Author: John Dotson

Movie ReviewsReviewsStellar Picks

‘Warfare’ is a Nightmarishly Immersive War Movie That Transcends

Warfare is not a traditional military film. For most of the movies in the genre, jingoism echoes at the forefront, almost as if they aim to serve as recruitment videos more than pieces of art. Xenophobia is usually a tool to create a villain for the American heroes of the film. For example, American Sniper manufactured a Muslim threat for Bradley

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‘Death of a Unicorn’: A Slapstick Monster Fest for Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega

Death of a Unicorn is a comically unhinged concept. The foundation has all the flavors of an SNL Digital Short or a Robot Chicken segment. The movie finds an existence on one unique question: What if we made a Jurassic Park movie but used unicorns instead of dinosaurs? To increase the insanity, take a wholesome comedic star like Paul Rudd and

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‘Opus’ Movie Review: John Malkovich Has The Kool-Aid

The new A24 film Opus spurs reflections about the recently deceased Gene Hackman. The late actor rarely found a genre he could not improve in some form. Hackman made it a point to flourish in movies like The Birdcage, where the role required him to tackle progressive topics with sincere comedic timing. Similarly, he could navigate a darker role, much like

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‘Novocaine’ is a Feel Good, Bone-Crunching, Body Horror Action Comedy

Novocaine would be a starring vehicle for Jim Carrey in a different timeline. In the late ’90s, Carrey was the ruler of physical comedy with an added gimmick. The Mask, Liar Liar, and even Bruce Almighty would beg to question, “What if Jim Carrey but X scenario?” Novocaine is not a starring vehicle for the Ace Ventura actor, but it performs

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‘The Dead Thing’ Review: Tinder-ized Surreal Horror

The Dead Thing might be dropping on Shudder during the Valentine’s Day weekend, but the new film by Elric Kane is hardly a standing ovation to the idea of romance. One might even call it cynical. In the age of loneliness and swipe culture, the need for connection feels more urgent than ever, causing the slightest bit of rejection to feel

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‘Bring Them Down’ Review: A Well-Tuned Character Driven Thriller

After viewing Bring Them Down, this reviewer had one question: Between this movie and The Banshees of Inisherin, why are the Irish so resentful of one another? Much like The Banshees of Inisherin, the feature film debut by Chris Edwards sees bitter men slowly tearing each other down, but instead of it being about a break-up, Bring Them Down sees a

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