By Matthew Moorcroft Highest Recommendation Directed by Zach Cregger Starring Austin Abrams, Zach Cherry, Kali Reis, Paul Walter Hauser R How do you translate a game outside of a game? That’s the question that has eluded Hollywood and places outside of Hollywood ever since the original live action Super Mario Bros. film was released in…
By Matthew Moorcroft Strong Recommendation Directed by Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado Starring H.E.R., Liza Soberano, Dave Franco, Lea Salonga PG With some of the company’s most vibrant, hyperactive animation ever, Forgotten Island feels like the natural extension of DreamWorks’ current modus operandi after the surprise hit of Puss in Boots: The Last Wish and…
By Matthew Moorcoft Strong Recommendation Directed by Na Hong-jin Starring Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung, Jung Ho-yeon, Eum Moon-suk R Ever see a flick that you genuinely have no idea how to react to right out of the movie theater? That’s likely the reaction that most people will have to Hope, the first film in ten…
By Matthew Moorcroft Weak Recommendation Directed by Adam Wingard Starring Adria Arjona, Dan Stevens, Drew Starkey, Rebecca Hall R There is very little you need to know before starting Onslaught. The no bullshit, all meat approach that Adam Wingard takes for his first original film since since 2016’s The Guest (of which this is technically…
By Matthew Moorcroft So, what about that Ocarina of Time trailer? It’s hard to not immediately have a little bit of nostalgic flutters when you hear Koji Kondo’s iconic music return in it’s fully orchestrated glory. And while you can make easy jokes about the look of it – it’s definitely got the sheen of…
By Matthew Moorcroft Strong Recommendation Directed by Dave Green Starring Will Forte, Lana Condor, John Cena, Eric Bauza PG The fact Coyote vs. Acme even got released is something that is a miracle in itself. It’s very likely that the shelving, rescuing, and eventual release of the final film will remain as one of them…
By Matthew Moorcroft Solid Recommendation Directed by Casper Kelly Starring Cristin Milioti, Delaney Quinn, Patton Oswald, Keegan-Michael Key R You remember Too Many Cooks from 12 years ago? You probably should. The viral hit that both sends up classic sitcom intros while devolving into a mix of surreal dark comedy and horrific imagery feels like…
By Matthew Moorcroft Strong Recommendation Directed by Matt Johnson Starring Dominic Sessa, Emilia Jones, Leo Woodall, Antonio Banderas R Like all writers, a young Anthony Bourdain is doing literally everything else but actually writing. In fact, he’s mostly just kind of drifting, confident in his own bullshit to the point where he’s convinced he’ll get…
By Matthew Moorcroft Highest Recommendation Directed by Jane Schoenbrun Starring Hannah Einbinder, Gillian Anderson, Jack Haven, Arthur Conti R One of the most famous scenes in horror movie history is also, maybe, it’s trashiest. The opening scene of Friday of 13th, which follows two camp counselors sneaking off for a fun time away from prying…
By Matthew Moorcroft Strong Recommendation Directed by David Robert Mitchell Starring Anne Hathaway, Ewan McGregor, Maisy Stella, Christian Convery PG-13 Oak Street is on the verge of destruction. Or at least, the Platt family home is, who is currently in the midst of a parental squabble that is about to boil over into resentment that’s…
By Matthew Moorcroft Highest Recommendation Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton Starring Tom Holland, Zendaya, Sadie Sink, Jon Bernthal PG-13 Is Spider-Man ever allowed a chance at happiness? While this is eternal question of most great Spidey stories, the fantastic – and surprisingly thoughtful – Spider-Man: Brand New Day is the first take on the character…
By Matthew Moorcroft No mainstream director is as cyclical and as repeating as Christopher Nolan. As I mentioned in my prior review of The Odyssey, Nolan has been exploring similar ideas and throughlines in his career to the point where somebody could think that he has one singular thesis and that’s it. While I disagree…
By Matthew Moorcroft Highest Recommendation Directed by Christopher Nolan Starring Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson R At what point do we earn forgiveness for the sins we have wraught? This is arguably the question that has permeated the entirety of Christopher Nolan’s career, who has spent two decades examining and reexamining the…
By Matthew Moorcroft Strong Recommendation Directed by Sébastien Vaniček Starring Souheila Yacoub, Tandi Wright, Hunter Doohan, Eroll Shand R Pushing boundaries of good taste has always been the modus operandi of the Evil Dead series, one of horror’s most consistently entertaining and well designed machines. Even as far back as the original film, which was…
By Matthew Moorcroft Highest Recommendation Directed by Olivia Wilde Starring Seth Rogen, Olivia Wilde, Penélope Cruz, Edward Norton R An awkward and consistently insightful sex comedy about the perils of relationships and marriage, The Invite immediately has an air of tension right as Seth Rogen’s Joe enters the home. With a bad back, a miserable…
