, The Other Side of Revenge
Plus: 'A Lady Livid's Guide to Getting Even: How I Crushed My Homeland with My Mighty Grimoires' takes a more conventional approach to revenge.
Fantasia 2026 Review: THE LAST HORROR, Myanmar's First Found-Footage Film Forced to be Too Safe With The Scares
The Last Footage starts with a collection of videos from life loggers, users recording daily experiences using wearable tech. We see the Burmese peoples out jogging along lakefronts, playing concerts with their bands, riding the backseat of a motorcycle which...
