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Articles by Anthony Ray Bench
Songs of Slow Burning Earth
Written and directed by Olha Zhurba, Songs of Slow Burning Earth is a haunting and visually poetic educational documentary that explores the normalization of war through reflective observations and eyewitness accounts. It captures the psychological toll of the conflict in Ukraine while eschewing conventional narrative structures. While emotionally stirring, the documentary’s stylistic choices may not resonate with everyone.
The Astronaut Lovers
Written and directed by Marco Berger, The Astronaut Lovers is a queer romantic comedy that starts with promise but ultimately falls short of its emotional potential. While the film’s two leads, Lautaro Bettoni as Maxi and Javier Orán as Pedro, have undeniable chemistry, the story surrounding them struggles to justify its runtime. It’s a lot of hit-or-miss dialogue that sometimes veers from charming to downright dreadful.
To Dye For
Brandon and Whitney Cawood’s documentary To Dye For tackles the widespread use of synthetic dyes in food products, presenting a compelling case for their potential dangers. The film weaves together the personal testimonies of families who believe these additives have negatively impacted their children with authoritative interviews that highlight the science behind these concerns.
The Secret Art of Human Flight
Ben Grady (Grant Rosenmeyer) is a successful children’s book writer grappling with the devastating loss of his wife and collaborator, Sarah (Reina Hardesty). Ben’s isolation deepens as his sister Gloria (Lucy DeVito) and her husband Tom (Nican Robinson) offer little empathy, their interactions with him veering toward antagonism. Struggling with depression and self-doubt, Ben stumbles across a bizarre YouTube video showing a man seemingly flying off a cliff.
Alice is Still Dead
By Anthony Ray Bench | November 3, 2021 Alice is Still Dead is a heartwrenching documentary about the life and murder of Alice Stevens. The film serves to celebrate its titular subject, showing Alice’s lasting impact on her family and friends while refusing to shy away from her flaws and hang-ups, which indubitably make us all human.
Dreamover | Film Threat
By Anthony Ray Bench | September 3, 2021 DANCES WITH FILMS 2021 REVIEW! Jerry J. White III and Raymond Creamer’s brilliant This is Us is an example of toying with time and dreams in a captivating way. Why then do so many creators overcomplicate and convolute the fantasy elements present in such stories?
The Show | Film Threat
Search Film Threat By Anthony Ray Bench | August 28, 2021 Directed by Mitch Jenkins and written by the rightfully acclaimed Alan Moore, The Show is an odd movie high on ambition but falls ultimately short of the pure genius one would expect to come out of the mind of one of the most influential storytellers of the modern age.
F9: The Fast Saga
By Anthony Ray Bench | June 25, 2021 If you want a perfect example of a franchise that continues to live past its prime, look no further than the latest Fast & the Furious movie, Fast 9: The Fast Saga. The series originally came from incredibly humble beginnings, starting with 2001’s The Fast and the Furious, which was an admirable rip-off of Point Break with cars substituted for surfboards.
Skate or Die | Film Threat
By Anthony Ray Bench | June 14, 2021 Director/cinematographer Ryan Ferguson’s captivating documentary, Skate or Die, tells the story of Leonardo Castillo, a skateboarder who grew up in a poor and gang-infested Chicago neighborhood. He suffered a gunshot wound that put his skating future in jeopardy. The title is a multifaceted one referring to Leo’s obsession with skating.
Zack Snyder’s Justice League
By Anthony Ray Bench | March 17, 2021 After all this time and all this hype, the officially titled Zack Snyder’s Justice League is releasing on HBO MAX. Zack Snyder shocked the world and made a ton of his most loyal and rabid fans very happy by announcing that he would be working with Warner Bros and DC to release his long-rumored #SnyderCut of Justice League.
Rom Boys: 40 Years of Rad
By Anthony Ray Bench | June 24, 2021 Matt Harris’s documentary, Rom Boys: 40 Years of Rad, tells the radical story of England’s most beloved skatepark. From the park’s humble beginnings to its current fight for preservation, the doc is jampacked with exciting skate footage and cultural history. That’s great if you have a passion for, or at the very least, a passing familiarity with the subject.
Paydirt | Film Threat
By Anthony Ray Bench | August 5, 2020 Written and Directed by Christian Sesma, Paydirt is an action-comedy heist film starring Luke Goss and Val Kilmer. The film often comes off as a poor man’s version of Smokin’ Aces, which always came off as a poor man’s Guy Ritchie film. That’s not a bad thing, as I love Guy Ritchie movies.
Parallax | Film Threat
By Anthony Ray Bench | July 18, 2020 Writer-director Michael Bachochin’s science-fiction mystery, Parallax, takes a stab at being a profoundly sophisticated and intelligent mind trip but falls tragically short of its noble goals. It tries a little too hard to astound its audience at the expense of coherence and satisfying resolutions. The story is poorly paced, the acting is incredibly subpar, and the cinematography had a strange overabundance of negative space.
