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Fright Club: Best Horror Movies of 1974 - Maddwolf
Chinatown, Young Frankenstein, The Godfather: Part 2, A Woman Under the Influence, Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia, The Conversation, Lenny—1974 was a hell of a year in movies! And horror was just as revolutionary. We celebrate the 50th anniversary of those gems of 1974 with our pick of the five best. But we … Continue reading Fright Club: Best Horror Movies of 1974 →
Battle Scarred - Maddwolf
The Fire Inside by George Wolf Like James Mangold and the music biopic, director Rachel Morrison is facing the lure of convention with The Fire Inside. Not only is this a sports drama, but the sport is boxing – perhaps the most easily cliched in the genre. But Morrison has Oscar-winner Barry Jenkins in her … Continue reading Battle Scarred →
Mystery Tramp - Maddwolf
A Complete Unknown by George Wolf James Mangold’s Walk the Line wasn’t a bad movie. But that 2005 Johnny Cash biopic – along with Taylor Hackford’s Ray from one year earlier – relied so heavily on convention that Jake Kasdan’s 2007 comedy Walk Hard found easy marks for spoofing. A Complete Unknown has Mangold’s biopic … Continue reading Mystery Tramp →
Good Girl - Maddwolf
Babygirl by Hope Madden It seems impossible not to compare writer/director Halina Reijn’s Babygirl with Steven Shainberg’s 2002 indie treasure Secretary (based on Mary Gaitskill’s brilliant short story). Reijn’s tale is almost a perfect inversion. Secretary saw a relative newcomer (Maggie Gyllenhaal) deliver a revelatory turn as an absolute nobody actively seeking domination, finding it … Continue reading Good Girl →
Once and Future - Maddwolf
Mufasa: The Lion King by Hope Madden It was hard not to be a little worried about Mufasa: The Lion King. Or maybe it was hard not to be worried about Barry Jenkins. Too few of our genuinely brilliant independent film directors come away from Giant Studio Efforts unscathed. (Quick callback to last week’s JD … Continue reading Once and Future →
Why Yes, That Chicken Looks Familiar - Maddwolf
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl by Hope Madden Just over 30 years ago, cheese-loving inventor Wallace and his long-suffering dog Gromit took in a lodger and invented a new kind of pants. Neither were what they seemed. And just when you thought you’d seen the last of Feathers McGraw—well, several decades after you thought … Continue reading Why Yes, That Chicken Looks Familiar →
Third Time Charm - Maddwolf
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 by Rachel Willis There seems to be a trend in kids’ movies lately where sequels outshine their originals. That’s not always the case, of course, but it’s certainly true with director Jeff Fowler’s Sonic the Hedgehog 3. The stakes continue to rise for Team Sonic – which includes the titular hedgehog … Continue reading Third Time Charm →
Have the Moths Stopped Flapping? - Maddwolf
Nocturnes by Matt Weiner You’ll never look at a moth the same way again after seeing them up close—very close—in Nocturnes. The new documentary film from Anirban Dutta and Anupama Srinivasan is an intimate look at the hawk moth population in the dense forests of the Eastern Himalayas. But this isn’t a traditional nature documentary. … Continue reading Have the Moths Stopped Flapping? →
Appointed Rounds - Maddwolf
The Six Triple Eight by George Wolf “Where there is no mail there is low morale.” For a time during the height of WWII, there was no mail. Battalion 6888 – the only all-black outfit in the Women’s Army Corp to see overseas duty – was given six months to sort through a backlog of … Continue reading Appointed Rounds →
My Only Friend - Maddwolf
The End by Hope Madden In 2012, Joshua Oppenheimer co-directed (with Anonymous, to keep the second filmmaker from being murdered) my personal pick for greatest documentary ever made. He won the Oscar two years later for The Look of Silence, a sequel of sorts, but The Act of Killing is unlike anything else ever made … Continue reading My Only Friend →
Hunt for Green December - Maddwolf
Kraven the Hunter by Hope Madden I keep waiting for Aaron Taylor-Johnson to become a giant household-name superstar. He’s a good-looking kid, always turns in solid work, makes interesting career choices. I’ve been a fan since 2010’s Kick-Ass, but it doesn’t seem to me that he’s really hit. Maybe now’s his time. He does a … Continue reading Hunt for Green December →
Sister's Keeper - Maddwolf
Scrap by Rachel Willis Writer/director (and star) Vivian Kerr’s film, Scrap, opens on a woman (Kerr) sleeping in her car. When a passing jogger asks if she needs help, she quickly makes her way to another location. It’s clear our protagonist, Beth, is living in her vehicle. Problems continue to pile up on Beth as … Continue reading Sister’s Keeper →
Winter of Discontent - Maddwolf
Oh, Canada by Hope Madden Paul Schrader has made a career of solitary, perhaps unforgivably damaged men seeking final redemption through self-sacrifice. The stakes and damage change from project to project, but the themes remain consistent. You can see what drew him to the Russell Banks novel Foregone, in which a lauded documentarian now dying … Continue reading Winter of Discontent →
The Agony of Defeat - Maddwolf
