Marshals: In Low Places

Sure, the dregs of the Clegg Clan had the drop on the U.S. Marshals at the end of last week’s episode. They also have them outnumbered four to one, at least. However, the Marshals have two former SEALs—two and a half if Calvin agrees to temporarily deputize “Double G” Garrett. He is not so inclined, but desperate times call for desperate measures in “In Low Places, tonight’s episode of creator Spencer Hudnut’s Marshals.

At the end of “Blowback,” Randall Clegg and his pseudo-militia had abducted Deputy Marshal Andrea Cruz and lured the Marshals into a firefight on the Clegg compound. It is never good when people call their property a “compound.” It’s a very Kennedy thing to do.

Calvin and the Marshals successfully pull back, but they won’t go far. Unfortunately, Clegg clearly intends to execute Cruz on his livestream, but the FBI won’t give up negotiation attempts, clearly still embarrassed by the Waco and Ruby Ridge fallout. Of course, the Marshals are willing to go it alone, but they need recon—and Garrett was really good at recon, before that op they never full explain went south.

Like clockwork, the exposition heavy “Blowback” sets up the lock-and-load action of “In Low Places.” It also sounds like a Garth Brooks reference, so fittingly Riley Green gets to perform a song this week, in the role of Garrett. Presumably, it is one of his originals rather than a Brooks cover, but it is nicely staged, regardless. This episode is also a nice feature opportunity for Ash Santos, who probably shows more range as Cruz in this two-part arc than in the previous seven episodes.

Woodstake, Graphic Novel

New Left hippies were narcissistic hedonists with an irrational hatred of cops. That would have made them perfect vampire food. Consequently, the Woodstock concert would have been like an all-you-can-eat buffet. At least there is still a Van Helsing still living incognito near the Hudson Valley town in Darin S. Cape’s graphic novel, Woodstake, illustrated by Felipe Kroll, which recently released in stores.

Somehow, Dracula relocated to the Hudson Valley, so Van Helsing duly followed. As the unusually long prologue establishes, Van Helsing managed to kill the vampire, but as usual, he wasn’t sufficiently dead. At least the good doctor realizes the monster will rise again, so he trains his son Alexandru to be ready. To protect his identity, Van Helsing changes their family name to something very rock & roll sounding, which represents the graphic novel’s cleverest bit.

Fast forward thirtysome years, at which point Dracula has rejuvenated enough strength to start settling some old grudges. Meanwhile, Jon Harper and his girlfriend Nina Murray are bound for Woodstock. She just wants to enjoy the show, but he is preoccupied with scoring a Hendrix interview for his rock ‘zine. Dracula is coming too—to feed.

The timing for Woodstake is somewhat unfortunate, because it compares rather unfavorably to Herik Hanna’s Altamont, which also followed a group of friends trying to find each other amid the chaos of another notorious hippy-era rock concert happening. However, Altamont is a much more compelling horror story, even though it is completely grounded in real-life events.

Frankly, Woodstake largely lacks the ironic bite of Altamont. Although it is arguably revealing to hear Harper’s friend Artie constantly refer to U.S. servicemen as “baby killers,” it is unclear Cape understands how profoundly offensive that sounds, especially to the children and grandchildren of Vietnam vets. As a rsult, a whole lot of potential readers will root for Dracule to exsanguinate Artie and take possession of his nasty soul.

Fuze: A Ticking Bomb Caper

This heavy, unexploded German bomb fulfills some of its original purposes, causing fear and panic in London—just 80-some years later than intended. Unearthed at a construct site, it requires the police to evacuate and cordon-off an entire neighborhood while the military defuses it. Yet, somehow, a crew of bank robbers seemed to be expecting it. Even with several tons of explosive distraction, the getaway still turns messy in David Mackenzie’s Fuze, which opens today in theaters.

It takes special expertise to handle newly discovered ordinance, because of internal instability. Major Will Tranter has that expertise, even though he is a bit of a loose cannon himself. Nevertheless, he is quickly dispatched to London, where he examines the suddenly ticking bomb.

Meanwhile, Karalis gets to work with his contracted crew, bashing through a connecting wall and drilling into a bank’s safety deposit vault. However, it seems pretty clear, “X,” “Y,” and “Z” do not completely trust Karalis, even though he is the one who knows where all the good stuff is.

Unfortunately, the biggest twist is a little too easy to figure out. You don’t even have pay especially close attention either. In fact, you might have already guessed it. Nevertheless, the second half features enough double-crosses to keep the getaway sufficiently chaotic. The good guys never look stupid either. They are just starting from way, way behind.

In some ways, Ben Hopkins’s screenplay can be a little too coy, but it ultimately somewhat upends viewers’ assumptions. Mackenzie stages some decent cat-and-mouse sequences, but the action needs more scope and spectacle. Frankly, the film just leaves the impression it is the simplified version of a more ambitious concept.

My Brother the Minotaur, on Apple TV+

The more you think about the origins of the Minotaur Theseus slayed on Crete (according to mythology), the more you realize it is not a topic you should dwell on. After all, he was the offspring resulting from Queen Pasiphae’s “dalliance” with King Minos’s prize bull. So…yeah. Wisely, this minotaur has a radically different origin story, especially since his show was produced for kids. Nevertheless, finding acceptance is still frustratingly hard for young, horned Lorcan in creator Donal Mangan’s My Brother the Minotaur, which premieres today on Appl TV+.

