Twice a month Joe Lipsett will dissect a new Amityville Horror film to explore how the “franchise” has evolved in increasingly ludicrous directions. This is “The Amityville IP.”

For the first time in thirty texts, an Amityville film has adopted an anthology format. Amityville Vampire (2021), written by Carlos Perez and Tim Vigil (who also directs) divides its 90-minute narrative into three chunks to tell two stories, a wrap-around, and a few stingers. The film isn’t wholly successful due to a variety of issues, but the multiplicity of shorter narratives circumvents the typical “padded” feel of some of the “franchise”s Dtv entries.

Former DJ and (somewhat?) reformed ladies’ man Johnny The Gent (Anthony DeArce) plans to propose to his girlfriend Fran (Miranda Melhado). He takes her on what she anticipates will be a romantic camping trip and, on the car ride, tells her two separate stories about the area...

Susan Bro, mother of Charlottesville victim Heather Heyer, attended the MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday, presenting the Best Fight Against the System award in honor of her late daughter.

Heyer was killed on Aug. 12 when a man drove his car into a crowd of demonstrators who were peacefully protesting a “Unite the Right” march, during which white nationalists and neo-Nazis roamed the streets of Charlottesville chanting “White Lives Matter.”

“Only 15 days ago, my daughter Heather was killed as she protested racism,” Bro began. “I miss her, but I know she’s here tonight. I’ve been deeply moved to see people across the world,...

2017-08-23T11:35:44-07:00This Is Why Your Favorite Character Was Written Out of Your Favorite Series

Everything seems to be going great for your favorite character one day, and the next he or she is suddenly gone, having been written out of the show for one odd reason or another. Here's the story behind some of TV's most notable character disappearances. Are there other characters you miss? Let us know in the comments below.

1. Susan from Seinfeld

Remember George Costanza’s fiance Susan Ross? Her character tragically and comically died in Season 7 after licking all of the envelopes from their cheap wedding invitations. According to Jason Alexander (George) and Julia Louis-Dreyfuss (Elaine), Heidi Swedberg was extremely difficult to work with and Larry David decided to kill her off.

2. Charlie from Lost

If you booked the show Lost, your life would be set, right? Not for Dominic Monaghan.

Cinema Retro has received the following press release:

The Los Angeles Comic Book And Science Fiction Convention presents Classic Movie Poster Artist Robert Tanenbaum, Jean Hale (In Like Flint), Sharyn Wynters (The Female Bunch), and Donna Loren (Bikini Beach) at the August 20, 2017 Show.

Robert Tanenbaum is a Movie Poster Artist with an over 50 year career illustrating every film genre such as Science Fiction, Horror, Comedy, War, Drama and Martial Arts. Robert has illustrated such Classic Movie Posters as A Christmas Story, Battle For The Planet Of The Apes, Cujo, Five Fingers Of Death, Black Christmas, Super Fly, The Color Of Money, My Bodyguard, Dirty Mary Crazy Larry, The Iron Cross, The Eagle Has Landed, Ransom, Cleopatra Jones And The Casino Of Gold, Hot Potato, Mel Brooks High Anxiety and Silent Night, Evil Night. Robert’s art is featured on the first announcement that Jaws was being made into a Movie.

Barbara Lowe struggled to stay awake to watch the 11 p.m. television news one December evening in her Mayfield Heights, Ohio, apartment not far from Cleveland.

Her fatigue quickly turned to joy as a picture of a newborn infant — born at nearby Hillcrest Hospital at 12 minutes after midnight on Dec. 12, 2012.

“I let out a shout,” Lowe tells People. “I said ‘That’s one of my hats!’ It made me so happy to see it.”

That news report marked the first time Lowe, 90, had seen a baby who wasn’t somehow related to her wearing one of the more than 2,200 hats...

He wore a blue striped cardigan. She wore a borrowed red dress. He also wore glasses, and although she usually did too, on that night in 1965 at the University of Nebraska Student Union, she fibbed and told him she wore contacts.

Years later, when she confessed the truth to the man she first met at that freshman dance, Tom Phalen said to his wife, Gwen, “So our whole marriage is based on a lie?”