By Matthew Moorcroft Solid Recommendation Directed by Pierre Coffin Starring Pierre Coffin, Trey Parker, Allison Janney, Christoph Waltz PG While their appeal may have diminished overtime, one forgets there was a time when the Minions, the yellow pill shaped creatures that are Illumination’s mascots (and the bane of certain parents’ existence), once actually were somewhat…
By Matthew Moorcroft Strong Recommendation Directed by Adrian Chiarella Starring Joe Bird, Stacy Clausen, Jeremy Blewitt, Mia Wasikowska R Seduction and the fear of desire are something that are intrinsically linked in horror and have been for some time. While the reasons are mostly socially – mainly the advent of puritan culture and conservatism in…
By Matthew Moorcroft Unsure Directed by Craig Gillespie Starring Milly Alcock, Matthias Schoenaerts, Eve Ridley, Jason Momoa PG-13 In true DC fashion, Supergirl is a bit of a strange oddity. You would think that years after the fact that DC Studios, having seen first hand the implosion of the original DCEU and the general healthy…
By Matthew Moorcroft Highest Recommendation Directed by Andrew Stanton Starring Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Greta Lee PG Like all of the nigh-perfect entries in the series that came before it, Toy Story 5 plays as equally if not more to the adults in the audience as it does the children it’s supposedly aimed.…
By Matthew Moorcroft CONTENT WARNING: This editorial discusses themes of suicide and trans dysphoria. In the 1983 body horror classic Videodrome, our lead character Max Renn, the CEO of TV station, continually finds himself being transformed and morphed into a being that is not himself. Starting with the psychological, with him slowly but surely having…
By Matthew Moorcroft Strong Recommendation Directed by Kenji Tanigaki Starring Xie Miao, Joe Taslim, Brian Le, Yayan Ruhian R An apt title for a movie whose main energy is always at a thousand percent, The Furious feels like the second coming of Christ if you are a martial arts flick kind of guy. Ever since…
By Matthew Moorcroft Strong Recommendation Directed by Steven Spielberg Starring Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, Colin Firth, Colman Domingo PG-13 Launching you straight into a conspiracy thriller where the ultimate question is less about what the conspiracy and more about the aftershocks, Disclosure Day is Spielberg, in some ways, returning to old ground. This isn’t his…
By Matthew Moorcroft Strong Recommendation Directed by Boots Riley Starring Keke Palmer, Naomi Ackie, Taylour Paige, Demi Moore R When it comes to Boots Riley as a filmmaker, you both know what you are getting yourself into while also have no idea what to expect. The prolific artist who has run the gambit from hip…
By Matthew Moorcroft Highest Recommendation Directed by Kane Parsons Starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Renate Reinsve, Mark Duplass, Finn Bennett R In a year where horror has proven to be dominated the young, the youngest may have saved the best for last with Backrooms. At only 19 years old, Kane Parsons is a newcomer who has been…
By Matthew Moorcroft Unsure Directed by Andre Øvredal Starring Jacob Scipio, Lou Llobell, Melissa Leo, Joseph Lopez R Smushed between two major horror releases as well as a major blockbuster release, Passenger would feel doomed if it wasn’t for it’s viral (and genuinely impressive) theater only teaser from several months ago that made audiences squirm…
By Matthew Moorcroft No Recommendation Directed by Jon Favreau Starring Pedro Pascal, Jeremy Allen White, Brendan Wayne, Sigourney Weaver PG-13 The fact this doesn’t even have the “A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…” intro card should be red flag number one. It’s impossible for me to be rational with Star Wars.…
By Matthew Moorcroft Highest Recommendation Directed by Aleshea Harris Starring Kara Young, Mallori Johnson, Janelle Monáe, Sterling K. Brown R When you have nobody else, it becomes difficult to feel anything else other then rage at the rest of the world. Thus is the life of the twins Racine and Anaia, two women whose bodies…
By Matthew Moorcroft Strong Recommendation Directed by Kyle Balda Starring Hugh Jackman, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Nicholas Braun, Bryan Cranston PG Don’t let it’s poor marketing and Mad Libs style premise fool you – The Sheep Detectives is the kind of family film that one wishes we still got on a regular basis. Mixing the modern whodunnit…
By Matthew Moorcroft Highest Recommendation Directed by Curry Barker Starring Michael Johnston, Inde Navarrette, Cooper Tomlinson, Megan Lawless R Feeling like something of a minor miracle in theaters, Obsession is yet another of the many horror films of the past several years brought to us by online talent turned professional filmmaker. It’s becoming increasingly clear…
By Matthew Moorcroft Weak Recommendation Directed by Simon McQuiod Starring Karl Urban, Adeline Rudolph, Ludi Lin, Hiroyuki Sanada R Once again, I am probably being far too kind to this. I don’t think anybody is under the assumption that Mortal Kombat II is going to be some level of high art. It is, after all,…
