Articles by Alex Kirschenbaum

“He has my father’s eyes.” “Gomez, take those out of his mouth.” Such is the tone of Addams Family Values, Barry Sonnenfeld’s charmingly spooky 1993 sequel to his original 1991 smash — one of those ultra-rare film follow-ups that actually betters its predecessor. When the first Addams Family, adapted from the Charles Addams New Yorker…

Action cinema, that most kinetic of genres, arguably reached its absolute U.S. cultural apex in the 1990s. While muscle-bound strongmen in the ’80s vein (Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren, and even Chuck Norris — though Norris’ impact was declining) continued to pack a box office punch into the succeeding decade, a…

When I think back on all the crap I learned in high school It’s a wonder I can think at all And though my lack of education hasn’t hurt me none I can read the writing on the wall -Paul Simon, “Kodachrome” Although that song plays us out ahead of and during the credits for…

The Halloween franchise found itself in a moment of transition circa 1988. The two figures driving the series’ creative direction to that point, producer/director/writer/composer John Carpenter and producer/writer Debra Hill, had taken a surprise left turn in 1982. Rather than document the continued shenanigans of hulking insane asylum escapee Michael Myers, Carpenter and Hill wanted…

I was -10 years old when the original Star Wars came out in 1977, but even I was swept up in the wave of nostalgia that delivered its abysmal first prequel, Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, into expectant multiplexes on May 19th, 1999 (25 years ago this week), when I was all…

As the 96th annual Academy Awards fast approach (they’ll be airing this Sunday, on ABC, at 4 p.m. PT), it certainly appears that rabid cineastes have taken to the web to catch up on their prestige Oscar fare. The latest evidence from what should be anyone’s first resource when it comes to tracking down any…

Has it finally happened? Have theatrical movies finally turned a narrative corner? That just might be the case! As a barrage of IP dreck has crashed and burned in recent years while studios have sunk huge sums of cash into the supposed “sure thing” of built-in fanbases for preexisting content, a pair of actual, original…

December 31st marks a very special time of year, film fans: Val Kilmer’s birthday. Kilmer remains one of the all-time favorite movie stars of your trusty Trailers From Hell correspondent in North Hollywood, and I like to commemorate the occasion with a TFH review, provided it doesn’t yet have a corresponding commentary from a TFH…

Our Hell Scoop series continues apace this week, with a chilling new batch of sinister goodies that looks frighteningly familiar. Join us, won’t you? Friday, October 6th: The Exorcist: Believer, Pet Sematary: Bloodlines, Totally Killer,V/H/S/85, Johnny Z, Aberrance, Vindicta, Monsters Of California, Cat Person, Foe, When Evil Lurks William Friedkin fans have quite an October…

Welcome to our brand-new spooky column Hell Scoop, wherein we will offer sneak peaks at this week’s upcoming horror and thriller releases. This week, Hollywood has such sights to show us. While the big box office arrival on the stateside film scene seems to be the new Gareth Edwards-helmed, John David Washington-starring original sci-fi actioner…

With perhaps the greatest action movie ever turning 35 years young today, I think it’s high time we tackled the eternal question pondered by fans all across the globe: Hans or Simon Gruber? My answer might surprise you. That’s right, it’s time for our Die Hard Villain Power Rankings. The immortal action franchise is right…

Although April included a fairly diverse array of interesting original titles, May’s list of the most-sought after films on what should be every movie lover’s top streaming resource, JustWatch, is filthy with Intellectual Property franchise fare. The top 10 most-searched flicks on JustWatch includes just two holdovers from April: reigning Best Picture winner Everything Everywhere…

“I live my life a quarter mile at a time. Nothing else matters. Not the mortgage, not the store, not my team and all their bullshit. For those ten seconds or less, I’m free.” -Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel), The Fast And The Furious (2001) With the arrival of Fast X to theaters earlier this month,…

Last month, it appears that domestic film fans were looking for a little vicarious adventure to liven up their couch surfing. That would explain why the latest JustWatch top 10 chart, which tracks the most-searched for titles on the go-to website for all your streaming needs, is jam-packed with fun fare. Among the titles listed,…

Yesterday, here in the heart of Hollywood, bundles of diverse and exciting flicks were honored with nominations for the 95th annual Academy Awards. While plenty of favorites were suitably recognized, there were quite a few surprises, too. And we talked to a lot of them! On our podcast The Movies That Made Me, Trailers From…

It’s New Year’s Eve once again over at Trailers From Hell, so you know what that means, fellow cineastes: it’s Val Kilmer’s birthday! As such, our Kilmer Birthday Committee (of one) will continue its annual tradition of watching one Val classic in celebration. Tonight’s entertainment: the criminally under-seen and intensely silly Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker adventure comedy Top…

In the latest installment of our 2022 Streaming Wars series, some interesting streaming platforms continue to encroach on the overall market dominance of Netflix, for now still the most popular service. As usual, our pals at JustWatch, the streaming fan’s go-to resource for locating every film and TV title online, compile a quarterly assessment of…

For my money, director Tim Burton and star Michael Keaton’s second Caped Crusader collaboration Batman Returns (1992), written by recurring podcast guest Daniel Waters and TFH Guru Sam Hamm, might very well be the best theatrical Batman flick ever. The Dark Knight has appeared in 15 theatrical feature films as of this writing, if you include…

What would it take to overpower the world’s toughest special forces soldiers? A hunter from out of this world, of course. That’s the spark that ignited Predator (1987), one of the all-time great sci-fi action adventures.  Released 35 years ago today, the film’s legacy is now secure: it has spawned three direct sequels and an upcoming…

Much ink has been spilled on the return of the so-called “last movie star” in one Thomas Cruise Mapother IV, leaping back onto the silver screen this past weekend in the long-awaited insta-blockbuster navy recruitment video Top Gun: Maverick. While the 59-year-old does seem to be one of the world’s last stars who can reliably…

With recent news of streaming top dog Netflix’s challenges in the marketplace, let’s take a gander at one of its chief competitors: Disney+ continues its ascent among the upper echelon of streaming platforms. Across the first three months of 2022, the House of Mouse continues to make massive gains. The streamer, which debuted in November…

After hovering near the top of the JustWatch charts in March, the biggest blockbuster of the pandemic, Spider-Man: No Way Home, found its way to pole position last month. In general, adventure films and intrigue-laden mysteries ruled the roost. A reminder: JustWatch tracks the most-searched film titles across its platform, which should be everyone’s #1…

It’s that time again, dear readers: the Streaming Wars have kicked off in 2022! Throughout 2021, as you will no doubt recall from 2021 Streaming Wars entries I, II, III and IV, Netflix saw a dip in Streaming Video On Demand (SVOD) search engagement in the U.S., according to our pals at JustWatch. It remained,…

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the big nominees for the 94th annual Academy Awards stormed the JustWatch streaming charts last month. The biggest movie since the start of the coronavirus pandemic also ratcheted up JustWatch’s search engines, too. JustWatch should be the go-to resource for any movie lover hoping to locate any movie on any streaming platform for…

The Academy Awards are rarely a popularity contest these days. This year, outside of Dune, none of the big-budgeted blockbuster hits of 2021 have been nominated in any major categories. Dune stands as something of an anomaly among the 2021 nominee crop: a $165 million-budgeted epic that grossed $400.6 million worldwide. Seemingly gone (at least…

The folks behind the Academy Awards are aware that the Oscars have a popularity problem. Hollywood’s biggest award show has been grappling with declining viewership for decades, and has tackled that in a variety of ways. Last year’s Academy Awards, broadcast in the midst of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in a makeshift location and featuring…