A Shudder Original review: Thomas Marchese’s ‘FROM BLACK’ is a Faustian look beyond the veil

FROM BLACK

Cora is a recovering drug addict who lost her son due to her negligence five years prior. The film opens with a shocking crime scene and a traumatized, bloodied, and rambling Cora in the sheriff’s office. How did we get here? Cora spins a tale of otherworldly proportions filled with grief, regret, and chance. How far would you go to see your loved one again?

Writer-director Thomas Marchese and co-writer Jessub Flower dive into the subgenre without apology. When grief counselor Abel offers Cora the opportunity to see Noah again, her response is an immediate “Yes.” Anyone that sits in sadness understands the answer. Spellbook, chalk drawings, and salt circles in tow, Abel guides Cora on a step-by-step journey of possible redemption. The audience is smart enough to know there are stills attached. That never lessens the intensity of the plot.

Anna Camp plays Cora. She is unrecognizable in this role. Audiences usually recognize her perky personality and blonde hair. Raven-haired and emotionally battered, Cora brims with complexity. Camp allows herself to dive deep into grief and regret. It is an out-of-the-box performance for her, and she is magnificent. I’d love to see her in more dark roles. She can handle them.

The addiction and trauma allegories are particularly evident in Cora’s final moments. While I had the overall plot pegged early on, the finale surprised me. Duncan Cole’s intense cinematography, combined with Luigi Janssen’s ominous score, grabs you by the throat from the beginning. The editing is a triumph that keeps you poised on the edge of your seat. A Faustian look beyond the veil, FROM BLACK is a grief-fueled nightmare. It will satisfy every level.


FROM BLACK is now streaming exclusively on SHUDDER

Review: Sean Garrity’s ‘THE END OF SEX’ is a raunchy and relatable rom-com that keeps on giving.

THE END OF SEX


The End of Sex tells the story of a married couple (Hampshire and Chernick) who are feeling the pressures of parenting and adulthood. After they send their young kids to camp for the first time, they embark on a series of comic sexual adventures to reinvigorate their relationship.


Relentlessly hilarious, Sean Garrity‘s new film, THE END OF SEX, is the comedy married parents have been waiting for. Not since Judd Apatow’s This is 40 has a sex comedy nailed this age and stage in life so distinctly. Those are big shoes to fill, and Garrity and company step on up. Get ready to laugh and relate more than you ever planned. 

Lily Gao is Josh’s co-worker Kelly. Her casually brazen suggestions to spice up their sex life feel straight out of a Millennial playbook. You cannot help but laugh at her confidence in this role. Melanie Scrofano plays Emma’s teaching partner and best friend, Wendy. She is a delight, matching energy with Hampshire like a pro. I’d watch a spin-off of their art classes in a heartbeat. 

Screenwriter Jonas Chernick plays Josh as an everyman, nice guy. He is a solid foil for Hampshire’s breezy personality. Together they make an entertaining duo. Emily Hampshire is Emma. Her chameleonlike ability to live in the skin of any character is a dream to watch. She oozes charm and charisma, honesty and vulnerability. All the yes to her performance. 

The script nails the unfiltered complexities of adult relationships, particularly co-parenting and the ebb and flow of physical attraction. It centers on communication and the dangers of giving up on ourselves to mollify our partners. Relationships are rarely 50/50. THE END OF SEX goes there and sometimes falls off the edge in the best way possible. 

The quirky and overtly sexualized visuals on signs throughout the film become an over-the-top running joke. A brief but brilliant cameo from a comedy legend takes the script to another level. It is an unforgettable scene. THE END OF SEX celebrates kink rather than shaming. It permits viewers to explore fantasy while reflecting on intimacy. It’s a beginning of a conversation between partners, new and old, and a hell of a good time.


In Theaters This Friday
April 28th

*Official Selection – 2022 Toronto International Film Festival*

Directed by Sean Garrity (My Awkward Sexual Adventure)
 
Featuring:
Emily Hampshire (“Schitt’s Creek”)
 Jonas Chernick (James vs. His Future Self), Gray Powell (“Sort Of”)
Lily Gao (“Letterkenny”), Melanie Scrofano (“Wynonna Earp”)


RT: 86 Minutes


 

Review: ‘Chasing Childhood’ is essential viewing for parents and policymakers, alike.

