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Escape From The 21st Century, from director and screenwriter Yang Li, is a psychedelic comedy-drama set on Planet K, a world similar to Earth but with only 12 hours per day. The film oscillates between two timelines: 1999 and 2019. Time-travel films are typically wacky, and Yang Li takes them to the next level with stylized visuals inspired by comics, anime, and video games. With an overall inspirational theme, the film is steeped in nostalgia and follows a non-linear narrative that is generally absurd, funny, and definitely not meant to be taken seriously. Escape From The 21st Century revolves around three best friends: Wang Zha, Wang Chengyong, and Paopao, and the narrative takes place in the summer of 1999. The three high school students looked to the future with great excitement, determined to make their dreams and ambitions a reality. But they soon discovered that they hadn't become the versions of themselves they had hoped to be in the future. Director: Yang Li Writer: Yang L...

 The first two episodes of Hell Motel took us to the Cold River Motel and introduced us to its owners, Portia and Ruby; Hemmingway, the chef; and the guests: Kawayan, Andy, Adriana, Blake, Crow, and Paige. The resort had become infamous for the brutal murders committed there, and after several decades of closure, it reopened to attract true-crime fans.  While Portia, Ruby, and Hemmingway sought to impress guests with mock-thrillers, the brutal death of the chef heightened the fear in the place and caused everyone to suspect each other. Now, it was revealed that the two newcomers, Shirley and Floyd, had come to the motel with the goal of massacring people and opening a portal to hell (yes, literal hell). But they weren't responsible for Hemmingway's death. And when Portia died as well, the murderous pair realized there was a copycat among them, trying to thwart their plan or open the portal to hell for themselves. Stars: Shaun Benson, Paula Brancati, Genevieve DeGraves Episode ...

The fourth season of Panchayat picks up where the third season left off, where we saw how someone orchestrated an attack on Pradhan Ji. Thankfully, he survived, but he never knew who was behind it. Meanwhile, Manju Devi was contesting the elections for Pradhan Ji's Gram Panchayat post. Her opponent was none other than Bhushan's wife, Kranti Devi, a feisty woman ready to give Pradhan Ji and Manju Devi a tough competition. So, Prahlad, Vikas, and Abhishek—Pradhan Ji's entire team—campaigned with all their might to ensure Manju Devi won the election. With that said, let's find out who won the election and what impact it had on everyone's lives.  In the previous season, we saw that Bhushan had filed a complaint against Abhishek Tripathi aka Sachiv Ji, while Brij Bhushan Dubey aka Pradhan Ji had filed a formal complaint against Bhushan and former MP Chandra Kishore Singh. Abhishek was under a lot of stress as he knew the consequences that criminal charges could have on h...

When Ingrid (Vicky Krieps) approaches Sofia (Emma Mackey) on horseback like a pixie mirage, Sofia is instantly captivated, or when Ingrid says, "Do you have any cigarettes? Well, let's go," even though they've just met, one wants to believe they're traveling in a hidden code of desire, psychically connected strangers tanning on the Iberian peninsula. Ingrid, a gauzily veiled German expat dressed as a jaunty lesbian pirate or a swashbuckling waitress, is so empty of a woman in "Hot Milk," Rebecca Lenkiewicz's directorial debut, that this study of lesbian malaise on the shores of the Mediterranean becomes strangely subdued.  Adapting Deborah Levy's 2016 novel, whose title subtly evokes images of breastfeeding, among other bodily activities related to reproduction, the screenwriter of "She Said" and "Disobedience" casts Mackey and Krieps as lovers amid the ruins of Fiona Shaw's anguish. The great Irish actress plays Rose, Sof...

It's been 23 years since director Danny Boyle and screenwriter Alex Garland created 28 Days Later and 18 years since Juan Carlos Fresnadillo continued the franchise with 28 Weeks Later. Now Boyle and Garland take back control, bringing us 28 Years Later, the best and most thematically rich of the trio, not to mention the most packed with zombie genitalia. Seriously, the fact that one particularly muscular infected person is visibly well-endowed adds a chilling touch. The film tenses your body muscles for much of its running time, but takes some surprising steps that are truly special. The "rage virus" that turns people into aggressive zombie-like creatures has been contained in Great Britain. A group of survivors live on a small island connected to the mainland by a tidal causeway. Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) takes his 12-year-old son, Spike (Alfie Williams), across the road to teach him how to kill the infected with a bow and arrow. After several murders, Spike decides ...

The plot unfolds on Valentine's Day in New Jersey. A young intersex sex worker must flee the mafia after a drug bust forces him to confront his past. Every once in a while, a film comes along with such an innovative perspective that it's not only refreshing but sometimes falters by trying to cover too much ground, as if no one will ever make a film like this again and every possible angle and plot point needs to be thoroughly analyzed. As a result, some specificity is traded for breadth, meaning that even what should seem bold and novel becomes familiar. Director: Esteban Arango Writer: River Gallo Stars: River Gallo, Dylan O'Brien, Victoria Pedretti That's one way of saying that Ponyboi, from director Esteban Arango (based on a script written by star River Gallo, who expands on the duo's 2019 short film with this feature-length version accepted at Sundance 2024), about an intersex sex worker who gets caught up in a mess involving lethal drugs and her psychotic pimp...

Character-driven movies are a lost art: some are very well done, while others can ramble on and on for too long. Fortunately, writer-director Karl R. Hearne's "The G" is a film that fits the bill as an example of the former. Casting a perfect role for veteran character actor Dale Dickey, "The G" is a film about a foul-mouthed elderly woman named Ann Hunter (or simply "The G") who is swindled by an evil legal guardian. Soon after, following the passing of her husband, Ann finds herself caged in a squalid institution and plotting revenge to break out of the trap her treacherous guardian has trapped her in... and to keep the dark secret she's been hiding. The premise of "The G" feels like a mix of "Thelma" and "I Care a Lot," but there's a carefully measured pacing to this character-driven thriller that never quite loses the hero's journey of its not-quite-heroic protagonist.  Director: Karl R. Hearne Writer: Karl...