Flash Frames

I really don’t have a good clue of where to start off with this one. Writer-director Jane Schoenbrun really hit the consciousness with 2021’s We’re All Going to the World’s Fair , a lo-fi, borderline-Lynchian psychological drama that’s slowly become one of my favorite movies of this decade so far. I’ve even got the limited edition Blu-Ray from Vinegar Syndrome, which admittedly says a lot about me. Ever since World’s Fair , I’ve been wanting to see what Schoenbrun would have up their sleeves, and it’s a bit of a doozy. I didn’t even know until a few days before I Saw the TV Glow released nationwide this weekend that Emma Stone was a producer on this through her Fruit Tree banner, who’s been on a hell of a run, which includes not starring *and* producing my favorite movie AND show of 2023, Poor Things and The Curse . So, my expectations were nothing short of high, and even then, I’m pretty sure they were not only met but exceeded. Justice Smith plays Owen, a teenager just trying to ma...

It’s funny enough to see that two conspiracy thriller/horror movies involving nuns (or nunsploitation, if you want a term) hit theaters only two weeks apart. One is a star-driven project released by an independent studio that ended up being a moderate box office hit, and the other is the prequel to a 1970s horror movie that’s considered by many to be a classic in horror. I’m reviewing the latter, The First Omen , right now, but I do have to at least share my two cents on the former, Immaculate , which ended up starring Sydney Sweeney, along with being a producer on the project. While I do think that Immaculate has its moments, it’s shrunk on me the more I’ve thought about it. Even Sweeney’s pretty great performance and a killer ending haven’t entirely stuck with me in the under-a-month it’s been since I’ve seen it. The First Omen , though, really does feel like a total shock to the system. Think about this phrase on its own: A prequel to a beloved horror movie that probably had too man...