There’s been some anger over this movie winning an Academy Award. It’s hard for me to judge if a movie deserves to be considered the best film of the year, because the majority of movies that I love always end up being Italian end of the world movies or Mexican ripoffs of American horror tropes. Who am I to judge quality, I asked into the abyss, ignorant of the fact that I’ve created an entire site where I do exactly that.

The idea for Parasite comes from Bong’s own experience: he was a tutor for a wealthy family and imagined what it would be like to infiltrate their life. The title, which the director argued for, has a dual meaning. Sure, the poor servants are living off of the rich, but the masters are living off the labor class. They’ve lost the ability to clean and even move around for themselves. Everyone is a parasite in their own way.

Instead of taking an existing home, the house was specially made for the film. That’s because each character has a place that belongs to them and another place that is secret to them. Boon also spent considerable time storyboarding the entire film, as he believes that he must be ready for everything before the cameras start capturing footage.

There’s a phrase in South Korea called Hell Joseon. It means many things — unemployment, economic inequality, excessive work hours, the fact that poverty is inescapable for the lower class and that the system is rigged for the rich — but it generally means that life is hellish and hopeless.

This is not a phrase that is unique to South Korea.

What spoke most to me is that the history of the world — major battles and the plight of Native Americans — has been reduce to party table formations and the hobbies of disconnected children. The poor have been reduced to, at best, slave labor and at worst, ghosts. A ghost that appears to ruin the illusion that money and status seems to afford, but any man, no matter his station, can ruin and end the life of another.

I’ve always realized that no matter how good or bad your life is, there are always people with a status above and below you. But I’ll lean in and show you my hand. If there is any group that I’m prejudiced against, it’s the rich. Yet it’s hard to be for the family in this movie, as their machinations only prove that when they get the status they want — even for one fleeting night as they steal whiskey and a view of a yard that can never be theirs — they still hold down and destroy the lives a level beneath their own, only to then learn that their home has been flooded and taken away.

There is no escape for any of the Kim family yet they try to defeat the system through their attempts at grifting. But the system was built by people with far less scruples and morals. The home that promise luxury is also a prison, offering none of the comforts that Ki-taek dreams of, only a place to sneak out of at night and take his own life in his hands just to steal food.

At the end of the film, I felt worry for each character and knew they were all doomed in their own way. They are all trapped, whether by death or hope or the house itself. No one gets a happy ending, even if we wished for one to come true. Is having hope in the midst of Hell Joseon worth it? I’d like to think so, even as this film doesn’t.

Is it the best film of the year? Is it worth the hype? Is it worth watching? I can’t answer the first two questions, but definitely can say yes to the third. It takes time to get to the point when the staircase to the basement is revealed, but the movie had me from that moment.

It did make me think, as all good movies should. Is everyone a parasite, unable to function alone in this world? Should a father’s pride come in the way of his freedom? Should children be overindulged? How crazy is Morse code? These are the real questions I had.

Thaddeus Hyatt is a chef who has mad cow disease, which leads to him kidnapping foreigners, killing them, injecting his own blood into them, then feeding their flesh to unsuspecting people in his restaurants.

What an elaborate and totally specific plan. It’s almost like a fetish more than a serial killer modus operandi, but hey — good for you Thaddeus. You’ve made your own path in this world.

This is an auteur project for Michael Moutsatsos, who wrote, directed, produced and stars in this film. It reminds me of a modern version of the grimier slashers like Maniac, so if that’s your jam, by all means, dig right in.

You can watch this on Amazon Prime. If you want to know more, check out the official Facebook page.

DISCLAIMER: This movie was sent to us by its PR team.

A young woman named Sam wakes up in a deserted factory where she is hunted by an invisible force. All of the exits have been sealed and her kidnapper is a serial killer wearing a stealth suit that makes him or her nearly invisible. Additionally, the building is guarded by military drones. All Sam wants to do is get back to her baby, but now she must call back on her Royal Marine training and defeat whoever is stalking her.

