Matt Shiverdecker, Author at MendoWerks

What to Watch: August 2023 Streaming Preview

4Aug

By Matt ShiverdeckerNo Comments

Features, Film

What to Watch: August 2023 Streaming Preview

If you’re looking for something new on streaming in August we’ve got you covered. Check out some of our picks for what you should add to your August streaming watchlist! What are you most excited to see? Newly Available on VOD this August Spider-Man Across The Spider-Verse (PVOD, August 8) Squaring the Circle (The Story of Hipgnosis) (August 8) The YouTube Effect (August 8) Cobweb (August 11) Elemental (PVOD, August 15) Kokomo City (August 15) The Lesson (August 15) No Hard Feelings (PVOD, August 15) Two Tickets to Greece (August 22) The Boogeyman (August 29) https://youtu.be/-OYQNAk_krQ *PVOD titles are fresh from theatrical release and generally rent or sell digitally for $19.99 (or higher). All dates subject to change. Criterion Chann...

‘They Cloned Tyrone’ is a Wildly Creative Conspiracy Thriller (Review)

28Jul

By Matt ShiverdeckerNo Comments

Features, Film, Reviews

‘They Cloned Tyrone’ is a Wildly Creative Conspiracy Thriller (Review)

In one of the year's most imaginative movies, Juel Taylor takes us into a world where nothing is as it seems in 'They Cloned Tyrone.' Taylor is no stranger to Hollywood, having co-written the screenplays to a few recent studio movies, In his directorial debut, shit gets weird. Fontaine (John Boyega) is surviving as a drug dealer in a neighborhood known as the Glen. He heads out one night to confront a customer named Slick Charles (Jamie Foxx) who owes him money and ends up getting fatally shot by a rival dealer and dies in the parking lot. Or does he? The next day, Fontaine is alive and back at Slick Charles' door. A prostitute named Yo-Yo (Teyonah Parris) who works for Charles lays it all on the line, recounting how she saw Fontaine's body riddled with bullets. This begins a...

‘Sanctuary’ Delivers Succession Through an S&M Lens (Review)

21Jul

By Matt ShiverdeckerNo Comments

Features, Film, Reviews

‘Sanctuary’ Delivers Succession Through an S&M Lens (Review)

Zachary Wigon's sophomore feature 'Sanctuary' is a dialogue-driven erotic thriller that harkens back to the best work of Neil LaBute. Set almost entirely inside a hotel room, the film explores the dark and twisted dynamic between a dominatrix named Rebecca (Margaret Qualley) and her soon-to-be ex-client, Hal (Christopher Abbott). Hal is the heir to a hotel empire and on the path to becoming CEO after the death of his father. But he has his fair share of secrets and Rebecca knows them all. How can he move forward professionally when she holds all the cards? We spend one full night with Rebecca and Hal as he hires her for what he intends to be their last session. The Verdict 'Sanctuary' feels like it began as a stage play. We get two characters and a war of words fo...

What to Watch: July 2023 Streaming Preview

7Jul

By Matt ShiverdeckerNo Comments

Features, Film

What to Watch: July 2023 Streaming Preview

If you’re looking for something new on streaming in July we’ve got you covered. Check out some of our picks for what you should add to your July streaming watchlist! What are you most excited to see? Melissa McCarthy stars as Ursula in Disney's 'The Little Mermaid' Newly Available on VOD this July Biosphere (available now) The Blackening (available now) Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (PVOD, available now) Asteroid City (PVOD, July 11) L'immensita (July 11) The Starling Girl (July 11) Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (PVOD, July 11) Fourth Grade (July 14) The League (July 14) The Cow Who Sang A Song Into The Future (July 18) The Flash (PVOD, July 18) Fool's Paradise (July 18) Fear The Night (July 21) The Little Mermaid (2023) (July ...

Candid ‘WHAM!’ Doc Celebrates Career in Their Own Words (Review)

30Jun

By Matt ShiverdeckerNo Comments

Features, Film, Reviews

Candid ‘WHAM!’ Doc Celebrates Career in Their Own Words (Review)

British duo Wham! were one of the biggest pop acts on the 1980s, selling over 30 million records worldwide. Andrew Ridgeley and George Michael in Wham! Courtesy of Netflix © 2023 Childhood best friends George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley grew up outside of London and bonded over their love of music. After starting out in a ska band, they began writing and recording the early songs that would turn in to Wham!'s first album, "Fantastic." Those early tracks contained a slice of social commentary that got them noticed in the music press. Despite initially flailing on the UK charts, a last-minute booking on Top Of The Pops in 1982 to perform "Young Guns (Go For It!)" was a game changer. https://youtu.be/6_MhjfgeC44 They had 6 #1 singles in England and 3 in the United States in ...

