The moment the clock hit 12:01am, most of my social media had flipped from Halloween content to Christmas. Out with the spooky and in with the jolly! Skipping over the fact that Hanukkah starts sundown November 28th this year (slow… Read More ›
In Theaters
Writer/director Abel Ferrara’s “Zeros and Ones” is not just a drama, but a full-circle experience.
Written and directed by Abel Ferrara, Zeros and Ones opens with a video message directly from lead actor Ethan Hawke, even before the actual narrative of the film gets going. This video from Hawke looks to have been shot on… Read More ›
Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “tick, tick…BOOM!” adaptation is a love-letter to both a lost artist and the medium he so loved.
Your musical theater tastes are all but defined by when you were first introduced. It doesn’t mean that you can’t shift or grow in tastes, but there certainly comes a heavy influence or leaning based upon your start. While I,… Read More ›
Halle Berry’s directorial debut is “Bruised” but not broken.
It’s perfectly natural to want to find ways to grow in your craft. Someone who starts as an intern likely has their eyes on a manager’s seat, wanting to absorb as much as possible in order to get there faster…. Read More ›
Don’t blink. Don’t move. Writer/director Jane Campion’s western thriller “The Power of the Dog” compels you to heel.
Director Jane Campion’s (The Piano) latest project is an adaptation of author Thomas Savage’s 1967 novel The Power of the Dog. Her film, a taunt western-drama, chronicles the intersecting lives of two families across several months in Montana 1925. Each… Read More ›
Come for Italian drama, stay for Swamy Rotolo’s scene-stealing performance in “A Chiara.” [Film Fest 919]
Quickly think of a gangster movie…what’s the first thing that comes to your head? The Godfather? Goodfellas? Scarface? Maybe even Boyz n the Hood? It’s a widely diverse genre, but the missions are generally all pretty similar, focusing on the… Read More ›
Action thrill-ride “One Shot” goes far beyond intense stunt sequences and camera trickery.
Pain is a fantastic motivator and a terrible teacher. It moves us to make decisions that feel right, justified even, in the moment, but, with a bit of time, reveal themselves to have been the poorer of the options. By… Read More ›
Using the natural world as a fantasy playground, “Petite Maman” is able to explore loss and grief with tenderness. [Film Fest 919]
Two years ago, even during the height of Parasite-mania, there was one film that stole the entirety of Film Fest 919 for me: that being Céline Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire by a country mile. Presenting truly one… Read More ›
“Hell Hath No Fury” but it has a long memory and a demand for justice.
The reason why such great offense is taken when the Holocaust is invoked regarding any potential inconvenience (re: not injustice) is multi-layered and complex. The folks trying to make the connection are trying to attribute, for example, the wearing of… Read More ›
Sean Baker’s “Red Rocket” is not without his signature style or flourish, but it’s missing that emotional connection found in past works. [Film Fest 919]
Sean Baker does good white trash. I really don’t know how to put it in any less crude terms than that. Even when his films don’t necessarily focus on low-income white people, the air of that world lingers in the… Read More ›
Joachim Trier’s “The Worst Person in the World (Verdens verste menneske)” is a beautifully nuanced love letter to those who have yet to get their shit together. [Film Fest 919]
My name is Hunter, I am 25 years old, and I don’t need a governess…I also am having a severe quarter life crisis right now and am struggling. I’ve been having trouble as of late deciding what I want my… Read More ›
In a sea of manufactured biopics, Reinaldo Marcus Green’s “King Richard” takes the crown with its pure sincerity. [Film Fest 919]
To be completely honest with you, I thought Will Smith was doing a period piece where he would play King Richard I in what I thought was one of the more daring pieces of casting I had heard about in… Read More ›
Mike Mills’s “C’mon C’mon” meticulously delves into the subtleties and complications of human life. [Film Fest 919]
I’m not really sure at what point Joaquin Phoenix became a “weird” actor. My best guess lies in his strange publicity stunt of retiring from acting and becoming a rapper for the Casey Affleck “documentary” I’m Still Here, or maybe… Read More ›
The biopic to end all biopics, Pablo Larraín’s “Spencer” offers an understanding of its subject rather than a recreation. [Film Fest 919]
My mother is absolutely obsessed with the Royal Family. The intrigue, mystery, extravagance, drama, strange practices, rules, traditions, quirks, and even the general consensus that it’s an entirely obsolete and unnecessary thing to have in the 21st century are all… Read More ›
“The French Dispatch” is Wes Anderson undiluted and bound to delight fans of the acclaimed creative. [Film Fest 919]
There’s been a whole hullabaloo on social media regarding The French Dispatch, with disgruntled Twitter account owners accusing Wes Anderson of relying on the laurels of being Wes Anderson, and like…yeah dude…what do you expect? There’s this expectation in the… Read More ›
Chloé Zhao’s “Eternals” is a somber, thoughtful, and frequently intimate adventure which heralds a more mature MCU.
Since the start of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) in 2008 with Jon Favreau’s Iron Man, the once indie studio Marvel Studios went on to create possibly the most elaborate series in cinema history as it slowly built up a… Read More ›
The heaviness within “Mass” is neither constrictive nor oppressive, but it will leave you staring at the ceiling. [Film Fest 919]
There was a moment in Mass that felt so profoundly terrifying to me, not in the film itself, but from the implication of said film and its message. I began to think of 2019, when an armed student killed two… Read More ›
Large in scope but small in focus, “My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission” is everything and nothing like you’d expect from the long-running series.
Just after season five of popular anime My Hero Academia ends its run in the U.S. and before the sadness of no new episodes can set in, fans of Class 1-A may rejoice in a new adventure featuring their favorite… Read More ›
The bigger the legend, “The Harder They Fall.”
When Americans tell stories of the Old West, there’s typically a common thread running through them and it’s very white and heroic. With films like 3:10 to Yuma (1957) or True Grit (1969), The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly… Read More ›
The earnestness of “Breaking Them Up” creates an opportunity for connection.
Relationships, whether platonic, romantic, or familial, are always going to be tested. Some last forever, even through the challenges, while others are cut short by complications. Some people stay in an unhealthy relationship forever, while on other occasions, both parties… Read More ›