Aaron Carlson writes reviews for MovieMet with an eye for genre filmmaking, independent releases, and the strengths or shortcomings of a title on home video. His work focuses on clear recommendations, practical viewing context, and accessible criticism for everyday movie fans.
I fully stand by my review of season one of “Banshee” and season two stays right on course with all the violence and sex that Cinemax can throw at you. It is apparent some lessons were learned from th
Back in the days when Gary Cooper was patrolling Hadleyville in “High Noon”, there were certain Western genre structures that were reliably adhered to. The good sheriff, donning a white hat, needed to
“The Suspect” stars Yoo Gong as Ji Dong-cheol an quiet yet deadly agent from North Korea who has defected to South Korea. When we meet Ji he is reeling from the murder of his wife and daughter and
Well, South Korea and Thailand have been able to pump out some pretty entertaining action films over the last handful of years. They have proven to match and even surpass Hollywood entertainment level
Throwback films come around every once in a while with relative degrees of success. These are films that pay homage to a certain decade of filmmaking. They are not obvious movies that pull every histo
Veteran Hong Kong director Clarence Fok Yiu-leung (who was born in Canada) has a resume full of actioners and thrillers under his belt. Rumor has it that Mario Kassar originally wanted him to direct “
Mill Creek continues on with their affordably priced genre sets, this time bringing "Kickin' it Shaolin Style", a 12 movie collection of Shaolin themed fighting films. Stretching from the early 70
Epidemic movies have been a reoccurring topic since the seventies. “The Andromeda Strain” brought a clinical, docudrama approach; “Outbreak” introduced 90’s film-going crowds to possible worldwide obl
As it has been stated before, HBO has had an exceptionally strong run of shows since "The Sopranos. " One strength all the series have had since then is the ability to not overstay their welcome. “Tre
Based on George R.R. Martin‘s third book of the "A Song of Ice and Fire" series, ‘A Storm of Swords’, the third season of the HBO series**"Game of Thrones"** is beginning to hit its stride much like m
Anyone familiar with Larry David’s work on “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “Seinfeld” knows that he runs the gamut of coincidence, irony, awkwardness and anxiety-ridden obsessiveness. He has a unique and u
Australia has brought the world some terrific films that have wide audience appeal such as “Mad Max”, “Muriel’s Wedding” and “Gallipoli”. They can do grittiness and black humor with the best of them.
Mill Creek Entertainment's release of double features can be hit or miss. Typically the pairings are odd at best with only a few being a combo of films that you would watch right after one another. Re
When you are dealing with a subject such as the undead taking over the world, there are a couple of different ways of tackling the project, one would be to make it a serious effort such as Romero’s or
XLrator Media, founded in 2010, focuses on second and third tier movie releases aimed at “enthusiast genres and categories that are underserved by the major studios and most independents.” I applaud t
Zombie movies can be easy to make because they are relatively cheap to produce. All you need is an isolated area for the characters to hold up in and some no name actors for fodder. The only area of t
Hammer Studio’s “Hands of the Ripper” has been quoted as “expertly mixing the sophistication expected of Hammer's films with the gore its new audiences demanded.” This statement is decidedly true
Art is often used as a vehicle in film to mock human nature. It can be done subtly or in an over the top manner that satirizes the lengths that some go to to preserve their artistic mojo. Boris Rodrig
Have you ever watched a movie where you feel like you're in trouble? Where it does such a good job of portraying the badness in a deed that it feels realistic? After the first four minutes of the Bara
Television series that gain quickly popularity during their first season almost are certain to be setup for disappointment for their sophomore effort. Audiences build up expectations regardless of wha
Cinemax, in hopes of changing its image has delved into the world of primetime action drama series driven towards the core demographic of men who are 18 to 50 years old. One of those shows created by
Stephen Fung‘s follow-up to “Tai Chi Zero” (reviewed here) picks up right where the original left off. **"Tai Chi Hero"**begins with a narr
The mountain climbing genre has its fair share of examples, from "The Eiger Sanction" to "Vertical Limit" to the over the top "Cliffhanger. " There is a trifecta of innate occurrences in this particul
Not much else other than the medium of film can bring you enormous events from the past into the current age and simultaneously entertain and educate you. Whether told through small personal stories o
Mill Creek Entertainment forges on with their budget conscious releases that help bring obscure little films to the public in an HD format. Many of these releases are of older films in which easily co
Aaron Sorkin, writer of "The West Wing", "The Social Network" and "Moneyball" has a sort of trademarked handle on fast talking, maybe not so realistic but damn entertaining dialogue. His latest work i
Horror movies have a built in success formula. It all starts with their audience, mostly young folks ranging from 13 to 25 years of age looking for cheap and safe thrills. And since it’s not high art,
Philip Kaufman, director of “The Unbearable Lightness of Being” and “The Right Stuff” helms his newest movie “Hemingway and Gellhorn”, a look into an exploratory time of Ernest Hemingway’s life in
Director Paul Verhoeven somehow gets away with what could be SyFy channel caliber films by making them wildly entertaining romps. He is able to blend serious, kick ass action with light, wink-wink act
Many people complain that there are no new ideas left for movies anymore. There is some truth to that considering we are given either sequels or remakes annually that hardly push any creative boundari
With HBO's lineup primarily drama driven it is nice to watch “Veep”, a flat-out comedy basted with R-rated sarcasm and some hilarious satire pointed at the political system and those who work in i
During the exploitation heyday of the 70’s with films like “Shaft”, “Vanishing Point” and “Foxy Brown”, there was a boom of not so subtle of low budget violence, sex and revenge. They weren’t terribly
