REVIEW: Nightmare Alley [2021]

No man can outrun God. We meet Stan Carlisle (Bradley Cooper) dragging a wrapped body to a hole he’s made by wrenching up the floorboards of an old farmhouse. He lights a cigarette and throws the match in too, leaving as the building becomes engulfed in flames. Was it murder? Making good on a promise? We don’t yet know. Whatever it was that put him in this situation was at least dramatic enough for him to keep his head down while traveling by train to the end of the line.…

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REVIEW: Crimson Peak [2015]

“Beautiful things are fragile” If you truly want to know what to expect from Crimson Peak you should ignore the trailers—save their ability to highlight the gorgeous aesthetic—and instead read director Guillermo del Toro‘s mission statement. In it you’ll discover that this isn’t your usual horror story. Yes it has some jarringly gruesome visuals and is rife with skeletal ghosts, but his main goal was to pay homage to the “old-fashioned, grand Hollywood production in the Gothic romance genre.” This means a melodramatic tone that earns its laughs as intentional…

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