‘Polite Society’ is a Kick-Ass UK Import (Review)

23Jun

By Matt ShiverdeckerNo Comments

Features, Film, Reviews

‘Polite Society’ is a Kick-Ass UK Import (Review)

'Polite Society' is the debut feature film from Nida Manzoor, the British-Pakistani creator of 'We Are Lady Parts.' She has crafted a wildly inventive and kick-ass story of two very different sisters. Ria (Priya Kansara) has one dream in life and that is to be a stuntwoman. At school, her stuffy teacher pushes her to pursue a more traditional career, but that only increases her desire to prove everybody wrong. Priya Kansara and Ritu Arya star in 'Polite Society' (Focus Features) Lena (Ritu Arya) is Ria's older sister. After dropping out of art school, she struggles with her self worth and Ria's constant insistence that she assist with helping her make martial arts videos to post online. Both Ria and Lena are living at home with their very traditional parents who are very lov...

Creation Stories: ‘Air’ and ‘Blackberry’ (Review)

16Jun

By Matt ShiverdeckerNo Comments

Features, Film, Reviews

Creation Stories: ‘Air’ and ‘Blackberry’ (Review)

There are two new dramas this year about the birth of very different products, but they make a perfect double feature. You've probably heard more about Ben Affleck's 'Air.' Matt Damon stars as Sonny Vaccaro, a talent scout at Nike in the early 80s who was tasked with finding basketball players who would boost the company's profile. Despite being told that a promising young guy named Michael Jordan is only interested in Adidas, Vaccaro trusts his gut and fights to win over Jordan and his family to an endorsement deal. The high stakes journey from 'no way' to Air Jordan shoes dominating the marketplace is a surprising crowd pleaser. On the flipside, IFC Films has released Canadian actor/director Matt Johnson's third feature film. It focuses on the origin story of a group of ...

9Jun

By Matt ShiverdeckerNo Comments

Features, Film, Reviews

Longing, Loss and ‘Past Lives’ (Review)

Full disclosure: the first time I saw the trailer for 'Past Lives' in the theater, I began sobbing uncontrollably. Soundtracked by Cat Power's gorgeous cover of Rihanna's "Stay," I was instantly transfixed by the song's lyrics combined with the film's sumptuous visuals. Not really sure how to feel about itSomething in the way you moveMakes me feel like I can't live without you While the song does not appear in the actual movie, "Stay" perfectly accompanies 'Past Lives,' the first feature film from Korean-Canadian playwright and director Celine Song. It's a story so intensely personal and lived-in, that it doesn't seem possible that it is her first movie. It tells the story of Nora (Greta Lee) and Hae Sung (Teo Yoo) - two childhood friends from South Korea who fell out of touch w...

What to Watch: June 2023 Streaming Preview

2Jun

By Matt Shiverdecker1 Comment

Features, Film

What to Watch: June 2023 Streaming Preview

If you’re looking for something new on streaming in June we’ve got you covered. Check out some of our picks for what you should add to your June streaming watchlist! What are you most excited to see? Newly Available on VOD this June Blackberry (available now) Padre Pio (available now) ALL MAN: The International Male Story (June 6) Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret (PVOD, June 6) Master Gardener (June 6) Showing Up (PVOD, June 6) Somewhere in Queens (June 6) Fast X (PVOD, June 9) Beau is Afraid (PVOD, June 13) Maggie Moore (June 16) The Machine (June 20) https://youtu.be/wELPTxJ2YZY *PVOD titles are fresh from theatrical release and generally rent or sell digitally for $19.99 (or higher). All dates subject to change. Criterion Cha...

‘Love to Love You, Donna Summer’ is Frustratingly Unfocused (Review)

26May

By Matt ShiverdeckerNo Comments

Features, Film, Reviews

‘Love to Love You, Donna Summer’ is Frustratingly Unfocused (Review)

When Donna Summer went into the studio with Giorgio Moroder in 1974 to record "Love to Love You Baby," she could have never known how much her life would change. The song, first released overseas in the summer of 1975, became one of the most successful and notorious of the disco era. Filled with Summer's orgasmic moaning, the full 16-minute version of the song became a dance floor filler in nightclubs around the world. It marked a shift in Summer's career and she went on to become the "Queen of Disco." Oscar and Emmy-winning director Roger Ross Williams and Summer's daughter Brooklyn Sudano collaborate on this new HBO documentary about her life and career. It's inherently watchable, occasionally fascinating, and frustratingly unfocused. The Verdict There has been a re...