By Anela Henley. I never thought I’d be starring in a movie that I made, but just by nature of the circumstances I had to. I think that elevated me as a filmmaker….” Writer-director Joe Begos broke into the indie film scene in 2019 with his third feature Bliss, incorporating doom […]
Preview: Shadows in the Sunlight – On the Noir Western
By Anees Aref. Often described as “psychological westerns”, these films eschewed the conventional heroes of the old west for more complicated protagonists, flawed and motivated by darker impulses….” The “Noir-Western” sounds like a contradiction in terms. One associates the western with the 19th century American frontier, wide open vistas, horses, cowboys […]
Call for Proposals – Cinematic Memory: Narrative, Recollection, and Identity (Edited by David Ryan)
August 18, 2025
______________________________________________________________________________ “I have to believe in a world outside my own mind. I have to believe that my actions still have meaning, even if I can’t remember them.”— Leonard Shelby, Memento (2000) “Memories can be vile, repulsive little brutes. Like children, I suppose. But can we live without them?”— The […]
Indelible Footprints: Joseph Maddrey’s The Soul of Wes Craven
A Book Review by William Blick. Maddrey illuminates the master from behind the scenes and shines a light on exactly what he means to the language of cinema.” Joseph Maddrey, author of Nightmares in Red, White, and Blue (2004) has a new title The Soul of Wes Craven (Harker Press) […]
Van Helsing’s Key: The Latin Reading in Dracula (1931)
By Nicholas Goodhue. As far as I can discover, none of the commentators on the film have satisfactorily explained the meaning and importance of the film’s Latin passage…. However, the passage does in fact provide the basis for Van Helsing’s conclusion regarding his analysis of Renfield’s blood.” About thirty minutes […]
Escaping Stereotypes: Ernesto Dìaz Espinoza’s Diablo
By Ken Hall. A well-made low-budget film with characters that escape one-dimensional stereotyping….” An entertaining vehicle for Scott Adkins, Diablo casts him as Kris Chaney, an ex-convict who comes to Bogotá to rescue young Elisa (Alanna De La Rossa) from cartel boss Vicente (Lucho Velasco). Besides graphic and well-choreographed martial arts […]
An Auteur’s High Points – The Greatest Gangster Movie You’ve Never Seen: Abel Ferrara’s The Funeral
A Book Review by William Blick. A candid and insightful look into Ferrara’s creative process….” The Greatest Gangster Movie You’ve Never Seen (BearManor Media, 2025) includes a candid and insightful look into Ferrara’s creative process with behind-the-scenes access to Ferrara’s collaboration with Director of Photography, Ken Kelsch whom Stewart has […]
Now Available – Becoming Nosferatu: Stories Inspired by Silent German Horror
A new collection featuring stories and poems in the tradition of Nosferatu and other silent expressionist classics….” Becoming Nosferatu: Stories Inspired by Silent German Horror, edited by Matthew Sorrento (editor, FilmInt Online) and Gary D. Rhodes (contributing editor) is out now from BearManor Media, featuring stories and poems in the tradition of Nosferatu and other silent expressionist […]
A Lebanese Artist Challenged: Eric McGinty’s Stockade
By Ken Hall. Ahlam’s mission acquires a Hitchcockian aspect as this law-abiding artist in the US becomes trapped in a situation which she does not understand, with mysterious people posing a threat to her safety.” This subtly presented independent mystery-drama relates the economic and emotional challenges facing Lebanese artist Ahlam […]
Unstoppable: Wrestling and the Plasmatic
By Justin Muchnick. No amount of movie magic, it seems, can fully replace Robles’ own unparalleled plasmaticness. I only wish Sergei Eisenstein could have seen this film, too….” The Soviet director Sergei Eisenstein, pioneer of film theory and lover of Disney cartoons, coined the term plasmatic to describe the ecstatic […]