Category: Film Festivals

Anthony Benna’s ANDRÉ IS AN IDIOT is likely the funniest movie you’ll ever see about cancer. That does not mean it is not moving and heartbreaking at times. It is also the best advertisement for getting a colonoscopy.  André is a goofball, yet he is somewhat of a genius who reads and absorbs a lot […]

A collaboration between Pavel Talankin, a Russian teacher, and David Borenstein, who co-directed the film using Talankin’s footage, Sundance Film Festival selection MR. NOBODY AGAINST PUTIN brings light to the propaganda and brainwashing that is going on in schools all around Russia.  There are several powerful scenes including one where students are playing with weapons […]

Having a soft spot for NYC movies and humorous relationship dramas, I absolutely loved Rachael Abigail Holder’s Love, Brooklyn.  André Holland, Nicole Beharie, and DeWanda Wise bring genuine, imperfect characters to life and the scenes they share are full of chemistry.  The beauty of the city is on constant display set to Joel P. West’s […]

Carmen Emmi’s Plainclothes, which just premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, is refreshingly original queer cinema with inventive editing and a thrilling script. Tom Blyth, Russell Tovey, and Maria Dizzia all give strong performances. And what an ending! The last ten minutes are brilliant!  This would make a good double bill with another recent thriller Misericordia, […]

Move over When Evil Lurks, there’s a new Argentinian horror movie in town. Set in the time of Internet cafés, Laura Casabé‘s THE VIRGIN OF THE QUARRY LAKE, based on two short stories by a Mariana Enríquez, looks at teenage desire and obsession and turns it into female rage.  It starts out with a bang, […]

Evan Twohy’s absurd comedy Bubble and Squeak is not quite at the level of the films of Yorgos Lanthimos or Quentin Dupieux, but I was on board with it for the most part.  The comedic acting this type of film requires is not as easy to pull off as some might think. Himesh Patel and […]

RICKY follows the namesake 30-year-old, out on parole after 15 years in jail, trying to adopt to life on the outside.  Despite the story’s familiarity, it is an intense and rewarding watch thanks to terrific performances from Stephan James as Ricky and Sheryl Lee Ralph as his parole officer Joanne and debut director Rashad Frett’s […]

If you’re familiar with Amanda Kramer’s films, BY DESIGN is exactly what you’d expect after reading the synopsis of a woman swapping bodies with a chair. I’m not sure whether it is a good thing or not.  Fans of her experimental and outlandish work will likely be happy. Anyone who watches the film because of […]

The concept of Kate Beecroft’s docufiction EAST OF WALL closely resembles Chloé Zhao’s The Rider and the film has some of the similar gorgeous and serene South Dakota scenery on display.  The non-professional cast of mostly family members is much larger and they do a fine job. They are more or less playing themselves, but […]

Vladimir de Fontenay’s SUKKWAN ISLAND with Swann Arlaud, young actor Woody Norman from C’mon C’mon, and Alma Pöysti would have been a fine father-son survival drama if it was not for its confusing structure that utilizes misdirection. You spend the last fifteen minutes of the film wondering what the heck is going on and you […]