Darcy Staniforth

Cinema Sentries

Boris Karloff: The Man Behind the Monster Movie Review: A Warm Love Letter

The documentary tells the story of Karloff’s life and sixty-year career.

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Cinema Sentries

Book Review: Jayne Mansfield: The Girl Couldn’t Help It by Eve Golden

Golden takes her reader through a very detailed account of Mansfield’s entire life.

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Cinema Sentries

Punk the Capital Blu-ray Review: Building a Sound Movement

This movie is history documented as a love letter to the bands and fans of this time and space.

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Cinema Sentries

Trances Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Beautiful Audiovisual Journey

Trances is both lovely to watch as well as to listen to.

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Cinema Sentries

TV Review: The Sons of Sam: A Descent into Darkness

What happens when a man begins to investigate a case as a journalist, but then becomes so engrossed in the investigation that it takes over his whole life?

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Cinema Sentries

Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street Movie Review: And How Sesame Street Got to Us

“What television could do if it loved people instead of trying to sell to people.”

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Cinema Sentries

2021 Oscar-nominated Documentary Short Films Review

All five of these nominees are powerful works in their own right.

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Cinema Sentries

The Yellow Wallpaper (2021) Movie Review: Beautiful but Lacks the Horror

This adaptation tries to fill in the spaces left to the imagination, but they don’t translate well to the screen.

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TV Review: The Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer

The series traces the 1985 summer of terror.

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Cinema Sentries

Dear Santa (2020) Movie Review: A Lesson in Miracle

How the USPS helps make Christmas happen every year.

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Cinema Sentries

Crock of Gold: A Few Rounds with Shane MacGowan Movie Review

A holistic picture of the complex poet and musician Shane MacGowan.

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Where She Lies Movie Review: ‘It Was a Different Time’

A heartbreaking story about searching for the truth that lies between reunion and grief.

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The Mothman Legacy Movie Review: For an Audience New to the Legend

If you are well-versed on this red-eyed harbinger of doom, you may not gain a lot of new insight.

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Seat 20D Movie Review: Suse Lowenstein Shines a Light with Her Sculpture ‘Dark Elegy’

A documentary how art can give tangible context to our grief and how it can help those left behind.

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Mr. Soul! Movie Review: There Has Never Been Another Show Like It

A documentary that explores the history of the ground-breaking show Soul! and its creator Ellis Haizlip.

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Happy Happy Joy Joy: The Ren & Stimpy Story Movie Review: Yes, Sir. I Do Like It

A revealing tale of success in the face of cruel genius.

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Skin: A History of Nudity in the Movies Movie Review: A Flesh-filled Journey that Lacks a Critical Eye

I really enjoyed hearing from the actors and filmmakers who have been in and behind some incredibly iconic scenes and films.

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Inmate #1: The Rise of Danny Trejo Movie Review: A Complex and Compelling Story

The compelling documentary about the life of actor, businessman, and activist Danny Trejo.

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Hot Docs 2020 Review: All That I Am

A beautiful story of courage in the midst of fear.

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Phenomenacon 2020 Review: The First Online Paranormal and Occult Convention

A way to unite the “weirdo” community of the paranormal during this time of physical distancing.

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Looking for Alaska DVD Review: Well Written and Well Acted

Based on the work of John Green, this tale of teen love and loss engages its audience from start to finish.

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Book Review: The Last Book on the Left: Stories of Murder and Mayhem from History’s Most Notorious Serial Killers

A fun, funny, and informative read. (Of course, that is, if you like reading about serial killers.)

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2020 Oscar-nominated Documentary Short Films Review

How does our humanity express itself in the face of trauma? War? Tragedy? These are the questions that are explored in this year’s Academy Award nominees in the Documentary Short Film category.

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TV Review: Hellier: Season 2

What began as a series of emails for Greg Newkirk has become so much more than he or the rest of the team ever expected.

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Concert Review: Art Alexakis – The Wayfarer, Costa Mesa, CA – 11/15/19

Alexakis took his audience through an intimate evening of songs interspersed with personal stories and anecdotes.

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Robin Williams: Comic Genius (5-DVD Set) Review: A Retrospective of the Brilliant Comedian

A collection that Williams fans will return to time and time again.

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Always in Season Movie Review: Not an Easy Watch, but an Important One

The powerful history of one family’s search for justice in the face of centuries of terror.

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Toni Morrison, The Pieces I Am DVD Review: Dense with Content That Pulls in the Viewer

A compelling look at the life of Toni Morrison and the world she worked to change through the power of words.

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Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blache DVD Review: Returning a Chapter to Cinema History

The story of the most important woman in film you have never heard of.

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Book Review: Strange Cures by Rob Zabrecky

Zabrecky details his journeys into art, failed employment, music, addiction, and ultimately, recovery.

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Becoming Evil: Serial Killers DVD Review: This Academic Series Has a Lot of Challenges

Interesting subject matter wrapped into a not-so-interesting series.

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Project Blue Book: Season 1 Blu-ray Review: The Plot Is Intriguing, but the Pacing Is Slow

UFO’s and government cover-ups that don’t come off as exciting as they should.

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A Star Is Born (2018) Blu-ray Review: An Engaging Tale of Addiction, Fame, Partnership, and Family

For his directorial debut, Bradley Cooper has done a wonderful job with this film.

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Bohemian Rhapsody Blu-ray Review: A Moving Portrait of a Band and a Man Who Became Music Royalty

This film is also about Freddie Mercury’s life and his struggle to live in his true identity.

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Bright Lights, Big City: 30th Anniversary Special Collector’s Edition Review: Still Rings True in Today’s Social-media and Celebrity-obsessed Culture

While some aspects of this film are dated, most of it still holds up in this tale of addiction and grief avoidance.

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Hallelujah the Hills Blu-ray Review: Did Not Hit the Mark

The characters come across as flat and unlikable, so it was difficult to invest in any of them.

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Love, Gilda Movie Review: A Beautiful and Personal Portrait

Director Lisa D’Apolito does a wonderful job of bringing in the audience on some of the toughest parts of Gilda’s life.

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The Doctor from India DVD Review: An Incredible Story

A film about Dr. Vasant Lad, the man who brought Ayurvedic medicine to the United States.

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We Are Not Done Yet Movie Review: An Important Documentary About Veterans

“It’s hard to cope and do normal human being stuff of you’re wearing your trauma on your sleeve.”

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Pacific Rim: Uprising Blu-ray Review: Too Many Characters, Not Enough Kaiju

There are some great action scenes and some fun surprises, but those were not enough to win this fan over.

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RBG Movie Review: Evidence Why Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is Definitely the Notorious RBG

Besides being a great documentary, I can see this film being taught in classrooms across disciplines in the future.

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The Rape of Recy Taylor Movie Review: An Important Story but a Problematic Film

While there are some things about this documentary I liked, overall I came away disappointed and angry.

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General Idi Amin Dada: A Self-Portrait Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review

An important look at unchecked power, racism, nativism, and violence though the eyes of a dictator.

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Dean DVD Review: Funny, Uncomfortable, Emotional, and Beautiful

A film about the first thing you never get over.

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Director Mickey Lemle on His New Film, The Last Dalai Lama?

Lemle discusses his intimate portrait of what is on the heart and mind of His Holiness the Dalai Lama at 80 years old.

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The Future of Work and Death DVD Review: Raises More Questions Than Answers

A somewhat interesting but skewed documentary about the future of jobs and mortality.

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