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 ›
film festival
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 ›
Axel Danielson and Maximilien Van Aertryck’s doc “And the king said, what a Fantastic Machine” will get you thinking about the relationship you possess with your camera. [Sundance Film Festival]
Part historical revue, part sociological examination, co-directors Axel Danielson (Kneg) and Maximilien Van Aertryck’s (Kneg) documentary And the king said, what a Fantastic Machine (also referred to simply as Fantastic Machine), premiering at Sundance Film Festival 2023, takes the audience… Read More ›
Director Jacqueline Castel explores the torment that comes without self-love in horror-romance “My Animal.” [Sundance Film Festival]
For some reason, despite its longevity in the realm of storytelling (not just cinema), horror is often pushed to the sidelines in the hallowed halls of critical praise in favor of dramas, comedies, thrillers, or traditional action-oriented narratives. Even though… Read More ›
Documentarian Paula Eiselt’s “Under G-d” explores interfaith opposition to abortion bans. [Sundance Film Festival]
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government… Read More ›
Sex positive, hilarious, and kind, Mike Donahue’s short film “Troy” explores the social contract of neighbors. [Sundance Film Festival]
There’s a trope in storytelling about the nosey neighbor, the one who’s always at their window or peephole, lurking around, trying to know everything about everyone all the time. This person who folks don’t like because they are forcing themselves… Read More ›
Radu Muntean’s drama “Întregalde” offers an exploration of humanity but without an ounce of tension, manufactured or otherwise. [SFFILM Festival]
“Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” – Matthew 24:40. It says a lot about a person or a community how they treat others,… Read More ›
Despite its weaknesses, there’s no part of “Saint Omer” which won’t linger after credits roll. [Film Fest 919]
As I type this intro, the verdict to the Darrell Brooks trial has just been read, ending a weeks-long shitshow of an abuse of a public system of representation for someone who was clearly guilty (I can say that now,… Read More ›
Writer/director Elegance Bratton’s “The Inspection” signals a talent to keep an eye on. [Film Fest 919]
A lot of (not all, don’t swarm me) these new kids like to think everything is peachy keen and hunky dory in the world of queerness in the modern world. Unlike so many generations before them, there are actual chances… Read More ›
Sam Mendes’s “Empire of Light” is a love letter to theaters themselves and the significance they hold. [Film Fest 919]
Empire of Light immediately had me on its side because I too work at an independent, two-screen cinema that features grand Beaux Arts architecture, an eclectic group of regulars, and perhaps an even more eclectic staff. Operating as a sort… Read More ›
Sarah Polley’s “Women Talking” will force you to examine all your contradictory ideas and make you better for it. [Film Fest 919]
I have two small gripes about the naming of Women Talking, which are my only two jokes I’m allowing myself to make about this film since it is such a serious affair. 1. I’m sad this movie has that name… Read More ›
Noah Baumbach’s “White Noise” is so boldly unconventional, it makes this white whale of an adaptation feel somehow even more tremendous. [Film Fest 919]
Three years ago, Film Fest 919 opened the 2019 festival with Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story, and I was taken. It was a much more muted affair for the Frances Ha and While We’re Young filmmaker, known for his quirkier approach… Read More ›
Director Rian Johnson’s “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” maintains the magic of the absurdist mystery in this setting outing. [Film Fest 919]
Three years ago, Rian Johnson’s humble follow-up to …let’s just say, polarizing… Star Wars: The Last Jedi came out in the form of Knives Out. Unlike said film set in a galaxy far far away, the consensus on Knives Out… Read More ›
By not allowing for self-reflection, “She Said” comes off as a buzzword-ridden and self-congratulatory. [Film Fest 919]
When the hammer finally came down on Harvey Weinstein in the Fall of 2017, it felt as if Hollywood as a whole was having to reckon with the collective keeping of the industry’s worst-kept secret. Everyone knew Weinstein was a… Read More ›
Director Marie Kreutzer’s “Corsage” is hilariously over-the-top look at the life of Elisabeth of Austria. [Film Fest 919]
Costume dramas are far from rare, and because of that, there is a want from production companies to justify new costume dramas by taking a tried and true concept and twisting it on its head. This was made perhaps most… Read More ›
Paolo Strippoli’s “Flowing (Piove)” explores what resentment can do if left unchecked. [Brooklyn Horror Film Festival]
“Hell is other people.” -Jean-Paul Sartre, No Exit In Sartre’s novel Huis Clos (No Exit), he tells a story of three people locked in a room together who share things about themselves, coming to a conclusion that in their inability… Read More ›
James Gray’s “Armageddon Time” is technically impressive yet emotional cold. [Film Fest 919]
In 2019, James Gray, a filmmaker I always had generally liked, unleashed Ad Astra into my orbit, and that film hit me like a ton of bricks. Taking home the gold as my #1 film of 2019, it’s perhaps my… Read More ›
Writer/director Laurence Vannicelli’s psychological thriller “Mother, May I?” is a cautionary tale regarding denial of self. [Brooklyn Horror Film Festival]
There’s an old adage that women seek out men like their fathers and men seek those like their mothers. To me, this reeks of a presumption that individuals are destined to be stuck in cycles, constantly perpetuating the same broken… Read More ›
The performances within novel adaptation “Devotion” will ensnare your heart. [Film Fest 919]
I think we should get an ugly little detail out of the way so we don’t have to mention it again in this review as it’s a rather unfair talking point, but one that I do believe deserves touching on…. Read More ›
Writer/director Marie Alice Wolfszahn’s “Mother Superior (Mater Superior)” upends expectations in a tense cat-and-mouse chiller. [Brooklyn Horror Film Festival]
August 2017: A group of White Nationalists gathered at the University of Virginia, carrying torches and chanting “You Will Not Replace Us.” This slogan within White Nationalist beliefs that speaks to the fear of the White race being replaced. This… Read More ›