Jailbreak Jimmy Henderson (director), Godefroy Ryckewaert (cinematographer), Amit Dubey, Jimmy Henderson (editors) Jean-Paul Ly, Dara Our, Tharoth Sam, Céline Tran, Savin Phillip, Dara Phang (cast) September 23, 2017 (Fantastic Fest), October 6, 2017 (London Film Festival) Jailbreak is an ambitious, kinetic, and wildly enjoyable action film hailing from Cambodia, a country whose film industry is…
Good Manners Is a Romance Film Seeped in Magical Realism
Good Manners (As Boas Maneiras) Marco Dutra, Juliana Rojas (directors), Rui Poças (cinematography), Caetano Gotardo (editor) Isabél Zuaa, Marjorie Estiano, Cida Moreira, Miguel Lobo (cast) Released September 24, 2017 (Fantastic Fest), October 11, 2017 (BFI London Film Festival) “Lady, beware, quicken your pace…all kinds of creatures hide in the night,” a woman sings as the…
Backlight: Emmys and Fantastic Fest
This week we saw a range of diverse creators receive the recognition they deserve. We also saw further repercussions around Tim League quietly employing Devin Faraci; the whole ordeal has been revealing and frustrating, and serves as a reminder that this industry still has a long way to go before it’s fully inclusive and safe…
The Villainess Delivers Bloody Action and an Overstuffed Plot
The Villainess (Aknyeo) Byung-gil Jung (director), Jung-hun Park (cinematographer), Sun-mi Heo (editor) Ok-bin Kim, Ha-kyun Shin, Jun Sung, Seo-hyeong Kim (cast) Released September 8, 2017 (USA), September 12, 2017 (Vancouver) Lethal women given a second lease on life figure prominently in the action thriller genre. Sometimes the women play major supporting roles in these films. Other times, as…
Earth-Based Science Fiction: The Winnowing by Vikki VanSickle
It’s 1989. The Berlin Wall comes down, Game Boy makes it debut, and Marivic Stone has the first set of nightmares that signal she’s going ACEs and needs to go in for the Winnowing. Okay, maybe that last one didn’t happen in our version of 1989. But The Winnowing by Vikki VanSickle takes place in an alternate…
Death Wish, Death Note and the Dangerous Myth of the Heroic White Vigilante
There are many things wrong with the current cultural phenomenon of constant reboots, remakes, and reimaginings, with a lot written about almost all of the facets of that wrongness. But with the release of the (abhorrent) new trailer for Eli Roth’s Death Wish remake coinciding with Netflix’s awful Death Note remake, I was inspired to…
VANS X PEANUTS: Comics You Can Wear
I was meandering around a shop looking for backpacks when I stopped, quite startled with delight. I had seen the Snoopy Shoe: the best of shoes. Behold it now. Scream! I love it. It’s two things at once. Vans x Peanuts is a whole line; popular with the YouTube sneaks-review set, a collaboration between the skate…
52 Facts About DC, By The Numbers: September 2017, Week Three
Or However Many I Feel Like, And They Might Not All Be Facts Welcome back to By The Numbers, the column where I count things in this week’s new comics from DC! This column will contain spoilers, but I’ll keep them as vague as possible while still amusing myself. Two Metal tie-ins! More Wildstorm fanservice! Wonder Woman/Conan!…
Black Cop Engages Canadian Audiences on Police Brutality & Black Lives
Black Cop Cory Bowles (director and writer), Jeffery Wheaton (cinematographer), Jeremy Harty (editor) Ronnie Rowe, Sophia Walker, Simon Paul Mutuyimana (cast) Released September 11, 2017 (Toronto International Film Festival 2017) It seems like the best was left for last because I thoroughly enjoyed watching Black Cop on the final day of the Toronto International Film Festival. In…
Rebirth Roundup – Dark Nights: Metal #2
Dark Nights: Metal #2 Scott Snyder (Writer), Greg Capullo (Artist), Jonathan Glapion (Inks), FCO Plascencia (Colors) DC Comics September 13, 2017
Book Beat: Bisexual Visibility and Awards Season
Hi book lovers! Ashley here! I’ve been so stressed lately with the start of a new school semester and my new job placement, so I took a few weeks off from Book Beat. You can understand, right? I’m going to try to keep up with my normal reading and writing schedule, but it seems like…
BOOM! BAR: Hit Me With Nostalgia Sticks
This week, Misfit City (BOOM! Box) starts to get good. Reading the previous issues was frustrating—the characters don’t quite manage to blossom beyond their gimmicks (the research one, the one who smiles fiercely while she disparages you, the Kristy, the one who… lives in an old derelict tower? Is she a ghost? I don’t think so?…