2019 North Carolina Film Critics Association Awards

North Carolina Film Critics Association

13 hours ago

Review: SCOOB! from member Kenneth Morefield.

In the months before the pandemic, the trailer for "Scoob!" made me aware of a deep-rooted nostalgia that surprised me. I actually *wanted* a Scooby Doo origin story.

Fast forward to Spring and "Scoob!" was one of the few movie released via streaming while most of the world (including me) was in lockdown. No critics' screening for me...and $20 to stream. Ugh. So I waited.

Of course that wait put an impossible burden on "Scoob!" Now my anticipation had been building for months and the subsequent film had to justify making me wait. It no longer merely had to fan into flame a few childhood memories, it had to be...innovative, sentimental, substantive. I knew going in that it was inevitable that I would be disappointed.

Available on Blu-ray, DVD, and digital now. #Scoob ...

North Carolina Film Critics Association

17 hours ago

Review: "She Dies Tomorrow" from member Hunter Heilman.

Contagions are a powerful force of nature, illustrated beautifully by the fact that I haven’t worn anything but basketball shorts and cheap t-shirts for the last four months because of a deadly, incurable one that has swept the world and killed over 670,000 people in the span of just eight months. Now, you’re wondering: “Fuck, is this a movie about a contagious disease? Don’t I already deal with the real-life ramifications of that every day? Don’t I deserve a break?,” and I hear you. However, Amy Seimetz’s debut feature, "She Dies Tomorrow" might not be the film this opening paragraph might lead you to believe. Yes, it’s a film about a contagious force that spreads its way around a group of unlikely people in Los Angeles, but instead of a disease, it’s the spread of a powerful, unstoppable idea.

In select drive-ins now.
Available on VOD August 7 2020. #SheDiesTomorrow ...

North Carolina Film Critics Association

21 hours ago

Home Release Review: "Gundala" from member Douglas Davidson.

Take the brilliant stunt choreography of Indonesian action film "The Night Comes for Us" (2018), the intrigue of Indonesian thriller "The Raid: Berandal" (2014), and mix with superhero elements you know from various Marvel and DC storylines and you’ll get something akin to writer/director Joko Anwar’s ("Impetigore") "Gundala." Though it had its international premiere at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival, "Gundala" is finally making its way to the U.S. via home entertainment distributor Well Go USA ("Burning," "The Witch: Subversion," "Ip Man: Finale") and bringing with it the hopeful start of a potential eight-film franchise in which the lightning-powered superhero serves as the jumping off point (think "Iron Man" but without Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury tying it together). The end result is ambitious and entertaining, is extremely adult with its depictions of violence and loss, and is undoubtedly aware of its comic origins with its larger-than-life characterizations. This modern adaptation of creator Harya “Hasmi” Suraminata’s comic is not as family-friendly as its American counter-parts, willing to show the violence that breeds villainy and the indifference of good men, but it’s just as entertaining due to its willingness to get real.

Available on Blu-ray, DVD, and digital July 28 2020. #Gundala #WellGoUSA ...

North Carolina Film Critics Association

2 days ago

Listen: "She Dies Tomorrow" discussion with member Darryl Mansel.

On this episode, Darryl discusses the latest NEON release "She Dies Tomorrow." ...