Richard Donner's The Omen (1976) follows American diplomat Robert Thorn (Gregory Peck) as he investigates his adopted son’s, Damien, background once tragedy befalls those close to him. Thorn's quest for answers ultimately leads him to Italy and the unsettling revelation that his son may be the Antichrist. Sadly the subsequent installments never quite duplicated the impact of the first chapter in this genre-disrupting religious horror saga. So he idea of a compelling legacy-prequel seems...

  Quick Take: Dev Patel's directorial debut, Monkey Man, is a full-throttle, heartbreaking, brutal quest for vengeance. Patel and his co-writers weave ancestral lore and a biting challenge to the socio-political status quo into a underdog tale that wears its cinematic influences and cultural aesthetic on its sleeve. What starts as tale of a street-smart grief-striken man living only for revenge slow morphs into the journey of a man who learns to stand for something greater than himself....

Director: Denis Villeneuve Writers:  Denis Villeneuve, Jon Spaihts, Frank Herbert Starring: Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Austin Butler Runtime:  2 Hour 46 Minutes Synopsis: Paul Atreides unites with Chani and the Fremen while seeking revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family. Kriss, Ro, Brandon review Dune Part 2. Like what you hear? Subscribe so you don't miss an episode! Follow us on...

Quick Take: Madame Web should've been a fun and fantastical origin story for a dynamic comic character with real spin-off potential. Instead it’s a mishmash of barely interesting plot points, disjointed visual trickery, and underwhelming performances. More than anything else, Madame Web proves it’s not enough to throw all the “expected” set pieces in a movie, you actually need to know what to do with them. ** Official Synopsis: Cassandra Webb develops the power to see the future. Forced to...

Director: Todd Haynes Writers: Samy Burch, Alex Mechanik Starring: Natalie Portman, Charles Melton, Julianne Moore, Gabriel Chung, Andrea Frankle Runtime:  1 Hour 57 Minutes Synopsis: Twenty years after their notorious tabloid romance gripped the nation, a married couple buckles under pressure when an actress arrives to do research for a film about their past. 2023 was really the year of the terrible parent when it comes to movie. In May December, Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman...

Director: William Oldroyd Writers: Luke Goebel, Ottessa Moshfegh Starring: Thomasin McKenzie, Shea Whigham, Anne Hathaway, Sam Nivola Runtime:  1 Hour 37 Minutes Synopsis: A woman's friendship with a new co-worker at the prison facility where she works takes a sinister turn. Who doesn't love a "leave them crazy white women alone" film? Eileen is a great film that uses the alway fantastic Anne Hathaway perfectly by pairing her up with Thomasin McKenzie who does a great dead-face, on...

Director: Ava DuVernay Writers: Ava DuVernay, Isabel Wilkerson Starring: Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Jon Bernthal, Niecy Nash, Emily Yancy, Finn Wittrock, Victoria Pedretti Runtime:  2 Hour 15 Minutes Synopsis: The unspoken system that has shaped America and chronicles how lives today are defined by a hierarchy of human divisions. The review crew discuss the latest film from Ava DuVernay, Origins.  Like what you hear? Subscribe so you don't miss an episode! Follow us on...

Director: Paul King Writers: Simon Farnaby, Paul King, Roald Dahl Starring: Timothée Chalamet, Gustave Die, Murray McArthur Runtime:  Hour Minutes Synopsis: With dreams of opening a shop in a city renowned for its chocolate, a young and poor Willy Wonka discovers that the industry is run by a cartel of greedy chocolatiers. The crew review their second musical of the year, Wonka.  Like what you hear? Subscribe so you don't miss an episode! Follow us on...

Director: Takashi Yamazaki Writers: Takashi Yamazaki Starring: Minami Hamabe, Ryunosuke Kamiki, Sakura Ando Runtime:  2 Hour 4 Minutes Synopsis: Post war Japan is at its lowest point when a new crisis emerges in the form of a giant monster, baptized in the horrific power of the atomic bomb. The Crew reviews Godzilla Minus One. Like what you hear? Subscribe so you don't miss an episode! Follow us on Twitter: @Phenomblak @InsanityReport @TheMTRNetwork   Our...

Director: Sean Durkin Writers: Sean Durkin Starring: Zac Efron, Jeremy Allen White, Harris Dickinson, Maura Tierney, Holt McCallany Runtime:  2 Hour 12 Minutes Synopsis: The true story of the inseparable Von Erich brothers, who made history in the intensely competitive world of professional wrestling in the early 1980s. The Iron Claw has an absolutely fantastic cast and set of performances and tells the very tragic tale of the Von Erich family. This is definitely a heartbreaking story...

Director: Yorgos Lanthimos Writers: Tony McNamara, Alasdair Gray Starring: Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe, Ramy Youssef Runtime:  2 Hour 21 Minutes Synopsis: The incredible tale about the fantastical evolution of Bella Baxter; a young woman brought back to life by the brilliant and unorthodox scientist, Dr. Godwin Baxter. Kriss, Ro & Brandon discuss and review the film Poor Things. There's a lot to really enjoy about this film, chief among them is Emma Stone once again...

Director: Bishal Dutta Writers: Bishal Dutta, Ashish Mehta Starring: Megan Suri, Neeru Bajwa, Mohana Krishnan, Betty Gabriel Runtime:  1 Hour 39 Minutes Synopsis: An Indian-American teenager struggling with her cultural identity has a falling out with her former best friend and, in the process, unwittingly releases a demonic entity that grows stronger by feeding on her loneliness. Kriss, Ro and Brandon discuss the film It Lives Inside. While 2023 has been a good year for horror films,...

