Dating in the digital age is, no doubt, a complicated affair. Bumble, Happn, OkCupid, Tinder, Hinge, Raya, Match, Coffee Meets Bagel, The League – there’s almost too many to name – each caters to a different style of single looking… Read More ›
drama
Bittersweet musical comedy “Unlovable” is far from it.
Ugly. Unworthy. Unlovable. These words burn inside us, whether they possess any truth or not, turning to ashes every semblance of self-worth we own. For some, it’s enough to recognize the strength within themselves to prevent true psychological destruction; however,… Read More ›
“Bohemian Rhapsody” – It’s a kind of tragic.
In all of our lives, there are things which sum up everything about us. Whether it be a poem, a picture, a book, a film, or a song, these things become emblematic of who we are at our core. These… Read More ›
Foster and Fanning bring “Galveston” to life.
More often than not, the best stories are the ones that take risks, that play with convention, and defy expectations. Other times, the risks fail to pay off and leave the audience with a diminishing sense of fulfillment. So rarely… Read More ›
“Summer ‘03” is a hilariously honest coming-of-age story from a female POV.
Nostalgia is a tricky thing. It has a way of sugar-coating things – songs, books, toys, even experiences – so that all we remember is the way we think we felt about it. The older we get, the more frequent… Read More ›
“Down A Dark Hall” is a surprisingly elegant and beautifully constructed YA adaptation.
Lois Duncan deserves more respect as an author, at least from people of a certain age who grew up reading her books. To many people, Duncan’s novels, however silly they could sometimes be, were the first tastes of dark, twisted… Read More ›
Do your soul some good and let your “Hearts Beat Loud”.
Contained within director Brett Haley’s little indie darling, Hearts Beat Loud, resides an indomitable, overflowing joy. It’s unexpected, wondrous, and bound to fill your soul up until it, too, overflows. Sweet without being saccharine, loving without being profane, pure without… Read More ›
Punk-Rock gets the rom-com it didn’t know it wanted in ‘Izzy Gets the F*ck Across Town’.
Feature debuts are a chance for any filmmaker to make an impression and to present audiences with a viewpoint perhaps unseen before. Folks, Christian Papierniak’s rock-infused dramedy Izzy Gets the F*ck Across Town does all that and a little more…. Read More ›
Simply put, “Incredibles 2” is worth the wait.
It’s been 14 years since Brad Bird’s now-classic The Incredibles hit theaters and, for many, the wait’s been excruciating. Gratefully, not only are the Parrs returning, but they’re returning with a story that’s a sequel in the purest form –… Read More ›
Part documentary, part dramatization, crime drama ‘American Animals’ is fully mesmerizing.
There’s this feeling that infuses all youth; a feeling that something at some point from somewhere will happen and their lives will rise up out of the banal to become extraordinary. That feeling can turn into a sense of existential… Read More ›
Despite appearances, ‘Ghost Stories’ is no by-the-numbers affair.
Writing partners Andy Nyman and Jeremy Dyson are likely not names you’d know though you’re likely familiar with their work. Nyman’s an actor who’s worked on The League of Gentlemen, The Brothers Bloom, and Despicable Me 3, whereas Dyson’s spent… Read More ›
Welcome to ‘The Party’ where hell is people.
Imagine yourself in a confined space. There are two ways in, yet it feels like there’s no way out. You’re surrounded by life-long friends who adore you, until they don’t and then all bets are off. As French philosopher Jean-Paul… Read More ›
“Saturday Church” is a quasi-musical journey of self-acceptance.
Audiences will quickly compare Saturday Church to Moonlight, the 2017 Best Picture Oscar winner which also tells a personal, character-driven story about a boy’s search for self at the intersection of sexual identity and race. While both excel at telling… Read More ›
Netflix’s ‘The Polka King’ is full of potential, but misses the beat.
Based-on-a-true-story biopics tend to fall into one of two categories: gritty or glossy. Weirdly, Netflix’s latest original feature The Polka King can’t decide which one it wants to be. Drawing from the documentary film The Man Who Would Be Polka… Read More ›
Chilling and hopeful, director Martin McDonagh’s tragicomedy ‘Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri’ is one of the year’s best.
Writer/director Marin McDonagh is no stranger to tackling difficult or challenging material. His first feature, In Bruges, centered on a hitman having an existential crisis, while his second, Seven Psychopaths, focused on a screenwriter sucked into a world of gangsters… Read More ›
Love is where you find it in ‘So B. It’.
After spending time on the festival circuit, Stephen Gyllenhaal’s (Losing Isiah) adaptation of the 2004 Sarah Weeks novel So B. It is finally coming to cinemas near you. Though the rollout seems to be focused on a limited number of… Read More ›
Though audacious and bold, ‘Woodshock’ fails to be more than art house ephemera.
Studio A24 has built a reputation on bold approaches to cinematic storytelling. Rarely intended for wide audiences, their films are frequently quirky, insightful, and psychologically challenging, offering a risky experience for filmgoers used to the straight-and-narrow approach of larger studio… Read More ›
Kogonada’s directorial debut ‘Columbus’ explores the value of what we take for granted.
Columbus, writer/director Kogonada’s directorial debut, is a masterwork of spatial and auditory control, suggesting a talent of much greater experience behind the camera. Kogoanda fills every frame with visual wonder in a serene film that serves as a meditative tale… Read More ›
‘Menashe’ delivers one of the most unique films of the year.
Some stories take time to be told properly. They require cultivation and care. They require patience. In the case of Menashe, it took director Joshua Z Weinstein seven years to develop this a quiet, family-focused story centered on a widowed… Read More ›
There’s no redemption when you have a ‘Good Time’.
There’s something about watching a film where the main character is scrambling, always on the move, trying to survive in a world that feels like it’s crashing down on them; a world that is out to get them. Sometimes it’s… Read More ›