Tony Sokol
Chris Rock Hits Back at Will Smith, Takes Aim at Meghan Markle in ‘Selective Outrage’ Netflix Special
Chris Rock • Published on March 2023
Chris Rock’s Netflix special, “Chris Rock: Selective Outrage,” was technologically historic as the first-ever live global streaming event for Netflix, airing a week before the 2023 Oscars, and a year since Will…
Stephen King’s Classic Horror Tale Gets Creamed in Kurt Wimmer’s ‘Children of the Corn’
Children of the Corn • Published on March 2023
“Nothing ever really dies in the corn,” a troubled young teen says at the beginning of writer-director Kurt Wimmer’s “Children of the Corn.” But the husk of Stephen King is left…
Netflix’s ‘Day Shift’ Wastes Jamie Foxx in an Action Comedy That Doesn’t Need Vampires
Day Shift • Published on August 2022
As fun as it is to watch from an ultraviolent horror perspective, “Day Shift” is a cookie-cutter action movie where vampires lock and load, and Jamie Foxx might as well be…
‘Mike Judge’s Beavis and Butt-Head’ Keeps Its Sense of Humor Grounded in the Present Without Missing a Beat
Beavis and Butt-Head • Published on August 2022
Beavis and Butt-Head’s perennially favorite band, the metal horror ensemble Gwar, doesn’t make an appearance in “Mike Judge’s Beavis and Butt-Head,” but the reboot keeps everything else. It also has a little…
‘Clara Sola’: Subtly Evocative Horror Alternative Brings Natural Magic to Miracles
Clara Sola • Published on July 2022
Nathalie Álvarez Mesén’s “Clara Sola” is spellbinding and sorrowful, perplexing and subtle, but it begs questions of the purest faith, and its most tortious acts of selflessness. Is it blasphemy for…
‘Flux Gourmet’ Gives Food and Fringe Film Aficionados Something to Chew On
Features • Published on June 2022
On any standard table, “Flux Gourmet” would be labeled an acquired taste, but this would be a misnomer. David Cronenberg’s recent “Crimes of the Future” presented major surgery as a public spectacle,…
‘Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe’ Brings the Slacker Icons Into Modern Society Without Changing a Thing
Beavis and Butt-Head • Published on June 2022
“Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe,” the new feature film debuting on Paramount+, is an extended episode of the cartoon series, blasted into space, jettisoning the music video, and unwarped by time.
‘Brian and Charles’ Is as Delightfully Quirky as the Robot at Its Center
Brian and Charles • Published on June 2022
“Can birds do what they like?” robot Charles Petrescu (Chris Hayward) asks his friend, housemate and creator, Brian Gittins (David Earl), at the midway point of “Brian and Charles.” Written…
‘Jerry and Marge Go Large’ Gives Tips for a Caper So Clean, You’ll Want to Try It at Home
Annette Bening • Published on June 2022
You gotta be in it to win it, and “Jerry and Marge Go Large” proves the biggest payouts come when more are merrier. While most lotteries favor the house to win, the…
‘Good Luck to You, Leo Grande’ Gives Emma Thompson Emotional Relief in a Coming-of-Age-With-Interest Story
Daryl McCormack • Published on June 2022
Embracing all the stereotypes, “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande” is a British sex comedy, meaning it has a lot of comedy and very little sex. Even oral gratification is performed with…
‘Dashcam’ Unmasks Horrors of the Pandemic Era in a Livestream Shot From the Right
Dashcam • Published on June 2022
It’s never been so easy to root for the monsters as it is in writer-director Rob Savage’s iPhone livestream footage film, “Dashcam.” Even when they’re bleeding and worse in the back…
Amazon’s ‘Kids in the Hall’ Breaks the Curse, Crushes Heads in a Reunion of the Comedy Punks
Amazon • Published on May 2022
If we’d only known how unprotected the earth is in this galaxy, we never would have unplugged the last fax machine. The resuscitated “Kids in the Hall” series comes as a new…
‘Firebird’ Goes Behind the Iron Curtain for a Steamy Cold War Romance
Features • Published on April 2022
The cold war has never been so hot as in the steamy soldier story “Firebird,” an adaptation of “The Story of Roman,” a memoir by Russian actor and former Soviet soldier Sergey…
‘The Offer’ Tells How ‘The Godfather’ Was Made, but It’s Also a Tribute to ’70s Filmmaking
Dan Fogler • Published on April 2022
The new Paramount Plus series, “The Offer,” is supposed to be about the making of Francis Ford Coppola’s (Dan Fogler) adaptation of Mario Puzo’s (Patrick Gallo) best-selling novel “The Godfather,” as…
‘The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes’ Offers a Mystifying Bio, but Few New Revelations
Features • Published on April 2022
Marilyn Monroe’s premature death spawned as many conspiracy theories as the movies she made in her career. Did the most famous blonde bombshell of the 20th Century die of an unintentional barbiturate overdose,…
Céline Sciamma’s ‘Petite Maman’ Is Hauntingly Hopeful and Perilously Poignant
Céline Sciamma • Published on April 2022
French filmmaker Céline Sciamma is as mischievously playful as an eight-year-old child. The writer-director knows everyone coming into “Petite Maman” is expecting a different kind of horror movie, so she tosses…
‘We’re All Going to the World’s Fair’ Dives Deep Into the Wormhole of Identity for Sad Scares
Alex G • Published on April 2022
It is oddly fitting that Jane Schoenbrun’s “We’re All Going to the World’s Fair” includes its ASMR (autonomous sensory meridian response) credits, done by Slight Sounds, in the opening sequence. This…
Amazon’s ‘Outer Range’ Tosses a Supernatural Western Omelet Down a Black Hole
Amazon Prime Video • Published on April 2022
Amazon’s “Outer Range,” is a multi-hyphenate and open-ended series. Its genres include science fiction, western, soap opera, multigenerational family drama, and murder mystery. It is equal parts an Ingmar Bergman film, adding…
AMC’s ‘61st Street’ Drops a Heavy Burden of Proof, but Barely Tips the Scales of Justice
61st Street • Published on April 2022
Everyone is a hero in their own story, even the villains and victims. AMC’s “61st Street” takes the time to blend social, street, and criminal justice in far more equal terms than…
Richard Linklater’s ‘Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood’ Is a Nostalgic Blast From the Past
Apollo 10 1/2 • Published on April 2022
Even NASA scientists forget to carry the 1 every now and then. In this way, director Richard Linklater’s animated adventure, “Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood,” is the polar opposite to the…