Tag: American Indie Film
2021 Sundance Film Festival: 75 Predictions For a COVID-19 Edition
As an accredited journalist for this site I've been making the annual trek to Park City since 2006 and one way we like to...
The Climb [Video Review]
Such Great Heights: Covino & Marvin Mine the Nexus of Toxic Friendships
Friendships between heterosexual men are already an anomaly in cinema, and representations are...
Interview: Miles Joris-Peyrafitte – Dreamland
At age 23, Miles Joris-Peyrafitte won a Sundance Special Jury Prize for his first feature film, As You Are. Set in his Albany NY...
Fatman [Video Review]
Black Coal, Thin Gag: The Nelms Bros. Stalk Santa in Middling Comedic Thriller
Santa Claus is apparently a federal employee in Fatman, a novel idea...
Jungleland [Video Review]
In Like a Lion: Winkler Traces Boxer on the Struggle Bus in Familiar Melodrama
If you’re going to San Francisco, there might not be anymore...
Craig’s List: Nicolas Pesce Set to Direct “The Paradox Man” based on Bradbury Short Story
After exploring family lineage with his monster in the closet debut The Eyes Of My Mother, exorcizing personal demons (Piercing) and untangling diseased spirits...
The Dark and the Wicked [Video Review]
Something Wicked This Way Runs: Bertino Gets Bleak with Rural Horror
Director Bryan Bertino continues an exploration of his sinister fetish with trapping sweetly conceived...
Let Him Go [Video Review]
Gone, Baby, Gone: Bezucha Returns with Poignant Crime Drama
For his first film in nearly a decade, director Thomas Bezucha returns with a spirited character-driven...
Come Play [Video Review]
Only the Lonely: Chase Explores Childhood Traumas in Effective Horror Film
The alienating effects of miscommunication with autistic loved ones is usually the stomping ground...
The Craft: Legacy [Video Review]
Magic, the Gathering: Lister-Jones Misplaces a Mythos with Missed Opportunity Sequel
There’s no inherently proper way to engage in genre, which is what makes the...
The Place of No Words | Review
Words of a Feather: Webber Finds Catharsis Through Fantasy in Mournful Drama
The exploration of death and grief through the eyes of a child lends...
Coming Home Again | Review
The Power of Goodbye: Wang Returns with Heartfelt Portrait of Grief
The famous 1940 novel by Thomas Wolfe gave us the poetic metaphor about...
Synchronic [Video Review]
E.M.Time Machine: Benson & Moorhead Do the Time Warp Again
Designer drugs prove to be a mystical gateway to the past in Synchronic, the fourth...
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm [Video Review]
Bribe on Time: Cohen Resurrects Iconic Satirical Caricature for Shock Commentary
Director Jason Woliner steps in for Larry Charles to helm Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm, the...
On the Rocks | Review
Cheat Street: Coppola Presents Familiar Vintage with Lighthearted Filial Dramedy
Fathers and their (sometimes pseudo) daughters have formed the basis for more than one entry...
Bad Hair | Review
Witches Get Stitches: Simien Retrofits Folklore with Contemporary Subtexts in Horror Satire
Justin Simien recuperates a particular time and place with a jaunty but ultimately...
Shithouse | Review
Straight Flush: Raiff Surprises with Poignant, Loquacious Debut
The liberal arts school experience is a right of passage reserved for the privileged, and something which...
Nocturne | Review
Faustabout: Quirke Dances with the Devil in Moody, Familiar Debut
Satan might be one of the most prolific talent scouts in this realm or any...
Evil Eye | Review
Lover Come Back: The Dassani Brothers Explore Obsessive Love Through Genre Veil
For their feature film debut Evil Eye, brothers Elan and Rajeev Dassani straddle...
The Wolf of Snow Hollow | Review
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress: Cummings Returns with Cops and Neurotics
When one mentions werewolves, the notion of cinematic innovation seems moot. We’ve our...
The Forty-Year-Old Version | Review
What Happens to a Dream Deferred?: Blank Finds the Beauty of Herself in Striking Debut
Writer/director Radha Blank arrives in the wake of an opulent...
Black Box | Review
The Brain That Wouldn’t Die: Osei-Kuffour Explores Emotional Resonance in Savvy Medical Thriller
Horror and science-fiction have often been stomping grounds for exploring fantastic ideas...
The Lie | Review
Where Is It?: Sud Mines the Ethical Decay of the Privileged in Familiar but Fashionable Debut
Resorting to a continual, if varied tradition of remaking...
Charm City Kings | Review
Ride on Time: Soto Stunts in Summer Streets Lorded by Baltimore Bike Gangs
Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction, but often real life plays out...
A Rainy Day in New York | Review
I Don’t Like Cities, But I Like New York: Allen’s Shelved Comedy Can’t Shake the Clouds
At one time the immortal city streets of New...
