explores

03 Jun

Reminiscence: How The Hugh Jackman Sci-Fi Explores the Danger of Nostalgia

New DVD releasedanger, explores, jackman, nostalgia, reminiscence

It’s been one of the more below-the-radar films coming from Warner Bros. Pictures this year — and given the secretive talent behind it, that’s hardly a surprise — but Reminiscence is arriving this summer both in theaters and on HBO Max. Now we have the first trailer from this noirish sci-fi thriller starring Hugh Jackman, Rebecca Ferguson and Thandiwe Newton. Set in a future United States ravaged by war and a Miami that’s sinking beneath the rising ocean, Reminiscence casts Jackman as Nick Bannister, who runs a business with his partner Watts (Newton) that allows people to retrieve and fully…

Read More

26 Apr

How HBO’s The Nevers Explores a Very Different Vision of Victorian Girl Power

New DVD releasedifferent, explores, nevers, power, victorian, vision

This article contains spoilers for THE NEVERS episode 3. On paper, the idea of a steampunk superhero show that mixes period-set grittiness with ladies punching things seems like it should be a slam dunk. After all, most narratives about people gifted with sudden superhuman abilities are really just stories about power in fancier than usual dress. Shows like these examine who traditionally possesses power, who is allowed to wield it, how it is often used to prop up the privileged that already have it. And where better to explore these issues than Victorian England? The foggy nineteenth-century streets of London work so…

Read More

08 Mar

How Netflix’s Moxie Explores Different Reactions to Feminism

New DVD releasedifferent, explores, feminism, moxie, netflix, reactions

Directed by Amy Poehler, glorious coming of age comedy Moxie hit Netflix last week and was a joyful celebration of giving a damn. The movie sees 16-year-old Vivian (Hadley Robinson) inspired by her mum’s (Poehler) former feminist escapades and the misogyny she sees at her school to produce her own Zine (called Moxie) to unite her class mates and try to make a difference. Sometimes she gets it wrong. Sometimes she hits out at the wrong people. But Vivian and her friends’ determination, hope, doggedness and, sure, moxie, sees real change emerge. It’s funny and vital and an absolute breath…

Read More

11 Jan

Tales from the Hinterland Explores the Dark Feminist Heart of Fairy Tales

New DVD releaseexplores, fairy, feminist, heart, hinterland, tales

This feature is sponsored by Thanks to current pop culture, when the average reader thinks of fairy tales, something very specific probably comes to mind: Beautiful princesses. Cute animal companions. Handsome princes. Perhaps most of all, a happily ever after. Much of that is thanks to the Walt Disney Company, whose family-friendly retellings of classic tales like Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Snow White are careful to remove the darker and more problematic elements from the stories, sanitizing them to the point where many modern viewers are most likely completely unaware of the popular films’ complicated – and often shocking –…

Read More

11 Dec

Marvel’s What If? Trailer Explores Peggy Carter as Captain Britain, Black Panther, and More

New DVD releasebritain, captain, carter, explores, marvel, peggy, trailer

Usually overshadowed by its live-action brethren, Marvel’s What If? was one of the earliest Disney+ series to be announced. Information on it has been scarce for the most part. We knew it was animated. Two of the plot concepts were made public (Agent Carter receiving the super soldier serum and T’Challa becoming Star-Lord). Each season would feature 10 episodes. Nearly the entire cast of the various Marvel movies would reprise their roles in the form of voice acting. But other than that? Not much. Now, along with the utter hailstorm of Disney/Marvel news from Thursday, we have a real deal…

Read More

30 Oct

How Relic Explores our Most Primal Fears

New DVD releaseexplores, fears, primal, relic

All the major releases of 2020 have been postponed or released via streaming and cinemas are holding on by their fingertips, it hasn’t exactly been a stellar year for film. But as is so often the cast, one genre is holding on strong – horror. One of the very best horror movies of the year is Relic, a highly emotional, deeply creepy story of a woman with dementia and the daughter and granddaughter who come to care for her in her dilapidated old home. It’s a haunted house story of sorts where at times it’s the house itself that is…

Read More

06 Oct

How Welcome to the Blumhouse Explores the Horror of Family

New DVD releaseblumhouse, explores, family, horror, welcome

In terms of dealing with the pandemic and how to release existing or finished films without having movie theaters available until recently, Blumhouse has been one of the leaders. The company — in conjunction with its primary distributor, Universal Pictures — shifted the arrival of its summer horror movie, You Should Have Left, from theaters to VOD seamlessly, while movies that came out in theaters right before the coronavirus shut everything down — like The Invisible Man and The Hunt — also made the transition quickly and smoothly, extending their shelf life and possibly their audiences. Now, with many theaters…

Read More

22 Sep

Kajillionaire: How the Evan Rachel Wood Movie Explores the ‘Mini-Cult’ of Family

New DVD releaseexplores, family, kajillionaire, movie, rachel

Kajillionaire is the first feature film from writer-director Miranda July in which she isn’t also the star. It’s a different experience, stepping outside the frame and choosing instead to cast Evan Rachel Wood as her unconventional leading lady. But as the artistic polymath also tells us over a digital interview, she also “never [has] to stop looking at it from the outside.” The ‘it’ being an intimate portrait of a dysfunctional family of small-time scammers. “I could go further,” July says during her conversation, “I could be more devoted to the actors… I wasn’t in there with them, in the…

Read More

02 Apr

How Shudder’s Cursed Films Explores the Most Troubled Horror Movies Ever

New DVD releasecursed, explores, films, horror, movies, shudder, troubled

Some movies are born bad. Poltergeist, The Omen, The Exorcist; these are iconic horror films with reputations of misfortune and mishap. Either due to a series of grim coincidences that form a pattern or one or two notable tragedies, a handful of films are said to have near-evil legacies. Maybe it really is as Shirley Jackson mused in The Haunting of Hill House? If some spots attach to themselves an atmosphere of goodness, “It might not then be too fanciful to say some houses are born bad.” So why not movies too? Within horror films, curses are caused by the…

Read More

22 Oct

Sesame Street: Elmo’s World: Elmo Explores

New DVD releaseexplores, sesame, street, world

Recommended The Movie:As my young son grows from infant to a lively toddler, we were looking for ways to entertain him recently. Having seen the Sesame Street magic work on him before, I wanted to see if I could press my luck with a "spin-off" of sorts from the franchise, featuring one of its popular current cast members, such as it was. It's going to date me a little bit when I first wrote this because Elmo (the furry red baby monster?) first appeared in 1985 and dang, I thought he didn't appear until like the last decade or so,…

Read More