My first thought after watching **"The Imposter"**was that I had to think back to my seventeen year old self back in 1995 and try to remember if I had heard about the news story or not. Even though th
Right out of the gate, there is an "Ocean's 11" vibe to director Dong-Hoon Choi’s**“The Thieves. "** It’s flashy, has an ensemble cast and starts off just as light-hearted. In its native country it wa
“They would never cancel Game of Thrones! It’s a crossover hit, it’s not just for fantasy enthusiasts, they’re telling human stories in a fantasy world.”Ben Wyatt, "Parks and Recreation"That is
After a randomly aired animated short became a viral hit on the internet, “Adventure Time” creator Pendleton Ward was picked up by Cartoon Network to bring his creative talents into mainstream viewing
Taking place in 2004, “Allegiance” involves a small National Guard unit stationed at Camp Sullivan in New York state who is about to be deployed to Iraq due to a lack of military manpower. One of
Let's see if I can come up with a joke that is as original as anything in this movie...hmmm... How about "There's 80 minutes of my life I will never get back. " If you've seen any of the "Paranormal A
Ever stop a movie and after it's finished the first thing that pops in your head is "What the #*$@ did I just watch? " It happens from time to time and even if the movie isn't great, it's still brough
Cao Cao is defined as a warlord and one of the last great chancellors of the Eastern Han Dynasty during the Three Kingdoms period. He has had many different incarnations in the movies such as 1931's "
HBO's "Life's Too Short" is another mockumentary style show from Ricky Gervais and Steven Merchant. It follows Warwick Davis, star of "Willow" and is in the "Harry Potter" films, as he attempts to
William Friedkin has made a career by pushing the artistic envelope with his films. "The Exorcist" which is arguably his most known film has several scenes in that film that are still shocking to this
Aside from being pure entertainment, Sports is also seen as the great hope of the masses. Anyone that has pure talent can succeed, no matter where on the planet you are from. There are innumerable acc
After pioneering films like Terminator 2 and Jurassic Park proved computer generated effects to be commercially viable, there was a boon in the old creature feature style films in the mid nineties usi
Anthologies can sometimes be tricky endeavors. Each story needs to be entertaining yet unique enough to necessitate being broken up into smaller stories while still maintaining a solid theme throughou
One cannot begin to encompass what is covered in Music Box‘s release of **“The Story of Film: An Odyssey”**without leaving many, many omissions on the table. It took seven years to produce and takes m
Lena Dunham’s first full length feature was an indie film called “Tiny Furniture. " She served as director, writer and the main character. It was successfully received by critics and garnered her some
Guillaume Canet is an actor turned director seemingly taking the same career path as Ben Affleck. Both at one time were considered heartthrobs but have now focused more on directing mature thrillers w
The story of **“My Big Fat Greek Wedding”**revolves around Toula Portakalos (Nia Vardalos), a plain wallflower that is part of a vibrantly Greek family living in the suburbs of Chicago. After a brief
Usually it is fairly easy to categorize most good films. They fit into either main genres or sub genres that have niche but clearly defined audiences. It gets harder when a movie has the potential to
In "Playing God", Eugene Sands (David Duchovney) has lost his medical license due to losing a patient on the emergency room operating table while under the influence of narcotics. With a lot of fr
“Portlandia: Season 2” can best be described as quirky and may take several skits to warm you up to its particular brand of humor. The format of each show is a main skit throughout an entire episo
It’s hard to say what “Painted Skin: The Resurrection” is actually about. It’s not so much a story as it is an experience of different visual themes. The first and foremost of which is Love. This
Music Box Films, distributor of such films as “Monsieur Lazhar” and “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” releases “Last Ride”, an austere, character driven piece dealing with relationships, barren ge
With a known cast like Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Mickey Rourke, Lily Taylor and Mark Margolis, you would think a movie should be coherent and polished looking. Instead,“The Courier” is a confused piece
The early 1990’s were a down time for the horror genre. The eighties had saturated the horror market with endless sequels using every situation imaginable ranging from innocent holidays like Valentine
To go along with their serious dramas, HBO also has several lighthearted dramadies in their scheduling. The third (and seemingly last) season of “Bored to Death” revolves around the lives of three
Sometimes it can be hard to review lower budget movies that cover similar ground as more successful award winning higher budget movies. In 1997, “Boogie Nights” came out and introduced the 70’s to mod
HBO has been able to string together a rather impressive line of hit shows. With shows like “The Sopranos,” “Six Feet Under” and currently “Game of Thrones,” HBO is continually reinventing ideas, keep
“Blade: The Animated Series” is part of a project to introduce western Marvel characters to the Japanese audience with animation tailored towards traditional anime. The plot of “Blade” loosely fol
The “Wolverine: The Animated Series” is part of a project to introduce western Marvel characters to the Japanese audience with tailored animation towards traditional anime. Iron Man, X-Men and Bla
“Quick” is a new super-charged action film from Korean director Beom-gu Cho who also wrote the screenplay...eh…or should I say plot. There is a speedy action-filled prologue introducing the main
Ben Wheatley is a relatively new talent in Britain in the last several years who has a focus on gritty crime stories. His first feature film was “Down Terrace” which was a crime picture with a similar
Director Kang Je-gyu had taken off sevem years since his last attempt at an epic war film, “Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War,” which people had dubbed “the Korean 'Saving Private Ryan,'” with the st
I recently watched the documentary called "The Elephant in the Living Room," which was about people who keep exotic (and possibly dangerous) animals in their homes as pets. It dealt mostly with a man