By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) The documentary And Still I Sing follows three female singers in Afghanistan; the controversial pop star Aryana Sayeed who has courted a backlash in her country for speaking out in support of women’s rights, and Zahra Elham and Sadiqa Madagar, who are both contestants on the American Idol-esque… Read More Review: And Still I Sing
By John Corrado ★★½ (out of 4) Conceived as a loose remake of the classic Mel Brooks comedy Blazing Saddles, Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank (which originally had the somewhat better title Blazing Samurai) is a gonzo animated film that often boggles the mind over how it even came to be. The result… Read More Blu-ray Review: Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank
By John Corrado ★★ (out of 4) Paramount’s animated film Rumble imagines a world of “monster wrestling,” where giant creatures fight each other for entertainment with the help of human trainers, and each city has their own massive kaiju to represent them. The most famous of these trainers was the late Jimbo Coyle (Carlos Gómez),… Read More Blu-ray Review: Rumble
By John Corrado ★★★★ (out of 4) Todd Field’s triumphant return to directing after a sixteen year hiatus following his 2006 film Little Children, TÁR is one of those films that quietly holds us in its grip for the entire 158 minute running time. This is a brilliantly made slow-burn film from writer-director Field, that has… Read More Review: TÁR
By John Corrado ★★½ (out of 4) Billed as being “directed, produced, adapted by & starring Katie Boland,” We’re All in This Together is a somewhat ambitious Canadian dramedy that follows a young woman who has her life thrown into turmoil after her mother Kate (Martha Burns) goes viral on social media by attempting to… Read More Review: We’re All in This Together
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) The documentary Blind Ambition follows Joseph Dhafana, Marlvin Gwese, Tinashe Nyamudoka and Pardon Taguzu, four men from Zimbabwe living in South Africa, who form the first Zimbabwean team to compete in the annual World Blind Wine Tasting Championships in France. The men had gone most of their lives… Read More Review: Blind Ambition
By John Corrado Blonde is director Andrew Dominik’s adaptation of the 2000 novel of the same name by Joyce Carol Oates, which presented a somewhat fictionalized account of Marilyn Monroe’s life, and it’s a film that has invoked strong reactions in viewers (and that’s putting it mildly). I watched Blonde a week ago on Netflix… Read More Some Thoughts on Andrew Dominik’s Blonde…
By John Corrado ★★½ (out of 4) Amsterdam is the latest star-studded film from director David O. Russell, his first since Joy in 2015, which capped off an incredibly impressive run that included The Fighter, Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle. The odds have been stacked against this film from the outset, both due to… Read More Review: Amsterdam
By John Corrado ★★½ (out of 4) DC League of Super-Pets is an animated comic book movie about Superman’s best friend; a super-powered dog named Krypto (voiced by Dwayne Johnson) who came to earth with him as a baby from the planet Krypton and continues to be his closest companion. Krypto has settled into a… Read More 4K Ultra HD Review: DC League of Super-Pets
By John Corrado ★★½ (out of 4) The Munsters is a mix of passion project and glorified fan film from horror filmmaker Rob Zombie, that serves as an uneven but at times mildly amusing reboot of the 1960s sitcom about a monster family living in suburbia. Zombie’s film is a prequel of sorts to the… Read More Blu-ray Review: The Munsters (Collector’s Edition)
By John Corrado ★★½ (out of 4) Dead for a Dollar is a pretty good new Western written and directed by Walter Hill, the veteran filmmaker who has played around in the genre before, while perhaps being best known for action comedies like the 48 Hrs. films and the cult classic rock musical Streets of… Read More VOD Review: Dead for a Dollar
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) The witches are back in the new Disney+ legacy sequel Hocus Pocus 2, which sees those eccentric Sanderson Sisters – Winnie (Bette Midler), Mary (Kathy Najimy) and Sarah (Sarah Jessica Parker) – returning to modern day Salem. Set 29 years after the events (and release) of Disney’s 1993… Read More Disney+ Review: Hocus Pocus 2
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) A housecleaner dreams of owning a Christian Dior gown in the delightful Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris, which has to be one of the nicest cinematic surprises of the year. Ada Harris (Lesley Manville) is a war widow who is just making ends meet as a cleaner and… Read More Blu-ray Review: Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris (Collector’s Edition)
By John Corrado ★★ (out of 4) Neither good nor bad enough to fully justify its widely publicized behind the scenes drama, Olivia Wilde’s overly ambitious second feature Don’t Worry Darling is instead a thoroughly mediocre and undercooked effort that tries to be a lot of things, but doesn’t really do any of them particularly… Read More Review: Don’t Worry Darling
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) The Black Phone is a Blumhouse-produced thriller that finds director Scott Derrickson reuniting with Ethan Hawke, the star of his 2012 film Sinister (which is still one of the most genuinely disturbing modern horror movies). This time around, Hawke takes on the villainous role of The Grabber, a… Read More Blu-ray Review: The Black Phone (Collector’s Edition)
By John Corrado Please note that this is a review of the 4K Ultra HD release of Elvis. For my full thoughts on the film itself, you can read my original theatrical review right here. Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis became one of the biggest box office success stories of the summer when it was released earlier… Read More 4K Ultra HD Review: Elvis
By John Corrado ★★★½ (out of 4) The 2022 Toronto International Film Festival ran from September 8th to 18th. In Moonage Daydream, documentary filmmaker Brett Morgan weaves an exciting and highly cinematic portrait of late music and queer icon David Bowie. The film blends concert footage with old interviews to offer a compelling window into… Read More #TIFF22 Review: Moonage Daydream (Special Presentations)
By John Corrado ★★½ (out of 4) The 2022 Toronto International Film Festival ran from September 8th to 18th. The directorial debut of Korean actor Lee Jung-jae (the Emmy-winning star of Squid Game), Hunt is a political thriller set at the height of tensions between North and South Korea in the 1980s. Lee stars in… Read More #TIFF22 Review: Hunt (Gala Presentations)
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) The 2022 Toronto International Film Festival ran from September 8th to 18th. British writer-director Joanna Hogg follows up her one-two punch of The Souvenir and The Souvenir Part II with The Eternal Daughter, a simmering, haunting mother-daughter story that is infused with elements of Gothic Horror. The film… Read More #TIFF22 Review: The Eternal Daughter (Special Presentations)
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) The 2022 Toronto International Film Festival ran from September 8th to 18th. Pakistani filmmaker Saim Sadiq makes his feature debut with Joyland, firmly establishing himself as a very exciting new voice in international cinema. Adapted from his 2019 short film Darling, Sadiq’s film, which was awarded the Un… Read More #TIFF22 Review: Joyland (Special Presentations)
The Joy of Movies 