Historical dramas often succeed or fail based on whether they can make familiar events feel fresh. The Legend of Van Dorn, directed by Shane Stanley, takes a different route by focusing on a fascinating Civil War figure who remains largely unknown outside history circles. The result is an engaging period drama that blends military strategy, romance, ambition, and tragedy into a story that feels both intimate and consequential.
Read MoreInside the Madhouse (1887): When AI Filmmaking Meets Nellie Bly's Fearless True Story
There are stories from history so astonishing that they barely need embellishment. Nellie Bly's 1887 undercover investigation of New York's Women's Lunatic Asylum is one of them. At just 23 years old, Bly deliberately convinced authorities she was insane, allowing herself to be committed so she could expose the abuse, neglect, and inhumane conditions hidden behind the institution's locked doors.
Read MoreFetching Nostalgia: Revisiting Wishbone and the Magic of PBS
Some documentaries exist simply to catalog a thing that happened. What’s the Story, Wishbone? exists to explain how something that should have been impossible not only worked, but worked so well that it is still lodged deep in the collective memory of an entire generation. This is the story of a television show that took an absurd amount of effort, coordination, and risk, yet somehow made all of that chaos look effortless on screen.
Read MoreChristy (2025)
David Michôd’s Christy tells the remarkable true story of Christy Martin, a woman who fought her way out of small-town West Virginia with nothing but grit, raw athleticism, and a will to survive. The film opens with Tears for Fears, an inspired needle drop that immediately sets the tone. What follows is an ambitious 135-minute biopic that delivers powerful performances and emotionally intense storytelling, even as it struggles with pacing and familiarity.
Read MoreVikings: Valhalla: The Complete First Season (2024) #BluRay
Vikings: Valhalla: The Complete First Season on Blu-ray offers a thrilling return to the Viking world, packed with intense drama, battle scenes, and rich historical intrigue. Set a hundred years after the events of the original Vikings series, Valhalla follows a new generation of heroes, including the famed explorer Leif Eriksson, his fiery sister Freydis Eriksdotter, and the ambitious prince Harald Sigurdsson. This fresh chapter brings a new layer of conflict, as tensions between Vikings and English royals escalate, while old Viking faiths clash with new Christian ideologies.
Read MoreThe 13th Warrior (1999) #RetroReview
The 13th Warrior doesn’t completely come together, but I nevertheless find it to be enjoyable. Direction is officially credited to John McTiernan and the story is an adaptation of Michael Crichton’s novel “Eaters of the Dead.” That too was the film’s original title, but its initial cut was received poorly by test audiences, so reshoots were ordered and a new ending was conceived, all of which were directed by an uncredited Crichton.
Read MoreThe Northman (2022)
The Northman is perhaps the most accessible work of writer/director Robert Eggers’ young career. He purportedly did not have final cut and the film does feel a half step less quirky than The VVitch and The Lighthouse, both of which I loved. Still, even with one eye sneaking peaks at mainstream concerns, The Northman exudes a distinctive creative vision.
Read MoreGwen (2018)
I kept seeing comparisons to The Witch, and I can see why, but Gwen is far from a perfect film. Both movies do have a sense of dread that hangs from start to finish, and Gwen can pass as a decent companion piece, but the finale is far from rewarding and made me, and I’m sure many others, feel as if they wasted a quiet evening in. Don’t get me wrong, the film is beautiful, but, if I wanted to sit in silence for two hours and stare at something pretty I’d just turn on the Planet Earth.
Read MoreOne Man Dies a Million Times (2019)
Every year I look forward to the “slow cinema” selection at the Oak Cliff Film Festival. As the programmers who introduce the movie usually joke, “Some of you are here because you love this kind of cinema, and the rest are here because you’re hung over.” I happen to fall into the former camp.
Read MoreThe Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) #RetroReview
The Passion of Joan of Arc is a hard sell. Ninety-percent of its run time is devoted to extreme close ups on star’s Renee Jeanne Falconetti’s tormented face. The other ten percent is almost exclusively reserved for arcane theological battles.
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