Stalked comes from writer/producer/director Justin Edgar, who has made the movies The Marker and We Are the Freaks. Sam is played by Nathalie Buscombe, who was in Red 2. She’s joined by Vanessa Donovan (who was in The Marker and Doctors, a TV show that Edgar worked on), Laurence Sanders, Ian Sharp and Stephen Uppal.

Imagine Predator set in rural England, but with no aliens and more modern technology and you have some idea of what Stalked is aiming for.

It’s available on demand and on DVD from Uncork’d Entertainment.

DISCLAIMER: This movie was sent to us by its PR team.

About the Author: Paul Andolina is a great fan of movies. You can check out his sites Wrestling with Film and Is the Dad Alive?

A Perfect Host, originally titled Adonis Complex is a thriller directed by Chad Werner. It stars Emily Hiott (who along with Chad wrote the film), John Michael Simpson, Katelyn Marie Marshall, Jeff McQuitty, and Brady Burleson Johnson.

Sam (Jeff McQuitty) and Avery (Katelyn Marie Marhsall) are going to a lake house for a weekend  getaway, joining them will be Cory (John Michael Simpson), and Becca (Emily Hiott). Sam and Avery arrive first but their access code to the house does not work, after Sam unsuccessfully calls Tad (Brady Burleson Johnson) about the code, he receives a text from Tad to try the code again, and suddenly it works.

Sam and Avery settle in choosing separate rooms and prepare for the arrival of their friends, who will be there the next day.  They look through the entertainment options but all that is in the house is a strange DVD titled Body of Gods. A few glasses of wine later, Sam bares his heart to Avery and tells her he is love with her and has been for a very long time. This makes things super awkward between them. They hear a loud knock and outside is Tad, the owner of the rental home, who is a minimalist who lives in the woods. He has a really weird conversation with Sam. Sam and Avery retire for the evening.

Sam is woken up in the middle of the night by a strange noise, it turns out Tad is making a smoothie, he seems to mean well but is increasingly becoming off-putting. Tad makes Sam work out like mad and Avery wakes up and meets them outside. She offers Tad coffee which sets him off on a tirade about poisoning his body and needing to stay in shape. He also talks about his wife Janet and her suffering from Rhabdomyolysis. It’s quite obvious he is a little unhinged when Avery inquires about the extra room she saw in the house as their friends will need a place to sleep as Sam and her have chosen different rooms.

Sam and Avery go for a small canoe ride but they run into Tad on the lake, Tad capsizes the canoe, and ruins Sam and Avery’s phones. Things continue to become even more odd when Tad insists on cooking dinner for the two friends after apologizing to Avery for the canoe tipping. At dinner Tad starts talking about Fit Free. This really upsets Avery who really gives him the business because she cannot believe he is trying to shill some program on them after the horrible way he has been treating them. 

Avery breaks into the odd room she saw Tad in earlier and everything turns to shit. She comes across a series of videos titled Fit Free with Tad and Jan, and becomes extremely disturbed. Tad starts to show his real intentions for Avery and Sam.

I won’t say much more about the film as it isn’t out until February but I thought it was an excellent film. The cinematography is absolutely stunning. The film’s soundtrack is extremely effective at creating a sense of confusion and tensity and the actors do an amazing job. There aren’t many characters in this film so their portrayal is super important at keeping our interest. Sam and Avery have an oddly strained friendship but I enjoy their interactions. Brady has such a captivating presence as Tad and I was constantly afraid for our protagonists because of how menacing he seems.  Fans of smaller budget thrillers are sure to be pleased by this feature.

A Perfect Host is available on demand and on DVD from Uncork’d Entertainment.

DISCLAIMER: This movie was sent to us by its PR company.

Jay Roach has split his career between comedies — Austin Powers, Dinner for Schmucks, Meet the Parents — with politics — Recount, Game Change, Trumbo, All the Way — and even The Campaign and this film, two movies that try to straddle the line. (He made his directing debut with the 1990 Porkys/Animal House inspired comedy Zoo Radio.)

