Publications

May 15, 2025

‘Fight or Flight’ Review: Josh Hartnett Soars in a Mid-Altitude B-Movie That Knows Exactly What It Is

There’s something comforting about a 90-minute action movie. They’re the kind of films that can signal the health of the Hollywood ecosystem:...

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May 13, 2025

5 Films That Nail the Truth About Our Work Lives

Work sucks! Let’s watch a movie about it! Movies have long reflected the complexities of human existence—love, loss, ambition, rebelli...

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May 9, 2025

‘Clown in a Cornfield’ Review: Frendo the Clown Debuts on the Big Screen in a Mixed Bag of a Slasher

Adapted from the book of the same name, 2025’s Clown in a Cornfield aims to follow the classic tropes of your average horror slasher but with...

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May 8, 2025

‘Tummy Monster’ Review: An Exciting Glimpse into Scottish Cinema’s Future

I have always believed in supporting homegrown films, especially when it is a first feature from a budding director. So when I heard about Tu...

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May 8, 2025

CHICAGO CRITICS FILM FEST: ‘It Ends’ is Alex Ullom’s Bright Beginning

One of the most exciting things about a film festival is the discovery of finding a film from a new artist and floating out of the theater kn...

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May 7, 2025

‘Thunderbolts*’ Review: A Baby Step in the Right Direction for Marvel

The most common question this past weekend was “Is Marvel Back?” Long-time franchise fans seem to think so, but Thunderbolts*, in my eyes, is...

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May 6, 2025

'Another Simple Favor' Review: Another Simple Sequel

2025 is shaping out to be the year for sequels to films that were mildly received at the time of release. Just last month saw the release of ...

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May 6, 2025

‘Parthenope’ Review:  A Character Journey that Goes Nowhere

Paolo Sorrentino is a director who has always been interested in the idea of beauty, specifically female beauty, and how it transfixes indivi...

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May 5, 2025

‘The Surfer’ Review: Nic Cage Strives to Ride Waves in this Anxiety-Inducing Thriller

Nicolas Cage has an extensive pantheon of films of all kinds of shapes and sizes, and yet, The Surfer (2025) manages to stand out as one of h...

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May 5, 2025

CHICAGO CRITICS FILM FEST: The Dizzying and Delirious ‘Mr. K’

It may be because it was my third screening of the day and it started at midnight, but Tallulah Hazekemp Schwab’s Mr. K made me feel utterly ...

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May 5, 2025

Trump’s Tariffs on Film: Don’t Panic, Just Pay Attention

Last night, Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social that “The Movie Industry in America is DYING a very fast death. Other Countries are offering a...

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May 4, 2025

CHICAGO CRITICS FILM FEST: Alex Russell’s Haunting & Nuanced Debut ‘Lurker’

If you’ve spent more than ten seconds on social media, chances are you’ve encountered the feverish fan culture that’s seeped its way into our...

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May 2, 2025

*PFS SpringFest* ‘The Threesome’ Review: Fantasy to Friction and Rewriting the Rules of the Modern Rom-Com

If 2024 told us anything, it's that three-way relationship dynamics are back, baby! After Zendaya took care of her little white boys, and Lil...

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May 1, 2025

'Black Mirror S7' Review: Brooker Attempts to Salvage the Sadistic yet Satirical Stamp on the Show

Black Mirror (2011-) continues to have the most unique television show run of its time. Spanning almost 15 years, the 33-episode anthology (a...

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May 1, 2025

‘The Accountant 2’ Review: The IRS’s Attempt at Franchise Filmmaking

At long last, the sequel we’ve all been waiting for has arrived. Gavin O’Connor, Ben Affleck, and Jon Bernthal return for The Accountant 2 ne...

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May 1, 2025

‘Freaky Tales’ Review: A Fun Love Letter to Exploitation Cinema

When watching Freaky Tales from Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, both of whom also have writing credits, there is an unapologetic punk energy wrapp...

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April 30, 2025

The Persistence of the New Flesh: A David Cronenberg Retrospective

With his twenty-third feature film, The Shrouds, releasing last week, I find it apt to perform a dissection of sorts on David Cronenberg’s fi...

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April 29, 2025

Review: 'Until Dawn' has a Love-Hate Relationship with its Source Material

Another entry from PlayStation Studios as Sony aims to adapt their library. Until Dawn was released in 2015 by Supermassive on PlayStation 4,...

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April 28, 2025

'Havoc' Review: Gareth Evans’ Latest Action Thriller Pulls No Punches

Netflix hasn’t exactly had the greatest track record with their original titles, with The Electric State (2025), one of the most expensive fi...

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April 24, 2025

Jason Bourne: A Franchise Identity Crisis   

Back in 2002, The Bourne Identity arrived at an interesting time in the spy genre. Die Another Day, Pierce Brosnan’s fourth outing as James B...

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April 23, 2025

Top 10 “Dual Roles” in Movies

Actors taking on dual roles in films is one of Hollywood's acting bedrocks, dating back to 1930! For the last 95 years, there have been more ...

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April 22, 2025

'Sinners' Review: Music is the Beating Heart of Ryan Coogler’s Ambitious New Film

Ryan Coogler’s Sinners (2025) is an ambitious film that navigates race, history, power, desire, love, and survival. Oh, and it’s also a vampi...

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April 21, 2025

20 Years of Joe Wright's 'Pride & Prejudice:' An Encapsulation of All Facets of Love

It is hard to have lived your life without seeing a piece of media that has, in some way, been adapted or inspired by a Jane Austen novel. Wi...

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April 21, 2025

‘The Ugly Stepsister’ Review: This Twisted Classic Fairy Tale is Grotesque in All the Right Ways

The famous fairy tale of Cinderella has been told in many incredibly distinct ways over many centuries, from Disney’s 1950 and 2015 reimagini...

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April 18, 2025

Review: 'Warfare' is an Intense Experimentation of Unconventional Storytelling

Last year, Alex Garland’s Civil War received heavy criticism due to its lack of perspective in portraying a divided America engaged in a seco...

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April 17, 2025

Preview: SpringFest 2025 with the Philadelphia Film Society

Philadelphia may be known for its cheesesteaks, the Liberty Bell, and the iconic Rocky steps, but beyond the landmarks and underdog boxer ref...

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April 16, 2025

‘The Last of Us’ - Season 2, Episode 1 Review: A Promising Start to a Pivotal Season

HBO’s first season of The Last of Us (2023-) was a game-changer. It proved that if done right, video games can be an apt format to adapt to f...

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