Director: Michael Mann Writers: Troy Kennedy Martin, Brock Yates Starring: Adam Driver, Shailene Woodley, Giuseppe Festinese Runtime:  2 Hour 4 Minutes Synopsis: Set in the summer of 1957, with Enzo Ferrari's auto empire in crisis, the ex-racer turned entrepreneur pushes himself and his drivers to the edge as they launch into the Mille Miglia, a treacherous 1,000-mile race across Italy. Once you realize that Michael Mann was a producer on Ford v Ferrari, the "I can do it too" mentality...

Director: Blitz Bazawule Writers: Marcus Gardley, Alice Walker, Marsha Norman Starring: Fantasia Barrino, Taraji P. Henson, Danielle Brooks, Colman Domingo, Corey Hawkins Runtime: 2 Hour 20 Minutes Synopsis: A woman faces many hardships in her life, but ultimately finds extraordinary strength and hope in the unbreakable bonds of sisterhood. Ro, Kriss and Brandon review the 2023 adaptation of The Color Purple. There is a wild  swing in opinions and views on this film. It's definitely a...

Director: Hayao Miyazaki Writers: Hayao Miyazaki Starring:  Runtime:  2 Hour 4 Minutes Synopsis:  Already acclaimed as a masterpiece in Japan, Hayao Miyazaki’s new film begins as a simple story of loss and love, and rises to become a staggering work of imagination. Already acclaimed as a masterpiece in Japan, Hayao Miyazaki’s new film begins as a simple story of loss and love, and rises to a staggering work of imagination. Coming after the maker of Spirited Away and Princess...

Director: Cord Jefferson Writers: Cord Jefferson, Percival Everett Starring: Jeffrey Wright, Tracee Ellis Ross, John Ortiz, Erika Alexander, Leslie Uggams, Adam Brody, Keith David, Issa Rae, Sterling K Brown Runtime:  1 Hour 57 Minutes Synopsis: Starring Jeffrey Wright in one of his most beautifully nuanced performances, American Fiction is both a wickedly smart satire about the commodification of marginalized voices and a bittersweet portrait of an artist forced to re-examine the...

Capsule Review: Napoleon is unimaginative, uninspired, and unrelentingly dry. The score and sound design are masterful, but Scott expects them to do too much work in this inert bolder of a story. It's doesn't even give good costume drama - and I say that as a lover of costume dramas.  Listen as Ro chats with Kriss about how Ridley Scott tricked her into watching a film that turns pivotal historical characters into Looney Tunes caricatures and makes such a criminal waste of Vanessa Kirby that...

Capsule Review: Wish is a low-key rebellion story told from through the lens of a teen who's sense of safety and optimistic outlook on life crumble. Wrapping a story about challenging the status quo up in an enchanting tale about wishing on a star makes good use of its uneven story book and musical moments. Wish doesn't quite has that ineffiable something that makes a traditional Disney classic but it certainly makes up for it with its self-aware exploratiion of the dangers of...

Capsule Review: Whether or not you're a fan of the originl Hunger Game's trilogy, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is a dark and violent downward spiral into villiany you didn't know you needed. Suzanne Collins (finally) showcases her understanding of dystopian hellscapes. And this adaptation proves it by turning what could feel like a needless return to Panem into a stunningly lush, brutal, and well-crafted tale of how easy it is to abandon "the good" in pursuit of safety. It's a grim...

The Marvels brings everything you want in a comic book team-up movie to the table: far-reaching stakes, a dynamic ensemble – here a trio made up of Captain Marvel (Brie Larson), Ms. Marvel (Iman Vellani), and Captain Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) – and high energy adventure rife with action-, tragedy, trauma-bonding, and hilarious shenanigans.  It takes a certain eye when pulling the right elements of comic story mechanics and superhero tropes together to design a narrative that has both...

Director: George C. Wolfe Writers: Julian Breece, Dustin Lance Black Starring: Colman Domingo, Chris Rock, Glynn Turman, Amel Ameen, Gus Halper, Johnny Ramey, CCH Pounder Runtime:  1 Hour 46 Minutes Synopsis: Activist Bayard Rustin faces racism and homophobia as he helps change the course of Civil Rights history by orchestrating the 1963 March on Washington. If there's one thing to take away from Rustin it's that Colman Domingo was the perfect casting choice to play Civil Rights activist...

Killers of the Flower Moon is an incisive commentary on the ideology of "manifest destiny" in furtherence of white supermacy as justification for murder. Adapated from the 2017 nonfiction book, Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by journalist David Grann, Killers pulls audiences into the heart of a plot against wealthy members of the Osage Nation in Osage County, Oklahoma.    The narrative of the book, however, uses the murders as a vehicle to detail how...

Director: Alexander Payne Writers: David Hemingson Starring: Paul Giamatti, Dominic Sessa, Da'Vine Joy Randolph Runtime:  2 Hour 13 Minutes Synopsis:  Paul Giamatti stars in Alexander Payne’s latest about the bond that forms between a strict professor and a belligerent student he’s stuck supervising over the winter holiday at an elite boarding school. Barton men don’t lie. This is just one of the many rules Professor Hunham (Paul Giamatti) takes much too seriously as he hands out...

Director: David Gordon Green Writers: Peter Sattler, David Gordon Green, Scott Teems Starring: Leslie Odom Jr, Tracey Graves, Lidya Jewett, Danny McCarthy, Ann Dowd Runtime: 1 Hour 51 Minutes Synopsis: When two girls disappear into the woods and return three days later with no memory of what happened to them, the father of one girl seeks out Chris MacNeil, who's been forever altered by what happened to her daughter fifty years ago. The crew review The Exorcist: Believer.  Like what...