Soul Collector | Film Threat
By Anthony Ray Bench | June 11, 2020 Soul Collector tells the story of a reluctant family formed in a tragedy that comes into contact with a soul collecting handyman as they move into their ancestral South African mansion. This film features a truly brilliant performance by Tshamano Sebe as Lazarus, the titular spirit accumulator. The film is well-written, well shot, and it delivers a few effective scares here and there.
Movie Night | Film Threat
By Anthony Ray Bench | June 5, 2020 Movie Night is a horror film that has a lot going for it, but unfortunately, winds up falling short in a couple of pivotal ways. The premise is simple and straightforward enough—you have a couple is settling in for the night to watch Night of the Living Dead when suddenly everything kind of goes wrong. The Romero classic is intercut with scenes of brutal violence and torture. What does it mean? What is happening, and why? I won’t spoil it.
My Wonderful Wanda
My Wonderful Wanda is a Swiss film about a caretaker and the strange relationship that forms between her eccentric patient and his equally odd family. Director and co-writer Bettina Oberli crafts a wonderfully fascinating story about a dysfunctional family that brings the tears and the laughs. Unfortunately, the film centers around a blank slate main character who only gives hints and nods towards her feelings and motivations.
Planet of the Humans
From executive producer Michael Moore, writer-director Jeff Gibbs’ film Planet of the Humans investigates the shady business of clean energy, and the overall obstacles humanity faces with finding a sustainable alternative for fossil fuels. The world is doomed, and we are all going to die, so what’s the damned point? At least that’s what I got out of this viewing experience anyway. The film presents no potential solutions and no semblance of hope.
Hood River | Film Threat
By Anthony Ray Bench | March 29, 2020 SXSW 2020 FILM FESTIVAL REVIEW! An excellent documentary has to make its audience feel invested, even if the subject is unfamiliar or mundane. For instance, I’m not a big sports fan, but I’ve seen some documentaries that captivated me and made me feel like I could empathize with the drama and partake in the victories of the teams being documented.
Insert Coin | Film Threat
By Anthony Ray Bench | March 20, 2020 SXSW 2020 FILM FESTIVAL REVIEW! In the late 1980s and early ’90s, coin-operated arcade machines became a billion-dollar industry. You couldn’t go to a laundry mat or a pizza place without seeing an arcade cabinet, and there was a pretty good chance at least one of those cabinets was going to be a Midway game.
The Invisible Man
Universal has a depressing track record of trying to update its classic stable of iconic monsters. The Wolfman remake from 2010 was critically lauded, Dracula Untold attempted to kickstart a shared universe and it fell flat on its fanged face. Most recently, 2018’s The Mummy reboot starring Tom Cruise was a boring action flick that had no scares, no heart, and no planned sequels.
Fantasy Island | Film Threat
By Anthony Ray Bench | February 15, 2020 I vividly remember being in a movie theater when the trailer for Blum House’s Fantasy Island film hit. About 10 seconds into it, the entire audience collectively groaned. When the title of the film flashed on the screen, there was laughter. We’ve had dozens of movies in recent years that tried to take an old property and failed at trying to do something new with it.
The Motorist | Film Threat
By Anthony Ray Bench | January 28, 2020 SLAMDANCE 2020 FILM REVIEW! Featuring a lot of unease, an abundance of tension, slick aesthetics, and editing, The Motorist sure looks and sounds great. Still, ultimately, it’s a very frustrating example of a film that raises a lot of questions and answers virtually none. Directed by Ciaron Lyons, this short film is certainly an intense experience. It’s wonderfully acted, and it has an incredible score that really dials onto a sense of mystery and dread.
Maxima | Film Threat
By Anthony Ray Bench | January 26, 2020 SLAMDANCE 2020 FILM REVIEW! Máxima Acuña is the owner of a beautiful stretch of land that a big-time gold mining company is trying to take from her by force and dirty intimidation tactics. With the help and support of her family, her fellow Peruvian people, and her stalwart lawyer, Mirtha Vasquez, Máxima fights for nature, for self-preservation, and for the fellow downtrodden that are being poisoned and exiled by the mining corporation monsters.
Bad Boys for Life
By Anthony Ray Bench | January 17, 2020 After a 17-year hiatus, the titular Bad Boys return for another action-filled adventure, this time involving a ruthless assassin and a mysteriously mystic villainess. Bad Boys for Life stars Martin Lawrence and Will Smith, this time without heavy involvement from the previous director/producer Michael Bay.
The Garden Left Behind
By Anthony Ray Bench | January 5, 2020 Directed and co-written by Flavio Alves, The Garden Left Behind is a poignant and topical story that expertly showcases its characters and makes you relate with them on very basic, yet imperative levels. The film tells a heartbreakingly authentic story about a trans woman living in New York as she navigates her way through love, family, activism, xenophobia, and transphobia.
