Polarizing

Disney’s production line of live-action remakes are about as safe, sterile, and risk-free as blockbuster cinema can possibly be, so it was incredible to see 2020’s Mulan come perilously close to causing widespread controversy at almost every turn. If it wasn’t the criticism being aimed in the direction of the Mouse House for hiring a writer and director of non-Chinese or Asian descent, it was fans of the animated original voicing their fury at iconic dragon sidekick Mushu being excised from the story entirely so as not…

Love it or hate it, and there seems to be quite a sizable population in both camps, there’s no denying that Babylon is chiefly here to send a dazzlingly bright, stupendously loud, and ultimately surreal message about being just that. Indeed, from what we’ve seen of Damien Chazelle‘s latest venture, we can’t fathom something more evocative. And what we’ve seen of Babylon has grown a touch wider since earlier today, when we got a peek at the second trailer for the depraved spectacle. It doesn’t shoot for the moon in as…

If you’re the writer, director, editor, and fight choreographer behind one of the greatest action movies ever made and its phenomenal sequel, how do you possibly follow that up given the weight of expectation placed on your shoulders? If you’re Gareth Evans, you confuse the hell out of everyone and make Apostle. The Welsh filmmaker’s pair of bruising Indonesian calling cards put him on the map as one of the hottest directorial talents well worth keeping an eye on, so a period-set folk horror with heavy shades of The…

Image via Warner Bros. Pictures DCEU has not been having a whole lot of luck when it comes to adapting beloved DC characters from the pages of the comic books to the screen. Surprisingly, the recently released Black Adam has managed to impress viewers if its audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes is anything to go by. While the likes of Dwayne Johnson, Pierce Brosnan, and Aldis Hodge are the absolute winners in terms of reviews, fans are on the fence about Noah Centineo’s Atom Smasher.  Although Centineo’s Al…

via 20th Century Studios Horror always tends to split opinion among fans and critics, but very rarely does the former offer higher marks to a scary movie than the latter. That turned out to be the case with The Empty Man, though, which was ironically fitting given that the film suffered through a production that could generously be described as torturous. Even though shooting took place in late 2016, it wouldn’t be until October 2020 that writer and director David Prior’s supernatural mystery was sent out into…

via Open Road Films The horror comedy is one of the most deliriously entertaining cinematic subgenres when pulled off in the right way, with plenty of titles living long in the memory as undisputed classics and fan favorites. When it goes wrong, though, the end result can be something that’s neither scary nor funny. Depending on who you ask, this year’s Studio 666 could feasibly exist in either camp. A blood-soaked musical mashup starring the Foo Fighters as themselves was always going to split opinion, with…

Image via Netflix Spooky season is finally in full swing, which means a slew of fresh spooktacular forms of entertainment media are being thrust into the bulging horror bubble. Naturally, the majority of horror fans look forward to new adaptations of the work of the master of the macabre, Stephen King. This year a fresh-faced King-inspired project, Mr. Harrigan’s Phone, is the hot new thing in town, though some are already warning viewers to stay away. Nevertheless, any new Stephen King adaptation is a must for…

via Marvel Studios As the second highest-grossing film in the history of cinema that drummed up a ton of repeat business, Avengers: Endgame clearly captured the hearts and minds of audiences all around the world. However, one scene in particular continues to generate plenty of divisive discourse, and it turns out that The Marvels director Nia DaCosta isn’t a fan, either. In case you haven’t guessed, we are indeed talking about the assembly of A-Force, with the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s most prominent female…

Screenshot via Rob Zombie movies/YouTube A recent post in Reddit’s r/horror forum opened up a floodgate of fan opinions, good and bad, regarding one of the genre’s most divisive figures and one of his most disputed works. It turns out horror fans are more than willing to discuss the good, the bad, and the all too ugly of Rob Zombie‘s witch coven would-be master(?)piece, The Lords of Salem. User implodingnerd may have gotten more info than they were counting on when they made an inquiry on opinions on Zombie’s…

via Saban Films The mystery genre has been making a huge comeback recently, whether it’s Netflix shelling out hundreds of millions of dollars for Knives Out sequels, or Kenneth Branagh and his mighty mustache aiming to churn out more Agatha Christie adaptations. Audiences love the twists, turns, and revelations that come with the genre, even if opinion was split almost right down the middle on 2016’s Come and Find Me. A 64 percent Rotten Tomatoes score may lull you into a false sense of security that Zach…