Working from a script by Charles Randolph (The Life of David Gale, The Interpreter, Love & Other Drugs, The Big Short), this time Roach tackles the #metoo movement from a place that the left side may not want to acknowledge: inside Fox News.

Concentrating on the stories of Megyn Kelly (Charlize Theron), Gretchen Carlson (Nicole Kidman)  and Kayla Pospisil (Margot Robbie), Bombshell shows how each of their lives intersected with the head of Fox News, Roger Ailes (John Lithgow). The film blurs the lines between real life and movie magic by sometimes using real footage — particularly as Donald Trump clashes with Kelly.

While that media storm is blowing, Carlson is booted as co-anchor of the popular Fox and Friends show. She then meets with lawyers who tell her that she could file suit against Ailes, but would need other women to come forward.

Pospisil is a new hire who works for Carlson and then Bill O’Reilly (Kevin Dorff, who often appeared on Conan O’Brien’s shows) before he fires her. That night, she sleeps with Jess Carr (Kate McKinnon), who is a closeted lesbian who works for the channel. Neither of these characters — in the mass of real people whose real lives are on display — are based on anyone real, but instead serve as straw people, amalgams of the various anonymous testimonies against Ailes. It’s strange, when Pospisil easily falls in bed with Carr, despite constantly proclaiming her Christian upbringing. I realize this isn’t a documentary, but at this point, you should realize that the story is skewed.

Then again, are Kayla and Carr just the voices of the voiceless? As the composite characters made up of interviews the producers did with former staffers, as well as anonymous testimony, are they any less real for not being actual people?

Randolph told USA Today, “What happens inside of Roger’s office is based on the stories of three women we had access to. Her being ideologically fervent like a dedicated Republican, but a little sexually fluid and utterly morally sincere, that’s based more on women in my life.”

In a harrowing scene, Pospisil later is invited to Ailes’ office, where he continually makes her lift her skirt higher, despite seeming to show no real attention or care to who she is, what she’s doing or what she’s saying. Sex — and the power given by it — is just a casual transaction.

After Carlson supports the assault weapons ban on air, Ailes fires her, which allows her to launch her suit. All female staffers are asked to stand in lockstep with Fox, but Kelly refuses. Soon, twenty-two other women — and recorded conversations — push the cable news titan out of power.

So was Kelly a hero? Was her need to speak up heroic? Perhaps not so, according to As Ailes biographer Gabriel Sherman, who wrote in New York Magazine: “Carlson’s lawsuit presented an opportunity. Kelly could bust up the boys’ club at Fox, put herself on the right side of a snowballing media story, and rid herself of a boss who was no longer supportive of her—all while maximizing her leverage in a contract negotiation.”

Carlson really did record every conversation with Ailes for an entire year, as she’d been planning to sue him for some time. The damning line, “I think you and I should have had a sexual relationship a long time ago” is 100% accurate, as is the $20 million she received.

Malcolm McDowell plays mogul Rupert Murdoch, and his sons, James and Lachlan, are played by Australia brothers Josh and Ben Lawson — who are much more attractive than the real-life Murdoch boys. However, the gay slur that Ailes levies against James and his post 9-11 breakdown over anthrax are both accurate, according to this Slate article.

