Freelance Entertainment Journalist & Editor | Rotten Tomatoes Certified | GALECA & OAFFC member | Bachelor's degree in Communications | Email: saradawnc@gmail.com
In 'The Animal Kingdom,' Humans Turn Into What They Truly Are: Animals
Humans are animals. Every day we see another example of that fact. But what if humans became animals? In Yorgos Lanthimos’s The Lobster, humans choose which animal they will turn into if they can’t enter into a romantic relationship within 45 days. In the French, César Award-winning sci-fi film, The Animal Kingdom, however, turning into an animal isn’t a choice, nor is it because you can’t get a date. It’s a pandemic of the most fitting. When the COVID-19 pandemic first started, we were all w...
‘Love Lies Bleeding’ Is One of the Greatest ‘Be Gay Do Crime’ Movies
It’s safe to say that Rose Glass’s, Saint Maud, is one of the most impressive debut features of the last decade. Deeply disturbing, but also completely electrifying, this psychological horror film follows a woman who, running away from her past, takes on a new identity and devotes herself to Catholicism. The lead characters in the writer-director’s sophomore feature, Love Lies Bleeding, are all trying to escape their past. With one, not turning to God, but to those on the cover of fitness mag...
'Death and Other Details' Finale: Who Is Victor Sams?
This piece contains spoilers for Hulu’s Death and Other Details.
In my review of the first eight episodes of Death and Other Details, I touch on the exposition dumps, the abundance of underused characters and the side plots that have no real significance. Things that, if the show’s mystery weren’t interesting, would make it a shipwreck. Now, after 10 episodes, I can safely say that the mess cleaned up nicely but it still didn’t end up feeling like a show that anyone will remember come next ye...
‘Drive-Away Dolls’ Is Bringing B-Movie Sexploitation Back
The Coen Brothers are one of Hollywood’s most prolific directing duos, bringing story after story to audiences for the past 40 years. But only recently have they embarked on solo efforts. The pair are known for bringing a subversive spin, so it’s no surprise that Joel Coen would try his hand at doing so with Shakespeare. The Tragedy of Macbeth is one of the most unique takes on one of the playwright’s most famous stories. It also felt like a big, surprising swing for a first solo endeavor. Ma...
The Next Best Picture Podcast – “Drive-Away Dolls”
For this week’s main podcast review, I am joined by Sara Clements, Dan Bayer & Tom O’Brien. Today, we are reviewing the latest film from Ethan Coen, “Drive-Away Dolls,” starring Margaret Qualley, Geraldine Viswanathan, Beanie Feldstein, Colman Domingo, Pedro Pascal, Bill Camp & Matt Damon. We’ve seen what a solo-directed Joel Coen film was with “The Tragedy Of Macbeth,” so what does a solo-directed Ethan Cohen film feel like? What did we think of the story, humor, performances, and writing? T...
'Stopmotion' Is Unsettling Nightmare Fuel
Have you ever been so focused on a project that you found yourself contemplating your life choices because it’s been eight hours, and you haven’t showered or even eaten? Well, Stopmotion is a movie all about that but cranked up ten notches. Any artist can be consumed by their work, and in Robert Morgan’s captivatingly deranged feature debut, it drives the artist into madness. Blending both live-action and stop-motion animation, Morgan’s horror film sees an animator bring life to her puppets. ...
“IN THE LAND OF BROTHERS”
Raha Amirfazli and Alireza Ghasemi are two promising new voices in Iranian cinema. Their debut film, “In the Land of Brothers,” aims to shed light on the harsh reality faced by almost five million Afghan refugees living in Iran. The film tells three interconnected stories that portray the challenges of starting over in an unwelcoming environment while also highlighting the resilience and strength of the Afghan people. The story follows three members of one family over 30 years as they face threats of police brutality, deportation, and further war. The Afghan actors deliver powerful and....