Being a minotaur, Lorcan ought to live on an island. In this case, tight-knit Bryony isle voluntarily closed itself off to visitors after Lorcan’s adoptive grandparents discovered him in the woods, to protect him from the outside world. His new parents had given up on having their own children, but his younger brother Charlie came along as a happy surprise a few months later.

Charlie is devoted to his older brother, but some Bryony residents have started to resent Lorcan, especially the former hotelier, dastardly Mr. Craignelder. Recently, Craignelder has kidnapped several local pets, hoping to frame Lorcan and drive away residents. If enough Bryony islanders leave, Craignelder will have the votes to sell out the community to a mining concern.

In a case of bad timing, Lorcan’s past simultaneously comes looking for him. Apparently, there is a hidden portal on Bryony to a fantasy realm, where war ages between the despotic minotaur regime and a fairy army, who protect our world against invasion. Something wants to drag Lorcan back, so it uses a shapeshifting Pooka to do its dirty work on the human side of the portal.

Recently, Ireland emerged as one of the most anti-Semitic nations in Europe, with new reports of anti-Jewish vandalism, discrimination, and harassment recorded at a record rate. Apparently, there is also a great deal of prejudice against minotaurs as well. Frankly, the nation desperately needs to hear this series’ message of tolerance.

Clearly, there is no denying Minotaur’s Irishness, since it was produced by the Irish animation house, Cartoon Saloon and filmmaker Tomm Moore (who helmed Song of the Sea) signed on as an executive producer. Like all Cartoon Saloon projects, the new series has a charming hand-drawn style.

Although written with kids in mind, Mangan’s series often takes its dark fantasy elements in a very horror direction. There are a lot of dark and stormy nights on Bryony. Yet, it also celebrates family bonds, especially those that were not originally based in blood. In fact, the relationship between Lorcan and his grandfather George is especially memorable and endearing.

A Blind Bargain, Sort of Remaking Lon Chaney, Sr.

For movie lovers, the 1965 MGM Vault Fire represents a profound tragedy. Amongst the films destroyed therein were the last surviving (as far as we know) prints of Lon Chaney’s London After Midnight and A Blind Bargain. Years later, fans and scholars still try to piece together an approximate idea of both films, from historical clues. This film was not the result of such efforts. It is more of a conceptual tribute. However, it has the advantage of still existing. In fact, Paul Bunnell’s A Blind Bargain opens tomorrow in New York.

In the much-desired original, Chaney portrayed mad scientist, Dr. Arthur Lamb, as well as one of his victims, the Ape-Man. Lamb had a similar experiment in mind for Robert Sandell. To compel his agreement, Dr. Lamb offers to perform the life-saving Sandell’s mother needs, but at the cost of Sandell’s humanity.

The Mephistophelean Dr. Gruder offers Dominic Fontaine a slightly different Faustian bargain (but it will still be a blind one). Fontaine, who got hooked on heroin while serving in Vietnam (that anti-veteran stereotype just won’t die, will it?), now owes serious money to his leg-breaking dealer. With the best of intentions, his mother, former silent movie star Joy Fontaine, encourages him to seek treatment at the clinic Gruder operates as a front.

Having tested Fontaine, the still-mad doctor realizes his mother’s blood must have the rare elements his experiments require. Sensing their patient’s desperation, Gruder, his hulking enforcer Logos, and his seductive nurse Ellie Bannister convince Fontaine to lure his mother to the clinic under false pretenses and then sign her into the Doctor’s dubious care. At first, the nightmare treatment horrifies the former movie star, but she changes her tune when it successfully returns her to the youth of her stardom days. Of course, it cannot really be that easy, can it?

Wisely, Bunnell and the design team never go for a faux silent era aesthetic. Instead, they aspire to a vintage 1970s exploitation look and texture, starting with the Super 16mm film stock. There are hat tips to Chaney, like the use of his photo and the evocative titles of Fontaine’s movies, like Egypt After Midnight. However, the deliberately rough edges will put off some viewers. Frankly, if viewers didn’t know the title, they might assume it is related to the 2016 remake of Herschell Gordon Lewis’s Blood Feast.

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime the Movie: Scarlet Bond, in Cinema Daily US

To build buzz for the new film, Crunchyroll brought THAT TIME I GOT REINCARNATED AS A SLIME THE MOVIE: SCARLET BOND back into theaters. It stands alone fairly easily and features several surprisingly compelling exclusive-to-the-film characters. CINEMA DAILY US review up here.

Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror

Funny Girl, The Other Side of the Mountain, and Shampoo were among the top 10 highest grossing movies of 1975, but nobody today would want to watch a feature length doc about any of them. In contrast, The Rocky Horror Picture Picture Show was not in the top ten by the time the year ended, but it subsequently rose to become 1975’s third highest grossing picture, because it never left theaters.  For decades, it has been recognized as a phenomenon and it remains so, despite the availability of BluRays and streaming. Filmmaker Linus O’Brien chronicles the film’s history and takes stock of its legacy with its creator, his father Richard O’Brien, in the documentary Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror, which returns to theaters this Friday.

It started as a stage show in a proper theater’s experimental side stage, where blokes like writer-composer O’Brien and director Jim Sharman could do whatever they wanted, because nobody would be watching. However, right from the start, the show was a smash hit, earning extensions and a transfer to a larger theater.

