U.S. Indie Film Review »
Behind the Candelabra | Review
Sex, Lies, & Biopic: Soderbergh Bids Adieu With Sincere, Compelling Flair In what will reportedly be director Steven Soderbergh’s last directorial effort in the film realm, Behind the Candelabra stands as a superb high
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Jeune et Jolie | Cannes Review
Airy & banal, Ozon’s Latest is as Indistinct as its Title Moving right along the trajectory we’re all well familiar with by now, François Ozon makes yet another sexed-up François Ozon film with this
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Kiss of the Damned | Review
Nothing Human Loves Forever: Cassavetes’ Feature Debut Gloriously Vintage Xan Cassavetes joins the family directorial legacy with her feature debut, Kiss of the Damned, a deliciously vintage throwback to the erotic horror output of
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Arthur Newman | Review
Hello, Newman: Ariola’s Meditation on Getting a Life Fails to Have One For a film whose tagline aggressively demands, “If you don’t have a life, get someone else’s,” Dante Ariola’s directorial debut, Arthur Newman,
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Sun Don’t Shine | Review (AFI Film Fest)
Madlands: Seimetz’ Relationship Drama Takes Us on a Road Trip to Love Hell Managing to balance an insanely busy schedule that boasts quality and quantity, actress/producer Amy Seimetz debuts her feature directorial debut with
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Sun Don’t Shine | Review (SXSW)
Orange State: Seimetz ninety minutes. Between them, they barely own one T-shirt. Crystal and Leo, two people with next to nothing, roam the deserted highways and murky backwaters of central Florida, running away from
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The Lords of Salem | Review
Burn, Witch, Burn: Zombie Conquers His Cross to Bear Don’t be so sure of what to expect when walking into Rob Zombie’s latest feature, The Lords of Salem, at once a familiar homage to
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It’s a Disaster | Review
An Incredible Mess: Todd Berger’s Apocalypse a Hilarious Gas The end of days have never looked like a better time to spend with friends than they do in director Todd Berger’s latest film, a
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Towheads | Review
O is for the Other Things: Plumb’s Debut an Idiosyncratic Exercise in Domestic Ennui Video and performance artist Shannon Plumb makes her directorial debut with Towheads, which showcases her considerable talent for physical comedy
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Detour | Review
Dickerson’s Trapped-without-escape Ordeal Swims More Than Sinks Utilizing a minimum amount of characters and locations within a trapped in a car, freak mudslide buried alive template, William Dickerson’s debut feature draws inevitable comparisons to
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Stoker | Review
India Song: Park-wook’s English Language is Stylized Creepy and Kooky South Korean master Park Chan-wook returns with his English language debut, Stoker, a heavily stylized mystery thriller that’s a grotesquely decorated façade with a
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Future Weather | Review
Climate Control: Deller’s Debut Features Compelling Lead Performance For her feature film debut, writer/director Jenny Deller has made a solidly crafted film, Future Weather, which is grounded with an extremely likeable performance from its
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Welcome to Pine Hill | Review
Transcendental Hurrah: Miller’s Moving Film an Exercise in Isolation Based on his 2010 short film, Prince/William, Keith Miller has expanded his debut Welcome to Pine Hill into a moving drama that manages to maintain
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The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete | Sundance 2013 Review
Everybody Knows: Tillman’s Latest a Melodramatic Exercise of Youth in the Projects Director George Tillman Jr. takes a step away from mainstream fodder for an examination of urban miserabalism with The Inevitable Defeat of
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Small Apartments | Review
Neighboring Groans: Akerland’s Tone Deaf Latest Cranks Manic Quirk Swedish filmmaker Jonas Akerlund returns with his third feature, Small Apartments, based on a novel by Chris Mills which was the top prize recipient in
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"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."
