Bill Oliver’s first feature film Jonathan arrives into a sort of renaissance moment for sci-fi anthology tales. Employing near-future brain science tropes reminiscent in some ways of last year’s Get Out, fans of the British Netflix series Black Mirror will be able to jump right into this literal mind game of a movie.
By the end of the film, some of the life changes the attorneys go through are disruptive enough, the audience is left wondering if their good work will be undone by their own circumstances. It was hard to not to cry, and even feel ashamed. After all, we’re all part of the system of cruelty, injustice and vengeance which works harder to take down street-level ladies while their abusive masters most often live well.
perhaps that’s Proserpio’s ultimate achievement here. He gets us to think about what it is we do, what it is we love, and what it is that motivates us, all in the microcosm of one humble Banksy work. It’s fair to say, this documentary may have more lasting impact than some of the short-lived street art it’s talking about.
The artist just refused to give of himself to the people around him. Perhaps the film made that decision, too. Those missing pieces we yearn for simply might not be available, just as the artist refused to make his own soul available to those closest to him. Except, of course, through his art – but that was only incidental.
The 2018 Dallas Comedy Festival once again kept growing as they had more acts, added another performance stage and location, and even expanded the length of their red carpet.from last year. The Dallas Comedy House has become the epicenter for comedy and the development of improv and sketch comedy troupes in the state of Texas, and the Dallas Comedy Festival has become a “cross the dates off the calendar” event not just for the state but in comedy circles throughout the rest of the country, and the fun and enthusiasm on the red carpet Friday, March 30 gave some evidence as to why that is the case.
The 2018 Oxford Film Festival’s 15th Anniversary edition lived up to the build up anniversary years always have for fests, and that sense of fun and excitement translated to the final red carpet of the fest prior to the filmmaker awards celebration at the Powerhouse in Oxford.
EarthxFilm presented by EarthX (formerly Earth Day Texas) today announced the details for their 2018 Online Short Film Competition for students, ages 12 to 21, offering a total of $12,000 in prize money for the winning filmmakers. Also announced was a year-round effort to STRIKE OUT STRAWS starting with EarthxFilm’s own event (April 13-22) and continuing with an educational awareness campaign through local area schools and businesses. The goal is to replace, remove, and/or prevent the use of at least one million single use plastic straws in North Texas in 2018.
The intense cold and threat of rain did little to combat the warmth and excitement of the Oxford Film Festival’s Opening Night Gala screening of THE LAST MOVIE STAR at the Gertrude Ford Center. Several filmmakers attended and made their presence known on the red carpet as the 15th Anniversary edition of the fest kicked off in style.
Much of the editing is edgy and dizzying, recalling scenes from other films depicting a plane crash. Which really is the point. The social unraveling which occurs throughout the progression of the story is really a slow-motion calamity which sends each of the characters hurling in different directions, as if none of the passengers on a distressed jet were wearing their seatbelts.
Brooke and Doug Purdy’s comedy/drama hybrid about a couple managing her reoccurrence of breast cancer at the same time her father is on the decline with Alzheimer’s and possibly most alarmingly, their daughter has an all-important 8th birthday party coming up, made its Los Angeles premiere at NewFilmmakers L.A. on Saturday, December 16.