Eventually, the show was imported to Los Angeles, where it had equal or greater success at the Roxy, an appropriately hipster venue. It still wouldn’t necessarily be an obvious fit for Hollywood, but producer Lou Adler saw the commercial potential (as it happens, he also produced Cheech & Chong’ Up in Smoke). Indeed, Adler worked closely with the only sympathetic Fox exec to develop the film’s midnight screening strategy, after its initial release bombed.

Obviously, O’Brien had guaranteed access to his father. His connections also secured interviews with Sharman, Adler, and just about every other living cast-member, including Tim Curry, Barry Bostwick and Susan Sarandon. It is a little creepy seeing Sarandon, considering her recent history, including retweeting a “woke-right” extremist consprcy theeorist claiming the October 7^th massacre was an Israeli false flag operation, but there is no denying she is a big part of the film’s history, so she should be there.

Fortunately, the scenes featuring the O’Brien, father and son, are quite endearing. Clearly, the film director grew-up amid the “strangeness” of the Rocky Horror world and quickly acclimated to it. He gets a lot of good stuff from his dad, including highly candid responses and some impromptu musical performances. This might sacrilegious to the Rocky faithful, but some might consider his solo acoustic renditions superior to the big, blaring stage orchestrations.

Desert Warrior, Made in Saudi Arabia

The Battle of Dhu Qar of the early 600’s AD represents a surprising choice of subject matter for Saudi Arabia’s largest film project to date (filmed in the desert surrounding the Neom "mega-city"). It chronicles a pre-Islamic rebellion against a tyrannical monarch. That definitely sounds like two strikes against it. However, it resulted in a major Arab victory over the Persians, so there is that. More importantly for most potential viewers, it depicts warfare conducted on camels and elephants. Princess Hind (yes, a woman) unifies the many quarrelling tribes forced to pay tribute to Emperor Kisra II in Rupert Wyatt’s Desert Warrior, which releases this Friday in theaters.

Lately, Kisra has demanded more than tribute. He also requires a daughter from each of the vassal tribal kings, whom he takes as a concubine. That was too much for Hind’s father, King Al-Numan. Refusing to submit, the King and Princess become fugitives, fleeing Kisra’s warrior-slave, Jalabzeen, who hopes capturing them will earn him his freedom.

They only barely escape, thanks to Hanzala’s timely intercession. In exchange for a jeweled dagger, the bandit helps them reach temporary safety with the Shaybani, where Chief Hani offers them the protection of his hospitality. Despite his mercenary motives, Hanzala holds his own grudge against Jalabzeen. Nevertheless, he is not very welcome in the Shaybani Territory.

In fact, such rivalries always kept the tribes divided and therefore easy for Kisra II and his predecessors to dominate. Tired of running, Hind decides to use the best and the worst of the Chiefs motivations to finally unite against the Persians. Chief Hani joins out of principle, while the Princess manipulates others with promises of revenge and plunder, the former being much more likely than the latter.

Of course, they are still vastly outnumbered, but Hind, Hani, and their allies develop some truly merciless scorched earth tactics. Indeed, the final climactic battle more than compensates for the film’s meandering mid-section. In fact, several of the battle charges compare favorably with the spectacle of Jodhaa Akbar.

Weirdly, even though Anthony Mackie brings a strong, brooding presence to the proceedings, the character of Hanzala feels conspicuously shoehorned into the narrative to give the film greater commercial viability. Yes, he saves Princess Hind several times, but these duties could have been easily transferred to Chief Hani and his commanders. Still, Mackie has convincing action cred, which serves Desert Warrior well.

Kevin, on Prime Video

If you’re a cat, fur balls count as prime scatological humor material. Yet, weirdly, they are the only form of excrement that does not feature prominently in Prime Video’s latest adult animation series. The title character is a cat, so he is supposed to be anti-social, but how does such a pampered feline pick up such a potty mouth? Of course, he will hear even worse once he moves from his sheltered Astoria home to the Furrever Friends animal shelter in showrunner-co-creator Joe Wengert’s eight-episode Kevin, which starts streaming today on Prime Video.

Dana assumed Kevin would come with her when she broke up with Dan (the couple are played by real-life ex’s and series co-creators Aubrey Plaza and Wengert), but instead he walked out on both of him (pets and humans talk together as more or less equals in this cartoon world). He soon regrets it when he starts crashing at Furrever Friends. At least he finds some new cronies including Armando, a very cultured Persian (originally from Provincetown); Judy, an aging kitten afflicted with multiple ooze-producing ailments; Cupcake, a hard-partying sex-worker alley cat, and Bear, who is like the Ron Swanson of the canine world.

The shelter residents are intermittently funny. However, Seth, the human proprietor, and his abusive shih tzu Brandi regularly generate litter-boxfuls of cringe. Their shtick becomes painful.

Admittedly, each episode has its laughs, but after watching one or two, you will become keenly aware that you are just listening to pets cuss like sailors. That is really it. The humor starts there and stays there. To be fair, there are a few slightly daring jokes, but Wengert and Plaza over-rely blue language and foul looking fluids.

If there is a second season, the co-creators and their writers’ room should impose a per episode cap on raunch, to force themselves to mine cleverer veins of humor. Right now, Kevin just feels like a bunch of other “edgy” animated series that have already come and gone. Also, the animation is serviceable, but it is far from the Titmouse studio’s best work.

