There are very few genuine second chances in life. Oh, we love to mythologise and celebrate them, holding them up as proof positive that one mistake in life does not a condemned existence make. But as Corpus Christi (Polish: Boże Ciało) demonstrates with a quietly nuanced but furious intensity, opportunities Continue Reading
Movies
Weekday pop art: What if Wes Anderson had designed The Simpsons?
SNAPSHOTWes Anderson is a genre of film unto himself. One of the biggest reasons is that he has his own signature aesthetic. His meticulously crafted, often symmetrical sets with a distinct pastel color palette are like quirky living dollhouses. Nothing else resembles them, so you can always identify one of Continue Reading
Movie review: Operation Christmas Drop
Fittingly for a film that acts in part as a soft, warmhearted US military recruitment campaign, Operation Christmas Drop arrives on Netflix with a great big target painted on its altruistic back. Why, you might ask, might anyone want to target a film dedicated to celebrating the Christmas spirit, a Continue Reading
Weekend pop art: Greeting cards get a funny pop culture twist
It’s always been lovely to get a card in the mail, especially around big, important events like birthdays and Christmas. But in the current climate, where the pandemic has rendered many of us physical strangers to each other, they are even more special, a sign that we are being thought Continue Reading
The short and the short of it #Halloween redux: A Night in Camp Heebie Jeebie
SNAPSHOTDuring a stormy night in Camp Heebie Jeebie, the ghost stories shared by a group of Jeebie Scouts become all too real. Happy Halloween! (synopsis via Vimeo) Yes, yes Halloween has shambled off this festive mortal coil for another year but it’s hard not to take one more scary detour Continue Reading
A mini-mass of movie trailers – The Midnight Sky, Love and Monsters, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Once more to your streaming platform of choice, my friends, once more! OK granted Shakespeare likely did not have that injunction is mind when he penned those immortal words, but they are fitting, oh so fitting, in a horror-scarred year when actual films in actual cinemas kept moving release dates Continue Reading
COVID-19 retro movie review: Little Monsters #Halloween
It turns out, in case you’re wondering, that being caught up in the middle of a fast moving outbreak of slow zombies, is a pretty good way to work through some deep-seated childhood issues. Not that has-been musician Dave (Alexander England) thinks so when an impulsive decision, guided less by Continue Reading
Weekend #Halloween pop art: Sweet & innocent Muppets go full blood-dropping horrific
SNAPSHOT“I really enjoy mashing things up…especially things that are considered cute with things that are gruesome.” (James Beck, artist) The Muppets are so cute and adorable! That is until, at the hands of impressively talented artist James Beck, they are not. In a series deliciously titled The Muppet Maniac Series Continue Reading
#Halloween movie review: Happy Halloween Scooby-Doo!
Isn’t it scary being chased by monsters? You might think that question has an obvious answer, especially if you’re Scooby-Doo (Frank Welker) or Shaggy (Matthew Lillard) and hiding from supernatural-looking trouble in the Mystery Machine is far preferable than actually facing it, but if you’re Velma, the brains of the Continue Reading
Go epic with Raya and the Last Dragon
SNAPSHOTLong ago, in the fantasy world of Kumandra, humans and dragons lived together in harmony. But when an evil force threatened the land, the dragons sacrificed themselves to save humanity. Now, 500 years later, that same evil has returned and it’s up to a lone warrior, Raya, to track down Continue Reading