Tag: U.S. Indie Film Review
About Alex | Review
Still the Chill: Zwick Assembles Fine Cast for Routine Exercise
Jesse Zwick, son of director Edward Zwick, has amassed a fine cast of young actors...
The Maid’s Room | Review
Maid of Honor: Walker’s Thriller Uneasily Navigates Issues of Class
Serving as a portrayal of unsaid attitudes amongst the elitist denizens of the Hamptons that...
After | Review
The War at Home: Gaspersz’s Film is Garbage Bin Exploitation
To truly address the putrid redolence of something like the film After, of such deficient...
Child of God | Review
Requiem for a Cave Man: Franco’s McCarthy Adaptation Displays Growth
On a similar directorial trajectory as, let’s say, Joe Swanberg, where quality vs. quantity tends...
Very Good Girls | Review
The Boyfriend Experience: Foner’s Directorial Debut a Derivative Shard
Screenwriter Naomi Foner makes her directorial debut with Very Good Girls, though her preceding reputation...
Beneath | Review
We Now Begin Our Descent: Ketai’s Debut a Minor Effort
Arriving decently dressed but in poor taste is writer/producer Ben Ketai’s directorial debut, Beneath, sharing...
Magic in the Moonlight | Review
Hocus Pocus: Allen’s Latest a Re-hash of All-Too-Familiar Themes
Returning once more to the world of psychics and magicians to inform his breezy comedic styling,...
Wish I Was Here | Review
Anywhere But Here: Braff’s Kickstarter Baby a Painstaking Smog of Forced Emotion
It’s hard to believe a decade has passed since actor Zach Braff’s directorial...
Lyle | 2014 Outfest Los Angeles LGBT Film Festival Review
Devil’s Due: Satan is an Equal Opportunity Baby Snatcher in Thorndike’s Debut
Credited as a ‘sinister ode to Rosemary’s Baby’ (though, there probably is no...
Boyhood | Review
About a Boy: Linklater’s Unique Experiment a Mostly Enjoyable Endeavor
An experience that is as enhanced by the aura of its experimental nature as it...
A Long Way Down | Review
Lost in Translation: Chaumeil’s English Language Debut a Wretched Operation
While his 2010 feature debut, Heartbreaker, which starred Vanessa Paradis and Romain Duris, managed to...
Rage | Review
Cage Against the Machine: Cabezas’ English Debut Labors Through Borrowed Themes
Playing like the cheap echo of David Cronenberg’s A History of Violence, director Paco...
They Came Together | Review
Come Undone: Wain’s Cliché Buster Episodically Funny
Every now and then, director David Wain delivers a great film with his certain brand of offbeat humor...
Begin Again | review
How To Save a Life: Carney’s Anticipated American Film a Pleasantly Loveable
Though trudging through a somewhat ungainly and slightly anachronistic set-up, John Carney’s latest,...
The Well | 2014 Los Angeles Film Festival Review
Hell’s Wells: Hammock’s Debut an Elementary Genre Piece
Environmentally defined dystopias can either be beneficent, as regards a film’s budget, or an incredible boon, generally...
The Signal | Review
Scrambled Transmission: Eubank’s Sophomore Effort Relies on Visual Strengths
William Eubank expands his brand of cerebral sci-fi with sophomore effort, The Signal, following up from...
The Moment | Review
War Story: Weinstock’s Sophomore Feature Rides on Leigh’s Laurels
Unveiling her first film since her 2003 debut, Easy, director Jane Weinstock’s latest, The Moment, is an intriguing...
Hellion | Review
Boys of Summer: Candler’s Latest Effort a Meandering Glance at Troubled Youth
If there’s anything as frequently explored as the ‘coming of age’ archetype in...
Coherence | Review
Time Crimes: Byrkit’s Exercise Somewhat Overbaked by Inchoate Ideas
Fans of Shane Carruth’s blend of intelligent and hyper complicated low-fi sci-fi should certainly be interested...
Willow Creek | Review
The Fault in Their Yeti: Goldthwait’s Found Footage Cheapie a Generic Endeavor
Following his bitterly angry vituperation of American culture in 2013’s God Bless America,...
Lullaby | Review
And Goodnight: Levitas’ Debut Works Too Hard for Genuine Catharsis
Headlined by one of those casts that seems too good to be true, actor Andrew...
All Cheerleaders Die | Review
Sapphic Sillies: Sivertson & McKee’s Latest Lacks Spirit
Lucky McKee and Chris Sivertson, old college friends and now notably notorious film directors (though for different...
Test | Review
Some Gentle People There: Johnson’s Sophomore Effort Recalls Place of Fear
Here’s an arresting point of intrigue into the miasma of historical reexaminations of the...
Words and Pictures | Review
Word Play: Schepisi’s Formulaic Romance Elevated by Lead Performances
Australian director Fred Schepisi gets a lot of mileage out of his headlining duo at the...
The Angriest Man in Brooklyn | Review
Prognosis Negative: Robinson’s Return a Detached, Tepid Exercise
His first outing since the ill-fated 2002 film The Sum of All Fears, director Phil Alden Robinson’s...
