Many would say, going by that selection of talent thrust together in this predominantly single-setting premise, the stars were aligned for a peppy crime comedy in Riff Raff. The potential combinations offer interesting mixes of presences and styles. It’s too bad because the script and the director cannot align characters and tones with any semblance of congruency. Simply put, everyone is in a different movie from their scene partners.
Read MoreAssembling this esteemed cast of respected performers, Millers in Marriage pervades more and more audacious questions. While everyone has their share of golden parachutes compared to commoners, the inquiries of who’s jealous, curious, sad, or happy—and with whom—carry plenty of pertinence. Each relationship reaches crucial decision points with those feelings, and the movie unveils who makes the right ones and who makes the wrong ones
Read MoreMoral challenges and splits involving personal truths increase as the days and hours dwindle to do something about them. Depending on the viewer’s acceptance and temperament, When I’m Ready is a complicated blend of the morbid and the soulful. Cynics will call it soft and over-convenient. They’ll be missing the attempted love letter-level poetry championing companionship. Instead, those who lean to and shine with the positive latter will be rewarded with a lovely odyssey of warmth fighting back bleakness.
Read MoreWitnessing this journey is an absolute pleasure to behold in Suze, a little gem that can unite wayward young audiences with the jaded adult parents out there both trying to make sense of shifting crossroad moments of their lives. When Suze and Gage come to say “I’m really glad you’re here,” you will find yourself nodding in agreement about the sweet movie itself, and it all started with a convincing himbo.
Read MoreWith its idyllic morals and rural accoutrements, Green and Gold champions hopeful and wholesome vibes. Green and Gold embraces that soft touch without thumping Bibles to support and celebrate the challenges and resilience found in the endangered American farmer. There’s an under-filled soft spot place for quaint family fare tipping a hat like this.
Read MoreThe grand searches for meaning and the combination of their little ventures are not quite expressive or poignant enough to sear hearts and call upon the need to tug on the tissues, despite a promising effort from Julia Stiles taking on a new role in her lifelong medium. While Wish You Were Here may not fully succeed for many, she deserves more chances in the big chair.
Read MoreAs the flashbacks thicken the ugly and sordid details, every call for caution is correct, and every sincere attempt at concern is warranted. But, with every chewed fingernail of unchecked nerves, Jane refuses to talk or share any shred of explanation. Through its sobering effort to present an always-successful-until-now young woman carrying unhealed pain, Disfluency sheds light on an ominous emotional burden far too many people have experienced and far too many people have sought to carry silently.
Read MoreWhat could possibly hurt the good intentions and try-hard effort of Autumn and the Black Jaguar? The answer, unfortunately, manifests in one abundantly blunt place. It’s the insertion of a distracting supporting character that steals the oxygen and becomes the movie’s regrettably more dominant mouthpiece.
Read MoreCount Somewhere in Montana writer-director Brandon Smith as a wiser gentleman who avoided, for the most part, reaching for those types of low-hanging fruit. These featured men are surprisingly deeper than their outward tropes, and their qualities thicken, ever so slightly, what could have been a narrow movie.
Read MoreBy Ross’s own words, the camera intensifies objectivity and that speaks volumes for Nickel Boys. Its well-executed impact begs audiences to become further informed on the tragedy after finishing the film. In the end, we cannot let go of what the eyes and arms want, especially if those needs cannot be attained due to the grim circumstances of the story. Better than many works by peers and contemporaries, Nickel Boys longs for us to hold dear the bonds of protective brotherhood with a fascinating filmic experience.
Read MoreThis past fall, the eclectic western Chicago suburb of Oak Park, Illinois put on their inaugural film festival. The Oak Park, Illinois Film Festival. Divided into five thematic programming blocks, the festival organizers and leading board members curated a total of 17 films. Three of them were feature-length, and two of those were documentaries. Holding firm to local roots, each film entry had to have an Oak Park connect in front of or behind the camera to be eligible.
Read MoreStrong with the aforementioned wisdom and historical truth channeled through Medina, Los Frikis was unafraid to present the squalor the brothers rose from and, unfortunately, how AIDS would sever and silence any cultural growth or lasting personal legacies. The result is a difficult and no-less-impressive film that smashes the spirited human condition against aspects of fulfilling indepdence people should never take for granted.
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