Category: Reviews

Iranian New Wave sensation Downpour (1972) is an incisive social critique

November 23, 2021

Downpour is our predilection for scandal surfacing in destructive and ignorant ways. Behram Beyzai’s vision for Hekmati’s (Parvis Fannizadeh) character was that of a humble servant of the community, within an innate sense of goodness, yet he still gets exposed inside of a communal lie meant to suppress an outsider’s influence. It’s a daring piece of filmmaking, with a provocative visual element, conveying deep seeded desire that can’t be expressed in words. It’s a poetic script, even if mired in malicious rumors … More Iranian New Wave sensation Downpour (1972) is an incisive social critique

Tick, Tick…BOOM! is Andrew Garfield channeling an existential crisis in riveting performance

November 22, 2021

With the slow ticking of a wooden clock, or a bomb clicking down to detonation, Garfield channels this hectic energy and ever-present pressure to succeed and be something in his performance. The stress of being a nobody at 30, while Stephen Sondheim was on Broadway by 27. This existential crisis lays at the heart of Tick…Tick…Boom, a man grappling with the idea of failure or stagnation. Garfield juggles this overwhelming feeling while the relationships in his life hang in the balance. Through this excruciating uncertainty pops out some of the most poignant, heartfelt songs ever put on a stage. … More Tick, Tick…BOOM! is Andrew Garfield channeling an existential crisis in riveting performance

King Richard is Will Smith at his best: A complex portrait of a loving father

November 21, 2021

The triumphant story of two of the most famous athletes the world has ever known. Executive produced by both Williams sisters, it’s a biopic of their rise from humble upbringings in Compton, California to owning the whitest sport in the world of Tennis. However, it’s all framed through their guiding light and the ultimate cheerleader, their complex and loving father Richard Williams – aka King Richard. … More King Richard is Will Smith at his best: A complex portrait of a loving father

CERTIFIED WEIRD: Béla Tarr’s Sátántangó (1996) is a masterpiece

November 20, 2021

The seven-hour myopic, nihilistic, and dystopian Hungarian masterpiece from Béla Tarr, Sátántangó, captures a moment in time closer to the actual reality of the situation better than almost any other film in existence. It’s painfully long and exhausting, by design, and doesn’t take any creative liberties off the table. It’s a film with so much pessimism embedded into its code that any other line of thought is almost impermissible considering the circumstance and lack of authority. The shared apathy of the characters towards themselves, others, and their dire circumstance is a danger to all and Tarr explores this utter disconnect from the reality, a pseudo-reality showing people for what they are, not idealizing a piece of this story. It’s disheartening, cold in the depiction, constantly raining that never ceases to stop, creating an atmosphere of distrust and egocentricity that poison’s the town. It’s an impossibly cruel seven-hour watch and hard to imagine the film conceptually, but is the one film, outside of a similar project in terms of length and story structure, Masaki Kobayashi’s 9-hour masterpiece The Human Condition, that authentically conveys what it means to be human and the human disposition. It’s a towering achievement in storytelling and I’m incredibly happy art like this exist in the world. … More CERTIFIED WEIRD: Béla Tarr’s Sátántangó (1996) is a masterpiece

Belfast is a Heartfelt Love Letter to a Time and Place

November 16, 2021

Belfast is a film that feels so idiosyncratic to its director, Kenneth Branagh, that it had to be personally experienced in real life, making the film feel so personal to its creator. A heartfelt, crowd-pleaser that conveys such an endearing love for a time, place, and people. A joyous story that celebrates people doing their best amid any circumstance. The connection between the family and their neighbors is pure, showing a world where we’re not defined by the worst aspects, but find the good in life. Guaranteed to leave a smile on each audience member’s face. … More Belfast is a Heartfelt Love Letter to a Time and Place

Kristen Stewart delivers an all-time great portrayal of a monumental figure in Spencer

November 16, 2021

Pablo Larrain’s Spencer shows the intense internalized battle being waged against the crown, as Princess Diana’s (Kristen Stewart) agency is stolen away, putting every aspect of her life under a microscope. Isolating, alienating performance from Stewart and direction from Larrain, captures a fictional, yet a real portion of her life that attempts to hide from the public. In Stewart’s performance, we see that struggle inside her through physicality. … More Kristen Stewart delivers an all-time great portrayal of a monumental figure in Spencer

Scottsdale Film Festival: Do Not Hesitate only scratches the surface of wartime psychology

November 13, 2021

The psychology of war is a tricky thing. War takes good natured men and turns them into machines, scaring the life out of them and making distrust a necessity for survival. It programs the youngest of adults, the most impressionable among us, with no capacity for dealing with life-or-death situations and brings out their worst instincts. Emotion needs to be stripped to make a good soldier, but what about the fallout of this stripped humanity?
… More Scottsdale Film Festival: Do Not Hesitate only scratches the surface of wartime psychology

Scottsdale International Film Festival: The Salt in Our Waters, an exploration of changing cultural values

November 10, 2021

The Salts in Our Waters, a film out of Bangladesh, explores the disconnect between the old rule of the world against a dissenting outsider that provides a new perspective. The classic distrust when facing an unknown entity, finding their mere existence to be a threat to the established way of life.
… More Scottsdale International Film Festival: The Salt in Our Waters, an exploration of changing cultural values

CERTIFIED WEIRD: Ingmar Bergman pushes the limits of provocation with his made-for-TV-movie The Rite (1969)

November 7, 2021

It all culminates in the presentation of the act – a mock-pagan staging, with the overdramatized, blasphemous masks and costumes, leads to mock-pornography that purposefully provokes. … More CERTIFIED WEIRD: Ingmar Bergman pushes the limits of provocation with his made-for-TV-movie The Rite (1969)