QUEENS OF THE DEAD – Operating to Convey Confidence and Terror
For almost as long as there have been horror movies, there have been horror-comedies. The peanut butter and chocolate of cinematic genres. From Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein to Shaun of the Dead, filmmakers have long been playing with tension and release to deliver screams of laughter alongside screams of terror, but there’s always room … Continue reading QUEENS OF THE DEAD – Operating to Convey Confidence and Terror
ST. DENIS MEDICAL – Exaggerating Reality
With a lineage tracing back to The Office, St. Denis Medical is the latest in a series of mockumentary workplace comedies from writer/producer Justin Spitzer, this time trading the setting of an office park or a big box store for an underfunded hospital in small town Oregon. In that way, St. Denis Medical manages to … Continue reading ST. DENIS MEDICAL – Exaggerating Reality
THE TERMINAL LIST: DARK WOLF – Into Darkness
Arriving two years after the successful first season of The Terminal List, the prequel series The Terminal List: Dark Wolf trades the more straightforward revenge structure of James Reece’s story for a trip into the shadowy underworld of covert ops and moral ambiguity with Ben Edwards. This darker, grittier corner of the story in turn … Continue reading THE TERMINAL LIST: DARK WOLF – Into Darkness
Universal’s Fan Fest Is Exciting and Ambitious – Why Isn’t Halloween Horror Nights?
Universal recently announced that Sinners will be part of this year’s Halloween Horror Nights event. Sinners is one of the best movies in recent memory, an original horror film that not only proved popular with audiences but was also widely hailed as a significant piece of filmmaking. A film rich in visual style and packed with memorable imagery. Landing that license … Continue reading Universal’s Fan Fest Is Exciting and Ambitious – Why Isn’t Halloween Horror Nights?
SONG SUNG BLUE – Leaning In
In Song Sung Blue, we meet Mike Sardina, a recovering alcoholic trying to turn his life around and make a name for himself as a musician, but who is stuck doing gimmicky sets at the fairgrounds in between an Elvis impersonator and a James Brown look-alike. As Mike threatens to walk from the gig, Claire, another … Continue reading SONG SUNG BLUE – Leaning In
THE LOST BUS – Into the Fire
In November of 2018 in Butte County, California, a combination of strong winds and poorly maintained electrical equipment sparked what would become the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in the state’s history. Loosely based on Lizzie Johnson’s book Paradise, The Lost Bus chronicles the fire from the perspective of Kevin McKay, a school bus driver who is called … Continue reading THE LOST BUS – Into the Fire
WICKED: FOR GOOD – Feeling the Moment
Since its debut in 2003, Wicked has been one of the most enduringly popular stage musicals of the 21st century, and, for almost that long, the question of its adaptation to film was not so much “if,” but “when.” Finally, in the fall of 2024 Wicked: Part I arrived in cinemas where it defied not just gravity, but the … Continue reading WICKED: FOR GOOD – Feeling the Moment
FRANKENSTEIN – Creating Emotion with the Camera
If there’s anything one could glean from Guillermo del Toro’s work, it’s that he has an affection for monsters, and none more so than the creature that birthed the science fiction genre—Frankenstein’s monster. For the better part of 20 years, del Toro has talked about wanting to bring his take on Mary Shelley’s classic novel … Continue reading FRANKENSTEIN – Creating Emotion with the Camera
F1 – Prepared for Anything
Fresh off the historic success of Top Gun: Maverick, director Joseph Kosinski took the approach to shooting vehicles in motion at incredibly fast speeds that was pioneered for that film and adapted it to a new form. F1 launches like a rocket from its very first moments, putting audiences in the driver’s seat of cars that can travel … Continue reading F1 – Prepared for Anything
David Daut 