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Mel Valentin
Mel Valentin

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CANDYMAN Offers Mixed Rewards for Horror Enthusiasts and Casual Fans Alike

This “Spiritual Sequel” is a worthy successor to the original — Candyman, the spiritual sequel to the Bernard Rose-directed, Tony Todd-starring 1992 cult horror film of the same name, has taken a long, circuitous route to multiplexes. After spending the better part of two decades in on-again, off-again development, Jordan Peele (Us, Get Out) and his Monkeypaw Productions practically sprinted into…

Candyman

5 min read

CANDYMAN Offers Mixed Rewards for Horror Enthusiasts and Casual Fans Alike
CANDYMAN Offers Mixed Rewards for Horror Enthusiasts and Casual Fans Alike
Candyman

5 min read


Apr 26

Arrow Heads #105: THE ASSASSINATION BUREAU

Diana Rigg and Oliver Reed co-star in a middling, late ’60s romp — After a high-profile run on the popular The Avengers TV series across three years (65–68) and 51 episodes, Diana Rigg (aka Mrs. Emma Peel) was understandably ready a change. Eyeing a jump from cathode-ray TV sets to the big screen, Rigg co-starred in two studio-backed productions in 1969, The Assassination…

The Assassination Bureau

4 min read

Arrow Heads #105: THE ASSASSINATION BUREAU
Arrow Heads #105: THE ASSASSINATION BUREAU
The Assassination Bureau

4 min read


Apr 13

RENFIELD Review: Horror-Action-Comedy Undone By Tonal Incongruities

Nicolas Cage and Nicholas Hoult co-star in a middling horror-action-comedy — Six years ago, Universal’s attempt to resurrect the Universal Monsters brand with the so-called “Dark Universe” (modeled after Marvel’s commercially successful, shared, interconnected universe) with a bloated, effects-heavy entry, The Mummy, starring Tom Cruise in a rare break from the Mission: Impossible franchise. Said entry famously crashed and burned with…

Renfield

4 min read

RENFIELD Review: Horror-Action-Comedy Undone By Tonal Incongruities
RENFIELD Review: Horror-Action-Comedy Undone By Tonal Incongruities
Renfield

4 min read


Apr 10

65 Review: Prehistoric in More Ways Than One

Adam Driver vs. dinosaurs isn’t quite the match-up we expected — Adam Driver might just be one of the most versatile actors working today. He’s certainly one of the most exciting. There’s little he can’t do and, it turns out, little he won’t do. Essaying roles as diverse as his breakout role in Girls a decade ago as an egocentric, unambitious…

Adam Driver

3 min read

65 Review: Prehistoric in More Ways Than One
65 Review: Prehistoric in More Ways Than One
Adam Driver

3 min read


Apr 7

SUPER MARIO BROS: Nintendo’s Flagship Series Gets an Underwhelming Big-Screen Adaptation

Lovingly crafted animation fatally undermined by substance-free storytelling — Beginning with Donkey Kong in 1981 and their own standalone video arcade game, Mario Bros., just two years later, Mario and Luigi, erstwhile plumbers and brothers from the same Italian mother, found their way to video arcades across the world. Video arcades and console games were never the same. Success…

Super Mario Bros Movie

4 min read

SUPER MARIO BROS: Nintendo’s Flagship Series Gets an Underwhelming Big-Screen Adaptation
SUPER MARIO BROS: Nintendo’s Flagship Series Gets an Underwhelming Big-Screen Adaptation
Super Mario Bros Movie

4 min read


Apr 6

Nicholas Ray’s REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE [4K/Blu-Ray Review]

James Dean’s signature film role arrives on 4K/Blu-Ray and not a moment too soon — In his brief, brilliant life, James Dean starred in only three films. Only one, East of Eden, received a theatrical release before he died at the age of 24 in an automobile accident. Of the other two films, Rebel Without a Cause and Giant, the former arrived in theaters just…

Rebel Without A Cause

4 min read

Nicholas Ray’s REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE [4K/Blu-Ray Review]
Nicholas Ray’s REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE [4K/Blu-Ray Review]
Rebel Without A Cause

4 min read


Mar 31

ENYS MEN Review: An Island, Isolation, and Mind Tricks Everywhere

Mark Jenkin’s latest feature-length film takes a deep dive into psychological fragmentation — By definition, folk horror centers on the conflict between paganism, Christianity, and (super) natural forces. It also involves folklore that either existed before the advent of Christianity or stubbornly developed alongside the monotheistic faith, functioning both as counterpoint and contrast, though Christianity, like most world religions, has been syncretic by…

Enys Men

3 min read

ENYS MEN Review: An Island, Isolation, and Mind Tricks Everywhere
ENYS MEN Review: An Island, Isolation, and Mind Tricks Everywhere
Enys Men

3 min read


Mar 3

4K Blu-Ray Review: THE BOXTROLLS Delivers Stellar Stop-Motion Animation and Layered Storytelling

Proof positive that Laika’s underappreciated third film deserves a second or third look — In Graham Annable and Anthony Stacchi’s underappreciated feature-length debut as director and Oregon-based stop-motion animation studio LAIKA’s third, The Boxtrolls, the title characters, blue-hued, yellow-eyed, and pointy-eared, make their home in the labyrinthine tunnels and sewers under the hilltop town of Cheesebridge and the fictional country of Norvenia sometime in…

Laika

4 min read

4K/Blu-Ray Review: THE BOXTROLLS Delivers Stellar Stop-Motion Animation and Layered Storytelling
4K/Blu-Ray Review: THE BOXTROLLS Delivers Stellar Stop-Motion Animation and Layered Storytelling
Laika

4 min read


Mar 2

OPERATION FORTUNE: RUSE DE GUERRE, A Time-Waster By Any Other Name

The latest Guy Ritchie and Jason Statham joint disappoints on every level. — A misfire by any other name is still a misfire, and Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre, the latest brainchild from writer-director Guy Ritchie (Sherlock Holmes, Snatch, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels), is nothing if not a misfire. It all starts with a lazily written, unimaginative, pastiche-ridden script Ritchie co-wrote…

Operation Fortune

4 min read

OPERATION FORTUNE: RUSE DE GUERRE, A Time-Waster By Any Other Name
OPERATION FORTUNE: RUSE DE GUERRE, A Time-Waster By Any Other Name
Operation Fortune

4 min read


Feb 24

COCAINE BEAR Fully Delivers on its Comically Absurd Premise

Elizabeth Banks directs, Jimmy Warden writes, everyone runs for their lives. — In the mid-1980s, a Ronald Reagan was beginning his second term in the White House, the so-called “War on Drugs,” a favorite of reactionaries in both parties, was on the rise, leading to massive increases in funding for law enforcement, harsh and unjust sentences for low-level, drug-related crimes, and mass…

Cocaine Bear

4 min read

COCAINE BEAR Fully Delivers on its Comically Absurd Premise
COCAINE BEAR Fully Delivers on its Comically Absurd Premise
Cocaine Bear

4 min read

Mel Valentin

Mel Valentin

1.5K Followers

Writer/editor for hire. Member: SFFCC, OFCS.

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