September 5 by George Wolf The crew of a live TV broadcast in the 1970s battles mounting pressure and a ticking clock, tensions rising while a well-known outcome is reimagined. Saturday Night? No, you’ll find precious few laughs in September 5. But director/co-writer Tim Fehlman and a terrific cast deliver a taut, precise and impressively … Continue reading The Agony of Defeat →
That Seventies Show - Maddwolf
The Man in the White Van by Hope Madden A teen prone to exaggeration is disbelieved when she tells of a white van following her around her small Florida town. Working from a script he wrote with Sharon Y. Cobb, director Warren Skeets recreates a time when doors were left unlocked, and rebels were listening … Continue reading That Seventies Show →
Born Again - Maddwolf
Nosferatu by Hope Madden It’s a funny idea, revisiting Nosferatu. F. W. Murnau’s 1922 original is itself a reimagining of Dracula (criminally so, as the filmmaker was successfully sued by Bram Stoker’s estate and all prints of the film were believed destroyed at the time). But Murnau’s changes to the vampire fable and his approach … Continue reading Born Again →
Most Natural Painkiller - Maddwolf
Queer by Hope Madden William S. Burroughs is a tough writer to set to film. Queer, an appendage to his first novel, Junky, published decades later as its own novella, is particularly thorny. Rather than submerging the writer’s themes and curiosities under layers of surreal flourish—as most of his novels did—both Junky and Queer mainly … Continue reading Most Natural Painkiller →
Still Standing - Maddwolf
Elton John: Never Too Late by George Wolf It’s not easy to quickly sum up the legendary career of Elton John. He is the most successful solo artist in the history of the Billboard chart, he’s in the EGOT club, he’s raised millions for AIDS research, he’s been busy. The Disney + doc Never Too … Continue reading Still Standing →
The Hills Have Lies - Maddwolf
The Order by George Wolf Director Justin Kurzel announced his presence with authority in 2011 via The Snowtown Murders, a debut that showed the Aussie in full command of crafting a true crime story that pulsates with tension and simmering evil. Kurzel’s setting is now the U.S., but he’s on familiar ground – and delivering … Continue reading The Hills Have Lies →
Leader of the Pack - Maddwolf
Werewolves by Hope Madden A supermoon is a full moon that occurs as the moon is at its closest to the earth in its orbit. And this one time, the supermoon turned everyone touched by its moonlight into werewolves. Wow. I bet that would be a fascinating movie. But that’s not the movie writer Matthew … Continue reading Leader of the Pack →
And Hustle - Maddwolf
Flow by Hope Madden Have you felt recently like the world as you know it has changed irreparably, everything around you is dangerous chaos, and those who were once family are no longer reliable so you have to kind of cobble together a new tribe or go it alone? Cat knows your pain. Gints Zilbalodis’s … Continue reading And Hustle →
Bark at the Moon - Maddwolf
Nightbitch by Hope Madden There’s something wrong with Mother. That’s the only name we have for Amy Adams’s character in Marielle Heller’s darkly surreal comedy Nightbitch, because it’s all we really need to know about her. Whatever she was before Baby (Arleigh and Emmet Snowden, adorable)—a successful artist, as it turns out—hardly matters now. Some … Continue reading Bark at the Moon →
Jolly Holiday - Maddwolf
Get Away by Hope Madden It’s not a terribly unique set up. A carful of travelers stops off just before their destination and the surly local, upon hearing of their destination, warns them. They mustn’t go! It is doom! Well, that’s not exactly the message. What the surly diner owner tells Richard (Nick Frost, who … Continue reading Jolly Holiday →
Santa Actually - Maddwolf
That Christmas by Hope Madden More than two decades ago, writer/director Richard Curtis made a very British Christmas film. It hasn’t aged particularly well, though many folks watch it year in, year out. Including, apparently, the inhabitants of Wellington-on-Sea. Now, that may be because That Christmas—the new animated film set in the little port village—was … Continue reading Santa Actually →
Party Over Oops, Out of Time - Maddwolf
Y2K by George Wolf Who can forget those crazy few years when people like my Mom were buying books called “Time Bomb 2000,” and then it struck midnight on 12/31/99 and…nothing much happened. With Y2K, director and co-writer Kyle Mooney reimagines that New Year’s Eve as a night when plenty happens. The double zero year … Continue reading Party Over Oops, Out of Time →
Greek Tragedy - Maddwolf
Maria by George Wolf and Hope Madden After 2016’s Jackie and 2021’s Spencer, director Pablo Larraín wraps his Grand Dame trilogy by shining a slightly less engrossing spotlight on legendary opera diva Maria Callas. Angelina Jolie is outstanding as the American-born Greek soprano “La Callas,” allowing Maria’s indulgence of her own iconic status to land … Continue reading Greek Tragedy →
Higher Ground - Maddwolf
The Quest: Everest by George Wolf Two years ago, documentarian and adventurer Alex Harz explored the culture and fascination surrounding Mt. Everest with The Quest: Nepal. Then earlier this year, he detailed his own Everest climb with 360-degree virtual reality treatment via the short film The Quest: Everest VR. Now, Harz combines the two for … Continue reading Higher Ground →
