The only right length to tell a story is the length required to tell it completely. This is why a story can be constructed with as few as three words or as much as a 90-minute or more screenplay. It… Read More ›
In Theaters
If you vibe with drama “The Young Arsonists,” you’re in for a powerful exploration of feminine adolescent independence. [Santa Barbara International Film Festival]
Memories are a strange thing. They are flickers of the past, like embers of a long burnt out flame riding the strands of neuropathways until they can be inflamed once more, waiting to come billowing into the present. The problem… Read More ›
Director Kei Ishikawa’s dramatic thriller “A Man (ある男)” explores the value of self and identity. [Santa Barbara International Film Festival]
Who are you? Stop for a moment. Read not a line further, and think on that. Are you one thing or are you many? Are you your thoughts and fears? Your anxieties or successes? Your actions? Are you your present… Read More ›
Director Elizabeth Banks’s “Cocaine Bear” is high on its own supply in this animal attack horror entry.
If I were a basic gay, I would start this review with “A Cocaine Bear? You just mean West Hollywood at 3 a.m.?” and move on with my day…but I’m not, and I won’t…but you get the picture. Despite my… Read More ›
One step at a time, one punch at a time: the “Creed” series just gets better and better with each outing.
Nostalgia can only take audiences so far when it comes to films. It’s not that sequels or reboots and the like are bad, it’s just that they so often rely on meta material rather than moving things forward or making… Read More ›
Restoration of extreme film “Calvaire” offers little more than access to the film.
Fabrice du Welz’s Calvaire (titled The Ordeal in some English-speaking regions, but not here), premiering at Cannes in 2004, is a strange, but valid entry into the canon of “New French Extremity” that gripped French-language horror/thrillers from the mid-‘90s to… Read More ›
Social thriller “The Sixth Child (Le sixième enfant)” will challenge you to reconsider the complex notion of conception. [Santa Barbara International Film Festival]
In modern society there are a number of presumptions that enable and empower those who have to look down upon those who have not. Aspects of health, wealth, occupation, and hobbies are all treated as aspects of one’s morality. Don’t… Read More ›
Neither too preachy nor too dramatic, “Jesus Revolution” is a heartfelt, inspirational revolution worth joining.
In desperate, confounding times such as the times we’re living in today, the most arduous of questions begs itself to be pondered: What happens when the message of faith and hope can’t reach today’s generation of tomorrow’s future? Directors Jon… Read More ›
A particle-sized adventure leads to infinite possibilities in “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.”
Content Warning: Photosensitive viewers may have trouble enjoying Quantumania as there are many sequences involving flashing lights. There are far more than I expected and, though I did leave the theater without a migraine, I did wake to one the… Read More ›
Although there have been “Sharper” thrillers, this one from A24 still makes for an engaging, entertaining watch.
Every thriller about confidence men (or women) usually has two questions poised against it: How is this film going to stay one step ahead of me, as the audience? Or, How is this film going to attempt to insult my… Read More ›
David Mesfin’s documentary “Wade in the Water” inspires audiences to dive deep into the lesser known history of African aquatic culture. [Santa Barbara International Film Festival]
When it comes to surfing and aquatic culture, where does your first thought go? Whom do you see? If you’re like this reviewer, you may think of Gidget (1959), Blue Hawaii (1961), Bikini Beach (1964), Point Break (1991), Blue Crush… Read More ›
“The Baby Daddy (ארי והזרע הקדוש)” avoids agenda in presenting a situation with many variations of consideration. [Santa Barbara International Film Festival]
Parenting is not for the weak. – Douglas Davidson, father of two. There’s a growing trend right now with birth rates in the U.S. dropping compared to previous generations. According to a March 2021 CDC report, as of 2019, birth… Read More ›
See Gaspar Noé’s “Irreversible (Irréversible)” restored in 2K and recut in chronological order in the brand-new “Straight Cut (Inversion Intégrale).”
Content warning: Irreversible contains extreme depictions of violence, rape, racism, homophobia, transphobia, misogyny, strobe effects, disorienting cinematography and soundtrack, and whatever else you can think of. If you could be negatively affected by something, it’s most likely on full display… Read More ›
Dr. Jenny Mackenzie’s “The Right to Read” offers striking evidence that all caregivers should consider and heed. [Santa Barbara International Film Festival]
Once you learn to read, you will be forever free. – Frederick Douglass Even before COVID-19 revealed to the public the struggles of education in a populace unwilling to put in the work to help their children learn, there existed… Read More ›
Come for the blood, stay for the sinister humor in “Consecration.”
Consecration is following in the footsteps of Watcher, Resurrection, and Skinamarink with IFC Films’s and Shudder’s distribution partnership, putting indie horror that would usually not get a chance for theatrical distribution out to the masses. Particularly with Skinamarink’s recent success… Read More ›
M. Night Shyamalan’s “Knock at the Cabin” is one you’ll want to answer.
Right before the pandemic really kicked off, I read Paul Tremblay’s The Cabin at the End of the World. It had been the hot new horror novel on the block a little while back and I figured it to be… Read More ›
The cinéma vérité approach of documentary “Sweetheart Deal” results in profound surprise, investment, and disgust. [Slamdance Film Festival]
Content Warning: The documentary explores drug use and addiction and the narrative involves sexual assault. For at least 10 years, Laughn Elliott Doescher presided over Seattle, Washington, living in an RV and providing support of various kinds of the sex… Read More ›
True crime adaptation “American Murderer” raises the kinds of questions even justice may not answer.
No matter how close we are to someone, they’ll never truly know us. We can get close, sharing secrets others don’t know or confiding intrusive thoughts we might otherwise not, but without an actual mindmeld, it’s impossible for someone to… Read More ›
Family rom-com “Aliens Abducted My Parents and Now I Feel Kinda Left Out” is a tale for the lost and not-yet-found. [Sundance Film Festival]
Whether young adult or full grown, rom-coms tend to follow a similar track. The characters are on different trajectories, there’s a meet-cute, they find themselves drawn to each other, and then there’s conflict. Perhaps it was a conflict the audience… Read More ›
Eroticism is in the details in Patricia Ortega’s “Mamacruz.” [Sundance Film Festival]
When director Patricia Ortega found a revealing picture of her mother as a young woman, scantily clad in an open bathrobe, she didn’t recoil in embarrassment. She made a movie about it. Ortega was surprised by such a blatant display… Read More ›