Scare Me | Review
Venus Envy: Ruben Mines Microaggressions in Uncomfortable Debut
The claustrophobic possibilities of ‘the cabin in the woods,’ not unlike ‘the old dark house,’ presents a...
Death of Me | Review
The Dead Don’t Die: Bousman Weathers a Storm in Slow Burn Genre
There’s no predicting what to expect from Darren Lynn Bousman, other than we’re...
Save Yourselves! | Review
The Mood of the Gods: Fischer & Wilson Deliver Millennial Crises in Amusing Debut
“This is the best thing we’ve ever done,” remarks one...
The Glorias | Review
Are the Voices in Your Head Calling, Gloria!: Taymor Tackles Feminist Icon in Peculiar Biopic
If there’s an art to the crafting of a biopic,...
12 Hour Shift | Review
Organ Trail: Grant Goes Haywire with Oversight on the Overnight Shift
Organ trafficking usually isn’t the focal point of a comedy, even a dark one,...
Interview: Haroula Rose – Once Upon a River
The well traveled musician (with fanbases in surprising spots around the globe) and filmmaker Haroula Rose got her first producing credit for Ryan Coogler's...
The Boys in the Band | Review
Walk-in Closets: Mantello Resurrects the Classic Queer Miasma of Fear & Loathing
In the five decades since it first arrived off-Broadway, Matt Crowley’s seminal play...
Kajillionaire | Review
Money Monsters: July Returns with Poignant Puzzle of Curious Criminals
Con artists come in all shapes and sizes, but nowhere are they as decidedly low...
The Secrets We Keep | Review
The Forgiveness of Blood: Rapace Shines in a Loose Regurgitation of Dorfman Play
The strangest aspect of The Secrets We Keep, the third feature from...
The Devil All the Time | Review
Devil May Care: Campos Composes Heady Southern Gothic
For his fourth feature film The Devil All the Time, based on the 2011 novel by Donald...
I’m Thinking of Ending Things | Review
In Search of Lost Time Regained: Kaufman Mutates Memory and Meaning
“The real voyage of discovery consists of not in seeking new lands but seeing...
Centigrade | Review
Cold Comfort Car: Walsh Gets Wound Up in Perfunctory Trauma Reenactment
Survival thrillers which reenact harrowing experiences documented by those who lived through unthinkable trauma...
Lingua Franca | Review
Love Language: Sandoval Paints Subtle Portrait of Tenuous Lives on the Periphery
Eventually, the third film from Isabel Sandoval, Lingua Franca, should eventually serve as...
Tesla | Review
Sugar Pop Electric: Almereyda Gets Inventive with Curio Biopic
If one is familiar with the filmography of Michael Almereyda, one should already know when approaching...
Cut Throat City | Review
Yolo in NOLA: RZA Battles Corruption Post-Katrina in Stifled Neo-Noir
The multi-faceted artist RZA returns to the director’s seat for the third time with Cut...
She Dies Tomorrow | Review
Bet Your Bottom Dollar: Seimetz Circles Existential Dread in Lowkey Genre
“Your deepest fear is spreading,” reads the tagline for Amy Seimetz’s sophomore directorial effort,...
I Used to Go Here | Review
Going, Going, Gone: Rey Finds Solace in Regression with Idle Dramedy
As a framing device, nostalgia has the slant of a moral lesson gleaned from...
The Tax Collector | Review
Taxation without Representation: Ayer Gets Absurd in L.A. Crime Noir
The most interesting element of David Ayer’s latest crime thriller The Tax Collector is how...
Yes, God, Yes | Review
Obvious Teen: Maine Finds Nostalgia in a Hopeless Place
Of the many aspects particular to the late 1990s and early 2000s, where cell phones were...
The Rental | Review
This Property is Condemned: Franco Mines Interesting Ideas in Faulty Debut
Egregiously annoying characters can be either a blessing or a curse to a...
Fatal Affair | Review
Temptation Machination: Sullivan Explores Ills of Infidelity in Extramarital Thriller
“The house is new but the man is not,” jests the unfortunate protagonist in Peter...
Palm Springs | Review
Quantum Leap: Barbakow Recycles Tropes for Amusing Romantic Comedy Debut
The idea of being stuck in an endless time loop, being forced to endure the...
The Beach House | Review
And the Sea Will Kill: Brown’s Blends Menace with Familiar Tropes in Eco-Horror Debut
Horror films have often benefitted from man vs. nature themes, and...
Irresistible | Review
Elephant Walk: Stewart Dulls the Sting of Political Campaigning Hypocrisy with Broad Satire
The trick of a successful satire is to highlight stupidity or hypocrisy...
Miss Juneteenth | Review
Queens Without a Crown: Peoples Mines Strength and Resilience in Quiet Drama
“I learned the truth at seventeen/That love was meant for beauty queens,” Janis...
