Uncategorized

Ash vs Evil Dead: The Complete First Season Is the Pick of the Week

By Mat Brewster | Aug 22, 2016

I turned 18 in 1994. So though I consider myself a child of the '80s, it was really the early ...

Raiders! The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made Is the Pick of the Week

By Mat Brewster | Aug 15, 2016

Movies were a huge part of my childhood. I have all sorts of fond memories of going to the cinema ...

11.22.63 Is the Pick of the Week

By Mat Brewster | Aug 8, 2016

The assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963 looms large in our American identity. Hell, it looms over my own ...

Key & Peele: The Complete Series Is the Pick of the Week

By Gordon S. Miller | Aug 1, 2016

Mat Brewster is on vacation this week, so I am filling in. Two weeks ago, I was preparing to go ...

Pioneers of African-American Cinema Is the Pick of the Week

By Mat Brewster | Jul 26, 2016

I consider myself an amateur cinephile. By which I mean I take films seriously - I watch with a critical ...

O.J.: Made In America Is the Pick of the Week

By Mat Brewster | Jul 18, 2016

In the summer of 1994, I was 18, had just graduated high school, and was doing my best to have ...

Green Room Is the Pick of the Week

By Mat Brewster | Jul 12, 2016

Last week I wrote about buying a house and noted that we would be moving in on Tuesday. We did ...

Blood and Black Lace Is the Pick of the Week

By Mat Brewster | Jul 5, 2016

The wife and I recently bought a house. It's the first time we've ever done that. We talked about it ...

Ray Harryhausen: Special Effects Titan Is the Pick of the Week

By Mat Brewster | Jun 27, 2016

If you've watched a movie with any sort of special-effects-laden creature in the last century, you've watched a film influenced ...

Knight of Cups Is the Pick of the Week

By Mat Brewster | Jun 20, 2016

I hope someone was fired over this. Knight of Cups is a terrible name for a film. Terrence Malick has ...

The X-Files: Event Series Is the Pick of the Week

By Mat Brewster | Jun 13, 2016

For one reason or another, I never got into The X-Files when it first ran. Truth be known, I'm not ...

Hail, Caesar! Is the Pick of the Week

By Mat Brewster | Jun 6, 2016

The Coen Brothers last took on Hollywood in 1991 with Barton Fink. That movie was a dark, cynical, symbolic look ...

Wim Wenders: The Road Trilogy Is the Pick of the Week

By Mat Brewster | May 30, 2016

I've seen exactly one Wim Wenders film (Until the End of the World - I think - or it could ...

Killer Dames: Two Gothic Chillers is the Pick of the Week

By Mat Brewster | May 24, 2016

I have somewhat eclectic cinematic tastes. I'm just as thrilled to see classic American films like Casablanca or To Kill ...

The Witch is the Pick of the Week

By Mat Brewster | May 17, 2016

Last Friday was the 13th of May, my brother's birthday, but more importantly a traditional day of horror. Normally, I'd ...

Deadpool Is the Pick of the Week

By Mat Brewster | May 10, 2016

For the foreseeable future, it is a blockbuster world and we're just living in it. Marvel has been churning out ...

Independence Day 20th Anniversary Edition is the Pick of the Week

By Mat Brewster | May 3, 2016

Twenty years ago, I was a sophomore in college. That was the first summer where I didn't go home for ...

Son of Saul Is the Pick of the Week

By Mat Brewster | Apr 26, 2016

The Holocaust has been milked and bilked of every possible dramatic meaning for decades on screens both big and small. ...

The Revenant Is the Pick of the Week

By Mat Brewster | Apr 19, 2016

If you relentlessly abuse your no-name actors, then your film gets called torture porn, but if you treat Leonardo DiCaprio ...

Bride of Re-Animator is the Pick of the Week

By Mat Brewster | Apr 12, 2016

When I was a young teen, I used to daydream about the day when I'd turn 16 and could take ...

Star Wars: The Force Awakens is the Pick of the Week

By Mat Brewster | Apr 5, 2016

From the moment George Lucas announced the sale of his Star Wars franchise to Disney and that there would then ...

The Hateful Eight is the Pick of the Week

By Mat Brewster | Mar 29, 2016

Last Friday, I loaded the family into the car and we spent Easter weekend in our old stomping grounds in ...

Black Mama, White Mama is the Pick of the Week

By Mat Brewster | Mar 22, 2016

Every once in awhile you have to ask yourself whether you want the much beloved, critically acclaimed, and highly influential ...

Brooklyn is the Pick of the Week

By Mat Brewster | Mar 15, 2016

Though it was nominated for a slew of awards (including Best Picture, Adapted Screenplay, and Actress at the Academy Awards), ...