It didn’t matter. “She was cute,” Tom says. “She had just come in and she wasn’t dancing with anybody else. She was fair game,...

Jaeden Lieberher has worked with mega-celebrities like Bradley Cooper, Emma Stone and Rachel McAdams, but even he isn’t immune to getting starstruck — especially when it comes to Jennifer Lopez.

Though The Book of Henry star wasn’t even born until a year after Lopez came onto the scene as “Jenny from the Block,” the young actor is still a big fan of the ssuperstar.

“The last time I was star struck was when I was at the Golden Globes and I saw J.Lo,” Lieberher, 14, tells People Now. “She was very beautiful.”

When it comes to being a fan,...

One episode was provided prior to broadcast.

As Orphan Black reaches its final stretch, a few questions remain rightfully unanswered: What’s the true fate of the sestras, and will Tatiana Maslany ever be able to top her historic performance in this landmark series?

The answer to the latter is hopefully yes, and the first good thing to note about the season 5 premiere (“The Few Who Dare”) is that Maslany still has some performative tricks up her nine sleeves, even when the show itself feels like it’s entering a deliberate slowdown before the climactic conclusion.

While season 5 feels like a subtle return to the roots of the series, especially in the survivalist derring-do of Sarah, it also feels like an “Episode 11” of season 4. The show’s breezy serialization has never been a hindrance to its best moments, in no small part due to the showrunners’ willingness to reinvent the...

Enter here for your chance to win a pair of passes to an advance screening of the new film The Book Of Henry starring Naomi Watts, Sarah Silverman, and Jacob Tremblay.

For your chance to receive a pair of complimentary passes to see the new film The Book Of Henry at the Mjr Troy Grand Cinema in Troy, Michigan on Tuesday, June 13th at 7:00Pm, just look for the “Enter the Contest” box further down on this page. But hurry because there are a limited number of passes available and when they’re gone, they’re gone!

About The Film

The Book Of Henry: Sometimes things are not always what they seem, especially in the small suburban town where the Carpenter family lives. Single suburban mother Susan Carpenter (Naomi Watts) works as a waitress at a diner, alongside feisty family friend Sheila (Sarah Silverman). Her youngest son Peter...

Opening June 16th, 2017 is The Book Of Henry.

In honor of National Brother’s Day, take a look at this new clip from the film.

Sometimes things are not always what they seem, especially in the small suburban town where the Carpenter family lives. Single suburban mother Susan Carpenter (Naomi Watts) works as a waitress at a diner, alongside feisty family friend Sheila (Sarah Silverman). Her younger son Peter (Jacob Tremblay) is a playful 8-year-old. Taking care of everyone and everything in his own unique way is Susan’s older son Henry (Jaeden Lieberher), age 11. Protector to his adoring younger brother and tireless supporter of his often self-doubting mother – and, through investments, of the family as a whole – Henry blazes through the days like a comet.

Susan discovers that the family next door, which includes Henry’s kind classmate Christina (Maddie Ziegler), has a dangerous secret – and that Henry has...

So you’re wading through piles of slasher films from the ‘80s, keen on discovering a lost gem far removed from the normal gang in the woods or high school sis-boom-bah stab and gab. You’re thinking maybe a different setting will yield a fresh take, already tired tropes blurring your vision and making the distinction between a hockey mask and a fencing one harder by the day. Well…have you tried the hospital yet? Most folks are terrified of the antiseptic halls and robotic empathy doled out by uncaring staff. (Yes, yes, they also save lives, I know. I’m trying to set a mood, dammit.) And if you do decide to enter the medical field, I strongly suggest you pay a visit to Hospital Massacre (1981), Israeli King of Schlock Boaz Davidson’s wild attempt at a horror comedy, where some of the humor is even intentional.

First released...

Katy Perry is officially in vacation mode.

The "Bon Appétit" songstress is taking some time off after recording new tunes and is relaxing in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, with her gal pals this week. Spotted showing off her toned beach bod and wearing a black-and-yellow bikini, oversized sunglasses and a sun hat with the words "Do Not Disturb," Perry is enjoying the Baja Californian sun.

