Film Reviews, Interviews and Articles
Inclusive, funny, original, and genuinely moving, CODA is just about the most wonderful start to the 2021 Sundance Film Festival that you could hope for. This endearing fish-out-of-water coming-of-age story about the only hearing daughter in a deaf family embracing her love of singing feels like a revelatory discovery; not only is it a standout film in and of itself but it’s the kind of movie that uses inclusiveness to tap into new voices and entirely new types of stories. Read More
Each and every year, figuring out what to watch at the Sundance International Film Festival is a journey in and of itself. Last year, I saw a good smattering of my favorite films of the year in Park City, including Brandon Cronenberg’s Possessor and others that played the fest, like Dinner in America, later made its way onto that same list. This year, things are different. For the first time in its celebrated history, the entire festival will be conducted online. While this means no late-night parties, no skiing on those powdery Utah slopes, no rubbing elbows with your favorite celebrities, and less standing in blisteringly chilly queues, it also means enjoying Sundance from the comfort of your own couch. Read More
As boldly original a work of socially-conscience science fiction as we’re likely to see this year, Noah Hutton’s Lapsis is a stunning vision of financial dystopia that pokes at corporate injustice and tech-driven everyman ennui. Plopping a poignant deconstruction of the myth of getting ahead vis-a-vis head down labor atop a tight-constructed, well-realized sandbox, Lapsis unravels like a mystery box with something actually worthwhile at its center. Stylistically and visually similar to Charlie Brooker’s tech-driven worlds of Black Mirror, Lapsis imagines an alternative present-day where a new technology called Quantum has altered the fabric of modern society. Read More
Writer-director team Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor put a new twist on the rape-revenge fantasy, pivoting away from the usual hot-bloodedness of the subgenre and the gory justice that often ensues. Instead, Rose Plays Julie follows in the Irish tradition of dreary realism; it’s a brooding, emotionally-charged, bluntly and quietly brutal affair. You probably will want a hot steamy shower once it’s all over. Read More
Three childhood friends return to the orphanage where they were grew up to pay their respects to the dying director who raised them in Kimo Stamboel’s brutal and gory supernatural slasher The Queen of Black Magic (also known as Ratu Ilmu Hitam). This Indonesian import has no qualms dialing up the blood and guts as the screenplay from Joko Anwar (Impetigore) immediately sets its stock of characters up for encounters with dark magic, free-flying viscus and so. many. CGI. bugs. Read More
Before punk officially died, it traversed the Midwestern suburbs. Rebellious teenagers found solace in the head-banging misanthropy of the music, what with its promotion of anti-establishment ideals and the “fuck you mom and dad” messages raging through boomboxes nationwide. Patty (Emily Skeggs) isn’t what you would traditionally call “rebellious” but the punk lives within her. Gangly, geeky and clumsy, she moshes quietly in her room. Patty squirrels this part of herself away from her ultra-square conservative family but when convict punk-rocker Simon (Kyle Gallner) bursts into her life like the Kool-Aid Man, everything changes. Read More
Director Natasha Kermani is onto an intriguing germ of an idea with Lucky, a message movie masquerading as a thriller, but the execution is simply not there. The film stars Brea Grant as May, an author of a feminist-forward business series, who is assaulted nightly by a masked man. Her distant husband is bizarrely disinterested in the attacks and the police treat them as almost meaningless happenstance. Kermani obviously wants to explore the notion that women are confronted with a world constantly at odds with female safety, where public and private spaces alike are feeding grounds for male predators, and instances of assault are met with apathy and assigned a normalcy that’s both disturbing and omnipresent. Between unconvincing performances (from Grant down through the supporting cast list) and a repetitive cycling of events with fails to capitalize on the threat of invasion of space in creative and varied ways, Lucky ends up being an idea in search of a movie; the mere shadow of something potentially interesting. (C-) Read More
There’s little in the world of Hollywood and Holly-would-be more fascinating than a director breaking out of their wheelhouse to make something completely unexpected. Think Mike Nichols’ shift from directing critical darlings like The Graduate and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf to “slum it” with the campy horror outing Wolf; or Mad Max franchise director George Miller shifting gears to direct the talking pig sequel Babe: Pig in the City; or filmmaker royalty Francis Ford Coppola coming down from Godfather and Apocalypse Now acclaim to direct the family-friendly Robin Williams vehicle Jack. Read More
Australian horror movies have no qualms pushing buttons. Sean Byrne’s underrated classic The Loved Ones took teenage romantic obsession to new extremes. Wolf Creek toyed with audiences accustomed to a sense of justice within the slasher genre. Even The Babadook featured one of the most grating children in cinematic history. Buttons. Were. Pushed. Bloody Hell, the brainchild of writer Robert Benjamin and director Alister Grierson, follows proudly in the grand tradition of Australian horror, remarking upon the genre in irreverent fashion while adding a more-than-worthwhile entry to its growing legion. Read More
It’s 1976 and the Olmedo family has decided to uproot their lives, moving from the countryside to the hustle and bustle of Madrid. Little do they know that their new flat comes furnished not only with sofas and dusty photographs but a malevolent spirit set on making their transition harder than they could have ever imagined. This slick and spooky Spanish-language supernatural-thriller takes interest in the human element and horror alike, calling to mind movies like The Conjuring and Haunting of Hill House and delivering scares with an international appeal. Read More