Tag: U.S. Indie Film Review
Partisan | Review
Pledge Allegiance: Kleiman’s Intriguing Debut a Fascist Allegory
Sure to draw superficial comparisons to other famed pre-teen assassin films like The Professional (1994) or Hanna...
Freeheld | Review
The Equality in Dying: Sollett’s Topical Gay Rights Issue Explores Yesterday’s Nightmares
Had a film like Freeheld been released in the late 2000s, shortly after...
Ashby | Review
Three Months to Kill: McNamara’s Derivative Hodge-Podge
You’ll neither laugh nor cry, but hover somewhere in an emotionally dysthymic plateau watching Tony McNamara’s sophomore debut,...
The Keeping Room | Review
Ruminations: Barber’s Sophomore Effort Brings the War Home
Director Daniel Barber returns with sophomore effort The Keeping Room, his first film since the Death Wish...
99 Homes | Review
Housing Complex: Bahrani Extends Capitalism Criticism to Housing Market
Though his 2012 farming melodrama At Any Price found director Ramin Bahrani gaining wider visibility with...
Mississippi Grind | Review
Let the River Run: Boden & Fleck’s Melancholy, Character Driven Road-Trip
Filmmaking duo Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck return with their best collaboration since the...
Sicario | Review
The Company of Wolves: Villeneuve’s Superb Packaging Enhances Customary Cartel Themes
There’s much to be excited about with Sicario, the latest film from Quebecois director...
Time Out of Mind | Review
Time to Time: Moverman’s Austere Portrait of Homelessness
There’s a deliberate soul-crushing methodology to Oren Moverman’s third feature Time Out of Mind (taking its title from...
Sleeping with Other People | Review
Other People’s Mousetraps: Headland Heads to Romcom
One of the most acerbically hilarious new voices in the American indie world is writer/director Leslye Headland, whose...
Blood Punch | Review
Blood of Your Blood: Paxson’s Comedy Horror Debut Lacks Bite
Unspooling with all the finesse of a drunken yet trenchant teenager’s expletive laden ranting at...
Dirty Weekend | Review
Afternoon Delight: Enjoyable, Downplayed Provocation from Labute
Walking into a film called Dirty Weekend knowing it’s directed by Neil Labute, an author known for his...
Before We Go | Review
Here We Go Again: Evans’ Nondescript Venture a Familiar Recipe of Whirlwind Romance
Love is not a many splendored thing in actor Chris Evans’ directorial...
Zipper | Review
The Ballad of Franks and Beans: Stephens’ Dips Toes and Other Bits into Political Scandal
It is still very much a man’s world, or so...
Queen of Earth | Review
Earth Below Us: Perry’s Esoteric Puzzle of Women and Madness
What a delight to see director Alex Ross Perry continuing his delightful examinations of unlikeable...
Z for Zachariah | Review
This is the End: Zobel’s Post-Apocalyptic Love Triangle
Following the success of his galvanizingly uncomfortable 2012 film Compliance, director Craig Zobel teases his way into...
The Curse of Downers Grove | Review
Teenage Wasteland: Ellis & Martini Join Forces for Derivative Teen Angst
Check your expectations at the opening credits with The Curse of Downers Grove, a...
6 Years | VOD Review
There’s Always Tomorrow…Maybe: Fidell Explores the Familiar Predicaments of the LTR
Director Hannah Fidell follows her 2013 debut A Teacher with concisely minded 6 Years,...
Digging For Fire | Review
Dem Bones: Swanberg’s Mellow Examination of Married Life
A married couple’s weekend apart turns into the sort of mildly enterprising exploration of what happens when...
Some Kind of Beautiful | Review
Some Kind of Nonsense: Vaughan’s Unintentional Antithesis of the RomCom
Not long into Some Kind of Beautiful, the new film from director Tom Vaughan, a...
Grandma | Review
Citizen Lily: Weitz’s Character Study Homage to Iconic Lead
Since beginning his directorial career with 1999’s American Pie, Paul Weitz has hovered in an in-between...
The Mend | Review
Mysteries of Miseries: Magary’s Misanthropic Glance at Troubled Brothers
There’s a perverse pleasure to be had watching John Magary’s directorial debut, The Mend, if mostly...
The Boy | Review
The Sad Seed: Macneill’s Portrait of Rural Malaise Flickers with Occasional Menace
In the cinematic landscape of evil (or at least sociopathic), children, it’s rare...
She’s Funny That Way | Review
Funny Ha-ha: Bogdanovich’s Pleasant Return to the Screwball Comedy
The buzz has been rather hushed concerning She’s Funny That Way, the return of 70s auteur...
American Ultra | Review
The Long Spliff Goodnight: Nourizadeh’s Stoner Action Flick Mixes Kooky with Convention
Comprised of a tangle of similar narrative threads spliced together from a variety...
Ivans Xtc | Retrospective for Bernard Rose at the American Cinematheque Review
Notes from Hollywoodland: Rose’s Heady, Meaningful Tolstoy Update
“It is as if I had been going downhill while I imagined I was going up,” realizes...
