Wildwood is an extremely mystifying experience. For most of the runtime, Laika Studios kept me in a constant state of questioning. Not in terms of plot or character beats, but in how exactly any of this is possible. As a studio, Laika has always been in a league of its own, creating exceptional visual masterworks in stop-motion animation. However, their 2026
Read MoreBeing called a coward, or “lâche,” as the French equivalent, is probably one of the greatest insults that one soldier could volley towards another during a World War I setting. Within Lukas Dhont’s third film, Coward, this slur carries added significance by equally describing those men who risked everything during a failed escape attempt in a bid to avoid the horrors of
Read MoreShudder continues its yearly streak of V/H/S releases with V/H/S/Mixtape. As a follow-up to last October’s V/H/S/Halloween, the horror streaming platform’s ninth installment goes for a new theme in mind. I assumed that the subtitle would dive into music, but that isn’t wholly the case. On the one hand, fans of the genre have films like V/H/S/Halloween, which are announced a
Read MoreAs flawed as Jennifer Peedom’s narrative feature debut, Tenzing, might be, something undeniable about her filmmaking instantly makes me keen to explore her earlier mountain-related documentaries, Mountain and Sherpa. The way in which she visualizes Tenzing Norgay’s (Genden Phuntsok) connection with Mount Everest, or, as he calls it, Chomolungma, is so emotive (almost reaching spiritual awareness). It immediately positions the audience
Read MoreCyberpunk: Edgerunners is a standout anime that launched on Netflix in 2022. It was a collaboration between CD Projekt Red, the developer of the video game Cyberpunk 2077, and Studio Trigger, one of the best anime studios. Slick animation, mature stories, gruesome deaths, and, by all accounts, a wonderful take on Night City. Four years later, Studio Trigger and CD Project
Read MoreThe embrace of artificial intelligence in mainstream cinema has been the most depressing sight the medium has ever seen. It’s a total abdication of creativity at every turn as high-profile filmmakers use a technology built on theft to “craft” images that are both unappealing and emotionally hollow. Many might say that “X movie feels like it was made by AI,” but
Read MoreJavier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi’s La Bola Negra is a lot to take in. The decade-spanning epic tracks three queer characters at distinct moments in history. The film often feels grand and emotive, simply by looking at the succession of visual (and thematic) juxtapositions thrillingly brought to life by cinematographer Gris Jordana’s eye for painterly, almost God-like, compositions. It can also
Read MoreAnyone who turned on Taika Waititi post-Hunt for the Wilderpeople may be the most vindicated individuals in the universe upon seeing his adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s Klara and the Sun. The Japanese-British writer’s thought-provoking, emotive prose is reduced to a bevy of unfunny TikTok-lite jokes that hamper a genuinely heartfelt story. This adaptation might have been something truly special on the
Read MoreDavid Ellison and Ynon Kreiz are two of the producers of Sam Hargrave’s Matchbox: The Movie, an adaptation of the popular Mattel IP of the same name. They now run Hollywood’s biggest media conglomerate, Skydance, a company that owns some of the country’s most significant assets and makes Disney’s acquisition of the 20th Century library seem tame by comparison. There’s lots
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