A Night in Old Mexico | Review
Siesta Fest: Aragon’s English Language Debut Incredibly Forced
The one discernible reason to watch Cuban director Emilio Aragon’s English language debut, A Night in Old...
Palo Alto | Review
My So Called Strife: A Coppola Debuts With a Flurry of Restless Teens
Hollywood nepotism and the tableau of the teenage wasteland make for oddly...
God’s Pocket | Review
Pocket Full of Sunshine: Slattery’s Debut Weak in the Knees
The devil’s not in all the details he should be of God’s Pocket, the directorial...
Belle | Review
But Your Picture On My Wall: Asante’s Sophomore Feature Revisits Compelling Historical Episode
A decade after her 2004 directorial debut, A Way of Life, director...
Walking with the Enemy | Review
Walk to Remember: Schmidt’s Debut Sincere and Gawky
Director Mark Schmidt attempts to recount an obscure chronicle of WWII heroism to generally awkward effect, though,...
Small Time | Review
Refurbished: Surnow’s Debut a Casserole of Cliché
Seasoned television writer and producer Joel Surnow makes his directorial debut with Small Time, based on an autobiographical...
Proxy | Review
Lady Liars and Psycho-sexual Thrills; Zach Parker's Proxy is a Rocky Ride
Countless blockbusters have used and abused the idea of doppelgängers and surrogates, but...
Proxy | Review #2
Pinch-hitting: Parker’s Latest as Surprising As it is Unwieldy
With a series of continuously improving indie horror thrillers under his belt, filmmaker Zack Parker launches...
13 Sins | Review
Game On: Stamm’s Latest a B-Grade But Fun Genre Flick
Director Daniel Stamm leaves behind the found footage genre for his third outing as director...
Soft In the Head | Review
Head Case: Silver Returns With Another Slice of Low-fi Discomfort
At the end of the final credits of Soft in the Head, Nathan Silver dedicates...
Only Lovers Left Alive | Review
Eternity and a Day: Jim Jarmusch's Vampire Flick Is Typically Jarmuschian
After his droll yet audience-friendly quirkfest Broken Flowers took home the Grand Prix at...
Hateship Loveship | Review
Shipping Out: Johnson’s Sophomore Effort Misses the Boat
Director Liza Johnson follows up her 2011 directorial debut, Return, with Hateship Loveship, an adaptation of a...
Afflicted | Review
From Dusk Till Foregone: Prowse & Lee’s Entertaining Debut Suffers From Formatting Traps
There’s a lot of uncomfortable fun to be had as Afflicted unspools,...
In the Blood | Review
Blood Crush: Stockwell Returns to Exotic Paradise for B Movie Thrills
Considering that In the Blood was scripted by James Robert Johnston (The Howling Reborn;...
10 Rules for Sleeping Around | Review
To Sleep Perchance to Scream: Grief’s Latest a Comedy Cancer
Every once in while a film comes along that’s so horrendously botched in every regard...
The Retrieval | Review
Repo Men: Eska’s Latest a Gripping Coming of Age Narrative
Certain to be referred to as an indie film counterpart to Quentin Tarantino’s 2012 Django...
Dom Hemingway | Review
Vacant Domicile: Shepard’s Latest Hides Absence of Narrative Behind Titular Character
As foul mouthed and over-the-top as it sometimes tends to be, Richard Sheperd’s latest,...
Maladies | Review
Crazy, Stupid, Art: Carter’s Directorial Debut Less than the Sum of its Parts
Multimedia artist Carter makes his directorial debut with Maladies, an intriguing sounding...
Cheap Thrills | Review
Foolish Games: Katz’s Debut Collapses Under Excessive Shock Value
There’s certainly a palpable amount of perverse thrill checkered throughout E.L. Katz’s directorial debut, Cheap Thrills,...
A Birder’s Guide to Everything | Review
Bird is the Word: Meyer’s Debut a Well Meaning But Slight Observation
Bird watching seems to be something of a recent cinematic inspiration, though has...
Rob the Mob | Review
Dog Eat Dog: De Felitta’s Entertaining Take of a Take
After the success of his 2009 indie feature, City Island, Raymond De Felitta turns to...
The Den | Review
Unlawful Entry: Donohue’s Debut a Promising Idea with Faulty Execution
Director Zachary Donohue brings the home invasion thriller to the millennial doorstep with his directorial...
Bad Words | Review
Scatological Prowess: Bateman’s Directorial Debut an Amusing Vulgarity
Fans of fare like Bad Santa and Bad Teacher should rejoice in Bad Words, foul-mouthed fodder involving...
Haunt | Review
Haunt Me Tender: Carter’s Debut Reduced to Derivative Schlock
As Mac Carter’s directorial debut, Haunt, quickly unfurls a haul of standard haunted house clichés, don’t...
HairBrained | Review
School Ties: Kent’s Latest Film Doesn’t Make the Grade
If you’re at all familiar with director Billy Kent’s previous film, 2006’s The Oh in Ohio,...