Hem/ Backgrid

Related: Taylor Swift's Ex Calvin Harris Collaborating With Katy Perry on New Album Because Shade Is Alive and Well  

The "Chained to the Rhythm" singer also took to Instagram to show off a retro pink beach ensemble. In the snapshot, Perry is seen sitting on a rock, hiding her buzzed haircut with another floppy hat that reads "Start Me Up" and holding the book The Destruction of Hillary Clinton by Susan Bordo.

"CNN don't judge a book by its cover," the 32-year-old pop star captioned the sunny pic.[p...

Katy Perry is soaking up some rays — and political commentary.

The 32-year-old singer shared a sunny new snap with her 64 million Instagram followers on Tuesday. Showing off her super-fit figure in a dusty-rose, retro swim outfit, Perry sits on a rock with what looks like an ocean view in the background. She wears a straw sun hat emblazoned with the message, “Start me up.”

But what might be the biggest standout in the snapshot is what the “Chained to the Rhythm” songstress is holding in her right hand: a copy of Susan Bordo‘s new nonfiction tome The Destruction of Hillary Clinton.

Stars: Natalie Brown, Jonathan Watton, Peter DaCunha, Melanie Lynskey, Seth Duhame, Sanai Victoria, Casey Adams, Breeda Wool, Angela Trimbur, Christina Kirk, Kyle Allen, Mike Doyle | Directed by Roxanne Benjamin, Karyn Kusama, Annie Clark, Jovanka Vuckovic

Genres like horror survive by having many voices to tell their tales. There needs to be imagination, and there needs to be different perspectives to show that people are frightened by different things, or in some cases the same thing. This is where Xx comes in, an anthology of horror written and directed by women.

In Xx we are given four stories, each completely separate from each other. The first is The Box, which is arguably the best of the four, then The Birthday Party, Don’t Fall, and finally Her Only Living Son.

The Box is interesting because it uses mystery in an artful way. When Susan’s (Natalie Brown) son Danny (Peter DaCunha...

Ellen DeGeneres is tearfully going down memory lane.

In a clip from Friday’s special episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show celebrating the 20th anniversary of her sitcom’s iconic coming-out episode, the daytime talk show host, 59, says, “I’m Ellen and I’m gay” to open her show.

“Twenty years ago I said that — it was a much bigger deal then,” she continues.

On April 30, 1997, DeGeneres herself didn’t just publicly come out as gay — her character on the ABC hit sitcom Ellen did too. The episode titled “The Puppy Episode” was taped in front of a live audience.

[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for “Feud” Episode 8, “You Mean All This Time We Could Have Been Friends?”]

Ryan Murphy knows what you thought “Feud: Bette and Joan” was going to be. And he believes that the show worked because, ultimately, it wasn’t.

“I think people were maybe thinking it was gonna be just a campy, bitchy exploration of these two women,” he told IndieWire from the set of “Versace: American Crime Story,” which has just begun filming. “But I was never interested in that. I was really interested in the sadness and the regret and the pain and also the reward, and just to show how hard they worked. Not only at their careers but on their facades.”

Read More: ‘Feud: Bette and Joan’: Alison Wright On How Her Fictional Character May Fare Better Than Real Women in Film

Facades make up a major part of the FX drama, which chronicled the long-time rivalry between Bette Davis (played by Susan Sarandon) and Joan Crawford (Jessica Lange...

[Editor’s Note: The following review of “Doctor Who” Season 10, Episode 1, “The Pilot,” contains spoilers.]

The Rundown

Finally, finally! After a year without a proper season, “Doctor Who” returned and felt familiar and comfortable, no mean feat when introducing a new companion. The episode lulled viewers and Bill Potts (Pearl Mackie) into complacency first by setting much of the early action at St. Luke’s University in Bristol, before shifting to the more spectacular aspects of the Whoniverse we all know and love. Overall, the premiere did well to set up a rapport between Twelve and Bill, while teasing out a few story arcs to come.

