Mel Valentin

San Francisco

Film Critic and Content Editor at Freelance

Writer-for-hire: Cinapse, Screen Anarchy, That Shelf. 🍅meter-approved critic. Member: SFBAFCC, OFCS. He/Him. Progressive. #LGBTQ+ Ally #ReproRights

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Articles

THE SURFER Gives Audiences One of Nicolas Cage’s Best Performance in Years

2 weeks ago | cinapse.co | Mel Valentin

For the unnamed central character played by Oscar winner Nicolas Cage in director Lorcan Finnegan’s (Nocebo, Vivarium, Without Name) latest film, The Surfer, nostalgia doubles as prison and poison.
THUNDERBOLTS* Review: Rumors of MCU's Demise Have Been Greatly Exaggerated

2 weeks ago | screenanarchy.com | Mel Valentin

Over less than two decades, Disney Studios has released 35 films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), for an average of more than two films a year, redefining and dominating pop culture along the way. And that’s not including the various straight-to-streaming series, including WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and Loki (among another dozen others).
The Accountant 2 Review: Second Entry Drops the Financial Thrills, Ups the Action

2 weeks ago | thatshelf.com | Mel Valentin

While it’s only been less than a decade, it feels closer to one hundred years since the Gavin O’Connor-directed The Accountant, a surprise hit starring Oscar-winner Ben Affleck, hit North American movie theatres. An oddly misshapen, if no less entertaining, mix of mental superheroics and bone-crunching, sinew-shredding action, The Accountant passed a then-contemporary audience’s test for reality-bending escapism.
UNTIL DAWN Review: Far Better As a Standalone Horror Flick Than a Videogame Adaptation

2 weeks ago | screenanarchy.com | Mel Valentin

Adapting videogames into other media, specifically film or television, has often proven to be a challenge many accept willingly, but few actually succeed in translating the gameplay mechanics, design, or conception into an equally immersive experience. It’s made all the more difficult, if not impossible, the further a particular game departs from the rules, conventions, and tropes of the non-videogame media.
Andor Season 2 Review: Series Improves On An Already Excellent First Season

3 weeks ago | thatshelf.com | Mel Valentin

Leave it to the Tony Gilroy-produced Andor series to turn a political speech before the Galactic Senate into one of the most suspenseful hours of television in recent memory. It’s also one of the most stirring, optimistic episodes in arguably one of the best—if not the best—Star Wars creation under the Disney banner since Star Wars: The Force Awakens opened in theatres.
SINNERS Review: Ryan Coogler Proves Once Again That He Does Not Miss

3 weeks ago | screenanarchy.com | Mel Valentin

When pop-culture historians write the final chapter on the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) in the not-so-distant future, filmmaker Ryan Coogler’s (Creed, Fruitvale Station) contribution, Black Panther, to said universe will stand head-and-shoulders above the rest. Black Panther both confirmed Coogler’s keen commercial instincts and a unique ability to mix the personal and the political into a mega-budgeted, comic-book superhero adventure.
THE LEGEND OF OCHI Review: Richly Imagined Fantasy Adventure

4 weeks ago | screenanarchy.com | Mel Valentin

After two decades directing a plethora of shorts, commercials, and music videos, writer-director Isaiah Saxon makes his official feature-length debut with The Legend of Ochi, a richly imagined, Amblin-influenced family-oriented fantasy-adventure set in a semi-contemporary mythical Eastern Europe.
THE UGLY STEPSISTER Review: Fairy Tale, Subverted Into Body Horror

4 weeks ago | screenanarchy.com | Mel Valentin

There’s a singularly cringe-inducing moment in Norwegian filmmaker Emilie Blichfeldt’s brilliantly conceived and vividly realized fairy/folk tale, The Ugly Stepsister (orig. Den stygge stesøsteren), where the doomed-to-fail title character, Elvira (Lea Myren), the subserviently obedient daughter of a ruthless, amoral social climber, Rebekka (Ane Dahl Torp), undergoes the 18th century version of a rhinoplasty (nasal reconstruction) without an anesthetic of any kind.
The Amateur Review: Rami Malek and Cast Elevate Routine Revenge Tale

1 month ago | thatshelf.com | Mel Valentin

After winning an Academy Award for Best Actor in 2018 for Bohemian Rhapsody, Rami Malek’s appearances onscreen have been conspicuous by their virtual infrequency. His odd track record results from several factors, including the COVID pandemic, the writers and actors strikes, and Malek’s desire to find a lead role commensurate with his talents, skill set, and interests.
Warfare Review: Futility in War, Professionalism in Action

1 month ago | thatshelf.com | Mel Valentin

Officially, the Second Gulf War, which started with the invasion and occupation of Iraq, ended in 2011. However, the United States, once again leading a coalition of Western European countries and their allies, returned to Iraq in 2014, albeit in reduced numbers.