CHASING CHILDHOOD

Overprotected and over directed, American children are wilting under the weight of well-meaning parents. In the pursuit of keeping them safe and creating an impressive resumé of extracurricular activities to wow admissions boards, over-parenting smothers children across socioeconomic classes. This thoughtful film follows education professionals and reformed helicopter parents who seek and offer solutions for developing more confident, independent young people while restoring some joy and freedom to childhood.

I grew up in Simsbury, Connecticut. Getting less than an “A” on an assignment my entire childhood was, shall we say, frowned upon. When I struggled with pre-Algebra in 7th grade, my parents got me a math tutor. I loathed it. To be clear, this was triggered because I had a “B+” grade point average. That pretty much sums up the pressure I felt to excel. I was in dance classes 5 days a week until I aged out of the studio, performing En Pointe at age 9 with girls 4+ years my senior. I was an overachiever born and, most definitely, bred. Once high school began, my anxiety hit new heights. Silently struggling with dyslexia, believing that my peers would hear the millisecond long pause when I had to read a date out loud was panic-inducing. Starring in every school play, managing boys Cross-Country & Track, maintaining a social life, and prepping for college were all-consuming. This was in the late 90s. That disquieting grew exponentially over the years. I used to be fearless, attending a performing arts conservatory in Manhattan, moving across the country to audition for Disneyland on a whim. But social pressure from my parents for not following the “traditional” educational path weighed on me like an elephant on my chest. I never felt like any of my success was enough. I’m 41 now, and that sense of inadequacy remains. Despite the incredible stories I have from living abroad, making movies, writing, teaching, creating a business, the list is obnoxious, I have been trained to think I can be better. I can still remember that we needed to have business registration like this business name registration Singapore as a our business startup.
Chasing Childhood is a film that could not have arrived at a better time. After the year we’ve had in lockdown, it’s time to confront some harsh realities. Chasing Childhood is tailor-made for parents, educators, and policymakers of every age. I have a 4 and 5-year-old living in an apartment we own on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. By all measures, life is great. What you don’t see is the aura of tension that surrounds the admissions process when applying to preschool. Now, we’re entering Kindergarten with my son. The questions of, “Where are you all applying?” have been swirling around me since he was 2. The idea that the school we picked for our 2-year-old would somehow determine what tax brackets my children would fall under in 20 years is exhausting. Filmmakers Margaret Munzer Loeb and Eden Wurmfeld clearly explain how we’re stifling kids. They are exhausted. This trend of micromanaging their futures kills their present joy. The doc talks to parents, teachers, experts, and kids about how we can change this negative trend. With stats about recess and play Vs. standardized testing will undoubtedly move your needle in terms of curriculum and quality of life. Wilton, Connecticut is featured quite heavily, alongside Patchogue, NY, and of course, Manhattan. Wilton is actually one of the towns we’ve considered in making our city exodus. The irony of how I stumbled upon Wilton should not be surprising. I googled, “Top School Districts in Connecticut.” Simsbury was always in the Top 5. I should have guessed that any town along what Connecticut calls “The Gold Coast” would be the other top districts. After watching, Wilton is looking better and better. What makes Chasing Childhood so successful is the film’s honesty. The interviews with every participant are authentic. The implementation of more play is key to a well-balanced life. The film is not preachy. It does not judge. It does explain how we’ve become wired this way. How seemingly small societal shifts went from ripples to tidal waves in policy and parenting. It’s nothing short of fascinating.

I have a greater understanding of my own parents now. We all want better for our kids. I try to keep this in mind when signing up my littles for activities. They are few and far between on purpose. Besides the logistical and monetary commitments involved, it’s because I vividly remember the years before high school. Playing outside until it got dark, riding my bike across town, exploring the woods, jumping off things that most definitely should have broken my bones. I retain the joy and excitement and calm from those moments. If nothing else, Chasing Childhood is a perfect reminder to stop, take a breath, and realize that success in life doesn’t come from the longest resume. It’s time and memories. Let’s step back and honor childhood. Let the kids be kids. Happiness comes first.

