fantasy
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Movie Fantasy League Week 15: Moana and the Celebrity Burn Pass
“Obsession” continued its impressive run, passing “Sinners” to become the highest-grossing original live-action movie of the century. Continue reading
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Movie Fantasy League Week 14: Minions & Washington
Regardless of what was going on in Washington, D.C. this weekend, it’s an objective fact that this holiday total was noticeably lower than previous years…though it was not for lack of options! Continue reading
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Every Evil Dead Movie Ranked (including Burn)
Very rarely does a horror franchise endure for as long as Evil Dead, and many find success even without the massive cultural footprint that Sam Raimi’s possession horror has laid over the years. Continue reading
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The 10 Best Films of 2026, So Far: A Midyear Report
For once, a future where peaceful coexistence between franchise fare and fresh stories doesn’t feel quite as much of a fantasy. Continue reading
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Movie Fantasy League Week 13: Invite to the Super Jackass
This weekend’s domestic box office is down from last weekend about 30%, with “Toy Story” remaining in its top spot and “Obsession” clinging to #3 in its seventh weekend. Continue reading
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Chills in the Summertime (May’s Monthly Horror Recs)
Welcome to the eleventh 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 12: The Death of Girls and Toys
Whether or not “Toy Story 5” has legs remains to be seen – historically, the franchise does incredibly well in the months after release, but it’s not usually been up against other animation tentpoles in an extraordinarily crowded summer. Continue reading
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Movie Fantasy League Week 11: Stop! That! Disclosure Day!
This weekend’s box office had the steepest drop in four weeks, but that should only be expected after a completely unforeseen run of miracles. Continue reading
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Movie Fantasy League Week 10: Masters of the Scary Movie Universe
We went from Netflix executives loudly proclaiming that “theatrical is dead!” to two small-budget horror flicks savaging “Star Wars,” one of the most reliable pop culture properties, at the box office. Continue reading
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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: 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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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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“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
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The 10 Best Films of 2025, So Far: A Midyear Report
Today marks the midway point of both an unusually painful year and the most tumultuous decade in recent memory. Today, we will be examining ten films released this year that our contributors connected with, and have so far taken their… Continue reading
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Lessons from the Wasteland: Christopher Nolan
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 June (May’s Monthly Recs)
Welcome to the first-ever edition of May’s Monthly Horror Recs, where it’s always the time of year for scary movies. Continue reading
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Every Mike Flanagan Film Ranked (including “The Life of Chuck”)
Flanagan doesn’t rely on jump scares, but he utilizes them well, and has been able to craft a perfectly eerie and unsettling atmosphere in his seven horror features, as well as a captivating, inspirational ambience in his latest release. Continue reading
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“The Life of Chuck” is an Inspiration for All Time (Review)
Like most of Flanagan’s work, it’s highly evocative, but this time of memory rather than fright. Continue reading
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Lessons from the Wasteland: Weird Westerns
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: Flashbacks
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: John Carpenter
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 Monkey” is a Terrifically Fatalistic Ode to Death Everlasting (Review)
Perkins’ wry personality shines through in this delightfully demented ode to the inescapable fate awaiting us all…after all, as long as we know it’s coming, there’s more than enough time to laugh about it. Continue reading
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Captain America (and the United States) Enters a “Brave New World” (Review)
“Brave New World” is the 35th film in the MCU, a milestone that explains a lot about its own reception. Continue reading
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“The Gorge” is an Affectionate Genre Machine (Review)
“The Gorge” isn’t just a romance; it’s also a high-concept sci-fi action movie, with some horror (director Scott Derrickson’s specialty) thrown in there for good measure. Continue reading
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Our Most Anticipated Movies of 2025
There are plenty of films, whether they be original, adaptations, or sequels, that we’re looking forward to this year. Continue reading
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The 10 Best Films of 2024
Though it may not have reached the heights of years previous, 2024 has proven to be a fascinating year for cinema. Continue reading
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“Nosferatu” is the Visceral Nightmare We Deserve (Review)
As far as I’m concerned, no director has better control over their vision than Robert Eggers. Continue reading
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The 25 Best Movie Musicals of the Last 25 Years
Musicals have certainly had their ups and downs over the years, but it’s quite clear that musicals are experiencing a high water mark in entertainment spectacle and audience engagement. Continue reading
