Theatrical Reviews

Reviews of selected general release films

SLAMDANCE 2018 REVIEWS: Pascal Plante’s feature film debut FAKE TATTOOS delivers a real romance between young people – and that might make you uncomfortable

By Miguel Cima 8 years ago

The whole time, we want them to be together, we want some miracle to change Theo’s circumstances – hell, we want to know why he’s fricking leaving! But that’s not what the film is about. Rather, it’s about young people having to adapt and deal with entering the adult world, be it due to the advent of an initial important romance, or the passing of some accidental tragedy.

SUNDANCE 2018 REVIEWS: Christian Frei and Maxim Arbugaev’s documentary GENESIS 2.0 feels like a narrative film as two brothers mine mammoth tusks for two starkly different reasons

By Miguel Cima 8 years ago

From the stunning vistas of the sloppy, mud-laden tundra of New Siberia Island to the sterile laboratory conditions of a genetic research facility, the filmmakers stage scenes with a production value equal to or better than many Hollywood efforts. Another reason the film feels like a narrative is because there’s no narration, lots of quiet moments, and loads of drama in shots which are blocked so effectively, it’s hard not to imagine a studio’s resources behind them.

SUNDANCE 2018 REVIEWS: Tolga Karaçelik’s BUTTERFLIES is an exceedingly black comedy masterfully disguised as just a kind-of black comedy

By Miguel Cima 8 years ago

Anyone looking for a nice, neat, family comedy experience with a few difficulties, a la Ron Howard or perhaps Billy Wilder, need not apply to the ticket booth. Neither is the morose punishment junkie seeking a Tolstoy experience via an Ingmar Bergman lens. What unfolds instead is a high-wire act that maintains all the high stakes of a misstep’s fall yet remains superficially entertaining.

SLAMDANCE 2018 REVIEWS: Christina Kallas’s THE RAINBOW EXPERIMENT is an edgy, and dizzying exploration of the aftermath of a tragic high school accident

By admin 8 years ago

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.

SLAMDANCE 2018 REVIEWS: Christina Kallas's THE RAINBOW EXPERIMENT is an edgy, and dizzying exploration of the aftermath of a tragic high school accident

By Miguel Cima 8 years ago

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.

SIDEWALK Film Fest 2017 REVIEW: The devil really is in the details in Skye Borgman’s true-crime documentary FOREVER B

By Geoff Marslett 8 years ago

These twists reveal the many ways a vulnerable child, her desires to be special and a natural tendency toward rebellion can all be cultivated by a victimizer – that is expected in this kind of case – but it doesn’t stop there. Berchtold uses elements of psychology, sexual advances and even sci-fi to exploit similar needs in the very people that could have protected her, and that is what is most chilling in the documentary.

INDIE MEMPHIS 2017 REVIEWS: Noel Wells's Austin-based self-discovery comedy MR. ROOSEVELT dares you to watch it and not laugh

By Geoff Marslett 8 years ago

I’d compare the film to Mike Judge’s work, and I mean this as a gigantic complement. No single gag is necessarily fall out of your seat funny, instead they cumulatively charm you until you can’t seem to do anything except laugh at every interaction. She does this by not overly exaggerating any given moment in an unrealistic joke, but rather taking hundreds of totally believable ridiculous incidents and cramming them all together into one escalating funny movie-long joke.

New York Film Fest 2017 REVIEWS: Barbet Schroeder’s THE VENERABLE W. is a portrait of the racist Buddhist monk instrumental in Myanmar’s ethnic cleansing as well as a reflection of what’s currently in play in the USA

By Miguel Cima 8 years ago

For anyone following the story of what’s happening in Myanmar, The Venerable W. provides insights which don’t make the news. But what’s most frightening of all is how all of this awfulness is reflected in the current age of American politics. Xenophobic pandering to whip up hysteria and outrage are used effectively by Wirathu, and very much echo the playbook of a particular tweeting president you may have heard of.

THEATRICAL REVIEWS: Jennifer Reeder's SIGNATURE MOVE is a gorgeously-shot story about two women that wear lucha masks loving each other and finding their family’s acceptance

By admin 8 years ago

More than one woman is a dynamic character in this film. Three of them are, and they lead compelling lives. They aren’t completely focused on sex with each other or asserting their queerness to the world either, as is the case with some of the campier or tropier films of the LGBTQ variety. Zaynab and Alma live and love each other in a way that compels an audience to appreciate their pairing.