Reviews »
My Brother the Devil | Review
Better the Devil You Know: Hosaini’s Debut a Vibrant Urban Street Drama Sally El Hosaini’s directorial debut, My Brother the Devil, takes the overly familiar gangland drama genre and manages to make an engaging
Read More
The Place Beyond the Pines | Review
The Pompatus of Fate: Cianfrance’s Masterpiece an Ode to Ties that Bind After his gloriously depressing 2010 sophomore film, Blue Valentine, a hellish drama revolving around one couple’s marital strife, Derek Cianfrance somehow manages
Read More
Drinking Buddies | 2013 SXSW Review
Supersize Me: Swanberg Remains Intimate Despite Bigger Budget Harkening back to the studio system of the 1930s and 40s, the prolific writer/director Joe Swanberg has managed to direct 15 features since 2005, a staggering
Read More
Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction | 2013 SXSW Review
Peering in: A Look into the Life of Harry Dean Stanton It took director Sophie Huber one year to convince Harry Dean Stanton to be the subject of her documentary. He finally complied but
Read More
Hunky Dory | Review
Satisfactory Endeavor: Evans’ Latest Enjoyable Fluff Welsh director Marc Evans explores 1970’s rural Wales with his latest film, Hunky Dory, following his 2010 film Patagonia. While Evans is somewhat of a genre jumper, oscillating
Read More
Computer Chess | Review
Bujalski adds Technology to the Perils of Human Connection In an Andrew Bujalski film, there is nothing harder than making yourself understood. Funny Haha is now considered a watershed moment, a film that spawned
Read More
Starbuck | Review
Light Roast: Scott’s Sophomore Success a Breezy Crowd Pleaser Canadian filmmaker Ken Scott managed to make a funny and heartfelt crowd pleaser with his 2011 sophomore effort Starbuck, so it’s not much of a
Read More
Spring Breakers | Review
In Harmony Korine’s previous work, from his incendiary debut Gummo all the way through the almost-impenetrable Trash Humpers, he afforded his audience the luxury of distance. The people who watched his films celebrated Korine’s
Read More
Eden | Review
Garden Snakes: Griffiths’ Latest a Harrowing Tale with Compelling Lead Director Megan Griffith’s follows up her well acted yet downtroddingly paced sophomore effort The Off Hours with an unnerving reenactment of sex trafficking from
Read More
Burn | Review
Putnam and Sanchez Help Fight Detroit’s Inferno It’s no secret that the Motor City is in a state of concentrated shock. The decline of domestic industry has left Detroit but a shell of it’s
Read More
Beyond the Hills | Review
Stalemate: Mungiu follows up Palme d’Or Winner with Intense Religious Stand-off Five years have passed since Romanian director Cristian Mungiu’s critically acclaimed 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days hoisted Romania into the World
Read More
From Up On Poppy Hill | Review
Kids On A Bike: Goro’s Seaside Sophomore Effort Floats Being the son of animation’s unequivocal living master who’s body of work ranks among the greatest cinematic creations ever made, Goro Miyazaki understandably had much
Read More
K-11 | Review
Hamshank Redemption: Stewart’s Debut a Trashy, Lurid Queersploitation Effort Jules Stewart, mother of that actress Kristen Stewart, makes a curious and fascinatingly trashy exploitation grindhouse directorial debut with K-11, which plays like one of
Read More
If I Were You | Review
Rough Draft: Carr-Wiggin’s Latest Buoyed Exclusively on the Charms of Lead Actress If one were to look for fresh evidence of the perennial talents of the gifted Marcia Gay Harden they could definitely find
Read More
My Amityville Horror | Review
Dysfunction Junction: Walter Revisits Source of Classic Horror Film with Mixed Results Thanks to Stuart Rosenberg’s 1979 film adaptation of Jay Anson’s infamous novel, “The Amityville Horror”, along with its various sequels, not to
Read More
Better Mus’ Come | Review
From the Wicked, Carry Us Away: Saulter’s Debut an Energetic Cold War Period Piece Jamaican writer/director Storm Saulter makes an impressive debut with period piece Better Mus’ Come, a drama depicting the vicious political
Read More
Upside Down | Review
Down and Out: Solanas’ Latest Lost in its Own Concept For his latest film Upside Down, a French Canadian production from director Juan Diego Solanas, star crossed lovers are separated by not only bitterly
Read More
Oz the Great and Powerful | Review
Dour and Sorrowful: Raimi’s Revamp a Hollow Echo of Magical Source Material Serving as only yet another testament to the flaccid capabilities of blatant dependence on CGI to convey movie magic, Sam Raimi’s Oz
Read More
Dead Man Down | Review
Down With Love: Oplev’s American Debut Silly and Enjoyable Reuniting with Noomi Rapace, star of his insanely successful 2009 adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Niels Arden Oplev debuts his first American
Read More
Emperor | Review
Classroom Exercise: Webber’s Latest Historical Drama Dry and Sleepy Arriving with all the subdued excitement of a vaguely written history textbook comes Peter Webber’s latest film, Emperor, which documents the true story of one
Read More
The Silence | Review
History of Violence: Odar’s Debut a Sweaty, Slow Burn Swiss director Baran Bo Odar adapts Jan Costin Wagner’s novel The Silence for his film debut, a murder mystery thriller filmed in 2010, finally getting
Read More
A Place at the Table | Review
Filling The Void: Jacobson and Silverbush Eye Hunger While the United States continuously extends its charitable hands to famished communities the world over, we often turn a blind eye to those in our own
Read More
Pavilion | Review
Tiny Wins and Losses: Sutton Explores Teenage Life At fifteen, your neighborhood is your kingdom. Streets, curbs, lawns are the landscape on which you begin to write your own narrative, to begin making yourself
Read More
The Sweeney | Review
You’re Nicked: Love’s Latest a Resurrection of Classic Franchise After a successful classic UK series and two appreciated film versions from the late 70s, director Nick Love has turned his sights to The Sweeney
Read More
Phantom | Review
Campfire Tales: Robinson’s Cold War Conjecture Leadenly Onerous For his first directorial feature since 2006’s true story tinged Lonely Hearts, Todd Robinson is back with another hyperbolized scenario with Phantom. While once again managing
Read More
"Ron and I wanted to make a film that looked at what it means to be an outsider and we wanted to explore what it takes to reach out to someone whose life is very removed from your own."
