By - Gareth Jones For fans of American Gothic, David Lynch, Viggo Mortenson, terrifying coming of age films Some films you see and they are immediately forgotten.  Others stick in the back of your mind forever.  For me, The Reflecting Skin is one of the latter. Released in 1990, it was the first film directed by the incredibly talented polymath, Phillip Ridley.  He had made two short films and written […]

By - Gareth Jones For fans of Luca Guadagnino, Zendeya, Josh O’Connor, modern romantic dramas I must admit that I am extremely late to being obsessed with this film. Many folks have been here before me.  It might have been the timing of the release, but I did not see this when it came out in theaters.  I regret that now in many ways. I can only imagine seeing this […]

By - Gareth Jones For fans of tense dramas based on real life, The Abyss, Woody Harrelson March remains an odd time of year for movies.  In the “ancient” past, there used to be a time when studios would dump films that they were not happy with and wanted to just get shown so that they could be released on home media.  Now, it seems like the studios are still […]

By - Kayleigh Drake   “I had a nervous breakdown and wound up in a psych ward thinking I was the Antichrist.” When a documentary — or any film, for that matter — opens with a line like that, you know you’re in for a compelling story. And that’s exactly what Weirdo is. Named after the album and song of the same name, Weirdo is a documentary about the legendary […]

By - Gareth Jones For fans of Jeff Nichols, Tom Hardy, Austin Butler, Jodie Comer, and the history of Bikers in America Jeff Nichols has now made six feature films, many focusing on stories in the South, his birthplace.  He is one of the finest Southern filmmakers working today and perhaps (time will tell) one of the best Southern filmmakers in cinema history.  He has explored race, violence, the environment, […]

By - Gareth Jones For fans of historical epic dramas like There Will Be Blood, powerhouse performances, and the return of the intermission! The Brutalist is nominated for 10 Academy awards this year, and it is an undeniable achievement.  It is an independent film released by A24 but has the scope and breadth of a Hollywood epic.  It has the hallmarks of these epics with massive sets and scale, yet […]

By - Gareth Jones For fans of RaMell Ross, Colson Whitehead. Innovative and challenging black stories Colson Whitehead now has two incredible adaptations of his books. In 2021, Barry Jenkins tackled the monumental Underground Railroad with a mini-series.  Now, RaMell Ross has adapted The Nickel Boys and it is one of 2024’s best films.  This is a remarkable achievement as it is only his second feature film and first narrative […]

By - Gareth Jones For fans of Val Lewton, suspenseful movies about cults, Kim Hunter Before she was Stella in A Streetcar Named Desire and long before she was Zira in Planet of the Apes, Kim Hunter had her debut in Hollywood with this 1943 Val Lewton produced gem. In addition to Hunter’s debut it was also the first film directed by Mark Robson who was an assistant editor on […]

By - Gareth Jones For fans of German Expressionism,  early examples of Gothic Cinema, Comedic Horror genre I am currently teaching a course on Gothic Cinema, and I must confess that I had never seen a version of The Cat and the Canary before teaching the class. We all have blindspots in our viewing and sadly this was one of mine. I have now rectified that by watching and assigned […]