The 100+ Greatest Horror Films of the 2010’s

Love ’em or hate ’em, horror movies are more popular now than they have ever been. And for great reason. This decade has delivered a multitude of diverse horror options, smashing box office records, and even earning a slew of major awards nominations along the way. What’s more, the genre of late has taken a notable step forward out of the schlock, ceaseless sequels, and torture porn of the decade that preceded it and instead allowed fresh voices to give the genre a fresh coat of paint. Whether you prefer plain-ole slashers, psychological thrillers, sensual vampires, classic possessions, evil haunted houses, or even killer mermaids, the 2010s have delivered in spades. And then some. Read More

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Discombobulated ‘Serenity’ Nears ‘The Room’ Levels of Unintentional Hilarity

January 24, 2019 by Matt Oakes Posted in Most Popular, Out in Theaters Tagged Anne Hathaway, Jason Clarke, Matthew McConaughey, Out in Theaters, Reviews, Serenity, Steven Knight Leave a comment

There are bad movies and there are bad movies, the distinction being that the one is purely torturous to watch whereas the other has the alchemic ability to actually bring us great pleasure. To transmute movie-making stool into movie-watching gold. It’s observed in the difference between Michael Bay’s Transformers movies and XXX: The Return of Xander Cage; the line in the sand dividing Yoga Hosers and The Snowman. They’re all bad but some are bad enough to double back and turn sour to sweet. Read More

Well-Meaning ‘THE KID WHO WOULD BE KING’ A Mostly Meh Modern Reimagining of Arthurian Lore

January 22, 2019 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Angus Imrie, Dean Chaumoo, Denise Gough, Joe Cornish, Louis Serkis, Out in Theaters, Reviews, Rhianna Dorris, The Kid Who Would Be King, Tom Taylor Leave a comment

Joe Cornish huffed and puffed and blew down the gates of Hollywood in summer 2011 with his critically-acclaimed inner-city alien invasion flick Attack the Block, blowing back the hair of sci-fi fans the world over in the process. In the intervening eight years, Cornish hasn’t had much on his platter, his solitary IMDB credit one of a small army of writers on Marvel’s Ant-Man (prior to that, he earned marks co-writing Tintin). After a long holiday away from the director’s chair, Cornish’s latest The Kid Who Would be King slashes into theaters in the midst of January’s dumping ground and despite being a somewhat imaginative PG-take on King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table plopped in 21st century London, this fails to feel like the brainchild of someone who’s been methodically tinkering away at a passion project in the many-year interim and seems more like a desperate last minute plea to not be forgotten to the annals of directorial history. In short, it’s just not that special. Read More

The ‘GLASS’ is Half Empty in Laughably Bad Conclusion to Shyamalan Trilogy

January 16, 2019 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Anya Taylor-Joy, Bruce Willis, Glass, James McAvoy, M. Night Shyamalan, Samuel L. Jackson, Sarah Paulson, Spencer Treat Clark, Split, Unbreakable Leave a comment

The Unbreakable trilogy that started in 2000 at the peak of M. Night Shyamalan’s powers, then went subterranean during his dark ages (the brutal run of films that spanned Lady in the Water to After Earth), and stealthily re-emerged in the midst of his recent revival of sorts (the one-two punch of The Visit and Split re-ameliorating the Indian director with American audiences) has officially ended. Along with the hopes of a true Shyamalanasance (say that three times fast.) And folks, Glass concludes the promise of a 19-years-in-the-making unprecedented movie triptych in the worst way possibly imaginable. Read More

The Best Movies of 2018 You Never Saw

January 6, 2019 by Matt Oakes Posted in Lists Tagged Cold War, Hearts Beat Loud, Lean on Pete, Leave No Trace, The Endless, The Kindergarten Teacher, The Rider, The Sisters Brothers, Thoroughbreds, You Were Never Really Here Leave a comment

With my Top Ten Best Films of 2018 officially done and out of the way, it’s time to highlight a few other films that flew under the radar in 2018. This time around, I wanted to highlight movies that, for some reason or another, did not connect with audiences, that were shuffled off to the periphery, failed to perform at the box office, and, by and large, are met with responses of “Huh?” whenever you mention them to anyone outside of the inner circle of filmoholics. Read More

