Tag: U.S. Indie Film Review
Kidnap | Review
Female of the Species: Berry Brings It in Middlebrow Action Drama
Playing like a throwback to 1990s studio thrillers starring Oscar caliber actresses navigating survival...
Detroit | Review
Horror Hotel: Bigelow and Boal Recount Grim Chapter of Racial Disparity
This year’s most harrowing horror movie, Kathryn Bigelow’s Detroit, happens to be based on...
Menashe | Review
Not Without My Son: Weinstein Crafts Tender, Orthodox Familial Drama
Graduating from documentary filmmaking to narrative cinema with Menashe, director Joshua Z. Weinstein examines universal...
A Ghost Story | Review
Voyage of Time: Lowery’s Distinctive, Elegiac Treatise on Grief, Time, and Elusive Solace
Although it isn’t an actual adaptation of her short story, David Lowery’s...
The Beguiled | Review
The Last Seduction: Coppola Eschews Subtext with High Profile Remake
Claiming to be a closer adaptation to Thomas Cullinan’s 1966 novel than the famed 1971...
The Florida Project | 2017 Cannes Film Festival Review
Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah: Baker Offers A Portrait of the South Like No Other
This time out we can move away from lazily defining Sean Baker's cinema as...
It Comes at Night | Review
Night of Your Life: Shults Plumbs Fear and Fear Itself in Arch Sophomore Effort
As a pure exercise in the powers of suggestion, It Comes...
The Assignment | Blu-ray Review
It’s been an arduous journey for action auteur Walter Hill’s latest film The Assignment, a B-grade schlocky piece of grindhouse pulp which has been...
You Were Never Really Here | 2017 Cannes Film Festival Review
Where Have You Been?: Ramsay Returns with Pronouncedly Fractured, Melancholic Adaptation
Returning from a six year hiatus after 2011’s We Need To Talk About Kevin,...
Wakefield | Review
A Most Wanted Man: Swicord Hangs Doctorow on the Snide Shoulders of Cranston
For evidence of Bryan Cranston’s ability to carry a film, look no...
Wonderstruck | 2017 Cannes Film Festival Review
Time After Time: Haynes Captures Wistful Tone of Bygone Eras
American indie auteur Todd Haynes explores dual cinematic pastiche in his most family friendly film...
Paris Can Wait | Review
Forget Paris: Lane is a Fine Vintage from the Coppola Vineyards
At the age of eighty, Eleanor Coppola makes her narrative feature debut with the...
The Dinner | Review
Principles of Privilege: Moverman Dresses Morality Drama in American Clothes
Susan Sontag once famously wrote, “The white race is the cancer of human history,” an...
The Lovers | Review
The One You’re With: Jacobs Brings Mature Gaze to Dark Marital Comedy
Imagine if George and Martha actually had allowed themselves the opportunity to derive...
The Endless | Tribeca Film Festival Review
Circles in the Sand: Benson & Moorhead Latest Low-Fi Genre Hybrid another Mixed Bag
For a film as fascinated with notions of differentiation as The...
Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer
Fixer Downer: Cedar Unleashes Fascinating Portrait of Aggravating Underdog
There’s an unshakeable sadness to Israeli director Joseph Cedar’s English language debut Norman: The Moderate Rise...
The Ticket | Review
To Gain the World: Fluk’s Allegorical Fairy Tale Treads Perfunctory Territory
Pope Francis described materialism as ‘spiritual cancer’ in that the idolatry of earthly possessions...
Aftermath | Review
No Highway in the Sky: Lester’s Inane Exploitation of Compounded Grief
Director Elliott Lester takes a hard left into slipshod terrain with his latest feature,...
Colossal | Review
Seoul of the Matter: Vigalondo’s Environmental Impact Creature Feature Unique but Wonky
Spanish director Nacho Vigalondo scores major points for ambition and uniqueness in his...
The Assignment | Review
A Dish Best Served Bold: Hill’s Revenge-Thriller a Sleazy Mix of Action and Body Horror
Grindhouse groupies will have something to celebrate with the latest...
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...
