Reviews and coverage from major film festivals including Sundance, SXSW, SIFF, TIFF, and Cannes— the best and the rest of festival cinema.
“Camp X-Ray” Directed by Peter Sattler Starring Kristen Stewart, Peyman Moaadi, Lane Garrison, J.J. Soria, John Carroll Lynch117 Mins Agenda-slinging, headline drama Camp X-Ray transcends expiration date glitz with universal tale of friendship. Burdened with a Guantanamo Bay premise and Twilight sensation Kristen Stewart in a headlining spot, expectations may come half-popped but Camp X-Ray...
“Young Ones” Directed by Jake Paltrow Starring Nicholas Hoult, Michael Shannon, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Elle Fanning 100 Mins Sprawling future Western quais-epic Young Ones offers a poignant deconstruction of sci-fi and western films, an allegorical gaze into a murky future that strips both genres down to the studs and builds them up as one. Brother of...
J.K. Simmons has been gracing the screen, both big and small, for twenties years but his career is more in the long category than the illustrious kind. Simmons has quietly paid his dues, slipping in a commendable character actor’s career, and was undeniably long overdue for a role of this magnitude. After witnessing his knockout...
“Locke” Directed by Steven Knight Starring Tom Hardy United Kingdom 85 Minutes True to its name, Locke slams us in a car with Tom Hardy for 85 mins as he’s forced to steer his life in new directions that ultimately orchestrates the end of his small but satisfying world. Zipping along sparsely populated English highways...
As an annual sendoff to summer, Bumbershoot 2013 is a monumental celebration of the free spirit (ironically set on Labor Day) – a keyed up free-for-all of art, music, comedy, film and theater. The droves of Bumbershoot attendees (henceforth known as Shooters) yearned for the wealth of artistic expression, surging and forming into longer and...
“Unfinished Song”Directed by Paul Andrew WilliamsStarring Terrence Stamp, Vanessa Redgrave, Gemma Arteton, Christopher Eccleston, Orla HillComedy, Drama, Music93 Mins PG-13 Piggybacking on the recent success of films skewing towards retirees, Unfinished Song is an unabashed play towards the tissue box. The tear-jerking gimmicks are all there; a bout of cancer, strained familial relationships, death...
“The Way, Way Back” Directed by Nat Faxon, Jim Rash Starring Liam James, Sam Rockwell, Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Robb Corddry, Amanda Peet, Maya Rudolph, Allison Janney, River Alexander and AnnaSophia RobbComedy, Drama 103 Mins PG-13 While The Way, Way Back has a firm handle on its supporting cast, it leaves the plot to the...
“A Hijacking” (Kapringen) Directed by Tobias Lindholm Starring Pilou Asbæk, Søren Malling, Dar Salim, Roland Møller, Gary Skjoldmose Porter, Abdihakin Asgar, Amalie Ihle Alstrup Drama, Thriller 99 Mins R Tracking a fictional hijacking situation at sea, Tobias Lindholm‘s film values process over progress, where the “heroes” and “villains” play a politicking game of...
46 Days and 447 Films From Thursday, April 25 (with an official start date of May 16) to Sunday, June 9, the Seattle International Film Festival has screened 447 films, 31 of which I had a chance to watch. From opening with Joss Whedon’s Shakespearean piece Much Ado About Nothing, which I called “a...
“The Bling Ring”Directed by Sofia Coppola Starring Israel Broussard, Katie Chang, Emma Watson, Leslie Mann, Claire Julien, Taissa Farmiga Crime, Drama 90 Mins R In a funny way, The Bling Ring is Sofia Coppola‘s most accessible film to date. As cognizantly distant and empty-headed as the teens-on-a-tear at the center of the film are, Coppola...