Category: Sammie Purcell

When someone is dying, there tends to be a lot more talking than you might expect.  That’s one of the things “His Three Daughters” really nails about death – the constant conversation. When you’re waiting for a loved one to pass, you’re never really allowed to live in the weirdness of that particular kind of […]

The high school movie is an important genre of film, and one with a multitude of formulas. One of those formulas – and perhaps the one that reigns supreme – is that of the high school party.  “Can’t Hardly Wait.” “Superbad.” “Project X.” “Booksmart.” Plenty of teen movies have tackled the big party, following that […]

Picture this: you arrive at a hotel somewhere in the islands. You’ve just been on a plane for five-ish hours, an endeavor that’s left you with a crick in your neck and your face on the verge of a massive breakout. The villa looks beautiful, but you’re tired, you’re cranky, and you need a shower. […]

Ridley Scott’s “Alien” is so formative and so influential to all the science fiction/horror that came after it, it’s hard to not compare any movie of its ilk – within the “Alien” franchise or not – to its greatness. “Alien: Romulus,” director Fede Álvarez’s newest addition to the canon, is no exception.  It’s a better […]

Playing Hamlet is one of those things an actor dreams about. But winning the role is only half the battle.  In “Sing Sing,” Clarence “Divine Eye” Maclin finds that out the hard way. His director Brent (Paul Raci) gives him the note to try and embody the Danish prince before he delivers the famous “to […]

Late into “Deadpool & Wolverine,” Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) makes a plea to the camera, surrounded by hundreds of other Deadpools from a myriad of different universes. A lady Deadpool, a Scottish Deadpool, a baby Deadpool – you get the drift.  Our Deadpool pleads with the other Deadpools, with the audience, with Kevin Feige himself, to […]

Legacy sequels are par for the course these days in Hollywood, from the successful (“Top Gun: Maverick”) to the less successful (“The Exorcist: Believer”). Nowadays, big blockbusters tend to tie into a movie from 20+ years ago, aiming to tickle our nostalgic funny bone but so often failing to capture what made said old movie […]

We’ve all heard the theory – the Apollo 11 moon landing was faked and filmed by Stanley Kubrick. “Fly Me to the Moon” dares to ask, what if that were true?  Well, if it were, there’s no way they could have gotten Kubrick. But in “Fly Me to the Moon,” NASA doesn’t need him. The […]

Ti West’s “X” trilogy has always been about movies – making them, watching them, starring in them. But none is so connected to Hollywood lore as “MaXXXine.”  West’s third installment comes after both “X” and “Pearl,” but is a direct sequel to that first film, following porn actress Maxine Minx (Mia Goth) as she tries […]

“Janet Planet” is a quiet movie. But every once in a while, a shock punctures the silence.  Take the film’s beginning: a young girl sneaks out of her room in the dead of night, moving swiftly across a dark field. She makes her way to a barn and finds a phone. “Hi,” she says to […]

At the beginning of “The Bikeriders,” there’s a shot of Benny (Austin Butler) sitting in a bar. It’s a quintessential sort of antihero shot – he’s framed from behind under the dirty bar lights, cigarette, beer and whiskey in hand. He’s got a leather motorcycle jacket on, and his hair is greased to oily perfection. […]

A mother and her daughter must confront Death when he arrives in the form of a magical talking bird.  This is the logline for “Tuesday,” writer and director Daina O. Pusić’s feature debut. It’s a logline that might leave some feeling skeptical – an ambitious undertaking that could so easily feel silly in the wrong […]

How do we not talk about this all the time?? In “Babes,” this is said by Eden (Ilana Glazer) in reference to the miracle of childbirth. She’s a little dumbfounded at this moment, having just given birth herself. She stares down at her baby, breathless at what the human body is capable of – she […]

The best kind of children’s entertainment is the kind that appeals to adults, too.  Or so I’ve been told. I don’t have kids, but my friends who are parents say the best things they watch with their children make a concerted effort to offer something for the older crowd. For years, Pixar has been the […]