Login / Register
Criminal Element
  • Read
    • Excerpts
    • Reviews
  • Author Spotlight
    • Essays
    • Interviews
  • On-Screen
    • Television
    • Film
    • Trailers
  • Weekly Features
    • This Week’s New Reads
    • GIFnotes
    • Pick Your Poison
    • Cooking the Books
    • True Crime Thursday
    • Perp Derp
  • Cozy Corner
  • Newsletter
  • Login / Register

Movie Review

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.…

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…

Crime Over Sundance: The Wolf Hour (2019)

By Joe Bendel

February 8, 2019

June Leigh is a lot like the heroine of Wait Until Dark, except it is her own hang-ups and agoraphobia that keeps her trapped in her apartment. It is also unclear whether her tormentor is flesh-and-blood or a figment of her fevered mind. Nevertheless, there is indeed plenty of danger outside her door in the…

Crime Over Sundance: Shooting the Mafia

By Joe Bendel

February 6, 2019

Bugsy Siegel and John Gotti were exceptions. Most gangsters do no want publicity, especially not the Sicilian Mafia. That definitely put photo-journalist (and former member of parliament) Letizia Battaglia in a dangerous position, since she spent the better part of her career documenting the Mafia’s violent crimes. Yet, she survived to help lead the tide-changing…

Crime Over Sundance: Relive (2019)

By Joe Bendel

February 5, 2019

Det. Jack Radcliff has a heck of a wireless package. Somehow, he can place calls to his late niece several days before her violent death. With her help, Radcliff will try to solve and prevent her murder in Jacob Estes’s Blumhouse-produced Relive, which premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. Radcliff always took a special…

Crime Over Sundance: The Inventor – Out for Blood in Silicon Valley (2019)

By Joe Bendel

February 4, 2019

There are advantages to working for a privately held company, but there is also a downside. The lack of regular shareholder disclosures allows management to conduct business with less transparency, if they so choose. That was certainly the case for Elizabeth Holmes’ notorious start-up, Theranos.  Her powerful political connections helped create a perfect storm of…

Crime Over Sundance: Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (2019)

By Joe Bendel

February 3, 2019

Serial killers are supposed to be charming. That is how they lure in their victims. There was no better example than Ted Bundy, who was the living embodiment of sinister charm. He was so persuasive, he had his ex-girlfriend Liz Kloepfer at least half-convinced he was innocent of all the charges leveled against him. Their…

Crime Over Slamdance: Lost Holiday (2019)

By Joe Bendel

February 2, 2019

Washington DC is the murder capitol of the nation, but it still feels provincial to New Yorkers like Maggie and Henry. The old chums have come down from the City to visit their old high school classmates, but when real-life gets too awkward, they involve themselves in an unfolding abduction mystery in Michael Kerry Matthews…

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • Next Page »
  • About
  • Advertise With Us
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Notice
  • Contact Us
Site Powered by Supadu