Amnesiac | Review
Before I Go to Steal: Polish’s Familiar, Bare Bones Genre Trick
It isn’t long after the film’s opening car crash sequence that the essence of...
Big Sky | Review
Wide Open Spaces: Grau’s Arid English Language Debut Misses the Mark
For his long awaited follow-up to his handsomely unsettling 2010 debut We Are What...
One & Two | Review
One is the Loneliest Number: Palermo Exercises Tone Over Content
Playing like the tangential origin story you’d expect to see from some rurally grown mutant...
Ten Thousand Saints | Review II
New York I Love You: Berman & Pulcini’s Schmaltz Soaked Latest
Nostalgia, especially in large doses, tends to hobble the authenticity of a text, whether...
Return to Sender | Review
Harder Candy: Pike Headlines Predictably Exploitative Rape Thriller
It seems Rosamund Pike is now the girl most likely to…. exact ruthless retribution on her instigators,...
Ten Thousand Saints | Review I
East Village Ennui: Coming of Age Story Displaced, Too Hip For Own Good
A coming of age narrative comprised of the familiar: teen angst, frustration,...
Mistress America | Review
Sister, My Sister: Baumbach’s Energetic Return to Facades of NYC
The latest in Noah Baumbach’s prolific slew of projects, Mistress America is the follow-up collaboration...
People, Places, Things | Review
Here in the Noun: Strouse’s Familiar, Charming RomCom
The kids are basically all right in People, Places, Things, director James C. Strouse’s third outing as...
Two Step | Review
Ordinary Madness: Johnson’s Character Study Enriched by Neo-Noir Aesthetic
Premiering earlier this year at the SXSW Film Festival, Alex R. Johnson’s directorial debut Two Step...
The Gift | Review
Keep on Giving: Edgerton’s Debut a Surprisingly Adept Thriller
Actor Joel Edgerton makes his feature directorial debut with The Gift, an intelligent, enjoyably entertaining thriller...
Cop Car | Review
Riding in Cars with Cops: Watts’ Thriller Offers Low Yield Excitement
Jon Watts continues in the B-grade vein showcased in his 2014 Eli Roth starring...
The End of the Tour | Review
The Admiration Game: Ponsoldt’s Moving Homage to Artist and Artistry
Following the critical successes of 2012’s Smashed and 2013’s The Spectacular Now, director James Ponsoldt...
Jenny’s Wedding | Review
Portrait of Jenny: Heigl’s Performance Buoys Social Issue Context
There are several aspects to admire in Mary Agnes Donoghue’s sophomore directorial effort, Jenny’s Wedding, her...
Five Star | Review
A Star is Born: Miller’s Returns to Saga of the Streets
Director Keith Miller returns to a similar style of filmmaking with his sophomore film...
Big Significant Things | Review
Eager Yet Flawed: Indie Darling is Safe-Guarded and Traditional
Brian Reisberg's debut feature has many of the usual markings of an indie sleeper hit but like an...
Dark Was the Night | Review
Into the Woods: A Creature Was Lurking in Heller’s Rudimentary Sophomore Film
If it’s nifty poetic title manages to reel you in, you’ll discover a...
Unexpected | Review
Baby Boom: Swanberg’s Pregnancy Drama Plays it Safe
For a glaring portrait of the subtle audacity of subconscious privilege unawares, look no further than Kris...
10 Cent Pistol | Review
The Bonds of Bonding: Martin’s Debut a Choppy Crime Caper
Sustained by a likeable cast of notable character actors, screenwriter Michael C. Martin’s directorial debut...
Southpaw | Review
My Left Fist: Fuqua’s Sports Drama a Familiar, Emotionally Charged Comeback
After another recent dalliance in action genre schlock, director Antoine Fuqua returns with the...
Safelight | Review
To the Lighthouse: Aloupis Crafts Woefully Sluggish Tale of Truck Stop Tendencies
Serving up a generous helping of outsider character study with teenage romance tinged...
Lila & Eve | Review
Day of the Mother: Stone’s Flighty Revenge Thriller Favors Laughs
There’s a certain degree of entertainment to be gleaned from director Charles Stone III’s latest...
Irrational Man | Review
Tepid Contemplation: The Unraveling of a Mild Murder Plot
For his 46th feature film, Irrational Man calls upon Woody Allen’s fascination, or at least tendency to create a...
Self/less | Review
The Change-Up: Singh Sleepwalks Through Sci-Fi Stock
Time is not on anyone’s side in director Tarsem Singh’s latest blunder through familiar material, Self/less, a mash-up...
Tangerine | Review
Boulevard Ballads: Baker’s Enigmatic Journey into Hollywood’s Facade
For those familiar with the cinematic offerings of Sean Baker, it will come as no surprise that...
Mad Women | Review
Women on the Verge: Lipsky’s Overwrought Portrait of Dysfunction
Those having experienced the independent cinema styling of Jeff Lipsky won’t be surprised by the end...