Jessie's Super Normal Regular Average Day
By Anthony Ray Bench | December 17, 2019 Telepathic snails, a non-sequitur rap music video, couch driving, magical food items, and a rockabilly evangelical reverend punch your face hard in Jessie’s Super Normal Regular Average Day. Written and directed by Brian K. Williams, this weird-ass flick takes its place in the “What the hell did I just watch?” genre.
Animal Among Us | Film Threat
By Anthony Ray Bench | July 28, 2020 NEW TO TUBI! The grizzly murder of two teenage girls haunts the family-operated Merrymaker Campground. Fifteen years later, a series of what appears to be animal attacks brings the past and present spiraling towards a bloody confrontation. Directed by John Woodruff and written by Jonathan Murphy, Animal Among Us had me hooked right off the bat.
Doctor Sleep | Film Threat
By Anthony Ray Bench | November 8, 2019 The Shining is pretty high up on the list of iconic movies that don’t need a sequel, remake, or reboot. Doctor Sleep is a movie literally no one asked for, but I’m really surprised to say that I’m damned happy it exists. Part-sequel to Stanley Kubrick’s horror classic, part-sequel to Stephen King’s beloved tome, Doctor Sleep is a weird but satisfying mixture.
Family Obligations
By Anthony Ray Bench | August 27, 2019 Family Obligations is an earnest but technically-flawed film written and directed by Kenneth R. Frank. The story centers around our main character, Peter (played by Chris Mollica) as he deals with the loss of his father. Their relationship was a severely distanced one, but now it’s up to Peter to settle the family affairs like selling the house and other unpleasant business.
The Amazing Johnathan Documentary
By Anthony Ray Bench | August 17, 2019 The Amazing Johnathan is a comedian and magician that expertly subverts and toys with familiar conventions and expectations. It only makes sense that a documentary about him follows suit. In 2007 The Amazing Johnathan was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, a brutal heart disease that forced him to retire in 2014. He was also given one year to live, he survived well past his expiration date and decided to get back to performing.
Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge Preview Experience
by Anthony Ray Bench June 1, 2019 On May 20th, 2019 Disney opened up their latest and most immersive land for a Cast Member preview.
The Souvenir
by Anthony Ray Bench February 5, 2019 I’ve never had an experience quite like the one I had when I watched writer and director Joanna Hogg’s The Souvenir.
Judy & Punch | Film Threat
Search Film Threat By Anthony Ray Bench | April 24, 2020 Judy and Punch is an Australian film by writer and director Mirrah Foulkes that tells a story involving alcohol and puppets. If you’re not at least intrigued by that brief synopsis, I probably don’t want to be your friend. To dig deeper into the film without giving away any spoilers, it’s the tale of a wife and husband who perform puppet shows in the backwoods town of Seaside, which the film ironically points out, is nowhere near the sea.
Koko-di Koko-da | Film Threat
By Anthony Ray Bench | November 3, 2020 NEW TO VOD AND VIRTUAL THEATERS! Directed by Johannes Nyholm, Koko-di Koko-da is one of those movies with a ton of potential, but it’s ultimately mired down by repetition and a story that is less interested in being coherent and more concerned with being visually different for the sake of being different. The film tells the story of a couple torn apart by the tragic passing of their daughter.
Where’s My Roy Cohn?
by Anthony Ray Bench February 2, 2019 For me, there truly is no better sleeping aid than watching a documentary on politics. I’m just personally not into that stuff. Where’s My Roy Cohn? is a documentary about the ruthless lawyer, Roy Cohn, a man who struggled with his Jewish heritage and his closeted sexuality. The film is fascinating enough to hold my interest, despite my limited knowledge of Cohn and his malevolent workings.
Divine Love | Film Threat
By Anthony Ray Bench | September 14, 2021 NEW TO VOD! Set in Brazil in the year 2027, Divine Love posits a world where Christianity is on the verge of forcefully bridging the gap between church and state. There are crazy drive-thru chapels, Christian love raves, and a strict social stigma towards the concept of divorce. Divine Love is a group of people who work together in weird ways to save failing relationships.
Blinded by the Light
by Anthony Ray Bench January 30, 2019 Director Gurinder Chadha’s latest film Blinded by the Light is a pleasing movie featuring some outstanding acting and plenty of cleverly executed humor, but it feels too familiar for its own good. Much like her other well-received film, Bend it Like Beckham, the story follows a teenager obsessed with something that seemingly flies in the face of his familial traditions.
