The Montclair Film Festival is held in Montclair New Jersey at the Clairridge (A non-profit cinema in the area) every year during October. The festival includes American films, foreign films, short films and documentaries. Some of the films that were shown this year included Anora, The Order, The Piano Lesson, […]
Ben Chambers
Film enthusiast and writer based in New Jersey. Fan of Classic Hollywood, Pre-Code, Western Animation, Anime, and Sci-Fi.
The Chronicles of Riddick (2004) Vin Diesel’s Patchily Plotted Sci-Fi Space Opera
Like the first film, The Chronicles of Riddick (2004), continues to shape the “Riddick-verse”, enhancing the foundation that was created in Pitch Black (2000). In that first film we’re given a basic story and world view, and it works – in fact, it’s an excellent film because of it. Vin […]
Red Sun (1971) East Meets Western (Review)
At first glance Red Sun seems like a standard western, however, the first thing you notice is the starry international cast: Charles Bronson (American), Toshiro Mifune (Japanese), the recently deceased Alain Delon (French) and Ursula Andress (Swiss) – it truly is an interesting film. This is one of the aspects […]
Furiosa: Mad Max (2024) Furthers the Max Max-Verse in Bold and Bombastic Ways (Review)
I had a chance to see Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) in theaters but for whatever reason couldn’t go. I watched it months later, and realized what a terrible mistake I had made. Fast forward about a decade and I was able to see Mad Max: Furiosa (2024) in theaters […]
10 Films to Watch During Pre-Code April
The Pre-Code Era of Hollywood is a very interesting time in Hollywood and film history. It was a time of limited, if any, censorship in Hollywood and therefore filmmakers and the stars were able to produce much more risque and unique movies. The Pre Code era started in 1927 with […]
Choose Life, Choose Trainspotting (1996)(Review)
When Criterion announced Trainspotting (1996) as a January release in October, I was ecstatic. It’s one of my favourite films. The Blu-ray Lionsgate have already put out is a great release, but it’s awesome that a company like Criterion re-releases it (it was in the collection in laserdisc form) with […]
20 Movies for Japanuray
Between Social Media and Marketing agencies, Japanuary is one of these traditions that happen every year, in which people portmanteau months to programme month long sessions into a particular movement – or, in this case, national cinema – into their cinematic diet. Giallo January is another common theme that people […]
The Promised Land & The Zone of Interest (Montclair Film Festival 2023)(Review(s)
The Promised Land (Bastarden) I have often found that anything that Mads Mikkelsen is in is usually great and if it is not, it’s not his fault. I say that realizing that I’ve never seen a Danish film of his. So this was my first Danish language film of his. […]
Twentieth Century (1934)- An Underrated Screwball Comedy (Review)
Howard Hawks is, in my opinion, one of the best filmmakers to come out of Hollywood. He could easily switch between genres, cranking out comedies and dramas that both audiences and critics loved. His filmography includes Scarface (1932), Bringing Up Baby (1938), Only Angels Have Wings (1939), His Girl Friday […]
Strange Days (1995): The Future and Racial Tensions (Opinion Piece)
Strange Days (1995) remains an anomaly. A story from the mind of James Cameron, it is Kathryn Bigelow’s first film since Point Break and it starred a post-Schindler’s List Ralph Fiennes. But it went all wrong. It was a box office bomb and is most likely the reason that Bigelow’s […]