Virtual Live Premiere on June 24, 2021, and

Nationwide Watch Now @ Home Cinema Release on June 25, 2021

Directed by: Margaret Munzer Loeb, Eden Wurmfeld

Produced by: Lisa Eisenpresser, Eden Wurmfeld

FeaturingGenevieve Eason, Savannah Eason, Julie Lythcott-Haims, Peter Gray, Lenore Skenazy, Dr. Michael Hynes

 

World Premiere in the American Perspectives section at the 2020 DOC NYC Film Festival 

Official Selection of the 2020 Annapolis Film Festival

Official Selection of the 2021 Portland International Film Festival

Official Selection of the 2021 Cleveland International Film Festival

Official Selection of the 2021 Julien Dubuque International Film Festival

Official Selection of the 2021 Sonoma International Film Festival

Review: ‘EGG’ one of our Top 5 from Tribeca 2018 (hatches) in theaters today.

In provocateur Marianna Palka’s sharp and unflinching satire, two couples and a surrogate lay bare the complications, contradictions, heartbreak, and absurdities implicit in how we think about motherhood.

Mariana Palka’s follow-up to last year’s Bitch, is just as powerful in delving into “the phases of a woman’s life”, to use a phrase directly from EGG. With an incredibly theatrical feel, as if it could play in an Off-Broadway theater with a unit set, EGG confronts art, politics, and the patriarchal structure that surround the idea of having a baby. The entire ensemble cast is phenomenal, each playing their role in a game of vapid versus broken. The writing is good, honest, and brave. There are no filters on these characters making them completely loathsome and fantastic all at once.

Egg
Feature Narrative
Country: USA
Director: Marianna Palka
Writer: Risa Mickenberg
Starring: Gbenga Akinnagbe, David Alan Basche, Alysia Reiner, Anna Camp, Christina Hendricks

Review: ‘COOTIES’ is infectiously delicious.

Cooties poster“Circle, Circle, Dot, Dot, Now you have your cootie shot!” Let’s be real. We’ve all had our cootie shot at some point in elementary school. It was necessary  to survive the playground territory wars and/or avoid a horrible disease ridden classmate. Oh wait, that’s not what it was used for back then. The disease ridden classmate part, I mean. That’s the premise of the new horror-comedy COOTIES. Well, sort of.Cooties_image

Quick run down. Kid eats infected chicken nugget and becomes a cannibalistic zombie, infects other children, trapping a band of misfit teachers inside the school. Cooties‘ cast in kind of unreal. Elijah Wood, Rainn Wilson, Alison Pill, Jack McBrayer, Leigh Whannell, Nasim Pedrad, Ian Brennan and Jorgé Garcia. Wood plays Clint, a summer school teacher and aspiring writer of horror (from a fanboy’s influence). Wilson plays testosterone, jockhead gym teacher and I have to say, kinda of a badass. Pill is the ultra upbeat, former classmate of Clint and present 4th grade teacher. Pedrad kills it as the faculty bitch with a cutting sense of humor and lack of filter. Garcia, while we don’t see a whole lot of him, his presence always make me smile. He lights up the screen. McBrayer, plays a “confused” teacher with a gentle heart and a scaredy cat head. Brennan is Vice Principal Simms, a lovable weirdo. Finally, Leigh Whannnell, is what I can only assume is a science teacher, due to his lack of social skills and knowledge of things that you just have to accept as cannon as the plot rolls along. Totally forgiven as it adds to the absurdity of the storyline. Great casting choices… Mayhaps a sequel is in order? Please?Cooties 2nd image

The dialogue is hilarious and I am betting that at least 50%  of some of the best lines were improvised. I am really looking forward to a DVD release already, in hopes that there is a huge outtake reel. The practical effects are downright disgusting, even for a horror fan such as myself. Bravo for grossing me out. Even the opening title sequence shows the actual creation of a nugget from chicken to child’s mouth. It’s pretty vomit inducing, so you’re already set up for what is about to play out. The editing, both in picture and in sound are top notch. This film is wrought with catch phrases that I will admittedly be stealing. Besides all of these factors, Cooties makes some great statements about what we’re feeding our kids in school and at home. But even greater is the comment on parenting, or  lack there of. Once again, as a former teacher, kids these days can be real dicks. Sorry, but it’s true. Cooties calls out what’s wrong with our youth and throws it into our faces while being completely gross and damn funny all at once. If you’re already a fan of films like Shaun of the Dead, then you’ll love this flick. Cooties is hands down laugh out loud funny start to finish. Go see this film, but just a little advice, maybe don’t eat right beforehand.

COOTIES will be one of the debut releases of the newly-launched Lionsgate Premiere label, which will release the film on September 18th in select theaters and on demand.