SIFF ’23: Gothic Thriller ‘MOTHER SUPERIOR’ A Tight Haunt

May 11, 2023 by Matt Oakes Posted in Festival Reviews Tagged Isabella Händler, Marie Alice Wolfszahn, Mother Superior, SIFF, SIFF 2023 1 Comment

The occult dabblings of the Nazi party casts a dark pall over the estate of a witchy Baroness circa 1975 Austria in Marie Alice Wolfszahn’s Mother Superior. The atmospheric, feminist midnight movie tells the story of deep-cover nurse Sigrun (Isabella Händler) as she attempts to puzzle out the mysteries of her lineage, only to stumble upon the bewitching practices of the Blood Moon Templar. Wolfszahn’s direction is economical and effective, the film clocks in at just a smidge over 70-minutes but never skimps on mood or narrative tidiness. The result is slight, spooky, and impactful; a calling card for an emerging horror talent in Wolfszahn. (B-)

Capsule Review for Seattle International Film Festival 2023.

SIFF ‘23: Daddy-Daughter Dramedy ‘SCRAPPER’ a Delightful Diversion

May 10, 2023 by Matt Oakes Posted in Festival Reviews Tagged Charlotte Regan, Harris Dickinson, Lola Campbell, Scrapper, SIFF, SIFF 2023 1 Comment

Georgie (Lola Campbell) is a 12-going-on-30 type, living on her lonesome in her London flat following the death of her mum in Scrappers. When her estranged deadbeat dad (Harris Dickinson) hops the fence and re-enters her life one day, Georgie has to navigate her newfound feelings towards her out-of-the-woodwork parental figure in writer-director Charlotte Regan’s pleasant but lightweight debut. This airy dramedy, clocking in just over 80-minutes, succeeds by virtue of the strong chemistry between its two leads, though there’s not a lot of texture to any of the other characters or character dynamics, making it a somewhat one-dimensional – though pleasant – distraction. What it lacks in narrative complexity, it makes up for in scrappy charm. (B-)

Capsule Review for Seattle International Film Festival 2023.

SIFF ‘23: Horrifying ‘20 Days in Mariupol’ is As Traumatic as it is Necessary

May 8, 2023 by Matt Oakes Posted in Festival Reviews Tagged 20 Days in Mariupol, Mstyslav Chernov, SIFF, SIFF 2023 1 Comment

Dying babies. Dead bodies. Mass graves. Shelled maternity wards. War crimes. 20 Days in Mariupol is not for the faint of heart. It is however an urgent and unblinking reminder of the atrocities occurring to this day in Ukraine, with director Mstyslav Chernov documenting indiscriminate violence in horrifying detail. This makes for a documentary that’s a necessary but exceedingly difficult watch. Chernov documents the horrors of war waged on the civilians of Mariupol with the resolute courage of a wartime journalist and the pressing eye of a documentarian, making for a glimpse inside the war in Ukraine that’s utterly horrifying while also being must-watch. Extremely heavy stuff. (B+)

Capsule Review for Seattle International Film Festival 2023.

SIFF ‘23: Belgium Drama ‘WHEN IT MELTS’ a Painful Kick in the Feels

May 7, 2023 by Matt Oakes Posted in Festival Reviews Tagged Rosa Marchant, SIFF, SIFF 2023, Veerle Baetens, When it Melts Leave a comment

A feel-bad Belgium coming-of-age story, Veerle Baetens’ When It Melts focuses on increasingly predatory pubescent children as they learn the art of exploitation. Icky but powerful – and powerfully performed (young Rosa Marchant is outstanding) – this somber drama is incredibly uncomfortable but packs an emotional wallop. Though it becomes increasingly obvious where things are headed, it remains an entirely engrossing – and at times rather gross – watch. Ultimately, Baetens’ film is a poignant, seething indictment of parents who fail to protect the innocence of their children. Trigger warning indeed. (B+)

Capsule Review for Seattle International Film Festival 2023.

Writer-Director Paul Downs Colaizzo Talks the Long Road of ‘BRITTANY RUNS A MARATHON’

August 27, 2019 by Matt Oakes Posted in Interviews Tagged Amazon, Brittany Runs a Marathon, Interviews, Paul Downs Colaizzo, SIFF, SIFF 2019, Talking With... Leave a comment

Coming from the world of theater, Paul Downs Colaizzo makes his directorial debut with Brittany Runs a Marathon, a somewhat-inspired-by-a-true-story about an NYC party-girl reclaiming her life by strapping on sneaks and going jogging. Starring a very game Jillian Bell, Brittany Runs a Marathon is a fitness and lifestyle glow-up for the “Yass queen” generation that is both humorous and human, an aspect that Colaizzo found essential in his telling of the story. The writer-director discussed his motivation for directing for the first time, how he hopes to inspire audiences to become the best versions of themselves, the challenges of “learning the technical stuff” and Jillian Bell’s intense physical transformation. Read More

SIFF ’19: ‘YESTERDAY’ Part Sunny Beatles Musical, Part Terrible Rom-Com

June 11, 2019 by Matt Oakes Posted in Festival Reviews Tagged Danny Boyle, Himesh Patel, Lily James, Out in Theaters, Reviews, Richard Curtis, SIFF, SIFF 2019, Yesterda, Yesterday 1 Comment