Read More: ‘Doctor Who’: Peter Capaldi Teases Jenna Coleman’s Return

Here Be Monsters

Among the pantheon of Whovian monsters and aliens, the creature we met wasn’t exciting nor even threatening so much as misunderstood. We don’t even have a name for the liquefied, sentient shape-shifting, time-traveling goo that appeared first as a puddle which incorrectly reflected a person’s image.

Susan Schorpen, the mother of 11-year-old Carlie Brucia, whose 2004 abduction made national headlines, was found dead on April 10 of a suspected drug overdose, People confirms. She was 47.

The Florida woman’s already-difficult life shattered on February 1, 2004 when she experienced every parent’s nightmare.

Her 11-year-old daughter, Carlie Brucia, vanished while walking home from a friend’s house. Her parents reported her missing within an hour of her disappearance.“I knew something was wrong,” Schorpen told People at the time. “In my heart, in my mind, I knew.”

She was right. A surveillance video at a car wash showed Carlie being...

From Focus Features comes The Book Of Henry, in select cities June 16th. Check out the brand new official poster debuted exclusively by Maddie Ziegler, and in case you missed it, watch the trailer now.

Directed by Colin Trevorrow (Jurassic World, Safety Not Guaranteed) and starring Academy Award™ nominee Naomi Watts (The Impossible), Jaeden Lieberher (St. Vincent), Jacob Tremblay (Room), Sarah Silverman (Wreck-It Ralph), and Maddie Ziegler (Dance Moms), The Book Of Henry hits select cities on June 16th, 2017.

Sometimes things are not always what they seem, especially in the small suburban town where the Carpenter family lives. Single suburban mother Susan Carpenter (Naomi Watts) works as a waitress at a diner, alongside feisty family friend Sheila (Sarah Silverman). Her younger son Peter (Jacob Tremblay) is a playful 8-year-old. Taking care of everyone and everything in his own unique way is Susan’s older son Henry (Jaeden Lieberher), age 11. Protector...

Prior to his signing on to direct Jurassic World, the reboot of the massively successful Jurassic Park franchise, Colin Trevorrow was known for a little indie flick called Safety Not Guaranteed. The film was your typical indie flick with a bit of a sci-fi twist, and it really showed his ability to tell a story. While Jurassic World made a whole boatload of money, there was a backlash to the film in terms of storytelling.

In the eyes of many who tried to give the film repeated viewings, the flick did not hold up very well when looked at too closely, and while it delivered on spectacle, it didn’t do much in terms of character. Many viewers haven’t let others forget this fact, but they may have forgotten that, as mentioned above, Trevorrow does have his beginnings in more character-focused fare. With his latest film, The Book of Henry,...

This first trailer has arrived for The Book of Henry, which comes from Jurassic World director Colin Trevorrow. The story follows two adventurous brothers who discover that the family next door is hiding a terrible secret. As you'll see from the trailer, it seems like Trevorrow was heavily inspired by the classic films of Steven Spielberg. I absolutely love the tone of this movie and it looks fantastic!

Sometimes things are not always what they seem, especially in the small suburban town where the Carpenter family lives. Single suburban mother Susan (Naomi Watts) works as a waitress at a diner, alongside feisty friend Sheila (Sarah Silverman). Her younger son Peter (Jacob Tremblay) is a playful 8-year-old. Taking care of everyone and everything is Susan’s older son Henry (Jaeden Lieberher), age 11. Protector to his adoring younger brother and tireless supporter of his often self-doubting mother – and, through investments, of the...

From Focus Features comes the first look at The Book Of Henry.

Directed by Colin Trevorrow (Jurassic World, Safety Not Guaranteed) and starring Academy Award nominee Naomi Watts (The Impossible), Jaeden Lieberher (St. Vincent), Jacob Tremblay (Room), Sarah Silverman (Wreck-It Ralph), and Maddie Ziegler (Dance Moms), The Book Of Henry hits select cities on June 16th, 2017.

