‘THE MONKEY’: Oz Perkins’ B-Movie Goes Bananas

February 18, 2025 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Adam Scott, Christian Convery, Colin O'Brien, Elijah Wood, Out in Theaters, Oz Perkins, Stephen King, Tatiana Maslany, The Monkey, Theo James Leave a comment

A ceramic drumming monkey (don’t call it a toy) wields the awesome power of life and death – though mostly death – in Oz Perkins’ madcap grindhouse horror movie, The Monkey. A wickedly sardonic midnighter-comedy with its tongue planted firmly in simian cheek, Perkins’ follow-up to his 2024 cult hit Longlegs sees the celebrated genre director fully embracing B-movie sensibilities—leaning into excessive gore and absurdist storytelling to deliver a shockingly barbaric yet gleefully silly fable about the dangers of wielding fate’s cruel blade. Read More

‘CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD’ Heralds a Bold New Era of Superhero Sameness

February 12, 2025 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Anthony Mackie, Captain America: Brave New World, Carl Lumbly, Dalan Musson, Danny Ramirez, Giancarlo Esposito, Harrison Ford, Julius Onah, Liv Tyler, Malcolm, Malcolm Spellman, Marvel, Matthew Orton, MCU, Rob Edwards, Shira Haas, Spellman, Tim Blake Nelson, Xosha Roquemore 6 Comments

Much has been written about the death and resurrection of the Marvel Cinematic Universe—and the wider superhero subgenre writ large. Fatigue! Fanfare! Box office records! In both the red and the black. The story has been told from every angle, re-examined with fresh eyes upon every new theatrical release, trailer drop, or scrap of casting news. And so the discourse around the superhero film has become just as stale and beaten to death as the genre itself. To its credit, Captain America: Brave New World, directed by Julius Onah and co-written by Rob Edwards, Malcolm Spellman, and Dalan Musson, at least postures at doing something differently. With a fresh(ish) face donning the iconic mantle, Marvel (kinda, maybe) actually passed the torch—only to mostly fumble the handoff, failing to make it mean much of anything. Read More

Sundance ‘25: ‘IF I HAD LEGS I’D KICK YOU’ – Rose Byrne is Remarkable in This Maternal Panic Attack of a Movie

February 3, 2025 by Matt Oakes Posted in Festival Reviews, Most Popular Tagged A24, ASAP Rocky, Christian Slater, Conan O'Brien, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, Mary Bronstein, Rose Byrne, Sundance 2025 2 Comments

Two hours of uncut existential dread and a career-best turn from Rose Byrne, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You from writer-director Mary Bronstein is an uncomfortably intimate character study of a mother unraveling under the weight of her daughter’s medical issues and a gaping ceiling leak threatening to drown what’s left of her sanity. Byrne has long mastered the art of self-loathing and performative pleasantries (see her Apple TV+ series Physical for a masterclass), but she’s operating on another level here. As Linda, she’s barely holding together her personal and professional life in this cortisol-spiking, secondhand-stress-inducing domestic drama. Read More

Sundance ‘25: ‘THE BALLAD OF WALLIS ISLAND’ A Crowd-Pleasing Folk Charmer

February 3, 2025 by Matt Oakes Posted in Festival Reviews Tagged Carey Mulligan, James Griffiths, Sundance, Sundance 2025, The Ballad of Wallis Island, Tim Key, Tom Basden 1 Comment

It’s been a decade since the folk duo McGwyer (Tom Basden) and Mortimer (Carey Mulligan) broke up. But if Charles (Tim Key), an eccentric, well-meaning, and possibly unhinged wealthy bachelor, has anything to do with it, their reunion is imminent. He’s determined to bring them together for one last performance—both as a personal passion project and a tribute to his late wife, their biggest fan. What follows is a funny, bittersweet, and deeply charming British comedy musical, powered by strong performances and even stronger music. Read More

Sundance ’25: ‘OH HI! – A Rom-Com with a Body Count?

February 2, 2025 by Matt Oakes Posted in Festival Reviews Tagged Geraldine Viswanathan, Logan Lerman, Molly Gordon, Oh Hi!, Sophie Brooks, Sundance, Sundance 2025 5 Comments

Molly Gordon and Logan Lerman are lovers on a seemingly idyllic upstate weekend outing in writer-director Sophie Brooks’ Oh Hi!. What begins as a disgustingly cute romantic getaway takes a sharp turn when the nature of their relationship is drawn into question. Despite their easy chemistry and rollicking sex life, Lerman’s Isaac insists on keeping things casual, while Gordon’s Iris yearns for the most meager crumbs of commitment. When he can’t even manage that, she makes a split-second decision to prove they’re meant to be together, though her methods are, let’s say, unconventional. Read More

