Popcorn Zombies

Graham Craycraft Lamb is the directorial debut by director and writer Valdimar Jóhannsson released through the arthouse production company A24. Lamb joins the list of A24 thriller/horror films with others such as Midsommar , The Witch , Ex Machina &c. Lamb is an Icelandic foreign language film, but the viewer barely notices during the first half of the movie because there are probably less than 100 words said. It is quiet and contemplative with a nod back to the silent movie era. Jóhannsson circles around human loneliness that spirals into despair and eventually desperation. Where does this desperation lead them? Where does it lead any of us? Extended dream sequences tell the audience more about the characters’ emotions than perhaps their dialogue could. The movie, a pastoral-set thriller, begins with an ambiguous, ominous tone and beautiful shots of dark, snowy, nothingness. Cut to a couple, only a couple, sitting down to Christmas dinner in their home alone in Iceland’s vast cou...

  By Michael Momper " Let me tell you something Tony... or you can watch the f**king news.... everything comes to an end." -Carmela Soprano      Carmela may have uttered these words only about halfway through the American television masterpiece The Sopranos  but they are just as applicable to the mythos of the show itself as they are to the characters within and our own lives in general. All things good and bad come to an end eventually. Sometimes, life is radiant and full of crescendos. Sometimes life is anticlimactic and bleak. Sometimes it just ain't cinematic.     You can imagine my surprise when I found out that my favorite show, which had its final episode in June of 2007, planned to deliver a prequel movie in 2021. Written by David Chase, the creator and showrunner, and also co-written by Lawrence Konner (who wrote numerous episodes of the show), I knew it literally couldn't be in better hands. Additionally, it stars familiar incredible actors l...

  By Michael Momper     Paul Schrader is the kind of filmmaker that makes theater-going worthwhile. In delivering intense moral quandaries and violently high stakes, he slowly puts the audience on edge and makes them squirm in their seats. His filmography is impressive, as he has co-written or written some of the greatest dramas of all time. Most notably, he has worked with Martin Scorsese on Taxi Driver, Raging Bull  and The Last Temptation of Christ. His writing has become known to focus on troubled and twisted characters; characters grappling with their own past and the horrors that they have committed or that they have witnessed at the hand of others. His vision is often one heavily doused in cynicism, highlighting a cruel and wicked world but showing the effects that we can have on those around us for both better and worse. Taxi Driver in particular is one of the greatest character studies in American cinema, and its portrayal of an incredibly tortured soul...

  By Michael Momper   ​ James Wan, creator of the  Saw  and  The Conjuring  franchises, has returned to his seat in the pantheon of great horror directors after a brief deviation with his direction of  Aquaman . His newest film,  Malignant , is equal parts horror and thriller, totally  bonkers, and a hell of a lot of fun. It is a rocky road at times, with some very campy and stilted dialogue throughout, but given its crazy 1980s horror vibes it is inoffensive enough to overlook. You can say a lot about this movie for better or worse, and it will no doubt be a divisive one, but one thing that is undeniable is its creativity. ​ To avoid spoilers, I can’t get too much into the plot because the  absolutely insane  twist in the back half of the movie is one that absolutely nobody will see coming. A proper suspension of belief is important for a story this ludicrous and fun, even though there are a few very frustrating  plot  ho...

Graham Craycraft The Green Knight is a 2021 movie adapted from a 14th century legend about an Arthurian knight on Christmas day. The movie is directed by David Lowery through the now extremely successful arthouse production company A24. With movies such as Midsommar, The Witch, Uncut Gems, and many more it has become a reputable company worthy of instant respect and consideration for any films they release.  Dev Patel plays Sir Gawain, King Arthur’s nephew, who is lost in the shadow of the knights of the round table. He has no reputation and is desperate to prove his worth to his mother, his king, the realm, and himself. The Green Knight is a supernatural figure who offers a game to gathering of royalty and knights. Someone may strike a blow on the knight, but in one year the knight shall return it. If the promise is upheld all will be well, if it is broken, well, the opposite.  The plot is very well done and the cast is great. But, like most A24 films, the real magic is in th...

  By Michael Momper     Few series in the horror genre have a reputation as solid as The Conjuring , which as a series has been terrifying audiences for years with its chilling true stories from the cases of exorcists Ed and Lorraine Warren. Unlike other sloppily made and cheap-shock exorcism movies in recent years (see horrendous movies like The Devil Inside or Deliver Us From Evil  for examples), The Conjuring movies are made with a sort of reverence- the effects are plenty spooky and certainly elaborate at times, but the deliberate pacing and sense of dread are what really create the chilling paranormal atmosphere. When these movies are really clicking, the palpable dread is so thick that it almost makes you want to look away or catch your breath. James Wan, who directed the first two movies, captures these true stories with a reverence not only to the real people at the heart of the story but also to the paranormal things they witnessed- these are earnest retell...

  By Michael Momper     It is so exciting to be back in the theaters finally for some action flicks. Nowadays, every trip to the theaters is even more of a treat than it was in the past, and has become sort of a special occasion (luckily, it sounds like that will change shortly). No matter how cinema-starved we have become though, it is important to keep a level head and fairly review the movies we see just as we always would have in the past- we must be honest about both disappointment and satisfaction. Guy Ritchie's newest film, Wrath of Man,  exists somewhere in between. That being said, even a less-than-stellar Ritchie action film is worth seeing, and maybe seeing again. If you have followed Guy Ritchie at all in the past, you are no stranger to his gleeful profanity and cockney humor, which stand out in all 3 of his gangster films, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch, and The Gentlemen (perhaps you read our review of the latter, which came out only a ye...