Netflix’s South Korean zombie horror series, Kingdom, debuted on January 25th. An adaptation of a popular webcomic by Kim Eun-hee and artist Yang Kyung-il, Kingdom’s six-episode first season is breezy, zombified fun. The series gets a lot of compelling mileage out of its unique setting and premise - which is essentially a mashup of period drama and zombie horror - but has a difficult time rising above the conventions of both genres. Minor spoilers ahead…

The Standoff at Sparrow Creek, screenwriter Henry Dunham’s directorial debut, is a quiet VOD and limited release sure to fly under the radar of general audiences during this sleepy January. A taut and effective single-location thriller, the film’s pulp dialogue and airtight pacing make it one of 2019’s first great surprises. The always welcome and underrated James Badge Dale rounds out an all-star cast of character actors in a pulse-pounding mystery. Minor spoilers ahead...

The third and final film in M. Night Shyamalan’s so-called Eastrail 177 trilogy, Glass is a frustrating and joyless conclusion to an original deconstruction of the superhero genre. A more modest and quiet film than its epic trailers would lead you to believe, Glass is smart and stylish...until it isn’t. James McAvoy and Samuel L. Jackson carry the film nicely along with franchise newcomer Sarah Paulson and a sharp script from Shyamalan himself, but a misguided and disastrous third act sinks not only Glass, but the entire trilogy. Mild spoilers ahead...

Too cute by half and too glib in full, Vice is a condescending, albeit entertaining, oversimplification of one of the most controversial figures in American history. Director and writer Adam McKay is too preoccupied with sanctimonious gimmickry to craft a well-rounded narrative of a complex man. Christian Bale is excellent as Dick Cheney, acting through one of the most stunning physical transformations ever undertaken for a role, but the film comes off as a smug lecture just shy of propaganda rather than a proper biopic. Mild spoilers ahead…

The third and possibly final season of Travelers, the cult Canadian import on Netflix, arrived in December of last year. An unabashed favorite here at Strange Harbors, I wrote extensively about the show last year in an Under the Radar feature, extolling the show’s bold storytelling and vivid character work of its first two seasons. The series’ third season continues this trend with a propulsive narrative and a heartwrenchingly bittersweet final act, even if it suffers from some wheel-spinning and a midseason sag. Mild spoilers ahead...

Apologies that this post is about a week late, as I was busy making sure the A Year in Film 2018 feature came in before the New Year, but here is the list of Strange Harbor’s best films of the year. 2018 was a phenomenal year for cinema, and a year that saw the rise of genre filmmaking into the mainstream canon - films such as Mandy, Thoroughbreds, and Hereditary occupied top ten lists along with more popular fare such as Green Book and A Star is Born in equal measure. The following list is an updated version of the article, The Best Films of 2018 So Far, from earlier this year.

James Wan’s foray into the DC Extended Universe is a poorly paced and corny cheese-fest, but it never pretends to be anything other than fun. What Aquaman lacks in finesse, it makes up for in Jason Momoa’s attitude and charming commitment to the role. Leaps and bounds better than Zack Snyder’s Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League, the film is a flawed spectacle whose sole purpose is to entertain - an old-fashioned fantasy yarn with likable characters and frenetic underseas action. Mild spoilers ahead…

Sony Animation Studios and directors Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman, and Bob Persichetti go buck wild with the fantastic Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Ditching continuity altogether while still keeping things layman-friendly, Into the Spider-Verse is a rollicking adventure that is equal parts thrilling, funny, and moving. Fast-paced with a lot of heart, the film is refreshingly quirky with a bombastic aesthetic and a charming sense of humor. In addition, the introduction of the Afro-Latino Miles Morales onto the big screen scores another home run for diversity this year. Minor spoilers ahead...

A novel premise, chilling atmosphere, and some of the gnarliest and creepiest practical effects in recent memory give rise to...one of the most disappointing horror films of the year. The Possession of Hannah Grace is a colorless, charm-less slog that is content in its laziness, a crime much worse than being a bad movie. Minor spoilers ahead...

