YEAR IN REVIEW: THE 10 BEST MOVIES OF 2021

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN 12/31/2021
SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME teaser poster | ©2021 Sony/Marvel

2021 was in many respects a nightmare year in real life, but it managed to deliver some really good movies. Here are my totally unscientific picks for the ten best. BELFAST. It’s a tough decision, but director/writer Kenneth Branagh’s ode to his childhood gets the edge, precisely because it could easily have been trite or average or, worst of all, boring. Instead, it’s informative and glorious and full of sorrow and joy. CYRANO. Directed by Joe Wright and adapted by Erica Schmidt from her stage musical (lyrics by Matt Berninger & Carin Besser, music by Aaron Dessner & Bryce Dessner), […]Read On »


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CANDYMAN: Star Vanessa Estelle Williams on 9-1-1 and the 1992 and 2021 CANDYMAN films – Exclusive Interview

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN 12/02/2021
Vanessa Estelle Williams as Anne-Marie McCoy in CANDYMAN | ©2021 Universal Pictures/MGM

CANDYMAN has a long history, both on and offscreen. Originally a short story by Clive Barker, “The Forbidden” was adapted into the 1992 movie CANDYMAN by writer/director Bernard Rose. Rose moved the story from Barker’s London to Chicago’s then-infamous Cabrini-Green low-income housing projects. Here, it was learned that Daniel Robitaille (played by Tony Todd), a Black man murdered in the 1800s by a white mob, had become the hook-handed spirit Candyman. Anyone who says his name five times into a mirror invokes a visitation and very bloody consequences. The original CANDYMAN film had Candyman kidnapping a Black infant, who was […]Read On »


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Movie Review: CANDYMAN

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN 08/27/2021
CANDYMAN movie poster | ©2021 Universal Pictures/MGM

Rating: R Stars: Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Teyonah Parris, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Kyle Kaminsky, Coleman Domingo, Michael Hargrove, Brian King, Rebecca Spence Writers: Jordan Peele and Win Rosenfeld and Nia DaCosta, based on the 1992 CANDYMAN screenplay by Bernard Rose and the short story THE FORBIDDEN by Clive Barker Director: Nia DaCosta Distributor: Universal/MGM Release Date: August 27, 2021 CANDYMAN is being billed as “a spiritual sequel” to the 1992 feature film of the same name. Since that was set in Chicago’s Cabrini-Green housing projects, and the new movie is set in the upscale apartment complexes occupying the same area, and since […]Read On »


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Movie Review: BOOKS OF BLOOD

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN 11/20/2020
BOOKS OF BLOOD Key Art | ©2020 Hulu

Rating: Not Rated Stars: Britt Robertson, Anna Friel, Rafi Gavron, Yul Vasquez, Frieda Foh Shen, Nicholas Campbell, Andy McQueen, Kenji Fitzgerald, Etienne Kellici Writers: Adam Simon & Brannon Braga, based on the story THE BOOK OF BLOOD by Clive Barker Director: Brannon Braga Distributor: Hulu Release Date: October 7, 2020 BOOKS OF BLOOD is the collective title for author Clive Barker’s first several published collections of short stories. THE BOOK OF BLOOD is also the title of a specific Barker story, which has been adapted for the screen once before, in 2009. Here, director Brannon Braga and his co-screenwriter Adam […]Read On »


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COSMOS: POSSIBLE WORLDS: Writer-director-producer Brannon Braga on the new season – Exclusive Interview

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN 04/06/2020
COSMOS: POSSIBLE WORLDS Key Art | ©2020 National Geographic/Fox

COSMOS, the nonfiction series devoted to science and space exploration, originally premiered in 1980. Initially the brainchild of astrophysicist/author Carl Sagan and author/filmmaker Ann Druyan [who married one another after the first series], COSMOS was revived by National Geographic Channel in 2014, with a subtitle, as COSMOS: A SPACETIME ODYSSEY. Now National Geographic brings back the multi-Emmy-winning COSMOS as part of its STORYTELLING UNLEASHED programming as COSMOS: POSSIBLE WORLDS, airing Monday nights. Druyan is still on board as creator, writer, director and executive producer. Fellow executive producers include host Neil de Grasse Tyson and writer/director Brannon Braga. Braga is known […]Read On »


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STRANGER THINGS: The Duffer Brothers talk about their Netflix series – Exclusive Interview

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN 08/29/2016
STRANGER THINGS poster | ©2016 Netflix

Twin brothers Matt Duffer and Ross Duffer, known professionally as the Duffer Brothers, have made their first TV show, Netflix’s STRANGER THINGS. Set in a small town in 1983, STRANGER THINGS evokes films of that era by Steven Spielberg. There are young boys on bicycles (Galen Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Finn Wolfhard), searching for their lost friend Will (Noah Schnapp), whose mother (Winona Ryder) is frantically trying to connect with her son through unusual means, a mysterious young girl, Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), with strange powers, a transdimen sional rift, a monster, and more. STRANGER THINGS deftly reconstructs the joys of […]Read On »


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DELIVER US FROM EVIL Highlights this week in Blu-ray, DVD and VOD Releases

By PETER BROWN 11/02/2014
DELIVER US FROM EVIL | © 2014 Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Your time is short. We know this. So in order to expedite your buying and Netflix decision making, we provide you with a list of the cool and not-so-cool titles coming out for movies, television and everything in-between. So put your feet up, grab some popcorn and check out this week’s selections. Movies: DELIVER US FROM EVIL – Apparently, this supernatural horror film is based on events that actually happened to a New York police officer during his time with the force. Eric Bana stars as the said officer and gets wrapped up in a supernatural case where a group […]Read On »


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Blu-ray Review: NIGHTBREED – THE DIRECTOR’S CUT

By CARL CORTEZ 10/22/2014
NIGHTBREED: THE DIRECTOR'S CUT | ©2014 Shout! Factory

Stars: Craig Sheffer, Anne Bobby, David Cronenberg, Charles Haid Writer-Director: Clive Barker based on his novel CABAL Suggested Retail Price: $29.93 Distributor: Shout! Factory There are many instances where a director’s work is completely butchered by a studio because they don’t quite understand or care about the intent – they just want to make a quick buck and screw the art. Sergio Leone had his 1984 epic ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA sliced to a nub during its original release, only to be restored to its full epic glory decades later. Clive Barker’s NIGHTBREED from 1990 is the equivalent […]Read On »


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TV Review: AMERICAN HORROR STORY – Season 1 – “Pilot” – Series Premiere

By RACHEL REITSLEFF 10/06/2011
AMERICAN HORROR STORY poster | © 2011 FX

Stars: Dylan McDermott, Connie Britton, Jessica Lange, Taissa Farmiga, Evan Peters, Frances Conroy, Denis O’Hare, Alexandra Breckenridge, Jamie Brewer Writers: Ryan Murphy & Brad Falchuk, series created by Ryan Murphy & Brad Falchuk Director: Ryan Murphy Network: FX, Wednesdays @ 10 PM Original Telecast: October 5, 2011 It’s difficult to do serialized straight-up horror on a weekly television series, which is probably why almost no one ever tries it. Before anyone cites, for example, THE X-FILES and BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, let us remember that the former had as one of its mottos “I Want to Believe” and “Trust No […]Read On »


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