As 2022 winds to a close, what better time to look forward? This year has been another fantastic one for film. (People who decry any year as a bad movie year blows my mind, because there’s never been a year I didn’t see a ton of movies that blew my mind.) And there’s so much in store for us in 2023.
Damien Chazelle’s latest opus, Babylon is a lot of movie. It might be the most movie of any movie of the year. At three-plus hours it’s a bloated and overflowing; an ode to Hollywood excess that is, in itself, a Hollywood excess.
To be completely honest, outside of extant fans of the great Michael Jai White, his latest, As Good As Dead, probably has limited appeal. However, those who dig the world of low-budget ass-kickery he typically plies his trade in these days should find that this scratches a very particular action itch as the film delivers precisely what it promises.
Remember to tip people who work in restaurants, and tip them well. Not only is it polite, but they have also unfettered access to do unspeakably vile things to your food should the need arise. Also, in the case of director Zach Golden’s new action thriller High Heat, the proprietor of the eatery in question may be an ex-KGB operative. So maybe don’t get on her bad side if you can help it.
Military technology repurposed as family-friendly holiday entertainment, what could possibly go wrong? That’s the basic premise of Joe Begos’ Christmas Bloody Christmas, the latest entry into the holiday horror sweepstakes. And it’s a worthy gory, scuzzy, foul-mouthed, metal-infused addition to the ever-growing cannon.