Sometimes things are not always what they seem, especially in the small suburban town where the Carpenter family lives. Single suburban mother Susan Carpenter (Naomi Watts) works as a waitress at a diner, alongside feisty family friend Sheila (Sarah Silverman). Her younger son Peter (Jacob Tremblay) is a playful 8-year-old. Taking care of everyone and everything in his own unique way is Susan’s older son Henry (Jaeden Lieberher), age 11. Protector to his adoring younger brother and tireless supporter of his often self-doubting mother – and, through investments, of the family as a whole – Henry...

After a handful of indie directors were handed the keys to a major franchise, this year will see the release of a few films that find them headed back to more grounded territory. In between two such films from The Amazing Spider-Man‘s Marc Webb, Jurassic World director Colin Trevorrow will release The Book of Henry, and now the first trailer has landed.

Scripted by Gregg Hurwitz, the film follows two brothers and their adventures when they discover the family next door has a secret. Judging from this first trailer (and, certainly, first poster), Trevorrow is clearly once again influenced by Steven Spielberg, but hopefully this time it goes beyond basic homage. Starring Naomi Watts, Jaeden Lieberher, Jacob Tremblay, Sarah Silverman, Lee Pace, Maddie Ziegler, and Dean Norris, check out the trailer below.

Sometimes things are not always what they seem, especially in the small suburban town where the Carpenter family lives.

The first trailer for The Book of Henry is here — and it’s ready to take the audience by surprise.

Naomi Watts, Jacob Tremblay, Maddie Ziegler and Jaeden Lieberher star in this thriller, out June 16, that sees them all caught in a plan to save young Ziegler’s character — and director Colin Trevorrow tells People he wanted to make sure he kept the audience at the edge of their seats when it comes to the twists and turns of the movie.

“Part of what I hope will attract people to it is that it’s extremely unexpected and it takes...

This week on The CW’s Arrow, Oliver waved the white flag in his war with Adrian Chase — and in doing so wound up picking a new fight, with a familiar face.

RelatedArrow: Katie Cassidy to Return as Series Regular for Season 6, Playing [Spoiler]

Fresh off his physical and psychological torture at Chase’s hand, Oliver returned to the Arrowcave to firmly disband the team. Diggle assumes that some 1-on-1 time with the boss will fix things, but Oliver only reasserts his position, instructing Diggle to pack up.

While the rest of the team convenes at Felicity’s loft...

The Performer | Nicole Kidman

The Show | Big Little Lies

The Episode | “Once Bitten” (March 19, 2017)

The Performance | All season long on HBO’s Big Little Lies, Kidman’s character Celeste has projected the perfect façade: perfect marriage, perfect kids, perfect life. But in this week’s “Once Bitten,” that façade finally developed a few tiny cracks in it — allowing Kidman to deliver an astonishingly vulnerable performance.

Celeste’s marriage to Perry is volatile, and often violent, and Kidman has brought a fascinating complexity to that, with Celeste defending her husband’s abusive outbursts, and even admitting to being turned on by them.

What the Huck just happened?

On Scandal Season 6 Episode 7, Huck was on a mission to find out the truth, but did it really get him murdered in the process?

Let's start with Meg. There was something out of the ordinary with her. That's for sure. Her whole act as this poor defenseless victim was clearly a ruse. I called it at the top of the hour, and my suspicions only grew stronger as the hour went on. 

Huck really battled with whether to kill her, but she managed to sway him around and continue her act. It was brilliant, but it showed just how evil and calculating she could be. Given that Huck spared her life, I'd like to think she did something to help spare him. 

That said, three bullet wounds and that amount of blood seeping from his body makes me think he could be a goner. If...

For a few brief hours, two dozen children with Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease, an incurable, degenerative neuromuscular disorder, forgot about their physical limitations and played with dolphins at the Miami Seaquarium in Florida.

“What an incredible experience!” Julia Beron, of Montville, New Jersey, tells People. “As a 17-year-old with a physical disability, there are many things that I’m unable to do. For most kids my age, the act of swimming with dolphins would be a simple task. However, in my case it is not something that I would normally feel comfortable doing. After a lot of convincing, I took my braces off,...