Sundance ’25: ‘THE UGLY STEPSISTER’ Gives Cinderella Story a Gruesome Facelift

January 31, 2025 by Matt Oakes Posted in Festival Reviews Tagged Emilie Kristine Blichfeldt, Lea Myren, Sundance, Sundance 2025, The Ugly Stepsister 5 Comments

The Ugly Stepsister has already earned a reputation around Park City as the horror movie in this year’s Midnight section…the one that made an audience member puke in the aisle. For horror enthusiasts, this is the theatrical equivalent of a Michelin star. You must see this movie, etched in regurgitation. For the first 80 or so minutes of Emilie Kristine Blichfeldt’s no-holds-barred retelling of Cinderella, I wasn’t sure what all the fuss was about. And then, the reason someone yakked became grotesquely clear. Read More

Sundance ’25: Disquieting Stalker Thriller ‘LURKER’ Lets a Fox into the Henhouse

January 30, 2025 by Matt Oakes Posted in Festival Reviews, Most Popular Tagged Archie Madekwe, Lurker, Sundance, Sundance 2025, Théodore Pellerin 4 Comments

When an obsessive fan infiltrates the inner circle of his favorite up-and-coming pop star, Oliver (Archie Madekwe)—a single-name moniker à la Prince and Beyoncé—under the guise of being an unbiased outsider, an unsettling game of cat and mouse with far-reaching implications begins. Matthew (Théodore Pellerin) sleepwalks through a lackluster existence—working a dead-end retail job, mooching off his grandmother—until Oliver steps foot into his store. A surreptitious trap is sprung in real time. Read More

Sundance ’25: ‘DIDN’T DIE’ Reimagines the Zombie Apocalypse as a Mumblecore Relationship Movie

January 28, 2025 by Matt Oakes Posted in Festival Reviews Tagged Ali Lopez-Sohali, Didn't Die, George Basil, Katie McCuen, Kiran Deol, Meera Menon, Rupak Ginn, Samrat Chakrabarti, Sundance, Sundance 2025, Vishal Vijayakumar 1 Comment

There’s a certain irony to the fact that the zombie movie has been done to death. Enter writer-director Meera Menon, who reanimates the zombie apocalypse as a mumblecore dramedy to impressive effect. Menon’s ultra-low-budget debut feature film, Didn’t Die, is a snarky yet sincere vision of life after a mass extinction event, where the remainder of humankind has nothing better to do than host daily happy hours at home, sift through the detritus of civilization for its most useful scraps, and listen to a podcast about the end of the world in real time. Read More

‘WOLF MAN’ Redux Howls With Heart and Horror

January 15, 2025 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Christopher Abbott, Corbett Tuck, Julia Garner, Leigh Whannell, Matilda Firth, Wolf Man 7 Comments

The Wolf Man has a shaggy history in the annals of cinema. After premiering in George Waggner’s well-regarded 1941 feature, the character went on to appear in increasingly desperate mashups alongside Frankenstein, Dracula, Abbott and Costello, and—for some godforsaken reason—Alvin and the Chipmunks. Joe Johnson’s 2010 dreadfully dull remake with Benicio del Toro and Anthony Hopkins was widely panned. Years later, Ryan Gosling was briefly set to play the character in the quickly-sundowned Dark Universe series. Like a full moon waning, the monster movie icon was put to rest. Following a successful stint reviving the Universal monster movies with the critically acclaimed, box-office hit The Invisible Man, writer-director Leigh Whannell (Saw, Upgrade) was tapped to try his hand at this oft-cursed property, recruiting Christopher Abbott as his leading lupine man to star opposite Ozark’s Julia Garner. Read More

Top Ten TV Shows of 2024

December 19, 2024 by Matt Oakes Posted in Lists, Most Popular Tagged 3 Body Problem, Arctic Ascent, Australian Survivor, Baby Reindeer, Black Doves, Chimp Crazy, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Disclaimer, English Teacher, Fallout, Hacks, House of the Dragon, Industry, Interview with the Vampire, Love is Blind, Masters of the Air, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, One Day, Presumed Innocent, Ripley, Shōgun, Slow Horses, Survivor, The Bear, The Boys, The Franchise, The Gentlemen, The Penguin, The Sympathizer, The Umbrella Academy, Tokyo Vice, True Detective: Night Country 8 Comments

This year in television was another one for the books – and a strong argument that the small screen is still putting up a fight against the big screen for ultimate supremacy. This year featured a buffet of brilliant storytelling, ambitious experiments, and, yes, some deeply unhinged guilty pleasures. From prestige dramas to reality trainwrecks, TV in 2024 proved there was something for everyone and then some. As the era of the monoculture died down, there were still some shows that broke through across watching lines. My watchlist looked like a collision of highbrow and lowbrow chaos, and honestly? I wouldn’t have it any other way. Read More