Robert Hamer
Formerly an associate writer for the now-retired Awards Circuit, Robert Hamer has returned to obsessively writing about movies and crusading against category fraud instead of going to therapy. Join him, won't you, in this unorthodox attempt at mental alleviation?
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Who I Would Love To See Become The Next Amy Madigan
Our lovable online cinephile pal Nathaniel Rogers is running an interesting poll on his site The Film Experience right now. In the wake of Amy Madigan’s Best Supporting Actress win last month, she not only notched a major industry victory for the horror genre, but she also concluded an incredible comeback arc after a decades-long […] More
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in Op-ed
Sunday Scaries: What Do We Fear From Liminal Spaces?
Oh boy, it even has that iconic little off-key chord to open it: Last week, we were hit with the full trailer for a feature-length movie adapting a book comic show tweet thread urban legend short films meme I… don’t know how, precisely, to describe this strange internet phenomenon this is pulling from. It might […] More
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in Op-ed
On the Spring Radar…
“Academy Award Winner Paul Thomas Anderson.” That still feels surreal to say. I genuinely did not think such an iconoclastic filmmaker, whose devoted and passionate cult following was never that big (certainly puny compared to the size of Christopher Nolan’s fanbase), would ever write and direct a movie that the Academy would wholeheartedly embrace. Especially […] More
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in Op-ed
A Big, Beautiful Failure
Wow, and I thought this would be the happiest event in the entertainment industry in the first quarter of the year. Nope! I was wrong! I am beyond pleased to report to you all that Sora, the AI slop video generator that tech industry sociopaths and Hollywood washouts were so excited for out of a […] More
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76th Berlin Film Festival Winners Announced
The recipient of the 76th Berlin Film Festival’s top prize is the Turkish drama Yellow Letters, İlker Çatak’s chronicle of a married couple who have to move to Istanbul with their 13 year-old daughter to rebuild their shattered lives after state arbitration leaves them both unemployed… which is weird, because that sounds like a movie […] More
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Ranking the 21st Century Winners of the Golden Bear
Guten morgen, liebe leser! Today is the opening day of the 76th Berlin International Film Festival. I realized, at the dawn of this year’s festivities, that we are now just a little over a quarter of the way through the century. Which is a daunting prospect in general, but I also think this is an […] More
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in Reviews
Film Review: Sirāt is an Astonishingly Unrelenting, Portentous Thriller
“Ṣirāṭ” is an Arabic word. It means “pathway” and in Islamic eschatology, it is the bridge above the fires of damnation that all souls must traverse after the Day of Judgment to reach Paradise. It is as narrow as a hair and as sharp as a sword. Divine intervention may help you cross this bridge… […] More
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in Op-ed
Sunday Scaries: Are We Getting Burned Out on Zombie Apocalypse Pessimism?
Note: Spoilers ahead for 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. Is it fair to call 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple a box office bomb at this point? At a minimum, it is just straightforwardly true that the film is not doing nearly as well as 28 Years Later did. This is a stunning turnaround […] More
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in Reviews
Film Review: Show No ‘Mercy’ to Shoddy Pro-A.I. Propaganda
Note: Spoilers for a movie you should not waste any time actually watching are discussed below. One of the most justifiably reviled films of last year was War of the Worlds. For a number of reasons, but a chief sticking point was how much of its runtime was devoted not only to advertising Amazon products, […] More
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in Op-ed
You Really Messed Up, Searchlight Pictures.
Every year, there is always at least one movie I adore from the prior year (usually more than one) that receives zero Academy Award nominations. Sometimes it’s because the movie is just too outré to ever realistically attain mainstream plaudits. Other times, I’m simply out-of-step with a critical and industry consensus that wasn’t as crazy […] More
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in Op-ed
On the Early Year Radar…
Happy New Year! For those of you, who, hypothetically, are changing careers after getting into a dispute with your boss and find yourself with some additional free time on your hands starting tomorrow, why not take the opportunity to enjoy the new releases coming out early in 2026? DEAD MAN’S WIRE – In Theaters January 9 […] More
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in Op-ed
Sunday Scaries: The Best Performances in Horror from 2025
Welcome to another installment of my countdown of the year’s best performances in horror movies! Last time, I went with the general consensus and declared Demi Moore the best horror performer of 2024. Not the most idiosyncratic pick, but what can I say? Sometimes the masses and the Academy get it right. They may get […] More
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