Scarface (1983), Directed by Brian De Palma

One of the most prolific filmmakers to have emerged from the American New Wave that paved the way for the advent of New Hollywood after the collapse of the Old Hollywood studio system, Brian De Palma, much like his contemporaries such as Scorsese, Coppola, Friedkin, Lucas, and Spielberg, among others, challenged traditional filmmaking conventions and…

Immaculate (2024), Directed by Michael Mohan

Atmospheric, eerie, and at times blatantly blasphemous, Michael Mohan’s latest picture Immaculate (2024) solidifies the return of the exploitative nunsploitation subgenre of horror. Although nunsploitation films have been sporadically released throughout the past few years with such pictures as The Nun (2018), Prey for the Devil (2022), and Consecration (2023), among others, the latest Sydney…

A Ghost Story (2017), Directed by David Lowery

Seeing it for the first time since its theatrical release in 2017, David Lowery’s A Ghost Story is a motion picture that significantly resonated with and deeply impacted me, so much so that I still vividly remember the events of the film seven years later. Perhaps what appealed to me the most was the melancholy,…

Spaceballs (1987), Directed by Mel Brooks

A subgenre of comedy nonexistent in modern cinema, spoof and parody comedies reigned supreme throughout the 1970s and well into the early aughts. Spoof comedies not only spoofed, deconstructed, and satirized the particular genre of films they were humorously paying homage to, but also critiqued the human condition and popular events and trends of the…

Vice (2018), Directed by Adam McKay

As Adam McKay’s biographical and political 2018 motion picture Vice suggests, Washington insider and later Vice President during the Bush Administration, Dick Cheney (played by Christian Bale) is responsible for much of the post-September 11 geopolitical turmoil and devastation. Beginning in the late 1960s interning for Donald Rumsfeld to becoming President Ford’s youngest Chief of…

Carlito’s Way (1993), Directed by Brian De Palma

A film genre that has become a rarity in modern cinema despite being popular for many decades, crime motion pictures, especially those involving gangsters, consist of some of the best films ever made. Since the dawn of cinema, criminals have been depicted as they navigate the dark underworld of society. The genre flourished throughout the…

Cabrini (2024), Directed by Alejandro Gómez Monteverde

Appropriately released theatrically on International Women’s Day, Alejandro Gómez Monteverde’s emotionally riveting biographical picture Cabrini is another knockout film from Monteverde and Angel Studios, both continuing their cinematic pursuits in amplifying light on courageous stories that bring hope and inspiration in times of darkness. Following up on his previous picture, last year’s Sound of Freedom,…

Red Dawn (1984), Directed by John Milius

The 1980s, particularly action cinema of the era, was the pinnacle of hypermasculinity captured on film, as well as the peak of American exceptionalism. As the world watched the duel between two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, action motion pictures, with their images of patriotic and pro-American nationalism, captured the hearts and…

Journey to Bethlehem (2023), Directed by Adam Anders

A pleasant surprise of biblical proportions, the greatest true story ever told, the nativity story, meets the cinematic musical genre in Adam Anders’ jubilant and heartwarming feature-length directorial debut Journey to Bethlehem (2023). A fun and wholesome motion picture that can be enjoyed by the entire family at any time of the year, Journey to…

Lisa Frankenstein (2024), Directed by Zelda Williams

An early 2024 gem that will, unfortunately, fly under the radar as a result of being released in the overlooked month of February, Zelda Williams’ feature-length directorial debut of a motion picture written by Diablo Cody, the quirky and nonsensical Lisa Frankenstein is destined to be a future camp classic! A cartoonishly joyful film that…