Marshals: Blowback

Most U.S. Marshals would rather kick down doors than worry about personnel issues. That is certainly true in Pete Calvin’s case and Kayce Dutton can surely relate. The Dutton family never really cared about people’s feelings, not even their own. Unfortunately, a lot of personal stuff blows up on the team in “Blowback,” tonight’s episode of creator Spencer Hudnut’s Marshals.

Last episode, Calvin and Deputy Marshal Belle Skinner had a bit of a moment that now leads to a heck of a lot of awkwardness. Calvin also has another doctor appointment, which does not bode well. On top of that, he just learned Deputy Marshal Miles Kittle is dating his mostly estranged daughter Maddie.

That would challenge any supervisor—but wait, there’s more. A former SEAL comrade of Calvin and Dutton, turns up unannounced. Unfortunately, Garrett blames Calvin for his “former” status. However, his extreme PTSD will be mostly Dutton’s problem. Regardless, there is a lot of background noise going on when the Marshals receive an anonymous time regarding one of the FBI’s most wanted fugitives, who is apparently planning a job in Big Sky Country.

“Blowback” seems to following the pattern established by “Lost Girls” and “Out of the Shadows,” in which two-episode story arcs are set-up with a talky first installment and finished with a guns-blazing conclusion. Hopefully, that will be the case next week too. Nevertheless, this episode will hold significance for some fans, because it introduces real-life country music star Riley Green, as Garrett. Indeed, Green is probably a good fit for the Yellowstone fanbase.

ND/NF ’26: Two Mountains Weighing Down My Chest

What is it like to come out as non-binary in today’s China? Artist-filmmaker Viv Li is reluctant to find out. To a large degree, she has adopted the norms and values of the Grman hipster art-world, but she still wants to identify as Chinese. Through her very personal lens, the audience gets an unvarnished perspective on both worlds in Li’s Two Mountains Weighing Down on My Chest, which screens during this year’s New Directors/New Films.

Weirdly, there just might be something to annoy everyone in Li’s film, which is absolutely a point in its favor. Through her German friends she engages in various forms of nudist “decadence” (as the Maoists back home might say). Indeed, a great deal of the pretentious art produced by her circle will truly underwhelm the average working-class stiff, from either China or the West.

Yet, when Li returns home, she is clearly put off by her relatives’ idolization of Mao and Xi. She tries to hold her tongue and avoid politics, but she has to scoff when they claim the majority of American homes lack basic necessities, like electrified power. Indeed, regardless, of your take on the art produced by Li’s friends, her film vividly documents the dubious nature of CCP propaganda and just how desperately older Chinese generations want to believe it.

Eagles of the Republic, in The Epoch Times

EAGLES OF THE REPUBLIC represents an incisive politcal thriller with a touch of the absurd, which also evokes nostalgia for the golden age of Egyptian cinema. It unambiguously indicts el-Sisi's authoritarianism, but its trenchant criticisms apply to just about every other Middle Eastern regime, as well. EPOCH TIMES review up here.

Lee Cronin's The Mummy, in Cinema Daily US

There are no pyramids or tomb-raiding in LEE CRONIN'S THE MUMMY, but it serves up a lot of seriously demonic scares and some particularly gruesome body-horror. Fans not wedded to Mummy movie traditions should appreciate this radically new take, because it does what horror movies are supposed to do. CINEMA DAILY US review up here.

Brand New Landscape (ND/NF), at Cinema Daily US

BRAND NEW LANDSCAPE is a quiet but potent family chamber drama that also has a good deal of architectural savvy. The minimalist aesthetic is not for everyone, but the performances are impressive. ND/NF review up at CINEMA DAILY US here.

Ben Wheatley’s Normal

Ulysses Richardson is no Andy Taylor. The substitute sheriff would be the first to admit he stopped caring a long time ago. Consequently, he surprises himself when he follows the example of Will Kane and Buford Pusser, standing alone against corruption in his latest posting. Unfortunately, his new found integrity might very likely get him killed in Ben Wheatley’s Normal, which opens today in theaters.

Until the special election, Richardson will serve as the sheriff of Normal, Minnesota. He basically just shuffles papers, but weirdly, the Mayor Kibner so likes his “light touch,” he suggests making it permanent. Of course, that makes Richardson suspicious. The circumstances of his predecessor’s death are also disconcerting. That would be the late Sheriff Gunderson, just like in Fargo.

Frankly, people in town are just plain weird. They also raised millions of dollars for a new city hall and have stocked the sheriff’s office with military grade armaments. Even a substandard cop like Richardson smells something fishy, but the interim sheriff is still shocked when his own deputies start firing on him during an ill-prepared bank robbery, to prevent him from getting a good look inside the vault.

John Wick and Nobody franchise creator Derek Kolstad turns Bob Odenkirk lose to do what his anti-heroes do best. If you like those movies, you will enjoy Normal too.  Arguably, it is more conventional than Wheatley’s previous films (Kill List, Sightseers, A Field in England, etc.), but he gleefully cranks up the violent mayhem to deranged levels.

However, Kolstad and Wheatley also invest heavily early on to fully establish Richardson as a character, so he wears increasingly comfortably over the course of the film, like an old sweater. Odenkirk was also perfectly cast, because he deftly balances the temp-sheriff’s amiability with his sarcasm and sadness. Seriously, Richardson also has franchise potential. Maybe the next movie could take place in a town named “Decent.”