With Yesterday, a rom-com Trojan-horsed in a concept comedy that imagines a world where Paul, John, George and Ringo never formed The Beatles, Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire) has allowed the musical catalog of that formative group to do most of the dramatic heavy lifting. If you’re up for a poppy movie about Beatles music that co-stars Ed Sheeran, this is the movie for you. Otherwise – yeah, probably best to not pay it much mind. Using just enough of Boyle’s trademark flair behind the camera to simulate a modicum of visual intrigue, Yesterday deeply fails its quasi-sci-fi conceit by treating the intriguing parallel universe concept as mere window dressings for a lukewarm romance between struggling artist Jack Malik (Himesh Patel) who strikes it big exploiting his knowledge of Beatles music, and his DIY manager Ellie (Lily James). The movie earns good graces when its blazing through the band’s discography and seeing the world at large react to their music for the first time but the rom-com-heavy second half drags it all off the rails with Oscar-nominated screenwriter Richard Curtis (Love Actually) succumbing to one tired, obnoxious cliché after another in increasingly painful manner. (C) Read More

SIFF ’19: Zom-Com ’THE DEAD DON’T DIE’ Is Stiff Attempt at Satire

June 6, 2019 by Matt Oakes Posted in Festival Reviews Tagged Adam Driver, Bill Murray, Iggy Pop, Jim Jarmusch, RZA, Selena Gomez, SIFF, SIFF 2019, Steve Buscemi, The Dead Don't Die, Tilda Swinton, Tom Waits Leave a comment

As if struck with rigor mortis, Jim Jarmusch’s take on zombies is a DOA satire of sorts, one that’s much too self-aware for its own good. Foregoing the traditional scares of an undead creeper, Jarmusch swings and misses trying to put the “dead” in deadpan comedy. Even his pairing of stars Adam Driver and Bill Murray remains something that sounds better on paper than actually works in this context, their synchronized low-energy, unfazed drift through the world of the undead unable to get much of a rise. Read More

SIFF ’19: ‘WILD ROSE’ A Fierce And Ill-Mannered Country Music Come-Up

May 28, 2019 by Matt Oakes Posted in Festival Reviews Tagged Jessie Buckley, Julie Walters, Reviews, SIFF, SIFF 2019, Tom Harper, Wild Rose Leave a comment

Featuring a star-making turn from Jessie Buckley, Wild Rose follows a recently released convict/songbird with Nashville dreams. Eyes will be superglued to Buckley who brings ragged life to a complicated deadbeat momma aspiring to be a country star in Tom Harper’s somewhat familiarly-written film that examines the shoals of starry-eyed aspirations and harsh real world realities. Fastened with warm, heartfelt soundtrack (performed with spellbinding beauty by Buckley) and with a solid foothold in semi-charmed redemption, Wild Rose is a white trash crowdpleaser that manages something new to say in a routine ‘star is born’ subgenre. (B) Read More

SIFF ’19: ‘THE NIGHTINGALE’ Warbles A Brutal Tale of Colonial Oppression

May 24, 2019 by Matt Oakes Posted in Festival Reviews Tagged Aisling Franciosi, Baykali Ganambarr, Jennifer Kent, Radek Ladczuk, Reviews, SIFF, SIFF 2019 Leave a comment

Jennifer Kent (The Babadook) is an evolving director. Shifting the focal point of trauma from monsters that lay in wait beneath your bed to the sociopolitical horrors of our collective pasts (colonial-era Tasmania is the setting here), Kent tells a rape-revenge western that explores the loss of power and the power of loss. The story of a woman hunting the man who raped her and killed her husband and baby is well over two hours but there wasn’t a moment that I was not glued to the screen. Kent’s second is a distinctively difficult feature, savagely blunt but not also without its nuance and beauty. Aisling Franciosi and Baykali Ganambarr weave understated human compassion into characters separated by entrenched racism, with the Irish convict and aboriginal tracker banded together to seek retribution. Striking cinematography from Radek Ladczuk casts the often brutal imagery in gorgeous natural lights; luminous and ruminant, even through the darkness. (A-) Read More

SIFF ’19: Deadpan ‘THE ART OF SELF-DEFENSE’ Brilliantly Sharpens Riley Stearn’s Dark Wit

May 24, 2019 by Matt Oakes Posted in Festival Reviews Tagged David Zellner, Imogen Poots, Jesse Eisenberg, Nathan Zellner, Reviews, Riley Stearns, SIFF, SIFF 2019, The Art of Self-Defense Leave a comment

Fight Club by way of Yorgos Lanthimos (The Lobster), Riley Stearns’ screed on “might is right” toxic masculinity is a giggly black comedy that cowers down a twisty-turny rabbit hole. Jesse Eisenberg plays a neurotic weakling (shocker) who gets mugged and turns to karate to boast his manliness and self-confidence via the transformative power of foot punches and heavy metal. Importing the welcome strangeness of producers David and Nathan Zellner (Kumiko the Treasure Hunter), The Art of Self-Defense is hysterically dark, niche cinema, a deadpan mockery of the sanctity of life and the sacredness of death. It kicks ass. (A-) Read More