Contact: The CE-5 Experience In the spring of 2020, two major events altered the course of civilization. The first was a global pandemic. And the second was the release of a UFO documentary called Close Encounters of the Fifth Kind. The first statement is a fact, and the second is wishful thinking. But this wishful thinking reflects the …
Contact: The CE-5 Experience Review: Preaching to the Choir Read More »
CELEBRATING 2022’S BEST MOVIES This best films of 2022 video is a tribute to all the movies I loved last year. It’s as simple as that. I don’t care if a film earned $5 or $50 million. Arthouse, studio tentpole, animation, and found footage are all fair game. If a movie filled me with joy …
After ten days and two dozen movies, Sundance 2022 is a wrap for me. On Sunday evening, That Shelf’s film critics joined up for a post-festival roundtable. Our 90-minute touches on what it’s like covering a virtual festival, Sundance’s knockout documentary line-up, as well as the films that blew us away (or broke our brains). …
Sundance 2022 Video: That Shelf’s Wrap-up Roundtable Read More »
This episode of UFO Movie Club covers director Jon Sumple’s 2021 documentary Extraordinary: The Revelations. The Revelations, Sumple’s third entry in the Extraordinary series, puts humanity’s alleged interactions with ET into historical context. The film attempts to decipher the alien agenda by examining ET encounters through the lens of three paradigms (biblical, ascension and colonization). …
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When You Finish Saving the World Quicktake: Well-written, Funny, Great Performances What should we make of people who do the right thing for the wrong reasons? Would their karmic score be net positive or negative in the universe’s grand scheme? Life is messy and complicated, and sometimes good people do bad things. And as we …
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Emergency Quicktake: Pensive, Charming & Surprisingly Intense Sean (RJ Cyler) and Kunle (Donald Elise Watkins) are two best friends and college roommates about to have the night of their lives. It’s the start of spring break, and the duo has planned a legendary seven-stop frat party crawl. But circumstances derail their night before the party …
I’m just going to come out and say it. Spider-Man: No Way Home is the greatest live-action Spider-Man movie of all time. Director Jon Watts delivers all the action, drama, and laughs we expect from a Spider-Man film while taking the superhero genre in a bold new direction. Spider-Man: No Way Home is a pulse-pounding …
Spider-Man: No Way Home Review: Diving into the Spider-Verse Read More »
House of Gucci Quicktake: Committed Performances, Tonally At Odds with Itself, & Way Too Long Heading into the fall, House of Gucci was one of award season’s most buzzworthy contenders. Director Ridley Scott’s Oscar hopeful has the perfect combination of elements to grab moviegoers and awards voters’ attention. House of Gucci features a star-studded cast, …
House of Gucci Review: An Ambitiously Gaudy True-Crime Saga Read More »
Don’t Say Its Name Quicktake: Great Performances, Atmospheric, Can’t Quite Stick the Landing As a horror movie diehard, I’ll be the first to admit that the genre is wildly inconsistent. Taking a flyer on an under-the-radar film is rewarding, at times. But most often, these gambles don’t pay off, and I end up sitting through …
Don’t Say Its Name Review: A Cold-Blooded Supernatural Slasher Read More »
The Medium Quicktake: Disturbing, Atmospheric, and Way Too Long No movie this year had me all in and then all out like The Medium. As much as I enjoyed the film early on, I wanted to jump ship 90-minutes in. Banjong Pisanthanakun’s supernatural tale has plenty going for it, so I see why some …
The Medium Review: A Chilling Supernatural Thriller Read More »
