S&M & Butterflies In Uncomfortable Mind-Trip “The Duke of Burgundy”

Unless you’re an avid butterfly enthusiast, you’d be forgiven for thinking The Duke of Burgundy was a film about French aristocracy by its title. Instead, a duke of burgundy is a European butterfly, and Peter Strickland’s mind trip of a movie chronicles the tawdry, uncomfortable S&M-laden relationship of two women, Cynthia (Sidse … Get hard

Like Life, “Mommy” Transcends The Misery

This isn’t an easy movie. It’s not supposed to be, and more movies should be like Mommy, even if the experience is terrifying, uncomfortable and miserable. It’s also hilarious, heartbreaking and inspiring, sometimes in spite of yourself. The film itself is fearless, even if its characters are consumed by it. … Get hard

“88” Is 88 Minutes Too Long

I was the perfect audience for this movie. I’ve loved Katharine Isabelle in Being Human and Hannibal; she’s an actress who routinely subverts expectations based off her diminutive stature and friendly small-town waitress good looks to play angry, damaged and dangerous women. On the surface, her role as Gwen in … Get hard

My 10 Most Anticipated Sci-Fi/Fantasy Films of 2015

Because David and I are apparently clones straight outta Project Leda, while I was feverishly culling a list of my top ten most anticipated sci-fi, fantasy and horror movies from io9’s massive genre calendar, David was doing the exact same thing. Like Rambo, he struck first blood, in a post you … Get hard

“Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles” Only Scratches The Surface Of A Perplexing Cinematic God

It’s impossible to capture a fraction of the enigmatic filmmaker Orson Welles in 900 minutes, let alone 90 minutes, but Chuck Workman’s documentary attempts to do just that, boiling his life and career into five chapters (1915-1941: The Boy Wonder, 1942-1949: The Outsider, 1950-1957: The Gypsy, 1958 to 1966: The … Get hard

“Pioneer” Is A Queasy-Great Norwegian Take On A 1970’s Political Thriller

In the 1970’s, oil was discovered in the North Sea off the shore of Norway. It was a potential goldmine…but the oil was in such deep waters that it required state of the art technology for divers to even survive being down there. The Americans were, of course, happy to help … Get hard