Happy Place — It Turns Out the Naming Rights! Membership Option Was For Real and Someone Is Now Five Hundred Bucks Poorer Presents Nat

Being Elmo Isn't Nearly As Emotionally Wrenching As I Feared, Mainly Because It's So Superficial

Needless to say, the universally acclaimed 2013 Kevin Clash documentary Being Elmo plays a little differently in light of the puppeteer’s downfall.

Control Nathan Rabin 4.0Nathan RabinJune 21, 2023

There Are Probably Better Ways to Pay Tribute to the Late Treat Williams Than by Revisiting His Performance in The Substitute 4: Failure Is Not an Option But That's What We're Going With

For Direct-to-Video Sequel month I watched and wrote about an enjoyably stupid anti-racism action movie involving Treat Williams beating up the members of a Neo-Nazi military school cult called The Werewolf Company, 2001’s The Substitute 4: Failure Is Not an Option

The 2001 Satanic Panic-themed TV Movie Just Ask My Children Now Feels Oddly Timely, Even Prescient

In 2001 Virginia Madsen starred in a movie about innocent parents accused of all manner of gothic sexual molestation that’s a period piece based on a true story but also weirdly prescient given the current mania about child sex cults and Satanic conspiracies.

Control Nathan Rabin 4.0Nathan RabinJune 14, 2023Virginia Madsen, TV movie, child abuse, child molestation

The 2001 Erotic Thriller Lying in Wait is Wonderfully, Unexpectedly Bonkers

The 2001 erotic thriller Lying in Wait may look generic but it’s wonderfully, distinctively insane.

Control Nathan Rabin 4.0Nathan RabinJune 13, 2023Rutger Hauer, Virginia Madsen

With 1994's Hail Caesar, Anthony Michael Hall Struck out as a Leading Man, First-Time Director AND, God Help Us, Rock and Roller

Anthony Michael Hall only directed one movie, 1994’s Hail Caesar. It is quite poor.

Stuart Gordon's Adaptation of "Dreams in the Witch House" for Masters of Horror Confirmed His Status as Our Greatest Adapter of the Works of H.P. Lovecraft

Stuart Gordon’s winning streak continues with a nifty adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s “Dreams in the Witch-House” for Masters of Horror.

Control Nathan Rabin 4.0Nathan RabinJune 6, 2023Stuart Gordon, H.P Lovecraft

1994's Clean Slate Was a Cross Between Memento and Groundhog Day But Boring and Mediocre and a Woeful Vehicle For Dana Carvey

One of y’all generous weirdoes paid me one hundred dollars to see one of several films that failed to elevate Dana Carvey to cinematic superstardom as a romantic leading man.

Stuart Gordon's King of the Ants is a Nifty, Nasty Neo-Noir Rooted in the Inexorable Horror of the Human Condition

Frightmaster Stuart Gordon ended his career as a director of feature films with a trilogy of nasty Neo-Noirs, beginning with the meat and potatoes 2003 thriller King of the Ants.

Control Nathan Rabin 4.0Nathan RabinMay 25, 2023

The 2001 James Dean Meditation Almost Salinas Is a Colossal Waste for Everyone Except People Writing Up Every Virginia Madsen Movie And Film About the Movie Industry

The sleepy 2001 drama Almost Salinas is a goddamn waste for everyone except people writing books about movies and covering Virginia Madsen’s complete filmography for an ambitious, years-long project. Thankfully I’m that guy!

Control Nathan Rabin 4.0Nathan RabinMay 18, 2023John Mahoney, James Dean, Virginia Madsen, Ian Gomez, diner, bad

The Graphic Novel Collection Southland Tales: The Prequel Saga is the Perfect Literary Companion to Richard Kelly's Cult Satire

Richard Kelly was right. The future HAS proven more futuristic than scientists predicted.