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Film

Tribeca: Blow the Man Down (2019)

By Joe Bendel

May 3, 2019

Thematically, murder ballads would better fit the fatal kind of trouble the Connolly Sisters find themselves in, but the sea shanties that punctuate this film better suit their coastal Maine fishing village. Priscilla is the reserved, responsible sister, but she gets caught up in Mary Beth’s chaos, out of sibling loyalty and guilt in Bridget…

Tribeca: Come to Daddy (2019)

By Joe Bendel

April 30, 2019

This is not your Hallmark Channel family reconciliation movie. It’s about mean drunks and their emotionally stunted sons—and a whole bunch of dastardly skullduggery. It would be telling to identify what kind precisely, but eventually plodding Norval Greenwood will start to understand the whole picture. In the meantime, he will try to get to know…

Tribeca: Ten Years of Mysteries, Thrillers, and Crime Docs

By Joe Bendel

April 23, 2019

Since its inception, the Tribeca Film Festival has taken a leading role in efforts to revitalize post-9/11 Lower Manhattan. In that time, it has become the quintessential New York film festival. We dig our crime stories here in New York, so it stands to reason Tribeca has showcased many memorable mysteries, thrillers, and crime documentaries.…

Film Review: The Highwaymen (2019)

By Abe Friedtanzer

April 22, 2019

There is a playfulness to the classic 1967 film Bonnie and Clyde, which boasts the tagline “They’re young…they’re in love…and they kill people.” The story of two of the most notorious gangsters in history navigates their dual identity as killers and pop culture icons by presenting their undeniable charm alongside their unapologetic actions. Warren Beatty…

SXSW: Body at Brighton Rock (2019)

By Abe Friedtanzer

March 20, 2019

One of the best ways to achieve terror is to put a character in a place where they should inherently feel safe and make it abundantly clear that they’re not. A lazy park ranger who trades her shift with a friend shouldn’t run into any trouble stapling flyers to trees on well-marked trails, but of…

Film Review: Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase (2019)

By Joe Bendel

March 14, 2019

For traditionalists, Nancy Drew mysteries were the ones with the yellow spines, whereas the Hardy Boys were blue. Although the two respective series were written with either girls or boys in mind, there was a lot of crossover readership, because they always primarily focused on some sort of mystery. That changed in the mid-1980s, when…

SXSW: Villains (2019)

By Abe Friedtanzer

March 12, 2019

When petty thieves are the good guys in a movie, it can be expected that things are going to get dark. Villains, which premiered this past weekend at the South by Southwest Film Festival in the Narrative Spotlight category, approaches its protagonists with varying degrees of ethics, or lack thereof, from an inherently comedic perspective.…

Rock’n’Roll All Night And Fight Ninjas Every Day: Miami Connection (1987)

By Dave Richards

March 8, 2019

Dave Richards reviews 1987’s comically action-packed Miami Connection, in which a rock band whose members are proficient in Taekwondo stand up against a band of motorcycle ninjas who have tightened their grip on Florida’s narcotics trade. Feudal Japan’s ninja may have a reputation for being invisible warriors, but in the 1980s they stepped out of the shadows…

You’re the Last Person I Should Have Ever Met: Ill-Fated Chance Encounters in Film Noir

By Brian Greene

February 28, 2019

Some of the most memorable works of film noir involve characters who just can’t catch a break. And many times, these people’s ill fortunes come about via chance encounters they have with others who become poison in their lives. 1945’s Detour—this writer’s personal favorite film noir title—is one example of this kind of cinematic setup.…

Film Review: Serenity (2019)

By Abe Friedtanzer

February 13, 2019

Escaping your past is never easy, especially in the movies. Fleeing to a remote island where you can adopt a new identity might seem like the perfect solution, but, with time, all will unravel and whatever peaceful new existence has been created will be harshly and likely permanently shattered. Movies set on islands very often…

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