B-Sides & Badlands

B-Sides & Badlands was started by journalist Jason Scott as a way to express creativity. What matters most to him isn't the number of readers, but the impact of his words. If even a single person gains insight into another's life, their challenges, their hardships, or their art, that's what truly brings him joy. This is the reason he writes, and it's why you should pay attention.

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Review: ‘Mickey Hardaway,’ a harrowing tale of one Black man’s pain

Oct 16, 2024 | bsidesbadlands.com | Bee Delores

⭐⭐⭐ Rating: 3 out of 5. Far too often, mainstream cinema exploits the misery of Black men and women. It becomes less about unraveling the deep roots of pain than manipulating the audience and wallowing in despair. Black trauma through a delicate lens, writer/director Marcellus Cox’s Mickey Hardaway excavates years of physical and emotional abuse to unwind a story about a young sketch artist working through his hurt in therapy and his art.
Review: ‘Carved’ is a spooky B-movie romp

Oct 16, 2024 | bsidesbadlands.com | Bee Delores

⭐⭐⭐ Rating: 3 out of 5. Horror thrives in exaggeration. Whether a heightened metaphor about grief or a good old-fashioned monster movie, the genre retools tricks of the imagination to transmit its deeply unsettling story. In the case of Justin Harding’s Carved, based on his 2018 short, the writer/director plants himself firmly in the latter.
Review: Loyd’s ‘Get a Taste’ is peak dance-pop

Oct 11, 2024 | bsidesbadlands.com | Bee Delores

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Rating: 5 out of 5. Dance-infused pop music makes you feel alive. There’s an ephemeral quality to it, as though the present moment is all we really have in this world. Such modern pop albums as Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia shoot adrenaline straight into the brain and force you to come to terms with existence. With disco lights fluttering over seductive backbeats, this kind of pop music invigorates you from the inside out.
Review: ‘Mr. Crocket,’ a demented Mister Rogers

Oct 9, 2024 | bsidesbadlands.com | Bee Delores

⭐⭐⭐ Rating: 2.5 out of 5. We live in the age of nostalgia. From television reboots of Boy Meets World to long-awaited movie sequels like Hocus Pocus 2, the ’90s are all the rage these days. We can’t move forward without looking back. New and original IPs (e.g. I Saw the TV Glow, Video Vision, etc.) bank hard on that unshakable yearning to entice horror audiences to relive their cherished childhoods.
Review: ‘Daddy’s Head’ depicts the staggering stages of grief

Oct 7, 2024 | bsidesbadlands.com | Bee Delores

⭐⭐⭐⭐ Rating: 3.5 out of 5. Grief is woven into the fabric of horror. From Don’t Look Now to The Babadook, many of the genre’s best depictions perfectly blend raw humanity and sheer terror. It’s a balancing act to get it just right — and you can now add Benjamin Barfoot’s Daddy’s Head to the pile.
Review: ‘Bleeding’ tells a harrowing tale of addiction

Oct 7, 2024 | bsidesbadlands.com | Bee Delores

⭐⭐⭐⭐ Rating: 4 out of 5. Vampire tales as allegory isn’t a new conceit. Whether drawing parallels to lust, greed, or addiction, vampires in literature and cinema serve as vehicles for larger conversations about human existence. From Daughters of Darkness to Salem’s Lot, these stories resonate across decades by exposing deeper layers of living and dying.
Premiere: The Imaginaries conjure up darkness with ‘Crossroads’

Oct 3, 2024 | bsidesbadlands.com | Bee Delores

It’s officially October – the season of cooler weather, faded leaves, and tricks ‘n treats. To conjure up a bit of mystical darkness, indie-folk duo The Imaginaries get down in the mud with “Crossroads,” a swampy number co-starring blues/rock guitarist Joe Bonamassa. “Devil wanna get a little piece of my soul,” crow Shane Henry and Maggie McClure. Their voices are tattered and bruised, as they clatter and bang across a devilish rhythm that shakes to the core. There’s no escaping their grasp.
Interview: Directors Wesley Taylor and Alex Wyse chat ‘Summoning Sylvia’

Oct 1, 2024 | bsidesbadlands.com | Bee Delores

Summoning Sylvia first arrived on digital in 2023. With its delicate mix of horror and comedy, the glitter-soaked romp weaves together themes of bigotry, authenticity, and acceptance. Co-directors Wesley Taylor and Alex Wyse, known for their on- and off-Broadway work, pull threads from their own lives, as well as observations about the LGBTQ+ community simply existing in the world.
Exclusive: 3 Pairs of Boots deliver track-by-track for new ‘Boot Scootin'” album

Sep 30, 2024 | bsidesbadlands.com | Bee Delores

3 Pairs of Boots stretch their legs on their new record, Boot Scootin’. From the soft flutter of “Tempt My Fate” to the gentle trickle in “Lost & Found,” the album arrives with decorative, stylistic flourishes and deeply heart-bleeding lyrics about taking risks, the necessity of change, and seeking adventure. The duo (comprised of Andrew Stern and Laura Arias) pepper in songs about love and despair, dotting their words beneath rustic, amber-radiating varnish.
Review: ‘Haunt Season’ arrives as one of the best modern slashers

Sep 29, 2024 | bsidesbadlands.com | Bee Delores

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Rating: 5 out of 5. A great slasher needs a few things to be effective: practical effects, inventive kills, and buckets of blood. It’s a bonus if there’s decent acting and cool cinematography thrown into the mix. Many of horror’s best slashers, from John Carpenter’s Halloween to modern fare like The Final Girls, give each component significant attention that allows the audience to actually invest in the story.