Theatrical Reviews

Reviews of selected general release films

Erdem Tepegöz’s In the Shadows: SEEfest 2021 Review; horror film for today’s Amazon-addled world

By Luke Y. Thompson 5 years ago

The most obvious interpretation of writer-director Erdem Tepegoz’s film is that it’s allegorical communism. Factories, labor, generic outfits, total disrepair, and so forth. Still, in the era of Amazon, is it all that different from capitalism? As seen in Nomadland, Amazon would probably claim they offer “freedom”…freedom, that is, to live in a van and be seasonally employed. But In the Shadows’ factory offers room, board, and guaranteed work. Neither is big on healthcare. All workers are replaceable. And constantly monitored. The warehouse Cold War counts no real winners among the employed.

I. Fan Wang’s GET THE HELL OUT: Oxford Film Festival 2021 Review; manic and creative GET THE HELL OUT delivers crazy zombie politics

By Luke Y. Thompson 5 years ago

Genre fans can have a field day debating whether or not this counts as a zombie movie, since the rabid move fast and technically are not dead. Because they’re mindless, and spread the infection by biting people, this seems close enough for horseshoes. In a notable departure from the standard walking dead, however, it’s not so much a shot to the head that finishes them, but a slicing of the neck artery, hosing everyone in the vicinity down in crimson spew. And it doesn’t necessarily take something like a chainsaw to get the job done. A pair of nailclippers proves extremely versatile.

Aimee Long’s A SHOT THROUGH THE WALL: SLO Film Fest 2021 Review; an Asian cop shooting a black man

By Luke Y. Thompson 5 years ago

Everything is told from Mike’s point of view, which admittedly risks minimizing the shooting victim’s story. We barely know anything about the guy who took the bullet. But the stories of such victims are often told elsewhere – the focus here is on the soul of the perpetrator. Can he be exonerated? Does he deserve to be? How much punishment is enough? There’s a heavy subtext of “There, but for the grace of God, go I.” Give enough people guns, and the likelihood increases that at least one will fumble in a critical moment, with stakes that are not properly prepared or trained for.

Loretta Todd’s MONKEY BEACH: SLO Film Fest 2021 Review; indigenous story and spirituality like you rarely see

By Luke Y. Thompson 5 years ago

Adapted from the award-winning first novel by Eden Robinson, Monkey Beach is a family drama full of literary devices that might arguably work better on the page, like flashbacks in multiple time periods, ghosts, and magical spirits. Having to literalize such things on a non-studio budget must be challenging, and some effects feel just like effects. However, this helps to anchor the story in the real world, where fancier CG creations might have thrust it into fantasy. It might be more accurate to call this a faith-based film, except that unlike in most movies thusly described, the faith in question is not Christian, but Haisla spirituality.

Alexander Jeffery’s MOLTO BELLA: Sound Unseen film festival REVIEW; Great chemistry and dialogue in romanticore film

By Tony Ruggio 5 years ago

Peterson and Von Kampen enjoy wonderful chemistry together. Molto Bella wouldn’t work were it not for their charming, endearing turns as artists in love and mostly ignorant to it. Hal’s writing is sometimes genuinely enlightening and Josie’s voice is unmistakably easy on the ears, so any time you might tire of watching these two walking and talking, know there’s always a verse or two around the corner that’ll catch you by surprise.

Chelsea Christer’s BLEEDING AUDIO at SOUND UNSEEN Film Fest REVIEW: updates the “Behind the Music” doc in an album-less world

By Luke Y. Thompson 5 years ago

They built a fan base by regularly putting n streaming showcases in the early days of online music, and bonded with them by playing acoustically outside the video with post-show stragglers after every concert. While an aspiring David Bowie or Axl Rose type might steal your girlfriend, these are guys you could totally double-date with.

Joshua Y Tsui’s INSERT COIN: Lake County Film Festival REVIEW: delivers a history of violence in arcade games

By Luke Y. Thompson 5 years ago

Joshua Y Tsui’s Insert Coin, which recently screened at the Lake County Film Festival, doesn’t offer a ton of surprises to anyone who’s been clued in to video game culture for a while, but it does put everything together in entertaining fashion to tell the story of the Williams-Midway merger, and what it meant for arcade games thereafter.

Ondi Timoner’s Coming Clean at NAPLES INTERNATIONAL: Film Festival REVIEW: effectively shines a light on the opioid crisis

By Luke Y. Thompson 5 years ago

The focus of Coming Clean is opiates, which, as several talking heads point out, leave a trail of bodies that would be deemed a life-changing national emergency if caused by terrorism, plane crashes, or anything more visual and camera-friendly. Hence, perhaps, all the visual flair Timoner uses to get us watching and listening. And yet, while this seems to be a new problem, it’s not. Oxycontin and Fentanyl constitute a third wave, following those that originated with opium and morphine.