Browsing: movies

Dungeons & Dragons has evolved from a role-playing game into a cultural phenomenon, impacting pop culture along the way. Without Dungeons & Dragons, Stranger Things wouldn’t have its big narrative hook. Critical Role wouldn’t be a thing, which means no Legend of Vox Machina or Mighty Nein. In 2023, Paramount decided to take the next logical step and make a D&D movie, resulting in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. Honor Among Thieves is one of the rare films that were both critically acclaimed and box-office flops, which is a shame because it perfectly captures the spirit of Dungeons &…

The first great crime movie of 2026 appears to be upon us, as Bart Layton’s adaptation of Don Winslow’s 2020 novella Crime 101 has debuted to rave reviews. The first batch of verified critic reviews on Rotten Tomatoes yielded a rare 100% fresh score, and while subsequent additions have pulled it away from perfection, it still boasts an extremely strong score for a crime thriller. Crime 101 follows a jewel thief (Chris Hemsworth) who commits heists along the 101 freeway in Los Angeles whose plans align with those of a beleaguered insurance agent (the recently revitalized Halle Berry). As their…

Few birthday celebrations can ever match the surreal spectacle that the Iraqi state would enforce each year that Saddam Hussein would complete a lap around the sun. Since he took power in 1979, every corner of the country would be enveloped in a month-long period of celebration. One of the bizarre rituals enforced as part of the festivities was ​“draw day”, where schools would randomly select a student and bestow upon them the honour of bringing all the ingredients required to bake a cake for the president.The responsibility in Hasan Hadi’s feature debut falls on the nine-year-old Lamia (Banin Ahmad Nayyef) who lives in…

It’s clear from the way Mike Davis meticulously collects his stray hair and dry skin in a tarp before he heads out on a job that he is not an ordinary criminal.Sure enough, the opening scenes of Crime 101 follow Mike as he executes a daring but carefully organized heist. Mike is efficient and calculating but not violent. When something does not go according to plan, he stays calm and improvises his way through. He’s the sort of thoughtful thief who wears a ski mask and colored contact lenses to disguise the one visible part of his face. When the LAPD shows up to investigate his…

With Tehran holding strong on the Apple TV charts, Ponies doing well on Peacock, and The Night Manager dominating Prime Video’s viewership, it’s Netflix’s turn to present its own espionage offering. Netflix threw its hat into the ring with perhaps the most low-key title of them all — its contender is the only one of this bunch that isn’t set in English. The show has emerged as more successful than anyone would have imagined; not only has it claimed the number one spot on the global Netflix rankings, it has done so by overtaking major returning series such as Bridgerton…

The Legendary Monsterverse is set to take its next step forward by taking a step back in time with Monarch: Legacy of Monsters season 2, and it’s headed down a path that would resurrect a classic Godzilla plot device from the Heisei Era. While the Monsterverse movies have progressed forward in time, the first season of Monarch examined the time directly after Godzilla’s battle with the MUTOs in San Francisco. As the first season progressed, another plot about the original founders of the secretive Monarch organization was unfolding, set in the 1950s. Eventually the two storylines merge, as characters from…

In the 29 years since his accidental death from drowning, the life of Jeff Buckley has been simplified into rock ​‘n’ roll myth: a tragic, sensitive artist fated to die young like his cult musician father. Amy J. Berg’s film – the first feature documentary on Buckley – aims to explode this myth. Using interviews with friends and collaborators alongside a rich cache of archival footage, Berg showcases Buckley’s complex personality, and goes some way to argue for his music as radical and experimental. We meet Buckley as a child being raised by his mother in Southern California, already abandoned by his father, the folk…

It’s been way too long since Jason Voorhees terrorized audiences and Camp Crystal Lake counselors. The Friday the 13th reboot was 2009. That’s 17 years ago! The Friday the 13th reboot can legally get a driver’s license at this point. The Alien franchise has had like two reboots since 2009. This is getting ridiculous.While fans wait and wait for a new movie, they will at least get to enjoy the vintage Friday the 13ths back in theaters in 2026. Regal announced they are going to be screening most of the classic slasher franchise all through the year on — when else? — Friday the 13ths.Here is…

Horror is a genre that never goes out of style. From the original Universal Classic Monsters, to Alfred Hitchcock’s iconic filmography, to the massively successful The Conjuring: The Last Rites, there will always be films that terrify. However, among the endless canon of horror greats, there is one film that holds a very unique record. Night of the Living Dead may be something of a small film, but it is undoubtedly a classic. The film has not only gone on to influence countless other zombie movies, but has a deep, social meaning. And, thanks to an interesting loophole, it has…

In recent years, there has been a shift in audience turnout for theatrical releases, and it has become increasingly apparent as time goes on. Now, a new box-office hit may have just solidified a change in audience expectations for the entertainment industry. Iron Lung started as a modest, independently financed project that quickly outperformed far more expensive studio releases. Iron Lung’s massive success is not an outlier in the industry, as other films in the past couple of years have revealed a pattern in the audience’s shifting preferences. More viewers are seeking out films that feel distinct and personal, a…