Film
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Movie Fantasy League Week 9: Win the Backrooms Ballad, Liminally
“Obsession” is now the first non-Christmas release to grow in both its second and third weekends since 1982, when Steven Spielberg released a little ditty called “E.T. the Extra Terrestrial.” Continue reading
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Mayday Screams (May’s Monthly Horror Recs)
Welcome to the tenth edition of May’s Monthly Horror Recs, where it’s always the time of year for scary movies! Continue reading
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Lessons from the Wasteland: Stop-Motion Animation
Welcome to class! Each film on this curated watchlist will highlight either a filmmaker, sub-genre, filmmaking technique, or significant topic in order to broaden your cinematic horizons. Continue reading
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Movie Fantasy League Week 8: I Love the Mandalorian Passenger
While the highest grosser of the weekend was “The Mandalorian and Grogu,” the big winner was “Obsession,” which jumped up a spot in the domestic box office, added 40 theaters to its roster, and made 40% more than its opening… Continue reading
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Movie Fantasy League Week 7: Obsessed with the Draft
“Michael” won the box office again in its fourth week, a strong showing after dropping down to #3 last weekend. Continue reading
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Movie Fantasy League Week 6: Sheep Kombat
“The Devil Wears Prada 2” continues to slay in the top spot, with new releases “Mortal Kombat II,” “The Sheep Detectives,” and Billie Eilish’s tour/concert doc “Hit Me Hard and Soft” trailing close behind. Continue reading
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Movie Fantasy League Week 5: The Devil Wears Dollars
“The Devil Wears Prada 2” and “Michael” are both formidable opponents and major successes for their respective studios. Continue reading
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Lessons from the Wasteland: Visual Effects
Welcome to class! Each film on this curated watchlist will highlight either a filmmaker, sub-genre, filmmaking technique, or significant topic in order to broaden your cinematic horizons. Continue reading
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Movie Fantasy League Week 4: A Thriller Weekend
The domestic box office was up over sixty percent this week, and that is almost entirely thanks to “Michael,” the problematic musical biopic that moonwalked to almost $100 million in its first few days alone. Continue reading
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Scary Spring Has Sprung (May’s Monthly Horror Recs)
Welcome to the ninth edition of May’s Monthly Horror Recs, where it’s always the time of year for scary movies! Continue reading
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Movie Fantasy League Week 3: Lee Cronin’s Mummy Mary
This weekend, “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” continued its rampage across North American theaters, remaining at Number One, though its lead is not quite what it used to be. Continue reading
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Movie Fantasy League Week 2: Faces of Tuscany Death
This is the first week in which we are taking into account the critical scores, including from aggregate sites like Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic, Letterboxd, and IMDb. Continue reading
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Movie Fantasy League Week 1: It Has Risen
This past weekend was Easter weekend, which tends to be one of the softer holiday weekends in the spring/summer season, but even more importantly, it continued to be “spring break season.” Continue reading
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Lessons from the Wasteland: Clint Eastwood
Welcome to class! Each film on this curated watchlist will highlight either a filmmaker, sub-genre, filmmaking technique, or significant topic in order to broaden your cinematic horizons. Continue reading
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What Really Scares Me (May’s Monthly Horror Recs)
Welcome to the eighth edition of May’s Monthly Horror Recs, where it’s always the time of year for scary movies! Continue reading
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Welcome to the 2026 Movie Fantasy League!
Read more about the first-ever Knock on Wood Movie Fantasy League, which will encompass films currently scheduled for theatrical release between April 1 and September 30. Continue reading
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Lessons from the Wasteland: Anime
Welcome to class! Each film on this curated watchlist will highlight either a filmmaker, sub-genre, filmmaking technique, or significant topic in order to broaden your cinematic horizons. Continue reading
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Love and Death (May’s Monthly Horror Recs)
Welcome to the seventh edition of May’s Monthly Horror Recs, where it’s always the time of year for scary movies! Continue reading
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Dr. Oscar or: How I Learned to Stop Being Judgy and Love the Short Film
There’s a world of great art out there, if you only take the time to seek it out. Continue reading
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Our Most Anticipated Movies of 2026
Bring on the new year! Iconic filmmakers like Steven Spielberg, Denis Villeneuve, Greta Gerwig, Christopher Nolan, Danny Boyle, Sam Raimi, Gore Verbinski, and many other icons will be gracing our screens with epic new offerings, and though it looks to… Continue reading
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Lessons from the Wasteland: Practical Effects
Welcome to class! Each film on this curated watchlist will highlight either a filmmaker, sub-genre, filmmaking technique, or significant topic in order to broaden your cinematic horizons. Continue reading
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The 10 Best Films of 2025
Whether it’s the triumphant return of an iconic filmmaker with an indelible masterpiece or the start of a new cinematic movement, 2025 brought us a variety of entertaining features that we’ll be talking about for a long time. Continue reading
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Start the New Year with a Scream (May’s Monthly Horror Recs)
Welcome to the sixth edition of May’s Monthly Horror Recs, where it’s always the time of year for scary movies! Continue reading
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The Underseen Gems of 2025
Knock on Wood presents: our favorite under-appreciated masterpieces from 2025. Continue reading
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Our Favorite Performances of 2025
The films of 2025 have been delightful and disappointing in their own right…today, we spotlight our favorite acting performances across the board. Continue reading
