Author: Rob Dean

Ti West’s “X” trilogy—which include 2022’s “X” and “Pearl” and now 2024’s “MaXXXine”—has always been an assembly of pastiches. The first entry was a take on Tobe Hooper’s late ‘70s output (particularly “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” and “Eaten Alive!”) that found a clever approach by creating unexpected antagonists with palpable motivations. “Pearl” was a more demented psychosexual horror take on ground covered by “Pennies From Heaven” and other stories that contrasted the technicolor entertainment of the time with the harsh realities of those in the audience. Neither were great, but both were solid films with excellent performances, surprising turns,…

“Kinds of Kindness” is a tough sell. True, there is a lot of impressive (and well-known) talent in front of and behind the camera. But it’s also got some key elements that make it difficult to truly proselytize to people. Firstly, it’s two hours and forty-five minutes long, which is a large time investment for most audiences. And it’s not exactly like those nearly three hours fly by. The other, and much bigger, impediment to getting people to see the new creation from director Yorgos Lanthimos is that it is an incredibly dark film. Some of the subject matter that’s…

While watching “A Quiet Place: Day One,” I was fully engaged but, as soon as it was over, it all sort of vanished away from my mind. What an odd experience that something that was truly engrossing moments before almost immediately became ephemera when the credits hit. Writer/director Michael Sarnoski crafted a perfectly fine movie filled with appropriately interesting sequences high on tension and even imbued his (mostly silent) characters with lots of heart and pathos. The actors are all great in their roles and really show off their abilities to communicate so much emotion and inner life with very…

“The Bikeriders” is a terrific movie that seeks to explore a simple truth: everyone wants to fit in somewhere. No matter how much of a loner or misanthrope a person is, there is still that primal tug to be part of a larger group. So we find ways to segment ourselves and belong amongst others: family, politics, sports, religion—most of the time those are all just pretenses that allow us to say “I’m not completely alone.” Even The Lone Ranger had a sidekick—people just have an innate need to be with others, to share in this experience with others. Of…

There are a lot of possibilities competing for your money and attention these days. From TV to video games to YouTube to TikTok to books and far more, we are not lacking in options for entertainment. So, a movie like “The Watchers” is at a strange place where it’s not a terrible film, but it does little to further an argument for devoting your time and resources to it. A competently made feature debut by Ishana Shyamalan, it shows some skill and potential promise as a director but lacks anything really engaging as a writer. To be fair, “The Watchers”…

“Furiosa” is not “Fury Road.” That may seem obvious, but it bears repeating that the latest film from director George Miller in the “Mad Max” franchise is quite a different beast than his previous entry. The 2015 movie was a prolonged chase sequence that used mythic archetypes and innovative action sequences to tell a deceptively simple story. “Furiosa” also delves into those archetypes, but it’s more of a slow burn as it’s an origin story of the titular character and her road to revenge against those who wronged her. There are certainly propulsive action sequences similar to parts of “Fury…

It was way back in July 2017 where, on this very website and ahead of the release of “War For the Planet of the Apes,” I proclaimed that the “Planet Of The Apes” movie series “could quite possibly be the best franchise in film history.” With the exception of the Burton remake, there wasn’t a bad entry in the bunch, with each being rife in its own way with some social commentary, a compelling story, and a few engaging characters. Now, with the release of director Wes Ball’s “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” how do I feel about…

It’s not surprising that there’s so much hilarity in the new action movie, “The Fall Guy.” After all, stunts and comedy have been pretty much intertwined since the beginning of film with slapstick and pratfalls and the amazing sequences of the likes of Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, and the rest. No, the surprising hybrid aspect of “The Fall Guy” is not that it acts as a great action AND comedy movie, but that it is also a very strong romcom. Rarely does such mayhem and fisticuffs lend itself so well to a romantic comedy formula or sensibilities, yet director David…

Sometimes you just need to see a gleefully malevolent vampire ballerina…and cinema abides. Other times, you go to the theater to investigate the intricacies of romantic relationships, or to see a world beset by war, and try to understand how the human soul can experience such transcendent highs while surrounded by such pernicious and savage hideousness. But when you are seeking an itch that only “Abigail” can provide, look no further than the coterie of wisecracking criminals facing off against the unrelenting force of a vampiric little girl who occasionally breaks out in her ballet routine during her violent expressions.…

Despite the presence of giant worms and talking space fetuses and numerous flashy fight scenes, “Dune: Part Two” is an adult sci-fi epic that takes its deep and very complex themes seriously throughout its long runtime. Other tellings of this story wouldn’t wrestle so fervently with identity, class, religion, and more the way that they are being tackled in director Denis Villeneuve’s film. The movie stands as an earnest testament to Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel that even further interrogates prickly discourses about saviors, the powerful, and the dispossessed thanks to the script by Villeneuve and Jon Spaihts. But it’s not…