‘Movie Corner’ Archives
Hamnet
from the series Movie Corner... 5/5 Stars Period Piece/Romance/DramaFocus Features By HOWARD MCQUITTER II Howard McQuitter II When I was a kid, I had a love for period pieces and other genres such as Anthony Mann’s El Cid (1961) and Peter Glenville’s Becket (1964). Fast forward to December 2025 as I watched the highly touted film Hamnet. Hamnet is hauntingly filled with grief as the pestilence lies in the background like a leopard waiting in a bush before it pounces on its prey. At the center of this 16th century (c1590) English village is William Shakespeare, his wife Agnes, and three children, one of whom is the young boy named Hamnet. In Shakespeare’s time, the names of “Hamnet” and “Hamlet” were interchangeable. Agnes is an extraordinary woman as a healer and Will a promising playwright and actor. Focus Features Hamnet is told through the eyes of Agnes as a family affair. Even when death grips the most vulnerable, it is life that is fervently [...]
Bugonia
from the series Movie Corner... 4/5 Stars Thriller/Dark Comedy/Crime/SatireFocus Features By HOWARD MCQUITTER II Howard McQuitter II Conspiracy theories are “written” everywhere (or so it seems) in another one of director Yorgos Lanthimos’ films: Kinds of Kindness (2024), Poor Things (2023). Bugonia is where the uneasiness and bizarre meet somehow and somewhere. Focus Features Two men, Teddy and Don, are cousins and fanatical conspiracy theorists who believe Michelle, a CEO of a pharmaceutical company, is really an alien that has come to Earth to destroy an unassuming house. To be specific, Teddy believes Michelle is an Andromedan, an alien who starts killing the bees before going on to kill humanity. Both men interrogate her, trying to force her to admit that she’s an alien. All the while Michelle pleads to them to let her go. As the film progresses, Teddy becomes even more violent and insane. These men seem to be hopeless and vulnerable, striking out at [...]
Good Boy
from the series Movie Corner... 4 out of 5 Stars Horror By HOWARD MCQUITTER II Howard McQuitter II Good Boy is a film that is difficult to pull off. To its credit it creates enough dread and creepy scenarios for one to be drawn into its dark corners and sometimes unexplained behavior and unexplained illness of the dog’s master. It is the dog, Indy, who’s the main character in this horror movie that mostly takes place in an abandoned house. Sony Pictures Todd inherited the house from his grandfather, and he brings a trusty Golden Retriever with him. Dogs are blessed with a sense of smell 10,000 to 100,000 times greater than humans. Dogs have up to 300 million olfactory receptors compared to humans’ 6 million. Good Boy is director Ben Leonberg’s debut feature film as well as the owner of Indy. A dog’s love is like no other for it is without judgment or condemnation. It’s Indy who sees and hears the dark menacing figure lurking around the house. [...]