Brothers Under Fire, Starring Kiefer Sutherland

Ordinarily, we would like to think a deployment to Syria would be more dangerous than a vacation in Mexico. Yet, we watched Mexican tourism understandably plummet after retaliatory cartel terror attacks avenging the druglord El Mencho shut down the nation less than two months ago. Unfortunately, Captain Jordan Wright and four of his squad face similar cartel violence when they travel to Mexico for a comrade’s wedding in Justin Chadwick’s Brothers Under Fire, which releases Friday in theaters and on-demand.

Wright is the kind of leader who always brings his men home. Perhaps he can’t truly guarantee that, given the nature of war, but he would willingly die trying. His men razz each other particularly hard, but they always have their brothers’ backs. Naturally, their medic, Alberto Castillo invites Wright, Lt. Carson, country boy Danny Watlon, and cocky Marco Hino to his wedding. It will be a dual celebration, since he just took his U.S. citizenship oath.

His fiancée, Isabella Perez, believes it will be a triple celebration, because she intends to reveal her pregnancy after the wedding. Of course, movie fans know weddings and pregnancy invite tragedy, which in turn requires payback. True to form, Stevie, the reckless brother of a notorious cartel boss crashes the reception with clear intention of making trouble.

Wright and his men will be out-manned and out-gunned, but they have far superior training and discipline. Basically, they find themselves in the position of the Magnificent Seven, except they number even less than that.

Brothers Under Fire is a relatively straight forward action film that happens to be incredibly zeitgeisty. Unfortunately, at this point, nothing in Ian Mackenzie Jeffers and Delbert Hancock’s screenplay can be considered far-fetched. It is all “ripped from the headlines” stuff. As a happy bonus, Justin Chadwick, who is better known for period productions like Tulip Fever and Shardlake, also shows a pleasant facility for staging bullet-strafing action sequences.

City Wide Fever: Micro-Budget Giallo Weirdness

There ought to be sufficient obscure Giallo directors to provide thesis material for every film studies grad student. Sam thinks Saturnino Rezi could be hers. She never heard of him before finding a USB stick loaded with his posters and ephemeral material, despite being a hardcore Giallo weirdo. However, the more she researches Rezi, the more her life becomes like his final unfinished stalker movie in director-screenwriter Josh Heaps’ City Wide Fever, which screens today nationwide at Alamo Drafthouses.

Even sight-unseen, Rezi pushes Sam’s buttons, especially the tantalizing tidbits regarding what would have been his final film, City Wide Fever, which was abandoned, because of … you know. Unfortunately, she must start with her massively inappropriate professor, Keith, who shares her Giallo passion. On his advice, she seeks out Hong, Rezi’s former cinematographer, who is known to frequent the last remaining old school Times Square adult emporiums.

Almost everyone else involved is already dead, likely murdered by the film’s hooded slasher, who also starts stalking Sam and her circle. He seems to come alive whenever anyone starts asking questions about City Wide Fever.

Heaps’ premise will intrigue most cult film fans, but the execution is beyond camp. Admittedly, he was deliberately going for a cheap and schlocky vibe, but the film still looks cheap and schlocky. Frankly, several extended off-color comedy bits clash with the film’s general tone and the humor doesn’t even land. Plus, there is no Giallo reality so twisted in which a New York film school professor could openly express QAnon lunacy and expect to keep his position, as Keith does. To make the lecherous prof even more annoying, he is played by Summer of Blood’s Onur Tukel.

It is a shame, because Heaps had several clever ideas, like casting a second Sam for particularly stressful and surreal scenes. For a little unexpected star power, Rutanya Alda is an especially good sport playing herself, the final survivor of City Wide Fever.

Chernobyl, Life, and Other Disasters: Graphic Novel

Growing up in Soviet Ukraine, “Genya” had to be part of the “1%.” That is not a demagogic reference to economic standing. It is an acknowledgement of the discrimination she faced because of her Jewish heritage. Plus, there was a nuclear catastrophe during her childhood. Yevgenia Nayberg illustrates her own graphic memoir of growing up Ukrainian in the fateful year of 1986 in Chernobyl, Life, and Other Disasters, which releases today in stores.

There will be no gruesome images of Ukrainian fire-fighters keeling over in sub-standard hazmat suits, because Nayberg wasn’t there to see it. She was “just” a kid, but Chernobyl still loomed large over her childhood.

In fact, Nayberg and her mother successfully found refuge in Russia with her aunt and cousin throughout most of the crisis mismanagement. However, they both returned to Kyiv earlier than most, so Nayberg could sit for her art school exam.

Indeed, her memoir still has much to say about the Soviet experience, especially her realization that nobody believed the state media. Obviously, that lack of trust made everything worse. Nayberg also gently but firmly documents the Soviet Union’s pervasive anti-Semitism. Consequently, Nayberg had to study and practice harder than anyone else, because only 1% of Jewish applicants would be admitted.

Of course, she was also a young girl dealing with school and her peers, so there are plenty of coming-of-age episodes that young readers will readily identify with. Just about any reader who had a youthful passion for art and drawing will relate to her as a character, even if they do not share her memories of sweeping her apartment with Geiger-counters.

ND/NF ’26: Next Life

In Tibet, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) constantly destroys lives, but it also jeopardizes reincarnations. For Tibetans exiles like Rigzin’s parents, a return to their homeland before their anticipated deaths holds great karmic implications for their next life. However, the occupying CCP rarely issues travel visas for Tibetan exiles. So far, Rigzin’s Pala and Amala have not been exceptions. He keeps applying, but time is running out in Tenzin Phuntsog’s Next Life, which screens during this year’s New Directors/New Films.