Bombshell is packed with great actors in small roles, like Connie Britton (Friday Night Lights) as Beth Ailes, Rob Delaney as a producer, Mark Duplass (The League) as Kelly’s husband, Allison Janney as Ailes’ legal consultant Susan Estrich, Katie Aselton (who was also on The League), Nazanin Boniadi as Rudi Bakhtiar (the first person who tried to sue Ailes), Liv Hewson (Santa Clarita Diet) as a staffer, Andy Buckley (David Wallace from The Office), P. J. Byrne as Neil Cavuto, Bree Condon as The Five host Kimberly Guilfoyle, Alice Eve as Fox and Friends host Ainsley Earhardt, Spencer Garrett as Sean Hannity, Ashley Greene (Ashley Cullen from the Twilight films) as Abby Huntsman, Tricia Helfer (Cylon Number Six!) as Alisyn Camerota, Marc Evan Jackson as Chris Wallace, Marc Evan Jackson as Fox anchor Chris Wallace, Mad About You’s Richard Kind as Rudy Giuliani, Mark Moses (Desperate Housewives) as Bill Shine, Jennifer Morrison (TV’s House) as Juliet Huddy, Ahna O’Reilly (The Help) as Julie Roginsky, Tony Plana as a kinda sorta recognizable Geraldo Rivera, Lisa Canning as Outnumbered host Harris Faulkner, Elisabeth Rohm (Angel, Law and Order) as Martha MacCallum, Stephen Root (an unheralded acting master, who is in everything from NewsRadio to King of the Hill, Office Space and even Monkey Shines) as Neil Mullen, Brooke Smith (Catherine in The Silence of the Lambs) as Irena Briganti., Holland Taylor (the mom from Two and a Half Men) as Ailes enabling assistant Faye, John Rothman as Martin Hyman, Alanna Ubach as Jeanine Pirro, Robin Weigert as Nancy Smith, Madeline Zima as Edie, and Anne Ramsay (Lisa Stemple from Mad About You) as Greta Van Susteren. Whew! Did I miss anybody? 

In January of this year, Kelly posted a 30-minute roundtable with her, Huddy, Bakhtiar, Brunt and former Fox News producer Julie Zann about this movie. It confirmed many details in the film, such as the spin that Ailes would request. The consensus was that the movie let him off easy and that the scene where Pospisil yells at Kelly for not speaking up was a victim-blaming scene written by a man. That said, she did admit that she could have done more.

In #NoJoke, singer Andrew Cole sets out to convince his musical idols to help him make a song for victims of bullying. He’s joined by Jeff Goldblum, Slash, Patrick Stewart, Lemmy, Chad Smith, Jane Lynch and more, who share their talents and their sometimes painful experiences with him.

From writer/director Manfred Becker, #NoJoke chronicles Andrew’s journey to create a song with some of the biggest stars in the industry. Along the way, he faces up to his painful past, while giving viewers a deep personal insight into the issue of bullying.

There are plenty more famous people who share their feelings about bullying, including Randy Bachman, Ozzy Osbourne, Meat Loaf, Charlie Sheen, Michael Biehn, Diego Boneta, Julian Lennon and Steve Vai.

You have to hand it to Becker for editing together all of this footage to make a coherent film. I’m not certain why it had certain things in it, like Jim Carrey posing for a picture with Andrew. It could have been a lot more focused without fawning over celebrities. Seriously, I feel like a bully for finding any fault with this.

#NoJoke is available on demand from Indiecan Entertainment.

DISCLAIMER: We were sent this movie by its PR company.

Rian Johnson has jumped genres throughout his career — the noir Brick, the comedy of The Brothers Bloom, the science fiction of Looper, the big blockbuster that was Star Wars: the Last Jedi and now Knives Out. He also helmed an episode of Breaking Bad that won him a directing Emmy.

Since 2005, Johnson has had this Agatha Christie-influenced film in mind. He also cited films like Deathtrap and Clue as cultural touchstones for this movie.

So what’s it all about? Well, crime novelist Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) is found dead — a suicide — at his estate the day after his 85th birthday. Detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) has been hired by an unnamed party to investigate the crime. From Harlan’s dysfunctional family to his devoted staff, Blanc sifts through a web of red herrings and self-serving lies to uncover the truth behind Harlan’s untimely death.

First things first: my attention span has been ruined by a steady diet of grindhouse movies, Hong Kong cinema and the works of Italian gorehounds. A movie over two hours long is quite intimidating to me, but I did my best to stick with it.

So the good things: Daniel Craig is absolutely having the time of his life playing private detective Benoit Blanc and every scene with him is a joy to watch. I really enjoyed the twists and turns of the plot, as well as the detection flashbacks, which brought to mind the original Murder on the Orient Express. And it’s always great to see Plummer in a movie, as he was, after all the emperor of the galaxy in Starcrash. Yes, that’s my cultural callback for this venerated actor.

