Tag: U.S. Indie Film Review
Song to Song | Review
Music Makes the People: Malick Slathers Austin, Texas with Signature Emotional Ennui
Fragments of lovers drowning beneath the weight of their own expectations and stagnant...
Donald Cried | Review
Escapes of Time and Memory: Avedisian’s Debut and the Cinema of Discomfort
Director Kris Avedisian wants to make you feel repulsed and uncomfortable in his...
Wolves | Review
Wolf Like Me: Freundlich Returns to Familial Angst with Latest Drama
Director unveils his first theatrical release in seven years with Wolves (which premiered at...
Lovesong | Review
Her Best Friend’s Wedding: Kim’s Poetic Exploration of Muted Desire
Indie auteur So Yong Kim continues in English with her fourth narrative feature, Lovesong, a...
Dark Night | Review
Night of Your Life: Sutton Explores Tragedy as Intersecting Connective Tissue
The sentiment behind Paul Haggis’ 2005 Best Picture Winner Crash, in which various disparate...
Detour | Review
Byway Bric-a-Brac: Smith Disappoints with Undistinguished Neo-noir
If the title sounds familiar, it’s because British director Christopher Smith is borrowing from the moniker from Edgar...
Newness | 2017 Sundance Film Festival Review
Never Gonna Fall for Modern Love: Doremus Deftly Navigates the Hurtles of Millennial Romance
Acute technological advancement has proffered up new, albeit problematic conceptions as...
Where is Kyra? | 2017 Sundance Film Festival Review
Identification of a Woman: Dosunmu’s Exacting Arthouse Drama of Suffocation and Alienation
Nigerian born director Andrew Dosunmu branches out with an unexpectedly somber portrait of...
Dayveon | 2017 Sundance Film Festival Review
Thin Red Line: Abbasi Looks at Frame within the Portrait
While flesh lesions of the bullet wound type leave visible scares behind, within a certain...
The Birth of a Nation | Blu-ray Review
Around this time a year ago, Nate Parker’s Sundance Award Winning directorial debut The Birth of a Nation was a surefire bet to be...
Frank & Lola | Review
A Lover I Don’t Have to Love: Ross’ Debut Explores Troubled Romance
Notions of monogamy and ownership hover on the troubling periphery of Matthew Ross’...
Jackie | Review
The Safety of Objects: Larrain Revisits Traumatic Chapter of Iconic First Lady
There have been very few First Ladies either before or after Jacqueline Kennedy...
Always Shine | Review
All About Actresses: Takal’s Flavorful Psychodrama Treads Familiar Territory
As she conveyed in her 2011 debut feature Green, Sophia Takal has a particular interest in...
Man Down | Review
Little Drummer Boy: Montiel’s Misguided and Manipulative PTSD Allegory
Since his autobiographical 2006 debut A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, director Dito Montiel has been...
The Eyes of My Mother | Review
And Soon the Darkness: Pesce’s Debut a Superbly Stylized Nightmare
If Portugal were the portal to some Lynchian netherworld of dreams deferred, it would look...
Manchester by the Sea | Review
The Fire Last Time: Lonergan’s Austere Portrait of Razed Emotions in Chilly New England
Kenneth Lonergan musters yet another masterful portrait of pervasive trauma with...
Hunter Gatherer | Review
Happy-Go-Lucky: Locy’s Odd, High-Spirited Portrait of a Scam Artist
A mere glance at the extensive list of executive producers (which includes David Gordon Green, Jody...
The Hills Have Eyes | Blu-ray Review
Wes Craven left an indelible mark on American genre cinema thanks to innovations which inspired two iconic horror franchises, including the origination of Freddy...
Private Property | Blu-ray Review
Cinelicious continues its tradition of resurrecting lost and obscure cinematic gems with its new 4K digital restoration of the 1960 title Private Property. Receiving...
The Love Witch | Review
Busty Black Magic: Biller’s Feminist Sexploitation Cinema
Serving as a satire on pulp serials and brimming with all of the elements that would make Russ...
Dog Eat Dog | Review
Hot in Cleveland: Schrader Returns with Gritty, Entertaining Crime Drama
The dog days aren’t over, or so it would seem in director Paul Schrader’s glorious...
Trash Fire | Review
Trash Humping: Bates Deliver Unkempt Dysfunctional Family Thriller
Director Richard Bates Jr. cuts a bit too deeply with third feature Trash Fire, a film which...
The Pickle Recipe | Review
How do ya Like them Cucumbers?: Manasseri Offers Kosher Silliness
Potentially could be considered in the same food produce aisle subgenre as Veggie Tales, Michael...
Loving | Review
United States of Love: Nichols Falters with Hokey Prestige Picture
In 1967, the United States Supreme Court made a landmark civil rights decision with Loving...
Porto | 2016 BFI London Film Festival Review
In Remembrance of Loves Past: Klinger’s Quiet Meditation on Romance, Time & Memory
Two foreigners stumble upon a chance encounter and spend an intimate evening together...
