Posts by James Roberts

I was far, far too old to catch the wave of Avatar: The Last Airbender as it made its debut in 2005. That was a world to which I felt I would never belong, a sort of symbolic generation gap that would forever define the chasm between elder Millennials and Gen Z, one which I […]

‘Bruised’ Follows Cookie Cutter Sports Film Formula (FILM REVIEW)

RATING – A Jonathan Larson never lived to see his impact. The writer and creator of Rent, one of Broadway’s most enduring and beloved musicals, died suddenly the night before his play made its grand debut. He never lived to see his Tony Awards, his Pulitzer, or the worldwide acclaim he very rightly deserved. For […]

While Summer is known for its high octane blockbusters and big budget thrill rides, the holiday movie season is the source of what is usually the year’s best in cinematic delights. This year, even with the pandemic still raging, is no different. With the availability of streaming options opening up movie watching choices more than […]

Rating: A- Tom Hanks is an actor who can get away with, quite frankly, kind of a lot. There are roles that he takes that, in the hands of a lesser actor, might be veer into sappy territory. Yet, in his hands, there’s an earnestness that creates, at the very least, an illusion of nuance […]

Fran Kranz makes a stunning directorial debut with this urgent and powerful film.

It’s easy to fall under the spell of David Keenan. The Irish folksinger has a knack for hypnotic folk-jams that draw you in with their enchanting rhythms, which feel a perfect match for his brand of poetic lyricism. Like Damien O. on steroids, Keenan offers a deft blend of traditional sounds and modern approaches to […]

Yep, that sure is how a slasher movie works.

The Atlas Underground Fire, a follow up to Morello’s 2018 solo/collaboration album, The Atlas Underground, continues the same path Morello has been following more or less since Audioslave: Pairing the guitarist with other musicians showcasing the diversity of his style. And while no doubt this is a fact that has been proven time and time […]

Rating: C- Somewhere in the 100-minute run time of Lamb is perfectly great 30-minute short. The film, which had its premiere earlier this year as part of the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival, is no doubt a film with imagination to spare. However, imagination and premise do not a film make. […]

Rating: C- The gulf between intention and execution is often vast and unfathomable. There are a lot of great ideas in Mayday, the ethereal feature debut from writer/director Karen Cinorre, ideas that, in a vacuum, would make for an intriguing and engrossing film experience. Undoubtedly the film is wrapped in a compelling mystery, and it’s […]

Ghost have returned. “Hunter’s Moon,” set for release on the upcoming Halloween Kills soundtrack, is a haunting return for the band who have been eerily quiet since the “Seven Inches of Satanic Panic” EP released in 2019. The song marks a heavy return for the Swedish occult rockers, who are known as much for their […]

Rating: A- It’s difficult not to view any movie about the ethics of robotics outside of an Isaac Asimov lens. His short stories and novels theorizing and pondering about the implications of robots on humanity are more than just formative; they’re defining. So much of what we think about when we think about robots has […]

The key to understanding Ænima lies, as it ever is with Tool, in the whole picture. Much ink and thought has been spilt on the band’s most profoundly successful and influential work in the quarter century since its release. This is, perhaps, due to the enigmatic nature of the band itself. For as much as […]

The Alpinist shows that humanity can reach great heights, literally and figuratively, if we dream big enough.

Marvel doesn’t reinvent any forumulas, but Shang-Chi is still an awesome addition to the assembly.

Iron Maiden have made their mightiest album in decades.

Rating: B The nature of folklore is change. That’s the first (and, really, only) rule that should be understood when going into Candyman, director Nia DaCosta’s sequel to/reboot of the 1992 classic. The stories we tell each other evolve from region to region, generation to generation, teller to teller. Whether it happened to your uncle […]

John Cena and Lil Rel Howery elevate a stale script into something almost charming.

Director David Lowery adapts one of the weirder, and best, Arthurian stories.