Hulu's 'Suncoast' Is a Coming-Of-Age Film Unlike Any Other
In the early 2000s, the United States was rocked by one family’s legal battle. The case involved Terri Schiavo, a Florida woman who was in a permanent vegetative state after suffering a heart attack at just 26 years old. For 15 years, one family’s dispute brought the right-to-die debate into focus. Terri’s husband, Michael, fought in court to disconnect his wife’s feeding tube while her parents fought to keep her alive. In 2005, Michael won his case, and thirteen days after her feeding tube w...
“OUT OF DARKNESS”
Horror films have taken us everywhere. From cabins in the woods to spaceships to suburban homes and beyond. Characters in the horror genre have had to go up against evil everywhere. In Andrew Cumming’s “Out of Darkness,” that fight is taken back in time to 45,000 years ago. Set in the Stone Age, this survival horror film, written by Ruth Greenberg, follows a group of six people searching for a new land who are being hunted by a monster hiding in the shadows. The cycle of humans having to go to war against evil, taking shape so early on in our existence, emphasizes how horrors have always....
Sundance Review: 'Exhibiting Forgiveness' Is One of the Best of the Fest
Exhibiting Forgiveness is a literal title. In every frame of the film, there’s a small piece to a greater canvas, one whose theme surrounds a journey to forgiveness. Painter Titus Kaphar’s first feature follows an artist who takes to canvas to heal from childhood trauma, but simply describing Exhibiting Forgiveness as a drama about a tortured artist diminishes the depth of the story crafted. Each layer of paint is a new layer of emotion, leading deeper into an internal struggle for healing an...
Sundance Review: June Squibb Could Do 'Mission: Impossible' but Tom Cruise Couldn’t Do 'Thelma'
According to recent statistics, the number of people falling prey to scams is increasing day by day, with seniors being the most vulnerable group. The FBI has reported that individuals aged 60 and above lost a whopping $3.1 billion in 2022 alone, and the situation is expected to worsen. This trend is also reflected in movies such as The Beekeeper, where the protagonist, played by Jason Statham, takes revenge against a criminal call center that scammed his friend, Eloise (Phylicia Rashad). Sim...
Sundance Review: 'A Real Pain' Is a Poignant Exploration of Jewish Intergenerational Trauma
Jesse Eisenberg returns to the Sundance Film Festival with his second film as a writer and director. Titled A Real Pain, it follows two cousins who reunite on a tour through Poland to honor their grandmother. The plot of the film is deeply connected to Eisenberg’s own family, as it explores Jewish culture and history. Eisenberg stars in the film alongside Kieran Culkin, and together they take on a comedic and emotional buddy road trip pairing, exploring more about themselves on a journey of h...
Sundance Review: 'Ponyboi' Is a First for Intersex Representation Onscreen
In 2019, Emma Thompson and Stephen Fry executive produced a short film titled Ponyboi that was screened at the Tribeca Film Festival. It marked the first time an intersex actor played an intersex person on screen. Now in 2024 at the Sundance Film Festival, Ponyboi became the first narrative feature film created by and starring an intersex person. “I firmly believe ‘Ponyboi’ is poised to start a societal revolution…” the film’s star and writer, River Gallo, says in the film’s press notes. By p...
Sundance Review: A Buoy and Satellite Fall in Love in the Divisive 'Love Me'
Love Me, a sci-fi romance film about a buoy and a satellite, is one of the most divisive titles from this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Comparisons to WALL-E are obvious, but despite humanity’s extinction, Love Me is more about humans than anything else. The buoy and satellite learn to communicate online, discovering things about themselves and what it means to live and love. Although the presentation is not always successful, the transformative story through technology and identity is a com...
The Next Best Picture Podcast – Our Reactions To The 2024 Oscar Nominations
Zazie Beetz and Jack Quaid were up nice and early yesterday to announce the nominations for the 96th annual Academy Awards. As per usual, there were many surprises, shocking omissions, and lots of high emotions from the Next Best Picture Team (Check out our live reactions video to the nominations on our Patreon here). Many of us got together later that evening to unpack all of the nominations in each category one by one. Take a listen as Nadia Dalimonte, Dan Bayer, Sara Clements, Daniel Howat...