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Lessons from the Wasteland: Steven Spielberg
Welcome to class! Each film on this curated watchlist will highlight either a filmmaker, sub-genre, filmmaking technique, or significant topic in order to broaden your cinematic horizons. Continue reading
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Horror for the Holidays (May’s Monthly Horror Recs)
Welcome to the fifth edition of May’s Monthly Horror Recs, where it’s always the time of year for scary movies! Continue reading
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Lessons from the Wasteland: Early Animation
Welcome to class! Each film on this curated watchlist will highlight either a filmmaker, sub-genre, filmmaking technique, or significant topic in order to broaden your cinematic horizons. Continue reading
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November Blues (May’s Monthly Horror Recs)
Welcome to the fourth edition of May’s Monthly Horror Recs, where it’s always the time of year for scary movies! Continue reading
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“Wake Up Dead Man” Keeps the Knives Sharp (Review)
I would be perfectly excited if Rian Johnson made a new “Knives Out” movie every few years for as long as he wants to. Continue reading
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Welcome to the Apocryphal Tale of “The Carpenter’s Son” (Review)
I’m a simple man. I enjoy the art of cinema. I hear “Nicolas Cage in a faith-based horror movie,” and I’m intrigued. Continue reading
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In “Eternity,” Love Never Dies…It Just Gets Complicated (Review)
Pitting Larry and Luke against each other with their lived experiences is the kind of romantic rivalry you just can’t see anywhere else. Continue reading
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“Frankenstein” is the Fiery Culmination of Guillermo del Toro’s Career (Review)
If there’s anyone who can frame a tale about the true nature of monsters and the utter agony of being alive, it’s him. Continue reading
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Lessons from the Wasteland: Close-Ups
Welcome to class! Each film on this curated watchlist will highlight either a filmmaker, sub-genre, filmmaking technique, or significant topic in order to broaden your cinematic horizons. Continue reading
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“Rental Family” Finds the Truth in Human Relationships (Review)
There are things with which we all need help, or moments where we just need somebody to be there. Continue reading
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A Double Feature for Spooky Season (May’s Monthly Horror Recs)
Welcome to the third edition of May’s Monthly Horror Recs, where it’s always the time of year for scary movies! Continue reading
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“Is This Thing On?” is Bradley Cooper’s Midlife Mic Check (Review)
“Is This Thing On?” lies somewhere on the spectrum between Judd Apatow and Noah Baumbach as Cooper toes the line between quirky familial drama and genuine laughs. Continue reading
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“Black Phone 2” Rings Twice as Loud (Review)
“Black Phone 2” swaps out dank basement grime for a snow-laden landscape, providing an all-too-clean canvas that begs to be decorated with stark red blood. Continue reading
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Luca Guadagnino’s “After the Hunt” Flips the Script (Review)
He’s a filmmaker of many flavors, who obsesses over a number of central concepts in nearly every one of his works – chiefly, desire and passion, including their effects and consequences. “After the Hunt” is no different. Continue reading
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Chris Stuckmann’s “Shelby Oaks” is a Warm, Haunting Hug (Review)
There’s no bigger success story than Chris Stuckmann, who began reviewing movies on YouTube in 2009. Now, he has successfully led the biggest horror movie crowd-funding endeavor in history. The difference 15 years can make! Continue reading
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Paul Thomas Anderson’s Latest is One Banger After Another (Review)
It’s rare to sit down for a movie and realize in real time that you’re watching a masterpiece. You can see the future, and that what you’re witnessing is going to be cherished and discussed for many decades to come.… Continue reading
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Lessons from the Wasteland: Akira Kurosawa
Welcome to class! Each film on this curated watchlist will highlight either a filmmaker, sub-genre, filmmaking technique, or significant topic in order to broaden your cinematic horizons. Continue reading
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“The Smashing Machine” Crashes Its Way to Mediocrity (Review)
“The Smashing Machine” feels like just the first half of a larger piece of art — and it’s a pretty disappointing first half at that. Continue reading
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“Primate” Goes Apeshit in True Slasher Fashion
With a shocking amount of gore and violence, you can tell just how happy this movie is to exist. Continue reading
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“The Long Walk” Confronts the Unvarnished Truth of Life and Death (Review)
We come to understand that, by premise alone, death for all but one of these boys is inevitable. The question becomes…how will we get there? Continue reading
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Lessons from the Wasteland: Live Action Fantasy
Welcome to class! Each film on this curated watchlist will highlight either a filmmaker, sub-genre, filmmaking technique, or significant topic in order to broaden your cinematic horizons. Continue reading
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Lessons from the Wasteland: Non-Linear Storytelling
Welcome to class! Each film on this curated watchlist will highlight either a filmmaker, sub-genre, filmmaking technique, or significant topic in order to broaden your cinematic horizons. Continue reading
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Five Underseen Horror Films to Watch This July (May’s Monthly Recs)
Welcome to the second edition of May’s Monthly Horror Recs, where it’s always the time of year for scary movies! Continue reading
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“Eddington” is Something Different for Ari Aster (Review)
Alienation is inevitable in the works of Mr. Aster, whose polarizing subjects are, this time, holding an uncomfortable mirror up to an audience that is undoubtedly unsure of what to expect from his latest venture. Continue reading
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“Superman” is Ambitious, but Delightfully Authentic (Review)
There was only one place to start for a brand-new DC universe, and it was their most powerful and inspiring hero. Continue reading
