Polarizing Polar: An Exploitation Film For the Modern Viewer
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.

Go Home tells the story of an old Peking Opera master, Zhang Jin He (Liu Pei Qi of The Story of Qiu Ju), whose life changes when a young boy shows up on his doorstep. With blue eyes and vaguely foreign features, the boy is apparently the product of a mixed upbringing, and though the boy doesn't realize it, Zhang Jin He is his grandfather! Zhang Jin He initially tells the boy to go home because the boy brings him a painful reminder of his daughter, who left him to marry a foreigner. Still, others convince the aging Perking Opera master to take in the boy, and though they fight initially, the two eventually form a strong, quiet bond. But when the boy is called home, will either be willing to let go? Director Li Chen Sheng uses gorgeous cinematography and evocative locations in modern China to bring the subtle intimacy of Go Home to the screen.
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.
In Amazon’s new shark flick, The Devil’s Mouth, terrible tourists finally get their comeuppance while two estranged best friends must overcome their petty squabbles to survive as the rest of their party gets chomped one by one. While it’s by no means an Oscar winner, The Devil’s Mouth is good old fashioned shark week carnage with a tourist critical twist, perfect with popcorn, a friend, and a healthy does of schadenfreude.
I have been a long-time fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe ever since it made its official debut through 2008's absolutely excellent "Iron Man". The run continued, as did my associated fandom of the films, through the utterly EPIC 2019 finale "Avengers: Endgame".
Juneteenth is a day to commemorate the emancipation of enslaved people in the United States on June 19th, 1865. We did it! Everyone is free! Everyone is equal! End of story, right?
“I’m always interested in exploring female fantasy, and the sexy witch is a loaded archetype that is simultaneously about men’s fears and fantasies about women, and women’s feelings of empowerment and agency. So whereas we are used to seeing the sexy witch or the femme fatale from the outside, I wanted to explore her from the inside.” - Anna Biller, on why she made The Love Witch