Big Sky River (2022)

'The Suicide Squad' is at its best when it focuses on its characters and commentary on real-life issues, but stumbles when it relies too heavily on gratuitous gore and insensitive humor.

In the shadow of towering film production companies lived dozens of grindhouses, genres, and low-budget films deemed too “unclean” for the modern film audience.

The Gates, John Burr’s new thriller film, is a disturbingly realistic portrayal of three Black twenty-somethings - Derek (Mason Gooding), Kevin (Algee Smith), and Tyon (Keith Powers), as they accidentally take a wrong turn into a gated community that’s more like a modern-day sundown town. The three friends witness a variety of crimes in their new surroundings, including an attempted homicide and an attempted rape. As they attempt to alert the authorities and do the right thing, they are thwarted at every turn by the worst horror stories of American conservatism - racist white suburbanites, reckless gun violence, corrupt police, religious mania, and a megalomaniacal pastor. 

The Force Awakens is A New Hope 2.0, in essence. The story structure is virtually unchanged, marking a safe opening to the new trilogy.

There’s enough evidence to insinuate that What We Do in the Shadows is intentionally queer-coded.

The Outer Senshi get characterization and some stellar moments in the second part of the Eternal movie duo.