Out in Theaters: ‘FINDING DORY’
CONCLUSION: A Neptunian pathos piece showcasing masterfully slick animation and plenty of good humor, 'Finding Dory' still can’t escape the grasp of ancillary, auxiliary storytelling. And for all its trying,…
REVIEW
FESTIVAL
SIFF ’16 Capsule Review: ‘UNDER THE SHADOW’
With Under the Shadow, Babak Anvari has his finger on the pulse of what we want, and deserve, from an independent horror movie. A potent location in 1980s missile-wary Tehran, a compelling lead in Narges Rashidi who grapples with cultural and professional oppression in addition to her family being haunted, and an actively restrained director...
FESTIVAL
SIFF ’16 Capsule Review: ‘MIDDLE MAN’
Ned Crowley stresses “comedy” in his offbeat desert kill spree comedy of errors Middle Man. A darkly humorous dredge through despair and desperation, Crowley’s film emulates the dark comedy stylings that define greater desert noir the likes of No Country for Old Men with enough tics to call its own to warrant an existence. Parks...
INTERVIEW
Talking with Craig Robinson of ‘MORRIS FROM AMERICA’
Funny guy Craig Robinson strikes you as the kind of dude with a beefy laugh and a heart of gold. His appearances in film and television throughout the years were jump-started by his turn as ambitious warehouse manager Daryl Philbin in cult TV classic The Office which in turn resulted in a string of parts...
FESTIVAL
SIFF ’16 Capsule Review: ‘DON’T THINK TWICE’
Improv is about following the germ of an idea until it’s reach its most preposterous conclusion and with emotionally honest and rib-tickling seriocomedy Don’t Think Twice, Mike Birbiglia has, like a great improv thread taken to its most radical extreme, tangentially bloomed into himself as a director. His comedy manifesto has always tilted at harvesting...
REVIEW
Out in Theaters: ‘THE CONJURING 2’
'The Conjuring 2 'understands the virtue of patience in a way that most studio horror films do not and the result is all the scarier for it. Building on the…
FESTIVAL
SIFF ’16 Capsule Review: ‘LIFE, ANIMATED’
There’s no debating the value of Roger Ross William‘s accomplishment. In Life, Animated – a touching documentary centered on late-onset autism “victim” Owen Suskind and how he remarkably rediscovers language through animated Disney films – he has given voice to the voiceless (technical ingenuity had him pioneer a groundbreaking method to illicit confessionals from Owen)....
REVIEW
Out in Theaters: ‘WARCRAFT’
Paying lip service to fans foaming at the mouth and flipping the general public the bird, 'Warcraft' is a profoundly dumbfounding clusterf*ck of fantasy derivation and nerd-centered jabber-mouthing. Wowing in…
INTERVIEW
Talking with Greg Kwedar of ‘TRANSPECOS’
First-time writer and director Greg Kwedar describes the six-year process of creating Transpecos like a proud, but deservingly exhausted, father. The Texas-set border thriller is as much character study as it is a certifiable nail-biter; a politically-minded meditation with a throbbing pace and tightrope tension. Kwedar’s preternatural ability to blend high drama with explosive pressure...
FESTIVAL
SIFF ’16 Capsule Review: ‘THE LURE’
As dark and psychosexual a rock opera about mermaids that could be imagined, Poland’s The Lure is a melodramatic fairytale plumped with melodic house music, chilling surrealism and dripping monster fangs. Two all-singing, all-stripping sea-born sisters populate seedy dance-halls and sudsy clubs with their the croon of their siren lullabies, flirting with the idea of first...