This movie is a chance for Chris Evans to break out of the superhero mold he’s found himself in. And Ana de Armas — who is also in the Eli Roth film Knock Knock — is great as Marta Cabrera, the nurse who finds herself inheriting the estate of the murdered writer who is the patriarch of this family of liars and thieves at the heart of this story.

Hey — there’s M. Emmet Walsh, filling in for Ricky Jay who died during production. And Riki Lindhome from Garfunkle and Oates and the remake of The Last House on the Left (and also Under the Silver Lake). Plus, it’s cool to see Frank Oz in his first onscreen role since, well, Blues Brothers 2000.

But man — there are so many characters here that have little or no time to shine. Jamie Lee Curtis is basically playing a cameo role and you could say the same thing for Toni Colette, Michael Shannon and Don Johnson.

When we reached the one hour point, my wife asked me, “How much longer does this have?” I told her that we weren’t even halfway done yet and she replied, “What else do they have to tell us?”

I liked the film more than her. Despite reading reviews filled with hyperbole saying things about how this movie has reinvented the murder mystery and turned it on its head, I thought it was a pleasant enough diversion. It’s not going to replace Agatha Christie movies for me, but for an audience that has probably never seen the films like Sleuth and Gosford Park that Johnson is inspired by, it’s certainly a revelation for them.

Your mileage, as I always say, may vary.

I’m a big fan of Taika Waititi. His film What We Do In the Shadows is one that I’ve introduced to so many people and given to just as many as a gift. His take on Thor pretty much changed the Marvel cinematic universe for the better and is the proof of goodness I point to when people naysay superhero films. And he’s also been behind some intriguing fare like Eagle vs. Shark, Boy and Hunt for the Wilderpeople, all while playing memorable roles like Korg in the Marvel films, Viago in What We Do In the Shadows and IG-11 in The Mandalorian.

His take on Christine Leunens’s book Caging Skies intrigued me from the first previews. While he was slated to work on a live action adaption of Akira — Hollywood won’t give up on trying — this was a different movie that needed a deft hand. Luckily, Waititi was that hand.

Johannes “Jojo” Betzler (Roman Griffin Davis in his first role) is a ten-year-old boy who is a member of Hitlerjugend, the Nazi youth movement. His father is supposedly fighting on the Italian Front, his sister has recently died and all he has left is his mother Rosie (Scarlett Johansson). Oh yeah — and his best and imaginary friend, Adolph Hitler (Waititi).

Jojo and his best friend Yorki attend a training camp, run by Captain Klenzendorf (Sam Rockwell, as always wonderful), who keeps failing at nearly everything. When ordered to kill a rabbit, Jojo finds that he cannot, earning the nickname Jojo Rabbit. To get back in the graces of the other young Nazis, Hitler convinces Jojo to throw a grenade without permission, which gives him facial scars and a limp.

A demoted Klenzendorf is asked by Jojo’s mother to include her son, so he is given the job of spreading propaganda and collecting scrap metal.

Meanwhile, Rosie is hiding Jewish girl Elsa Korr (Thomasin McKenzie, Leave No Trace) in her home. The revelation that Jewish people aren’t monsters, as well as the end of the war and his mother’s role in being against the Nazis will change Jojo’s view of the world.

Notably, every Nazi in the film is comedically ineffective, from Rebel Wilson as Fraulein Rahm to Stephen Merchant as the Gestapo agent Deertz and Alfie Allen as the second-in-command Finkel. The town’s stand against the Allies and Russians is well-nigh laughable, but also strangely heartbreaking. There’s been some criticism that the Nazis are shown in a good light at times in this film and as comedic foils at others. To me, they’re shown as objects of derision, paper villains that easily crumble when the real world intrudes. Klenzendorf sees himself as one of the heroic Aryan ideal that winds up in military finery in well-lit paintings with a Wagnerian soundtrack, but the best that he can do is spit in Jojo’s face to save his life.