Mark might be the nicest guy in America. As rapper Juvenile might say (though probably not in this context), he gets it from his mama. The latest subject of “Long Lost Family” approached TLC to find his biological mother, who sounded like a pretty terrific lady herself. Unfortunately, she passed away from breast cancer some years ago. Mark’s mother-by-blood had another child, Rebecca, who was not given up for adoption — and she’s down to meet the musician. Also Read: TLC's 'Long Lost Family': Susan's Daughter Doesn't Want to Meet Her (Exclusive Video) But does Mark feel the same way?...

Are Oliver Queen's days as the Green Arrow numbered?

That was questioned on Arrow Season 5 Episode 16 when Oliver found out the truth about Prometheus. From the outset, it was evident this was going to be a big episode. 

Talia al Ghul was in the present, so the stakes could not have been higher. Oliver turning to her for help was an exciting development, but I was pleasantly surprised Oliver had no idea Talia was Ra's al Ghul's daughter. 

You killed his father and I helped him in the pursuit of vengeance because by then, you killed mine.

Talia Permalink: You killed his father and I helped him in the pursuit of vengeance because by then, you... Added: March 15, 2017

Somehow, I felt like he already knew that little nugget of truth. Talia's demeanor is completely different to the woman we got to meet in the flashbacks. 

I was holding out hope...

Joan Micklin Silver applies sensitive direction to Ann Beattie’s novel about a lonely guy trying to win back his girlfriend, and going about it in all the wrong ways. John Heard is excellent as Charles, who can’t understand why Laura (Mary Beth Hurt) has gone back to her husband and child. The whole thing plays out during a snowy winter in Salt Lake City… which is not the place to expect unrealistic romantic dreams to come true.

Chilly Scenes of Winter

Blu-ray

Twilight Time

1979 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 95 min. / Street Date February 7, 2017 / Head Over Heels / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store 29.95

Starring: John Heard, Mary Beth Hurt, Peter Riegert, Kenneth McMillan, Gloria Grahame, Nora Heflin, Jerry Hardin, Tarah Nutter, Mark Metcalf, Allen Joseph, Frances Bay, Griffin Dunne, Anne Beattie.

Cinematography: Bobby Byrne

Film Editor: Cynthia Scheider

Original Music: Ken Lauber

From the novel by Ann Beattie

Produced by Griffin Dunne,...

Though she’s been offered the chance to play Bette Davis her entire career, Susan Sarandon wasn’t keen on bringing a caricature of the iconic actress to the screen, especially in a movie that didn’t dig deep into her story. “It’s not enough to think Bette Davis is cool,” Sarandon tells Et. “What do you do with her then? It’s really a challenge to make an audience experience something in that moment -- and not just a camp impersonation of somebody, because that’s going to get tired really quickly.”

In fact, when the first installment of Ryan Murphy’s new FX anthology series Feud (premiering Sunday, March 5), about the legendary rivalry between Joan Crawford (Jessica Lange) and Davis (Sarandon) during their collaboration on What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, was first presented to Sarandon as a film, the actress passed on it. “You still need a good script,” she says, not...

Wait... so Adrian is Prometheus?

We were blessed with that reveal Arrow Season 5 Episode 15, and I could not be more shocked. Throughout the course of Arrow Season 5, Adrian was seemingly Vigilante.  

When Prometheus took the mask off and was revealed to be Adrian, I had to rewind confirm I did, indeed, see him take off the Prometheus mask. Seriously, it was such a thrilling twist and made this season infinitely more intriguing. 

The show led us to believe all season long that Adrian was helping Oliver, but he was hiding in plain sight while planning his next move. Additionally, it seemed rather easy to have this Prometheus reveal so soon. 

I thought for sure it was going to be dragged kicking and screaming until the end of the season. I like when shows have an element of surprise, but Arrow has been pretty predictable of late. Hopefully, this marks a...

Oliver Queen may not be the Mayor of Star City for much longer. 

That much was hinted at on Arrow Season 5 Episode 14 when he made a string of terrible decisions that led to his reign being called into question. 

Let's talk about revealing the truth to the Acu chief. Oliver took a stab in the dark, and it seemingly worked, but that was wrong on so many levels. 