Silver Screen Riot’s Top Ten Films Of 2018

January 2, 2019 by Matt Oakes Posted in Lists, Most Popular Tagged A Quiet Place, Annihilation, Blindspotting, Bodied, First Reformed, Hereditary, If Beale Street Could Talk, Mission Impossible: Fallout, The Favourite, Top Ten, Top Ten of 2018, Tully 1 Comment

It’s that time of year again. The time to whittle down the 147 (as of writing) movies in 2018 I’ve seen into a somewhat arbitrary and totally non-definitive Top Ten list. Each and every confounded year, us critics fold ourselves into pretzels to construct these things and year in and year out, usually end up regretting a number of the choices, particularly as time moves on. Hell, I’ll probably regret half this list once I hit the publish button. I totally reserve the right to reverse these choices in the future so don’t hold my feet to the fire if my tastes have changed in 2021. Or 2020. Or January 4, 2019. But such is life and here we are, forced to complete arbitrary rankings in the hopes for improved SEO and reader’s delight. Read More

‘MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS’ an Uneven but Politically Relevant Costume Drama

November 28, 2018 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Beau Willimon, Josie Rourke, Margot Robbie, Mary Queen of Scots, Out in Theaters, Reviews, Saoirse Ronan 1 Comment

Mary Queen of Scots is billed as a showdown between two hardened female monarchs, battling for title, supremacy, and future United Kingdom lineage. In truth, the film from first-time director Josie Rourke and screenwriter Beau Willimon (The Ides of March, House of Cards) is really only the story of the titular character, the rightful ruler of the Scottish throne, heir to the English and alleged uniter of countries and cultures. The focus centers less on the public rivalry and secret compassion shared between Mary and Queen Elizabeth I and much more on the battles Mary must fight within her inner male-dominated circle. Read More

‘BEN IS BACK’ A Troubling Two-Hander You Should Never Trust

November 27, 2018 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Ben is Back, Courtney B. Vance, Julia Roberts, Kathryn Newton, Lucas Hedges, Peter Hedges 1 Comment

Ben is Back, the father-son collaboration between writer-director Peter Hedges and actor son Lucas Hedges, plays out like a paperback page-turner with an inevitable conclusion. That the elder Hedges mostly succeeds in obscuring the histories of these characters and therefore where their paths will ultimately lead is a proverbial feather in his cap, the strongly-acted drama slinking suspiciously in narrative shadows in its earlier parts, leaving a trail of breadcrumbs that we intrinsically know lead nowhere good. As Hedge’s script unspools the mystery behind Ben and his being back, the thriller-tinged drama loses a touch of its suspect pull, relying strictly on emboldened performances to see the journey through. The experience is far from pleasant. Read More

‘ROMA’ a Dreamy, Gorgeous Slice-of-Life Historical Fiction

November 26, 2018 by Matt Oakes Posted in Most Popular, Out in Theaters Tagged Alfonso Cuarón, Marina de Tavira, Out in Theaters, Reviews, Roma, Yalitza Aparicio 1 Comment

Life is what happens when we’re not paying attention. Small, routine moments mark our transition through the world, often going ignored or unnoticed. We live in them, with them. It is here that Alfonso Cuarón sets his story – in the seeming mundanity of the life of a 1970’s Mexico City housekeeper named Cleo. Her story is quaint, upon first brush. She tends to a middle-class family, lighter in skin tone than she but suffering their own afflictions nonetheless, and we’re invited to drop in, given visitation rights to observe the lulling normalcy of this chaotic collection of lives. Read More

‘THE FAVOURITE’ is the Cattiest Movie of the Year in the Best Way Humanly Possible

November 21, 2018 by Matt Oakes Posted in Most Popular, Out in Theaters Tagged Best of 2018, Deborah Davis, Emma Stone, Nicholas Hoult, Olivia Colman, Out in Theaters, Rachel Weisz, Reviews, The Favourite, Tony McNamara, Yorgos Lanthimos 3 Comments

Vying for the sole affection of Queen Anne – and all the status that comes with it – two cousins from different stations stoke a bitter rivalry in Yorgos Lanthimos exquisitely-mounted The Favourite. Scrumptiously rancorous, Lanthimos’ foray into costume drama is a series of verbal death matches, its characters clawing at one another’s reputation, the performances from its perfectly-cast stars provide each and every syllable of Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara’s wonderfully cutting script a searing eclipse of clever-wit, cunning undercuts and good-humor that never second-guesses going straight for the jugular. Read More