Green Christmas - Maddwolf
Nutcrackers by Hope Madden If you know David Gordon Green from the recent Halloween trilogy or The Exorcist: Believer, you don’t really know David Gordon Green. Who could blame you? He’s a hard guy to know. He followed up the four magnificent character driven indies that began his career with a trio of raucous comedies … Continue reading Green Christmas →
We Loved Them Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! - Maddwolf
Beatles ’64 by George Wolf A Beatles documentary? Do we need another Beatles documentary? I don’t know, do you really need more than one plate on Thanksgiving? I’d say Beatles ’64 is thrilling enough to be pretty damn necessary for anyone even remotely interested in the history of the Fab Four. David Tedeshi – who … Continue reading We Loved Them Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! →
Sea for Two - Maddwolf
Moana 2 by Hope Madden Eight years ago, Disney took us to ancient Polynesia for a visually stunning journey of self-realization with an adolescent wayfinder and a narcissistic demi-god. Not a lot has changed in nearly a decade. Moana (Auli’i Cravalho) is called by her ancestors to face a challenge she believes is too big … Continue reading Sea for Two →
Fright Club: Best Werewolf Movies - Maddwolf
Have we examined werewolf movies before? We have, but with at least two brand new, big ticket lycanthrope movies hitting theaters this winter and one badass indie hitting physical this month, we decided to reexamine. Help us welcome The Beast of Walton Street filmmaker Dusty Austen to Fright Club to look once again at the … Continue reading Fright Club: Best Werewolf Movies →
Broken Wing - Maddwolf
Rita by Hope Madden In 2019, filmmaker Jayro Bustamante traced a history of state-sanctioned horrors exacted on Guatemalan women with his superb supernatural tale, La Llorona. With his follow up, he mines far more current history to uncover troublingly similar horrors. Rita is a fairy tale told from the perspective of the titular 13-year-old (Giuliana … Continue reading Broken Wing →
In Soviet Russia, Camp Labors You - Maddwolf
Whiteout by Daniel Baldwin One fateful day at work in St. Petersburg, Russia, engineer Henry (James McDougall) finds himself in a very bad situation. Armed men enter the office where he works, take Henry and his co-workers hostage, and cart them off to a labor camp. Not exactly the kind of workplace surprise that anyone … Continue reading In Soviet Russia, Camp Labors You →
Shades of Grief - Maddwolf
The Shade by Adam Barney You can’t outrun grief. You can’t hide from grief. It lurks and waits for an inopportune time to pounce. In director and co-writer Tyler Chipman’s melancholic psycho-horror feature debut The Shade, grief is physically embodied as a pale creature haunting a family. Ryan (Chris Galust) witnessed his father’s suicide at … Continue reading Shades of Grief →
Return of the King - Maddwolf
Gladiator II by Hope Madden Ridley Scott knows how to stage an epic. At 87, he’s lost none of his flair with massive battles on land or sea, nor with the brutal intimacy of hand-to-hand combat. And he still knows how to cast a movie. His narrative skills have taken a step back, but his … Continue reading Return of the King →
Holiday Season of the Witch - Maddwolf
Wicked by George Wolf Even if you’re only a little familiar with Wicked musical, you might know how part one of the long-awaited film adaptation is going to end. Yes, the closer reaches goosebump level, but director Jon M. Chu and some impeccable casting keeps the entire 2 hour and 40 minute flying pretty high. … Continue reading Holiday Season of the Witch →
Garbage Day - Maddwolf
Street Trash by Hope Madden In 1987, J. Michael Muro unleashed a colorful, sloppy bit of nastiness in bottles labeled Tenafly Viper. Street Trash was unlike anything you’d seen, sort of fearlessly nasty and endlessly goopy, in a way that rejected the notion of a remake. Wisely, Ryan Kruger (Fried Barry) doesn’t remake it. His … Continue reading Garbage Day →
Of a Feather - Maddwolf
Bird by Hope Madden There is nothing quite like an Andrea Arnold film. The writer/director sees through the eyes of cast aside adolescent girls like few other filmmakers, and her own eye for color and detail behind the camera creates transcendent cinematic experiences. Her latest effort, Bird, represents something closer to magical realism than anything … Continue reading Of a Feather →
Party on a Sled - Maddwolf
Underdog by George Wolf Underdog may be only 82 minutes, but by the time those minutes are up the film offers you a few possible motivations for its title. Doug Butler is an underdog in life. His sled dog team is an afterthought in the big race. And the American family farmer faces a constant … Continue reading Party on a Sled →
Brand New Bagmen - Maddwolf
Red One by George Wolf Do I want to see J.K. Simmons as a swole, supercool Santa? Yes, I do. That sounds fun, right? It does, so it’s a big letdown when Red One becomes a soggy holiday slog that feels like way too much like one of Tropic Thunder‘s parody trailers come earnestly to … Continue reading Brand New Bagmen →