It could have backfired in his face and unmasked the identities of Team Arrow. The Acu chief was definitely onto Oliver at the end. Oliver speaking the same way he talked earlier (as the mayor!) was plain dumb. 

Considering the way Oliver has been revealing his identity throughout Arrow Season 5, I'm surprised he never came clean to Susan about who he was. 

Plot twist: She already knew. We've witnessed Susan gather her evidence over the past few episodes, and Thea has hated every minute of it.

Mary has spent a lifetime searching for her sister. Turns out, they probably ran into each other at the grocery store every other week. That’s because Sunday’s “Long Lost Family” subjects Mary and Monica have been living just two miles away from each other this whole time. On the upcoming TLC episode, fans of the reality series will learn the backstory of Mary, who was 19 when her then six-year-old sister Monica was placed for adoption. Also Read: TLC's 'Long Lost Family': Susan's Daughter Doesn't Want to Meet Her (Exclusive Video) Here’s the quickie version:...

MaryAnn’s quick take… My anger that women filmmakers doing a horror anthology is seen as a novelty almost overshadows my disappointment that these short films aren’t very scary. I’m “biast” (pro): I’m desperate for movies by and about women

I’m “biast” (con): I’m not much of a horror fan

(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)

I’m looking forward to the time when the work of four women filmmakers coming together in a horror anthology is not considered a novelty, but we do not live in that world yet. So that is the motif that connects the segments of Xx: they were written and directed by women. (Imagine how ridiculous it would be to try to sell an anthology on the fact that all the segments were made by men!) I’m always glad to see women filmmakers working,...

Xx – an all-female directed horror anthology – couldn’t push against genre representation at a better time. You’d think those involved would come out fiery, focused and full of appropriate rage given current gender voicelessness. This was a chance for horror to champion female filmmakers, yet assertions are tepid at best. Even past the failed settling of gender scores, Xx lacks horror establishment of the basest engagement. Only one chapter stands out (victorious because of competition), while three more efforts drag their feet without enthusiasm. No statement is made, no mic is dropped and no lasting message lingers past the credits. Enjoy another mixed bag of spooky stories that do no bumping in any night.

Please note, such disinterest isn’t because my feeble male brain can’t comprehend a different perspective. Three of the four main characters are mothers, all caught in family dilemmas. That’s not where my disconnection stems.

What is Susan really up to?

That was one of the more pressing questions Arrow Season 5 Episode 12 as she continued her quest to dig deep into her lover's past. There's always been something sketchy with Carly Pope's alter ego and I'm now getting the feeling that she's going to be worse than I first imagined. 

Ever since the days of her trashing him in the media, it was clear she was harboring an ulterior motive. She's probably looking for that story to define her career and it's pretty sad. 

I guess it shows just how relentless she is to find out the truth. It will be terrible when Oliver finds out what she's up to. It will likely result in him not trusting anyone outside his circle ever again. 

I've never really been a fan of Susan's relationship with Oliver because there's always been something I did not like about her.

Well, we’ve made it to another month, which means we have a bunch of new VOD releases to look forward to throughout February. If you are looking to escape the winter doldrums while keeping safe and snug on your couches, you have plenty of horror and sci-fi titles arriving digitally in the coming weeks to keep you busy and out of the brutal winter chill.

February’s VOD offerings kick off with Katee Sackhoff in Don’t Knock Twice from IFC Midnight, and for those of you with Dish services, the psychological thriller Lavender makes its bow on that platform beginning February 3rd. The Oscar-nominated Nocturnal Animals arrives on Digital HD on February 7th, the very same day that Stake Land II gets released courtesy of Dark Sky Films.

If you missed Arrival in theaters, Paramount Pictures will release the film On Demand beginning February 14th (following its January...

Written and directed by Marti Noxon, To the Bone is an occasionally harrowing drama geared towards the Ya crowd from a filmmaker that knows the terrain well, having written Fright Night and I Am Number Four, as well as TV shows Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Glee, and Angel. Exploring eating disorders, the film is fronted by a strong performance by Lilly Collins as Ellen, a 20-year old artist from an upper middle-class household living with this battle. While the script is occasionally quite frank and knows the territory it’s exploring well, it falls back on the same tropes you’d expect from a network TV series, creating artificial drama and an attempt at a loveably quirky character that derails the entire picture.