Tsewang and his wife have been happy living in America, but they still feel like they belong in Tibet. In contrast, Rigzin clearly identifies with America on a cultural level, even though he speaks Tibetan with his parents and practices Tibetan Buddhism. Tsewang’s heart is failing, so he has given up on Western medicine, in favor of traditional Tibetan healing. However, the results remain the same.

Next Life very much explores the dynamics of modern immigrant families, but their dilemma is distinctly Tibetan. Given Tsewang’s extensive family roots in Tibet and his advanced age, the CCP’s continued rejection of his visa application is simply a product of cruelty and spite. Perhaps the most telling sequence captures Rigzin trying to navigate the Chinese consulate’s automated phone system, until he finally reaches a consular officer, who sounds like a dystopian AI chatbot, but was perfectly voiced by Yanbin Zhao.

Marshals: Family Business

If you forget your doggy bag in a restaurant, always go back for it. You don’t want to miss out on good leftovers. Plus, it could save your life, like it does for Federal Judge Pauline Ayers and her husband Blake. Unfortunately, the valet keeping her engine running isn’t so lucky. They darn well better finish that steak, since he died for it. They will have time too, while Deputy Marshal Pete Calvin keeps them under protection in “Family Business,” the latest episode of Marshals, airing tonight on CBS.

Ayers is known for tough sentences, so the Marshals have no shortage of suspects. When the attempts keep coming, Blake Ayers asks if there is anywhere Calvin can put them where his whiny daughter Fallon might have more space. Of course, he happens to know of a ranch that is pretty far off the grid.

It turns out, it happens to be the same ranch wealthy Tom Weaver would like to buy, which rather puts a damper on Kayce Dutton’s romance with Weaver’s daughter, Dolly. Regardless, Dutton invites company over, presumably sending his son Tate off to friends—even though he and Fallon Ayers would make quite a dreary, mopey pair. Still, it is just as well he won’t be around.

This episode of the Yellowstone procedural is in fact very procedural. “Family Business” barely touches on the Dutton family or the Broken Rock reservation storylines, beyond Kayce Dutton’ work on the case. As the title suggests, “family” is a theme for tonight’s episode, but Calvin and Deputy Marshal Belle Skinner get most of the awkwardly applicable moments for a change.

Dutton is still actively engaged in the investigation, but series star Luke Grimes got a little more trailer time during the shooting of “Family Business.” It is also lighter on action than the previous guns-blazing two-parter, “Out of the Shadows” and “Lost Girls.”  However, it is a nice showcase for Logan Marshall-Green, who has emerged as the best casting decision beyond the Yellowstone mother ship holdovers. At this point, his Calvin deserves crossover opportunities in other Yellowstone spin-offs.

ND/NF ’26: Panda

The Yangtze is truly a river of tears. Throughout history, its floods have been devastating, leading to the deaths of hundred as recently as 2016. According to scientists, the Yangtze also contributes more plastic pollution to the oceans than any other river. Plus, in Nanjing, the bridge over the Yangtze happens to be a notorious site for suicides. Old Xin Qiji can’t do much about pollution or floods but he does his best to prevent suicides in Xinyang Zhang’s Panda, which screens during the 2026 New Directors/New Films.

Xin is a lot like the real-life Chen Si, whose efforts to dissuade potentials suicides on the Yangtze River Bridge were documented in The Angel of Nanjing. However, Xin is literally more poetic, incorporating his verse into the holistic treatment he proscribes for ailing suicide survivors.  Or, perhaps they are ghosts. Regardless, Xin is still there to treat their spiritual and emotional sicknesses.

Apparently, Frog Zhu has taken refuge in delusion, believing himself a mystical dragon rider, who must find a legendary beast to travel back to heaven. At least he no longer shows suicidal tendencies. Slowly, he starts to interact with Zhang’s small distantly interconnected cast of characters, including Pansy, a young woman struggling with her dysfunctional family. Arguably, Panda plays out like Short Cuts on the Yangtze, but with fewer overlapping plot arcs and considerably more emotional distance.

Zhang’s gritty, neo-realist style and affinity for those living on the extreme margins of contemporary Chinese society reflects the influence of his mentor, Jia Zhangke. However, he occasionally veers into surrealist magical realism that shares a kinship with the films of Bi Gan. Frankly, it is a shame he did not lean into the latter more forcefully, because the fantastical detours represent the film’s most powerful sequences. Frankly, Panda would be much more commercial if Zhang had made the scene depicting Old Xin conversing with the spirit of a deceased friend, who now inhabits a panda in the zoo, into a regular motif.

Exit 8, in Cinema Daily US

EXIT 8 is one of the most successful horror movie adaptations to-date, thanks to its creepy images and performances. Yet, itt also reflects a keen awareeness of its absurdist-existential predecessors that could help it crossover beyond category CINEMA DAILY US review up here.

Hunting Matthew Nichols

When the original Blair Witch Project released, it inspired teenaged Matthew Nichols and his friend Jordan Reimer to make their own DIY horror movies. Judging by the small army of found footage films reviewed here, they were clearly not the only ones. Unfortunately, instead of earning a quick pay day, they fell into a ravine and died. At least that is what the provincial Vancouver Island police say, but they never discovered the bodies. Two decades later, his sister Tara and a documentary film crew set out to uncover their true fate. In the process, they produce another found footage horror movie: Markian Tarasiuk’s independently produced and released Hunting Matthew Nichols, which releases today in theaters.

