Known as the caviar of the Balkans, ajvar is a Serbian roasted red pepper spread that originated in southeastern Europe. In the Kosovo-set drama “Hive,” the very act of making and bottling it becomes an act of rebellion for one woman, Fahrije (Yllka Gashi), who has no choice but to acquire an entrepreneurial spirit after…
‘Hive’ Review: Pepper Spread Becomes a Sign of Rebellion in Kosovo Drama That Swept Sundance
Talk about an unexpected yet intriguing pairing. In the new film “Bliss” Owen Wilson and Selma Hayek are two people traveling back and forth between vastly different realities. But soon perceptions of what’s real and what’s a simulation begin to blur. This catchy concept comes from the mind of writer-director Mike Cahill whose indie sci-fi […]
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Rating: 5 out of 5. Many famous actors are now turning into directors. Most of them are quite successful such as Angelina Jolie, George Clooney, Olivia Wilde, Robin Wright, and now, Rebecca Hall. If you compare the above-mentioned names, I think Rebecca Hall has beaten all of them by directing the truly masterful portrayal […]
Written, directed, produced, and co-edited by Lyle Mitchell Corbine Jr., “Wild Indian” tells the unsettling story of two men inextricably linked by a violent crime from their childhood. It’s a piercing and clear-eyed examination of trauma, guilt and embracing identity rather than running from it. Told through a deeply authentic indigenous perspective, “Wild Indian” contextualizes […]
SUNDANCE REVIEW: “Wild Indian” (2021)
Her name is Enid, and she’s a film censor, the person who negotiates the bad language, graphic violence, drug use, and nudity of a film, deciding just how much can be kept in and retain an R rating, and which films will either need to be edited, or bumped up to NC-17 and so on. […]
Imagine waking up in the bottom of a hole – you, your spouse, your kid. You’ve been drugged, and now you’re being held hostage. There’s no way out. Worse, your son is missing. What happened to him? Is he hurt? Worse? Who’s doing this, and why? Imagine waking up in the bottom of a hole […]
Sundance 2021: John And The Hole
Hello readers! It is the end of the day at that means time for another one of my Sundance Film Festival viewing logs. Here I give my mini reviews for every film I saw at the festival. Yesterday I gave all positives but today was more mixed. Here goes! Ailey This film is a documentary […]
Good storytelling skates by on the tension between what we see, read or hear unfold, and what we hope or fear might happen as the tale unfolds. Dickens or “Dumb & Dumber,” it’s all about meeting or willfully defying our expectations, great or otherwise. “Happy Cleaners” is a Korean-American immigrants and their children drama, a […]
Movie Review: “Happy Cleaners” and the burden of Korean-American expectations
Whatever you do don’t confuse Jayro Bustamante’s “La Llorona” with 2019’s promising but ultimately disappointing “The Curse of La Llorona”. The two couldn’t be more different, their only real connection being the ubiquitous Latin American folk tale of “The Weeping Woman”. Bustamante has a much more sobering ambition, using the ghostly legend as a means […]
While not as prominent in today’s news headlines as the current global pandemic, opioid addiction is ravaging lives at its own unspeakable rate. The new drama “Crisis” from director Nicholas Jarecki’s (“Arbitrage”) looks to tackle the issue head-on by using its star-studded cast to cover several interconnected storylines. Jarecki’s goal is to show how the […]
“Minari” is a near classic of the timeworn “troubles on the farm” drama, a story of a family of non-farmers facing the whims of nature and the widening fracture in a marriage as they set out to work the land and grab The American Dream. It’s “Country” or “The Southerner” or “Jean de Fleurette” but […]
Movie Review: Korean Immigrants are tested by the American dream in “Minari”
Horror veteran Caroline Williams, who’s been around since “Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2” back in the ’80s, gets a fine C-movie showcase in “10 Minutes to Midnight,” a tale of a “rabid” bat and the hallucinatory bloodlust consequences it has on an aging DJ’s last night on the job. Or that’s what she would have gotten […]
Movie Review: An All-Night DJ gets bitten at “10 Minutes to Midnight”
As far as “fears” go, I typically prefer mysterious and unknown peril to frights shoved in my face, explained, back-storied and underlined. But that’s now how the “Wrong Turn” movies work. For twenty years these films have gotten good looking actresses and actors lost in America and the world’s fast-disappearing wild places, menaced by whatever […]
Movie Review: “Wrong Turn” leads to terror and torture porn on the Appalachian Trail
Title – Penguin Bloom (2020) Director – Glendyn Ivin (Last Ride) Cast – Naomi Watts, Andrew Lincoln, Rachel House, Jacki Weaver, Griffin Murray-Johnston Plot – Based on the true story of Australian family the Blooms and their relationship with a young Magpie they rescue months after their mother and wife Sam (Watts) loses the use […]
Film Review – Penguin Bloom (2020)
Off the wagon. So this is about four friends who all are high school teachers in Denmark. Over a 40th birthday dinner, one of them mentions a theory that all humans are born with a .05% alcohol deficiency in their blood. They decide to test this thesis by maintaining this level through the workweek. Now […]
Stay Drunk – Another Round (2020)
Locked Down (2021), Chiwetel Ejiofor, Anne Hathaway, Warner Brothers Locked Down has some memorable moments. Yet, overall, director Doug Limans romance/comedy about a couple’s attempt at a high-risk, high-stakes jewellery heist during the Coronavirus pandemic isn’t great. Starring Anne Hathaway, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Ben Kingsley; the most memorable scenes for me feature Kingsley and Ben Stiller. […]
LOCKED DOWN (2021): The Things I Liked…
Justin Timberlake serves up a healthy slice of cinematic comfort food in this tender drama about an ex-con who befriends a social outcast.
‘Palmer’ Review: Justin Timberlake Is an Ex-Con Who Befriends an Abandoned Little Boy in Sweet Drama
2020 has been a very strange year, due to a global pandemic resulting in the pushing back of big names movies, closing cinemas or forcing some movies to get released on streaming platforms for a premium price. So watching movies hasn’t been as simple or as accessible as we’ve been used to. During the year […]
Seven years ago, Cass was one of the brightest students in medical school, along with her closest friend, Nina. Then, after a rape scandal that involved Nina, they both dropped out. Fast forward to present day, Cass was a 30 years old, living with her parents, and single. During the […]
Movie Review: Promising Young Woman
The 39 Steps was arguably Alfred Hitchcock’s most adventurous adaptation at the time that it was released. It’s based on the novel by John Buchan, published in 1915, which tells the story of Richard Hannay, played here by Robert Donat, who becomes embroiled in an international conspiracy on the dawn of World War II. For […]
Hitchcock: The 39 Steps (1935)