The Unspoken | Review
Here We Are Again: Wilson’s Last Hell House in the Town that Dreaded the Woods
There are quite a considerable amount of mediocre movies in...
The Whole Truth | Review
Truth, Be Told: Hunt Returns to Moral Grey Zone with Courtroom Drama
The only real anomalistic quality to Courtney Hunt’s long awaited sophomore feature The...
Moonlight | Review
When the Rainbow is Enuf: Jenkins Returns with Exceptional, Moving Character Portrait
It’s been eight years since indie filmmaker Barry Jenkins debuted his exceptional directorial...
Christine | Review
Mad as Hell: Campos Paints a Moving, Psychological Portrait of Sensational Subject
For his third and most psychologically complex feature to date, Antonio Campos presents...
Certain Women | Review
All I Desire: Reichardt’s Exceptional Triptych of Tenacious Women
Though she’s already touted as one of the most talented American contemporary directors, Kelly Reichardt accomplishes...
The Birth of a Nation | Review
Born Again: Parker Resuscitates Turner Narrative in Painful Labor of Love
An odd, continued legacy of unquestioned applause greets the reception of actor Nate Parker’s...
The Neon Demon | Blu-ray Review
After premiering to divisive responses at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival where it played in competition (jeers were mixed with waves of derisive laughter...
The 9th Life of Louis Drax | Review
One Life to Live: Aja’s Childhood Abuse Drama a Soapy Misstep
Once at the forefront of the French horror wave of the early to mid-2000s...
The Sea of Trees | Review
The Forest for the Trees: Van Sant’s Melodramatic Misfire
Gus Van Sant’s name seems to conjure wildly different reactions depending on how accustomed one is...
Imperium | Review
Made in USA: Radcliffe Infiltrates Neo-Nazi Faction in Solid Potboiler
Daniel Radcliffe impresses once again in an unlikely bit of casting as an FBI agent...
Sun Choke | Review
Choke Up the Sun: Cresciman’s Dubious Deliberation on the Female Psyche
Mentally unstable women with fragile personalities formulate a vibrant subgenre of their own across...
Little Men | Review
Gentrified Agreement: Sachs’ Poignant Examination of a Childhood Friendship
For his sixth feature, Ira Sachs returns to Brooklyn with Little Men, a perceptive study of...
Equity | Review
Greed is God: Menon Crafts Terse, Uneven Femme-Centric Wall Street Noir
Meera Menon follows up her 2013 road-trip comedy Farah Goes Bang with a low-fi...
Don’t Think Twice | Review
Funnier People: Birbiglia’s Sincere Dramedy Examines Failure, Success
Comedian Mike Birbiglia’s sophomore directorial effort Don’t Think Twice is a rather melancholy, ambitious rendering of the...
Outlaws and Angels | Review
For a Few Hollers More: Mollner’s Retro Western a Few Cents Short on the Dollar
Opening with Psalm 104:21, “They seek their meat from God,”...
The Infiltrator | Review
Undercover Blues: Furman’s By-the-Numbers Thrills Enhanced by Cranston
Certain performers manage an incalculable hook into material otherwise hampered by cliché and familiarity, something accomplished with...
Café Society | Review
The Beautiful and the Consigned: Allen’s Latest Instance of Compromised Love
Like all of Woody Allen’s features over the decades, his latest examination of humans...
Equals | Review
Sweet Emotion: Doremus Does Dystopia on Enjoyable, Recognizable Canvas
Emotions cannot be controlled, but they also cannot be allowed to control you. At least, that...
Private Property (1960) | Review
Piece of the Pie: Stevens’ Psychosexual Drama Gets Revamped
The poster tagline for Leslie Stevens’ 1960 directorial debut Private Property says it all, proclaiming the...
Carnage Park | Review
Carnage Knowledge: Keating’s Halfhearted Shot at Grindhouse not a Fine Vintage
For his fourth feature, indie genre director Mickey Keating attempts a vintage crime/horror mash-up...
Septembers of Shiraz | Review
Iran, So Far Away: Blair’s Simplistic, Tedious Period Portrait of Iran
One glance at the headlining cast of Septembers of Shiraz should indicate a...
The Neon Demon | Review
Death Walks on High Heels: Refn Delves Daftly into the Los Angeles Fashion Demimonde
To reference John Waters’ definition of beauty, “a face should jolt,...
Wiener-Dog | Review
Every Dachshund Has His Day: Solondz Provides Droll Despair
It’s been five years since we were last graced with Todd Solondz’s particular brand of muted...
Swiss Army Man | Review
Pretend That We’re Dead: Or - Two Dans, a Dano, and a Dead Body
What is there to be said about a dramatic comedy built...
Careful What You Wish For | Review
Imitation of Life: Rosenbaum Bastes Noir Tropes in YA Sheen
Director Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum seems dangerously preoccupied with fashioning ill-suited screen personas for pop stars,...