The Favourite, Yorgos Lanthimos’ uproarious and acerbic followup to The Lobster and The Killing of a Sacred Deer, is a biting portrait of palace intrigue and feminine wile. Anchored by a trio of powerhouse performances by Emma Stone, Rachel Weisz, and Olivia Colman, The Favourite is a welcome departure from Lanthimos’ past absurdist filmography, but also a fine continuation of the director’s will to challenge and entertain. Minor spoilers ahead…

Halloween may be long over, but there’s no bad time to put on a good old-fashioned horror flick. Many have said that horror is a dying genre, and that modern horror can’t hold a candle to the terrors of the past. To those people, I say: you’re not looking hard enough. Not only is the genre thriving, but many of its underseen standouts are just a click away. Today, in no particular order, we’re bypassing the genre mainstays with some under-appreciated gems from the modern era you can stream right now. Although this post is not sponsored in any way, many of the films on this list can be found on the relatively new horror streaming service, Shudder. If you’re a horror fan, Shudder gives the most bang for your buck with a diverse library of frights and thrills at a fraction of the cost of Netflix or Hulu. Onto our list…

Un-American. Treasonous. Racist. Sexist. Instead of describing the next embarrassing farce of the current American political landscape, this incendiary hyperbole is being used to characterize an innocuous Neil Armstrong biopic as one of the worst things to ever happen in Hollywood. Immune from neither the right nor the left, Damien Chazelle’s First Man is a strange casualty of today’s outrage culture, an ugly trend that is slowly suffocating productive discourse in favor of holier-than-thou fist-waving. Empathy and meaningful dialogue are dying, and the current zeitgeist has spoken in the voice of an absurd motto: if you’re not mad about everything, then you don’t care about anything.

Don’t let Homecoming’s sleepy premise dissuade you, Sam Esmail’s new bite-size thriller is incisive, smart, and visually breathtaking. Julia Roberts makes her television debut in Amazon’s new series with a fascinating role that carries the show through its twisty narrative and visual tricks. Refreshing in its easily digestible 30-minute episodes, Amazon’s Homecoming makes for a brisk and satisfying binge. Mild spoilers ahead...

The Haunting of Hill House is one of Netflix’s best original series. Loosely based upon the 1959 classic gothic horror novel of the same name by Shirley Jackson, Hill House is deftly adapted by horror veteran Mike Flanagan with equal parts terror, suspense, and melancholy. One of the biggest contributors to the quality of Netflix’s newest ghostly series is the show’s fifth episode, “The Bent-Neck Lady.” The episode is not only the best of the series, but one of the best episodes of television in 2018, with tinges of Lost’s “The Constant” and this year’s equally masterful “The Queen” from Hulu’s Castle Rock. Major spoilers ahead...

Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin’s new documentary Free Solo is a thrilling look at the most dangerous form of climbing through the eyes of Alex Honnold, one of the most accomplished free climbers of all time. The film follows Honnold as he attempts to scale the daunting El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park without the use of ropes or protective gear. Glib psychoanalysis periodically threatens to sap the film’s energy, but every second focused on Honnold’s daredevil ascent is breathtaking and gut-wrenching, transforming it into one of the best documentaries of the year. Minor spoilers ahead…

When is a gimmick not a gimmick? Aneesh Chaganty answers this question with his slick and thrilling directing debut Searching, the second film of the summer with Asians in lead roles. A straightforward mystery of a father in search of his missing daughter, Searching is a nimble and sharp story told through the lens of modern technology - the entire film is conveyed through screens, UIs, and cameras. A concept that easily could have come across as cheap and tacky instead elevates the film in ways that are exciting and surprisingly moving. Buoyed by a magnetic John Cho, the film is deeper and more thoughtful than your average cyber-thriller. Mild spoilers ahead…

Crazy Rich Asians, the long-awaited film based on the 2013 novel of the same name by author Kevin Kwan, is a milestone in Asian-American filmmaking and representation. The film works best not as a romantic comedy, but as an exploration Asian and Asian-American identity in ways not often seen in mainstream media. Despite a sometimes uneven script and a reliance on genre tropes, Crazy Rich Asians is a vital stepping stone for Asians in Hollywood, elevated by a sprawling cast led by a charming Constance Wu. Mild spoilers ahead...

They just don't make them like this anymore. In the age of superheroes and large-scale sci-fi epics, Mission: Impossible - Fallout is a refreshing throwback to balls-to-the-wall stuntwork that manages to thrill and amaze just as adeptly as its shinier CGI brethren. The first true sequel in a six-film franchise, Tom Cruise's iron will to entertain with insane physical setpieces, along with Christopher McQuarrie's sharp script and direction, mark this Mission as one of the best. Mild spoilers ahead...