Category: Review
1988 in Film: In Praise of Charles Grodin in Midnight Run
There’s something uniquely American about the genre of the “buddy movie.” Ever since Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy got into all kinds of trouble together…
Film Review: Finding Ophelia (2021)
Everyone has fallen in love with an image that is unattainable. But what happens when it becomes so unreachable that it begins tearing your life…
1988 in Film: Beetlejuice
Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice! Tim Burton’s 1988 Beetlejuice fuses comedy and horror to create a classic film. With Michael Keaton in the titular role, we delve…
1988 in Film Review: The Last Temptation of Christ
“For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every…
Film Review: A Quiet Place Part II (2021)
2018’s A Quiet Place surprised many with its original horror concept and solid direction from then new filmmaker, John Krasinski. The follow-up rejects the claustrophobic…
Hot Docs 21 Review: I’m Wanita (Matthew Walker)
The documentary chronicles Wanita Bahtiyar’s journey in to record her musically diverse album in Nashville, New Orleans, and Memphis. Wanita is a binge-drinker, cigarette smoker,…
Hot Docs 21 Review: Bank Job (Daniel Edelstyn, Hilary Powell)
One of the most important documentaries you could see this year explores the relationship between everyday people and the banking industry. The system is meant…
Review: Director’s Cut
Adam Rifkin is a director whose most interesting film, so far, might be Look (2007), where the action is largely captured by security cameras. Penn Jillette from…
Film Review – Martha: A Picture Story
Some artists are ignored, while others are simply unlucky: Martha Cooper was both. Her photographs captured artists at work, documenting process as well as final…
SXSW 2021 Dispatch: Islands; Poly Styrene: I am a Cliché; Swan Song
Poly Styrene: I am a Cliché (2021, Paul Sng, Celeste Bell) Born Marianne Joan Elliott-Said she rechristened herself as Poly Styrene when she became a new wave/punk…
SXSW 2021 Dispatch: Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil; United States vs. Reality Winner; The End of Us
Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil (2021, Michael D. Ratner) The trigger warnings at the beginning of these four episodes don’t even begin to prepare you…
SXSW 2021 Dispatch: Hysterical; Executive Order; Introducing, Selma Blair
Introducing, Selma Blair (2021, Rachel Fleit) Supporting actress Selma Blair is known to late-1990s and early-2000s audiences who have seen her from everything to Cruel Intentions to Legally…
Berlinale 2021 Dispatch- Teddy Award (Miguel’s War, Genderation, Bliss)
Eliane Raheb’s documentary Miguel’s War is based on impressions, and how to construct a life around hiding the past. Based on a chance encounter the…
Film Review: Heroes Don’t Die
Aude Léa Rapin’s Heroes Don’t Die (Les Héros ne meurent jamais) brings the spectators into the world of a film crew in search of answers…
