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Out in Theaters: ‘EXPERIMENTER’

For years, people questioned the ethics of Stanley Milgram’s infamous obedience experiments calling into question the intentional emotional distress inflicted upon the unknowing test subjects. Questionable though his tactics may have been, the fact that in 2015 every Psychology 101 class across the country is schooled in the teachings of Milgrim shows the lasting effects of his research. The film Experimenter, on the other hand, graphs the life of the controversial social scientist in a drearily scientific manner and will be forgotten moments after watching it. For all the intrigue and controversy surrounding Stanley Milgram, director/producer/writer Michael Almereyda is unable to conceive of a single moment of drama in his punishingly procedural biopic. Read More

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THE LEFTOVERS Season 2 Episode 4 “Orange Sticker” Review

Are the leftovers looking for departure? Michael (Jovan Adepo) aggressively scrapes the “verified” sticker off his house because nothing is really verified in Miracle. Michael removes it like a formerly held belief system, but other homes still wear the label if only just to be verified of something. Miracle’s inhabitants are starting to catch up to the foreshadowing in earlier episodes. Read More

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Out in Theaters: ‘PARANORMAL ACTIVITY: THE GHOST DIMENSION’

By and large the same product albeit in slightly different packaging, Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension manages a suitable end for the found footage phenomenon that took the world by storm. In tying the many disparate series elements into one cohesive mythology, this sixth Paranormal Activity has given meaning and context to all those that came after the first. In that regard, first time director Gregory Plotkin fifth sequel is one of the series strongest entries. Read More

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Out in Theaters: ‘THE LAST WITCH HUNTER’

Turns out when you take Vin Diesel out from behind the steering wheel, he’s still rocking cruise control. His latest starring vehicle, The Last Witch Hunter, pays homage to the muscle-bound actor’s IRL passion for D&D. No, not designated driving but Dungeons and Dragons (the actor has openly express his passion for the tabletop role-playing game). Like a faltering dungeon master, Diesel is as one-dimensional and underwhelming as a bag of old Cheetos. Playing a Norseman destined to keep the peace between witches and the human race, Diesel does nothing to differentiate this performance from any of his other recent ones, and how could he? The man is as wooden as Groot, as mechanical as the Iron Giant, as audibly indecipherable as Dominic Toretto’s meat and potatoes growl-slur. It seems you can take the Dom out of the movie but you can’t take the Dom out of Vin Diesel.   Read More

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Out in Theaters: ‘I SMILE BACK’

That Sarah Silverman had the gall to break out of her irreverent comic persona for a melancholic melodrama as jet black as I Smile Back is impressive in and of itself. That the film itself is resoundingly potent and her performance amongst the strongest of the year is nothing short of a shocker. Hers is what many would refer to as a “breakout” role, were Silverman not already close being to a household name. Nonetheless, the performance front and center of I Smile Back is evidence enough that Silverman needs more dramatic roles and she needs them now. Read More

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The Deepest Cuts: ‘THIRST’ (1979)

The Deepest Cuts is a weekly invitation into some of the sleaziest, goriest, most under-explored corners of horror and cult film online. Every title will be streamable and totally NSFW. Whether it’s a 1960s grindhouse masterpiece, something schlocky from the 90s, or hardcore horror from around the world, these films are guaranteed to shock, disturb, tickle, or generally blow your mind.

I hate to make generalizations, but having seen a number of amazing, totally fucked up horror movies from Australia, I can’t help but think there’s something up down under – and I’ll tell you right now, whatever it is, I’m into it. After watching 2009’s The Loved Ones (a viewing inspired by the 13 Most Disturbing Horror Movies of the Last 13 Years list) I was looking for some righteous Ozploitation to stream, and I found it, in spades, in Thirst.

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THE LEFTOVERS Season 2 Episode 3 “Off Ramp” Review

Laurie Garvey (Amy Brenneman) tries to lead others off ramp when she’s still on the turnpike. She tries to wipe the residue off her current life through the drumming in her head. The drumming of improvised jazz layered over the opening scene is Laurie, presently in a state of ordered chaos coping with what’s leftover. In the third tableaux opening of this season, nobody has moved on. The departed never left. Read More

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AHMYGAWD Watch the New ‘STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS’ Trailer NOW

I usually don’t watch trailers. I couldn’t help myself with the first teaser for Star Wars: The Force Awakens and I couldn’t stop myself from watching this next (and potentially final) trailer. Join the dark side and watch Han (Harrison Ford), Chewie (Peter Mayhew) and Leia (Carrie Fischer) join new Star Wars members Finn (John Boyega), Rey (Daisy Ridley) and Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) to battle New Order Sith Lord Kylo Ren.  But don’t take my word for it, watch it yourself. Read More

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Out in Theaters: ‘BEASTS OF NO NATION’

War films have never been as great as they were from the late-70s to the mid-80s. There was an esthetic richness to them, a vast sense of moral disorientation that defined them. Surfers catching waves neck deep in the shit, soldier’s squeezing the triggers of pistols squared at their heads, combatants throwing their arms up in defeat. That iconography sticks for a reason. In the era of 9/11, there have been some excellent war films, but like the wars themselves, the weapons, scenery and tone have changed. Beasts of No Nation is a heavyhearted throwback to the great war epics of the Vietnam generation and tells the sorrowful saga of a child soldier’s dark transformation. Read More

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Out in Theaters: ‘CRIMSON PEAK’

Only in a Guillermo del Toro yarn would the setting – a decrepit Victorian estate housing buried, but not forgotten, secrets – literally drip blood. His is the humor of a tongue buried deeply in a cheek, almost to the point of popping through to the other side. It’s not actually blood that is dripping but there’s no mistaking what the globular rouge streaks running down the wallpaper is supposed to resemble. In the world of Crimson Peak, it is but red clay that sullies the interior of the far flung mansion from which the title takes its name. The house is literally sinking in it. As the winter snow decorates the earth around this distinctly haunted house, it grows blood red from the clay beneath. So it’ll likely catch you off guard to hear that for a movie ostensibly soaked in blood, Crimson Peak is actually pretty restrained.   Read More