SUNDANCE 2020: Benh Zeitlin’s Gritty Pan Redux ’WENDY’ A Gorgeous Hot Mess
Sundance 2020 review of 'Wendy' directed by Behn Zeitlin and starring Devin France.
SUNDANCE ’20 REVIEW
SUNDANCE ’20 REVIEW
SUNDANCE 2020: ‘COME AWAY’ Scrambles Its Fantasy Fiction, Fails to Appeal to Both Adults and Kids
Sundance 2020 review of 'Come Away' from director Brenda Chapman and starring David Oyelowo and Angelina Jolie.
SUNDANCE ’20 REVIEW
SUNDANCE 2020: Well-Intentioned Slam Poetry Misfire ‘SUMMERTIME’ Has Zero Commercial Appeal
Sundance 2020 review of 'Summertime' from director Carlos López Estrada.
SUNDANCE ’16 REVIEW
Sundance ’16 Review: ‘COMPLETE UNKNOWN’
An old flame forks her way back into the life of a married man in Joshua Marston‘s mysterious and somewhat satisfying Complete Unknown. Marston struck a chord with debut Maria Full of Grace, which played Sundance 12 years ago, giving a drug mule a face in performer Catalina Sandino Moreno. With Complete Unknown, the Californian...
SUNDANCE ’16 REVIEW
Sundance ’16 Review: ‘OTHER PEOPLE’
Other People sets expectations firmly in place early on for its uneven mix of tragedy and comedy. A family huddles in a dark bedroom, some whimpering, some crying out, others silent, all grasping hands, all seeking tendrils of connection, all weeping over a recently departed body. In the midst of this disruptively bleak opening, the...
SUNDANCE ’15 REVIEW
Sundance Review: RESULTS
Andrew Bujalski earned an earnest little following out of Austin, Texas from his efforts in building up the mumblecore scene but his star has never shined brighter than it did two festival seasons ago with the debut of his offbeat docu-comedy Computer Chess. Expanding on that last project – which used a blend of professionals...
SUNDANCE ’15 REVIEW
Sundance Review: LAST DAYS IN THE DESERT
Director Rodrigo García claimed two themes interested him most in his articulation of Jesus’ untold 40 day fast in the desert. The first: the primordial idea of how a boy becomes a man, a step that Garcia contents happens “with or without his father’s help of permission.” The second theme surrounds the notion of creationism,...
SUNDANCE ’15 REVIEW
Sundance Review: DIGGING FOR FIRE
Displaying the kind of laid back candor that sums up the mumblecore founding member, Joe Swanberg revealed that once you have kids, “life is a clusterfuck.” And so is Digging For Fire. Kinda. A lesser effort in the aftermath of two eruptively sweet victories (Drinking Buddies and Happy Christmas), Digging for Fire takes on the...
SUNDANCE ’15 REVIEW
Sundance Review: THE STRONGEST MAN
Socially awkward black comedy with occasionally explosive moments of understated humor, The Strongest Man is Kenny Riches‘ follow-up to Must Come Down and his first big festival debut. His surgically shrewd examination of two nobodies stewing in the melting pot of Miami presents a deep and thoughtful metaphysical exploration of life as alien experience with...
SUNDANCE ’15 REVIEW
Sundance Review: A WALK IN THE WOODS
Robert Redford‘s adaptation of Bill Bryson‘s popular 1998 memoir A Walk In the Woods is an unremarkable journey with a short sprinkling of low-key chuckles and a heaving dose of schmaltzy sentiment. As Redford’s travel companion, co-star Nick Nolte manages to give this low-percolating buddy comedy/road-movie-on-foot at least some minor footing, but its not enough...