How Had I Never Seen..."Dune"?

by Cláudio Alves

Audiences are here for Denis Villeneuve's take of Frank Herbert's Dune – its first half, to be specific. Box office numbers already guaranteed the filming of its sequel, and now there are even talks of a third movie, adapting the second book in the series, Dune Messiah. As the world goes mad for spice and space twinks, Goth nuns, and more made-up sci-fi terminology than you can shake a stick at, it feels like a good time to look at the last big-screen adaptation of Herbert's genre-defining novel. While much hated by its maker, David Lynch's Dune has gained quite the cult following over the years. Indeed, researching this piece, I came across plenty of retrospective defenses of the movie's merits, passionate screeds against its maligned critical reputation.

Does the flick earn such reappraisals, or were the initial reactions right all along? Well…

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Review: Nia DaCosta's "Candyman"

by Matt St. Clair

When the 1992 horror classic Candyman made its way to theaters, audiences were introduced to a figure who serves as a representation of America’s original sin and a tragic monster akin to those from the classic era. The original Candyman (Tony Todd) pursuing grad student Helen Lyle (Virginia Madsen) has invited comparisons to The Phantom of the Opera, another lovelorn monster.  But the latest direct sequel of the same name by director Nia DaCosta is less of a Universal Monster-esque tragedy.

Though it continues the original storyline, the new Candyman (2021) expands its racial commentary to tackle generational pain, police brutality, and gentrification...

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How Had I Never Seen... "Candyman"?

by Cláudio Alves

The Nia DaCosta-directed, Jordan Peele-produced, Candyman is scheduled to arrive in American theaters later this year. In the meantime, the original Candyman, a 1992 horror classic freely adapted from Clive Barker's The Forbidden, is newly streaming on Netflix. With all that in mind, this seemed like a great time to finally watch that acclaimed nightmare of 90s cinema, a picture I've long heard about and have considered one of my great blind spots as a fan of horror movies.

Despite astronomically high expectations, Candyman did not disappoint…

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Horror Actressing: Kasi Lemmons in "Candyman"

by Jason Adams

We don't talk enough about Kasi Lemmons, the actress. Maybe it's because she proved herself an absolutely terrific director in 1997 with the wildly underrated Eve's Bayou -- and she's got the Harriet bio-pic with Cynthia Erivo coming out in November -- and maybe it's because Hollywood, per their usual routine when it comes to too many black actresses, never gave her a truly great role to play with. But she's got a two-fer in the early 90s as "the best friend" in seminal horror films that she really managed to inject a lot of life into.

The most prominent one is obviously The Silence of the Lambs, where Kasi played Jodie Foster's fellow FBI recruit and friend Cordelia -- the film doesn't have much time for her but she proves a capable ally to Clarice, and as with any actress Jodie ever co-starred with the two of them had way more chemistry than with any man on the premises...

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Review: 1985

by Murtada Elfadl

Do most people think of how their stories will be told? Probably when they are closer to the end. That’s the question at the heart of 1985. The greater question it poses is how does someone make sure they are are remembered as their whole self when society has conspired to muffle their voice?

The film tells the story of 20 something New Yorker returning home one last time to his small hometown in Texas before succumbing to death from AIDS. Adrian (Cory Michael Smith who's appeared in Carol and Wonderstruck) knows he’s dying so he tries to patch up things with his loving but disapproving religious parents (Virginia Madsen and Michael Chiklis), create memories and a connection with his preteen brother Andrew (Aidan Langford) and finally own up to a former girlfriend (Jamie Chung) who he’s never come out to...

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