Way up in northern Vancouver, there isn’t much for teens to do except watch horror movies and go hiking. Consequently, everyone hoped Nichols and Reimer would be found, considering how well they knew the woods (the Canadians call it “bush,” but same difference). Yet, the police only recovered Nichols’ video camera.

Tara Nichols wants answers and director Markian Tarasiuk and cameraman Ryan Alexander McDonald—playing themselves—want to help her at least reach some closure. Regardless, they get some pretty good footage when they discover the missing teens were preoccupied with the local not-so-urban legend of Roy McKenzie, a reputed cult leader, who may or may not have eaten the residents of his commune. McKenzie can definitely hang with the Blair Witch. Nichols and Reimer thought so too, judging from the totem the police turn over to his sister.

There is no getting around the fact Tarasiuk’s film looks and plays very much like Chris Stuckmann’s Shelby Oaks, but the Roy McKenzie lore helps somewhat set it apart. It also has some of the best performances you will find in the found footage sub-genre. Miranda MacDougall shows potential star-power as Tara Nichols.

Putin’s Fortune, Graphic Novel

It shouldn't surprise anyone that the autocrat is also a kleptocrat. Indeed, plundering Russia was always part of the plan—the KGB’s plan. It even had a name: Operation Luch. $50 billion was siphoned out of the country and used to reassert the KGB elites’ power after the fall of Communism. That is exactly what happened, with Putin reaping the greatest benefits, both in terms of money and power. French historian Yvonnick Denoël chronicles the Russian dictator’s enrichment and the ruthless consolidation of his position in Putin’s Fortune, illustrated by Gildas Java, which is now on-sale at book and comic retailers.

His boss at the KGB knew Gorbachev was doomed to fail, so he entrusted Operation Luch to his trusted subordinates, including Putin. They immediately started implementing his plans with help from some key allies in the East German Stasi and the Russian mob. Indeed, one of Denoël’s biggest “scoops” is his revelation of Putin’s longstanding cooperation with various criminal clans, which simply carried over from their alliance with the Communist Party.

Basically, Putin started creating a spider’s web of dummy corporations and holding companies, whose boards were all packed with KGB veterans. Money flowed out of the Soviet Union and later Russia, through lucrative western investments and back into slush funds that purchased state enterprises at fire-sale prices and financed Russian political campaigns.

At this point, just about all of Putin’s Fortune is already in the public record. Unfortunately, few people care. Perhaps Java’s starkly noir art can help, to an extent, because it vividly the soulless evil of the titular tyrant and his regime. His ultra-cool art is also clearly intended for adults, because it graphically illustrates the debauchery of Putin and his cronies, whom useful idiots like Marjorie Taylor Greene bizarrely celebrate for their alleged “traditional values.”

ND/NF ’26: Leviticus

Even before the 1980s, horror movies were associating sex and death. The former often led to the latter, but for the horny teens consuming these movies, the hedonism was maybe worth the risk. “Au contraire” say the Evangelical Australians, who will do anything to keep their kids from swinging the wrong way. For Naim and his on-again-off-again friend-hook-up-lover Ryan, the cure is way worse than the disease in director-screenwriter Adrian Chiarella’s Leviticus, the opening night film of this year’s New Directors/New Films.

Naim and his mother recently moved to the sleepy provincial town after enduring a vague, never fully explained trauma. Clearly, she has adopted religion as her coping mechanism—the more old-time, the better. Despite their church’s funky-aspiring Christian rock band, Naim is more interested in exploring his sexuality, preferably with Ryan. Unfortunately, Ryan also does some exploring with the “blue jeans” pastor’s son.

In a fit of jealousy, Naim informs on Ryan and his rival, but soon regrets it. To cure the boys, the congregation brings in a “Deliverance Preacher” who essentially places a curse on the lads. Every night, a demon will taunt them in the form of the one they most desire. According to the film’s logic, this is intended to scare them straight, literally. Yet, if it actually worked, wouldn’t the demon subsequently take the shape of women?

Regardless, Naim’s mother soon commits the ultimate betrayal, by arranging his own session with the Deliverance Preacher. Ironically, she drives Naim back to Ryan. Despite the risks, they join forces, in hopes of devising a way to undo the curse. As long as they are with someone, the demon cannot approach. Yet, as soon as they separate, they cannot tell whether the doppelganger might be appearing before them, instead their forbidden lover.

Clearly, Leviticus (named for the Old Testament book with the hardcore fire-and brimstone reputation) owes an enormous debt of gratitude to David Robert Mitchell’s It Follows. Chiarella and cinematographer Tyson Perkins stage several darkly sinister scenes, in which tremendous tension is built from the is-he-or-isn’t-he question. Frankly, the paranoia of not being able to trust the one you adore the most is quite terrifying.

However, the entire curse business makes little sense and the depiction of the Evangelicals is distractingly heavy-handed and simplistic. If Chiarella were to make a film about Berber nomads, he would probably try to understand their culture, their values, and their world view. Yet, obviously, no such effort was made with Evangelicals. The truth is they simply do not talk or think as Chiarella depicts. The absence of such understanding leaves Leviticus conspicuously populated with straw men, whose only purpose is to undermine the beliefs they supposedly profess. That’s projection and wish fulfilment.

