What is there to say about Sam Raimi except that I love him. I love him as a filmmaker, I love him as a human being, and I love the fact that he is one of those rare directors whose personality is stamped on every single frame. You watch a Raimi movie and you don’t need the opening credits, you don’t need the title card, you don’t need somebody leaning over and whispering “this is a Sam Raimi movie.” You know. You can feel it. It’s in the camera movement, it’s in the editing

There are movies that entertain you, movies that move you, movies that scare you, and then there are movies that crawl under your skin, set up permanent residence, and refuse to let you off the hook. David Cronenberg ’s Crash  is absolutely one of those movies. This is not the terrible 2004 Oscar-winning embarrassment with Sandra Bullock and Matt Dillon . No, no, no. This is the real Crash . The 1996 David Cronenberg adaptation of J. G. Ballard ’s profoundly disturbing, deep

My Film Critic pants are quite fetching; they are on, pressed, and ironed. I'm ready to review five new movies in this week's capsule (short) movie reviews for Friday, January 30th, 2026. 1) SEND HELP I get to say something I haven't been able to say in a long time with this level of enthusiasm: Sam Raimi is back. Like really back. Bloody, twisted, funny, unhinged, fully himself back. And Send Help  is the proof. Sam Raimi has been one of my favorite filmmakers for a very lo

Rebecca Ferguson is one of those rare actors who immediately commands the screen the moment she appears, and once you notice her, you really can’t stop noticing her. She’s got that elusive combination of intelligence, danger, humor, vulnerability, strength, sexuality, and mystery that you just don’t see very often anymore. With the release of the new science-fiction thriller Mercy , which co-stars Chris Pratt and features Ferguson front and center, it felt like the perfect

Well, here we go again. It’s that special time of year when I complain, celebrate, yell at my television, and generally lose my mind over the Academy Award nominations. The annual ritual continues. This is the 98th Annual Academy Awards, coming up on March 15th, with Conan O’Brien returning as host, which is actually one of the things I’m genuinely excited about. He did a terrific job last year. He was funny, smart, self-aware, and the broadcast actually moved. That alone p

My Film Critic pants are quite fetching; they are on, pressed, and ironed. I'm ready to review five new movies in this week's capsule (short) movie reviews for Friday, January 23rd, 2026. 1) MERCY Mercy  is the first truly terrible movie of 2026, and that’s saying something because January is traditionally the dumping ground. Every year, studios shovel their weakest projects into theaters right after the holidays, hoping no one notices while audiences are still catching up on