Fighting with My Family
by Anthony Ray Bench January 29, 2019 Written and Directed by Stephen Merchant and produced by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Fighting with my Family is the biopic of Saraya-Jade Bevis, more widely known as for her WWE Superstar persona, Paige. Saraya (Florence Pugh) comes from a family of wrestlers. There’s her loving, but unorthodox parents Julia (played by Lena Headley) and Ricky (Nick Frost), her talented brother Zak (Jack Lowden), and her imprisoned half-brother, Roy (James Burrows).
Untouchable
by Anthony Ray Bench January 27, 2019 After the fall of Harvey Weinstein in October of 2017, it was pretty obvious that a plethora of documentaries chronicling the man, the myth, and most importantly the monster, would be on their way. Just a little over a year later Untouchable, a film by documentarian Ursula Macfarlane, was released.
Untitled Amazing Johnathan Documentary
by Anthony Ray Bench January 26, 2019 The Amazing Johnathan is a comedian and magician that expertly subverts and toys with familiar conventions and expectations. It only makes sense that a documentary about him follows suit. In 2007 The Amazing Johnathan was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, a brutal heart disease that forced him to retire in 2014. He was also given one year to live, he survived well past his expiration date and decided to get back to performing.
The Magic Life of V
by Anthony Ray Bench January 25, 2019 Some movies thrust you into the plot with no proper setup or context. Sometimes this jarring choice works, other times it makes the film to confusing for viewers to get invested. The Magic Life of V teeters between pulling off an intriguing mystery and being too confusing for its own good, but ultimately I think the story could have unfolded a little faster and a little more clearly.
Liz and the Blue Bird
The only thing I knew about Liz and the Blue Bird going in was that it was an anime. Back in the Netflix DVDs days, I was a huge anime fan. I’d put in order after order for series and features like Gundam, Dragon Ball Z, Hellsing, Vampire Hunter D, Berserk, and Escaflowne just to name a very select few. After a few years of this obsession, my interested started to decrease significantly. I wouldn’t say I grew out of anime, I just think I became severely burnt out on it.
Shadows on the Road
The first thing I noticed about Noam Kroll’s Shadows on the Road was the film’s fantastic cinematography. The opening shot of the Pacific Ocean at dawn immediately sucked me in, and I just felt that I was in for something incredible. I correctly guessed that this would be another indie road trip movie based on the film’s title. There are thousands of them out there because it’s a tried-and-true formula that is relatively cheap to pull off.
Venom
I don’t think many people are going to be shocked to hear that Venom isn’t a good movie. Since its announcement, people have been writing it off as a disaster destined to continue Sony’s atrocious track record of mishandling their Spider-Man properties. Marvel stepped in and gave us Spider-Man: Homecoming, and while it wasn’t really my thing, it was still a million times better than Spider-Man 3 and The Amazing Spider-Man 2.
White Rabbit
White Rabbit is quirky as fuck, and I mean that as a good thing. At its heart, it’s a fascinatingly odd tale of a struggling artist struggling with being an artist and co-writer Vivian Bang puts on one hell of a performance as the film’s lead. Bang is simply mesmerizing in the film. It’s impossible to look away from her even though later on in the film you kind of want to.
The House with a Clock in Its Wall
The trailers for The House with a Clock in Its Wall advertise a generic kid’s comedy involving a wacky wizard played by Jack Black and a stuffy British cliché played by Cate Blanchet. Instead, I was treated to a refreshingly dark and terrifying horror film that serves as a clever throwback to the Amblin Entertainment children-centric classics from the 80’s.
The Big Take
There’s a whole lot going on with writer/director Justin Daly’s directorial debut, The Big Take. It’s best described as a comedy-of-errors with elements of noir blended in. The story is a bit convoluted, and there are a number of missed opportunities for comedy, but I still found myself enjoying it due to a (mostly) strong and enthralling cast. This film is a thriller that doesn’t take itself too seriously, and the humor is situational and dry.
The Song of Sway Lake
Ari Gold is a joyously unique filmmaker responsible for some brilliant short films like Culture, Helicopter, and my personal favorite, Frog Crossing. I recently had the chance to watch his first feature, Adventures of Power it’s a hilarious and inspirational film about a man pursuing his passions and becoming content with who he was and who he was born to be: the world’s best air drummer.
Orb of Reality - Film Threat
I have no idea what this story is supposed to beOrb of Reality looks like a film that I would have made during my earliest days at film school.I don’t want to be disparaging against any indie filmmaker. I know they don’t have the resources that big studios have at their disposal. I understand that sometimes they don’t have an experienced crew to rely on for expertise and support, and I know that it’s hard to find actual actors on a minuscule budget.
Skyscraper
When you purchase a ticket for a Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson movie, you kind of know what to expect. His track record involves a lot of terrible movies, but the one saving grace is Johnson’s undeniable charisma. From San Andreas and Baywatch to Rampage, and everything before and (probably) after, The Rock stands out in a sea of mediocre films. He’s just a likable guy. I can compare most of his IMDB to Arnold Schwarzenegger.
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