After yet another stint in an in-patient hospital, Ellen returns home to Los Angels, living with her step mom Susan (Carrie Preston) and half-sister Kelly (Laiana Liberto...

Horror anthologies can be a tough feat to pull off, especially when you’re trying to pull together different filmmakers’ visions into one cohesive experience. That being said, Xx, which recently celebrated its world premiere at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival, succeeds in delivering four wildly distinct stories from several female directors, featuring the talents of Jovanka Vuckovic, Karyn Kusama, Annie Clark (aka St. Vincent), and Roxanne Benjamin. Beyond just its historical significance, Xx stands out as one of the more successful anthologies we’ve seen as of late, regardless of the gender of its directors.

Xx starts off with Vuckovic’s contribution, The Box, which is based on a story of the same name by acclaimed author Jack Ketchum. In the segment, we follow Susan (Natalie Brown), a mother who watches helplessly as an unknown force literally consumes her family after her son, Danny (Peter DaCunha), takes a peek inside...

Seddok, l’erede di Satana (Atom Age Vampire)

Region 2 Pal DVD

Terminal Video Italia Srl

1960 / B&W / 1:66 flat letterbox / 103 min. / Street Date June 12, 2011 / available through Amazon.it / Eur 6,64

Starring: Alberto Lupo, Ivo Garrani, Susanne Loret, Sergio Fantoni, Rina Franchetti, Franca Parisi, Roberto Bertea.

Cinematography: Aldo Giordani

Film Editor: Gabrielle Varriale

Makeup Effects: Euclide Santoli

Original Music: Armando Trovajoli

Written by: Gino De Santis, Alberto Bevilacqua, Anton Giulio Majano; story by Piero Monviso

Produced by: Elio Ippolito Mellino (as Mario Fava)

Directed by Anton Giulio Majano

Let me herewith take a break from new discs to review an Italian release from six years ago, a movie that for years we knew only as Atom Age Vampire. Until sporadic late- night TV showings appeared, it existed for us ’60s kids as one or two interesting photos in Famous Monsters magazine. Forry Ackerman steered away from adult films, with the effect that...

Here’s what Chrissy Teigen has to say about her stretch marks: “Whatevs.”

On Wednesday, the supermodel Tweeted a photo of her leg, showing her stretch marks in all their glory. The former Sports Illustrated cover model, 31, captioned the photo with a simple, “Whatevs.”

It’s not the first time Teigen has gotten real about her body after having her 9-month-old-daughter Luna with husband John Legend. Four months after Luna was born, the supermodel mom unabashedly joked about her stretch marks on Snapchat. “lol my thighs have tributaries,” she captioned the photo of her legs.

Whatevs pic.twitter.com/D...

What exactly sends Arrow‘s Felicity down a dark path? Which Criminal Minds hero is due for a change-of-course? Might Timeless add a time traveler? Read on for answers to those questions plus teases from other shows.

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Can you give Arrow fans any hint on who “the people a bit tied to Felicity’s past” are? —Jenny

I know many of you were speculating that Felicity’s sketchy father, The Calculator, might be an ally in her own anti-Prometheus agenda, but co-showrunner Marc Guggenheim nixed that notion.

Gem Wheeler Jan 10, 2017

To mark 30 years of Inspector Morse on television, here are 10 of his most complex, macabre and memorable cases...

Warning: contains spoilers.

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Beer, Wagner, a red Jaguar, and Barrington Pheloung’s haunting theme. Those images conjure up one of the most memorable characters in British television. Inspector Morse’s final episode aired in the UK over fifteen years ago, yet the impression left by the hugely popular drama remains indelible. Its popular spinoff, Lewis, finished only two years ago after nine successful series, while a prequel, Endeavour, has just started to air its fourth run. The appeal of Morse and his Oxford is clearly as strong as ever.

Inspector Morse...