Unbroken, in The Epoch Times

Performing in a dance troupe should not require the degree of courage required of the Shen Yun company. The documentary UNBROKEN serves as an urgent wakeup call, exposing the CCP's extraterritorial harassment campaign against Shen Yun. Yet, it also serves as a performing arts doc, vividly capturing the company's artistry. EPOCH TIMES review up here.

Hamlet: One of the Contemporary Productions

The difference between an “l” and an “n” can be huge. In this case, it is an “l” for Hamlet, so you should be able to watch it without falling asleep. At least, it is sort of Hamlet. Not only has the setting been updated, the cast of characters has been severally abridged. However, his father “the king” is still dead and his mother is still marrying his uncle rather soon afterward in Aneil Karia’s Hamlet, which opens this Friday in New York.

The story follows a similar arc, but in this case, Hamlet is the heir to his father’s real estate, including the enormous luxury the development known as El Sinore. Poor Hamlet is still grieving when Uncle Claudius announces his engagement to Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude. Frankly, Hamlet finds it all rather unseemly, even before he encounters the ghost of his father.

So, yes, this is Hamlet. However, Michael Lesslie’ adaptation simplifies Shakespeare’s original play in often strange ways. Horatio is gone. Instead, Ophelia and Laertes stand-in for him in scenes where his presence would be required. However, this greatly muddies the nature of Hamlet’s relationship with the latter, with whom he ordinarily has no love lost, yet now they are sort of friends—at least until Hamlet kills his father, Polonius. Rosencranz and Guildenstern also got the axe, but the Hamlet of Shakespeare’s play would be the first to tell you they were no great loss.

Bizarrely, since there is no Horatio, we never get “a fellow of infinite jest” or “good night sweet prince.” Also, since Laertes frequently covers for him, he never leaves, so there is no “to thine own self be true” speech. Of course, we still have Hamlet’s soliloquy, but Karia’s ill-conceived staging sabotages Riz Ahmed’s big moment, shooting him solely in profile while driving behind the wheel of a car. It is a head-scratchingly uncinematic treatment.

That is a real shame, because other scenes are brilliantly executed. To Karia’s credit, Hamlet’s pivotal confrontation with Gertrude and Polonius has the visceral violence most productions do not have the guts for. Indeed, Timothy Spall and Sheeba Chaddha are both terrific as Polonius and Gertrude, even when Hamlet isn’t slamming them into walls.

I Know Exactly How You Die

Poor struggling horror writer Rian Burman is going through a lot right now. He doesn’t need his agent constantly calling to berate him on top of it all. He ought to just write himself a new one. Apparently, he can do that in the Clayborne, the low-budget motel he checked into. Things tend to come to pass there once they are put to paper (or laptop hard drive). Obviously, that will cause some issues since he writes horror in Alexandra Spieth’s I Know Exactly How You Die, which hits various streaming platforms tomorrow.

Burman needs to send that demanding agent some pages pronto, but he is still reeling from a bad break-up. Katie Waters is a lot like his ex. She is just his type. Unfortunately, she is also Hector Darbes’ type as well. The serial killer has stalked her throughout his killing spree and now he has followed her to the Clayborne as well. That was a far as Burman got before meeting Waters face-to-face.

He soon realizes writing comes to life at the Clayborne—a fact Naja, the proprietress and very amateur poet, reluctantly confirms. Unfortunately, he already washed out the roads and toppled the local cell towers, but he resolves to change the tragic fate he envisioned for Waters. Yet, much to his alarm, his story seems to be taking on a life of its own, in a decidedly dangerous way.

There is a lot that works in Spieth’s film, starting with the two principles. Rushabh Patel and Stephanie Gomes Hogan both bring interesting, energetic screen-presences to the party. The fundamental premise is also intriguing. However, there is an awful lot of fudging and conspicuous attempts at narrative sleight-of-hand.

Marshals: Out of the Shadows

Obviously, Yellowstone fans prefer complex storylines. Frankly, the weekly procedural format might not be a perfect fit for the faithful, even though they should certainly appreciate the Marshal Service’s cowboy roots. Consequently, it probably makes sense to start making some two-parters for Kayce Dutton’s spin-off. It turns out they needed more than one episode to catch the traffickers holding Tate Dutton’s friend Hayley Charlo. In fact, their frustrated attempts to rescue Charlo are causing Dutton even more angst and guilt than usual (and he already carries quite a lot) in “Out of the Shadows,” the latest episode of creator Spencer Hudnut’s Marshals, premiering tonight on CBS.

During the third act of last week’s episode, Charlo convinced Dutton to let her return to her captors, so her fellow trafficking victims would not suffer reprisals. Unfortunately, the camper they thought was carrying the girls was empty, leaving them back at square one. It was a tough call, which his boss Pete Calvin respects. However, Dutton must take tons of grief from former Reservation cop Miles Kittle and his whiny, annoying son.

In a case of good news-bad news, the Marshals manage to connect the traffickers to a rather nasty biker gang, the Iron Sentinels. Even better (or worse), Deputy Marshal Belle Skinner still has an undercover alias that should still be valid with them, but Clavin definitely has the feeling he is sending her into the lion’s den.

The Marshals-versus-bikers storyline really gives this episode a neo-Western vibe. It is also an installment conservatives should appreciate since it is all about combating human trafficking, a brutal, nightmarish crime that has become bizarrely politicized, after many on the left started to resent the success of Angel Studio’s The Sound of Freedom. Plus, Dutton has some moments of “improvisation” that Dirty Harry Callahan could appreciate.