Macbeth (2015) is the Pick of the Week

By Mat Brewster | Mar 8, 2016

What's left to say about Shakespeare? What could I possible write that would convey his brilliance? Nothing of course. He ...

Creed and Room are the Picks of the Week

By Mat Brewster | Mar 1, 2016

The Oscars will be airing in a few hours from when I'm writing this (and likely a few hours before ...

Fargo: Season Two is the Pick of the Week

By Mat Brewster | Feb 23, 2016

When they announced they were making a TV show out of the excellent Coen Brothers films, Fargo, I was skeptical. ...

Black Mass Is the Pick of the Week

By Mat Brewster | Feb 16, 2016

For as long as I can remember, I've always wanted to watch gangster movies. There is just something about the ...

Spectre is the Pick of the Week

By Mat Brewster | Feb 9, 2016

I have many fond memories of watching James Bond. I remember my dad taking me to see him in the ...

By Mat Brewster | Feb 2, 2016

We're less than a month away from the Oscars and I've seen exactly three of the nominated films - four ...

Doctor Who: Series Nine, Part Two is the Pick of the Week

By Mat Brewster | Jan 26, 2016

I have very vague memories of watching Doctor Who as a kid. This was the '80s when the long=scarfed Tom ...

Criterion’s Inside Llewyn Davis is the Pick of the Week

By Mat Brewster | Jan 18, 2016

Many times in these pages I've mentioned my extraordinary love for both the Criterion Collection and the Coen Brothers. When ...

The Martian is the Pick of the Week

By Mat Brewster | Jan 12, 2016

I subscribed to the auteur theory before I even knew what that was. That is to say as I began ...

Sicario is the Pick of the Week

By Mat Brewster | Jan 5, 2016

A great big thanks to Davy for helping me out last week. Extra credit since I gave him about a ...

Bone Tomahawk Is the Pick of the Week

By Davy | Dec 29, 2015

Since everyone is getting over the Christmas holidays, I think they are just too stuffed with food and having to ...

Pan is the Pick of the Week

By Mat Brewster | Dec 22, 2015

If the weeks leading up to Christmas are a bonanza for home-video collectors, then the actual week of Christmas is ...

By Mat Brewster | Dec 15, 2015

It's easy to get cynical and annoyed with all the remakes, reimaginings, rehashes, and sequels that seem to come out ...

Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase Two is the Pick of the Week

By Mat Brewster | Dec 8, 2015

When I picked Phase One of the Marvel Cinematic Universe as my Pick of the Week back in April of ...

Cooties Is the Pick of the Week

By Mat Brewster | Dec 1, 2015

I don't know about you, but I had a mighty fine Thanksgiving. The weather outside was frightful, but inside was ...

Ikiru is the Pick of the Week

By Mat Brewster | Nov 24, 2015

Not long ago my aunt was diagnosed with cancer. They initially thought it was in her lungs, which made for ...

The Collected Works of Hayao Miyazaki Is the Pick of the Week

By Mat Brewster | Nov 17, 2015

I remember distinctly the first time I ever watched a Hayao Miyazaki film. I was still single, but heavily into ...

Mr. Holmes is the Pick of the Week

By Mat Brewster | Nov 10, 2015

By my count, there have been over 800 kajillion filmic adaptations of Sherlock Holmes. Within the last few years we've ...

Pixar’s Inside Out is the Pick of the Week

By Mat Brewster | Nov 3, 2015

It was a tough October. I got strep throat and followed it with a nasty virus that turned into an ...

Edgar Allan Poe’s Black Cats Is the Pick of the Week

By Mat Brewster | Oct 27, 2015

Autumn is by far my favorite season. The dog days of summer slip into the cool, crisp nights of fall. ...

Jurassic World Is the Pick of the Week

By Mat Brewster | Oct 20, 2015

I was 17 when Jurassic Park came out in 1993. Even then, I knew it wasn't a great film, artistically ...

Nakatomi Plaza Die Hard Collection is the Pick of the Week

By Mat Brewster | Oct 13, 2015

Forgive me if I begin this Pick of the Week with a bit of a rant. In all forms of ...

By Mat Brewster | Oct 6, 2015

I was 14 when the original Tremors came out. I loved it. We all did, my family and me. It ...

The Avengers: Age of Ultron Is the Pick of the Week

By Mat Brewster | Sep 28, 2015

Tuesday morning of last week, I woke up feeling fine. I turned off the alarm, got out of bed, got ...

Pitch Perfect 2 Is the Pick of the Week

By Mat Brewster | Sep 21, 2015

I grew up attending the Churches of Christ. One of the things that distinguishes us from the million other churches ...

The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst Is the Pick of the Week

By Mat Brewster | Sep 14, 2015

There have been a lot of discussions of late about the injustices of our justice system. About how if you ...