COMPUTER CHESS
2013 SXSW FILM FESTIVAL SELECTION! Characters crop up, but with no real purpose, no depth, and no appeal, they fail to do anything of interest…
Posted on January 21, 2013 in Reviews by Jamie Tipps
CONCUSSION
2013 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL U.S. DRAMATIC FEATURE SELECTION! The sexuality in the film is handled with grace and class, and in more than a few moments, the physical release takes a backseat to the emotional connections fulfilled by the various couplings…
Posted on January 21, 2013 in Reviews by Mark Bell
WHEN I WALK
2013 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL DOCUMENTARY PREMIERES SELECTION! Despite the seriousness of the subject matter, the documentary eschews the maudlin and instead focuses on the realities of the filmmaker’s life…
Posted on January 21, 2013 in Reviews by Jamie Tipps
KILL YOUR DARLINGS
2013 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL U.S. DRAMATIC FEATURE SELECTION! While it may read as a work that could feel overly familiar, debut director John Krokidas’ approach is anything but stale…
Posted on January 21, 2013 in Reviews by Brian Tallerico
AFTER TILLER
2013 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL U.S. DOCUMENTARY FEATURE SELECTION! The testimonials and conversations between patient and doctor are absolutely brutal. These women have no easy road to choose…
Posted on January 21, 2013 in Reviews by Brian Tallerico
GOD LOVES UGANDA
2013 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL U.S. DOCUMENTARY FEATURE SELECTION! Matters of faith are inherently complex issues, and a more rounded presentation usually makes for a more compelling argument…
Posted on January 21, 2013 in Reviews by Jamie Tipps
THE LOOK OF LOVE
2013 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL PREMIERES SELECTION! There is a common joke amongst those familiar with Winterbottom’s output that he needs to “get out there and work more.” After seeing his latest period piece, I am certain that we can all agree he could use a break…
Posted on January 21, 2013 in Reviews by Erik Childress
THE SPECTACULAR NOW
2013 SXSW FILM FESTIVAL SELECTION! Sutter Keely belongs to a long history of protagonists who behave with their own best interests at heart only to be sainted with some late-inning revelations not strong enough to forgive his past indiscretions…
Posted on January 21, 2013 in Reviews by Erik Childress
WE ARE WHAT WE ARE
2013 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL MIDNIGHT FEATURE SELECTION! In terms of performance, Childers & Garner are real finds, delivering the kind of engaging turns that ground a film like this one in something worth caring about…
Posted on January 21, 2013 in Reviews by Brian Tallerico
BREATHE IN
2013 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL PREMIERES SELECTION! No one learns any real lesson or appears to change for either better or worse as a result of this whole ordeal, making it all feel a bit zero-sum…
Posted on January 21, 2013 in Reviews by Michael Nordine
PRIMATE CINEMA: APES AS FAMILY
2013 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL SHORT FILM SELECTION! Thus is an entirely unique short that lives up to its billing, raising questions about the effects of media on our chimpanzee relatives…
Posted on January 20, 2013 in Reviews by Mark Bell
CRYSTAL FAIRY
2013 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL U.S. DRAMATIC FEATURE SELECTION! Cera plays against type, doing copious amounts of drugs and being more socially annoying than even his detractors could imagine he would be in real life, and the attempt to explode his on-screen persona is notable, but the movie actually plays not unlike the all-night hallucinatory drug experience that its characters seek – there are some ups and downs but the crash comes long before the sun comes up…
Posted on January 20, 2013 in Reviews by Brian Tallerico
WHO IS DAYANI CRISTAL?
2013 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL WORLD DOCUMENTARY FEATURE SELECTION! Bernal makes an engaging lead in anything he does and this is clearly a subject that’s close to his heart. Watching him play soccer with fellow travelers on a break from the train at one of many migrant stations or have conversations with people about the work they hope to find in their new lives has an inherent power…
Posted on January 20, 2013 in Reviews by Brian Tallerico
TWENTY FEET FROM STARDOM
2013 SXSW FILM FESTIVAL 24 BEATS PER SECOND SELECTION! There’s little real attempt to delve into the systemic issues that make things the way they are for these women, just a one-sided look at their careers that inadvertently shows why most of them never made it to the spotlight in the first place: some are better singers than they are songwriters, others aren’t aggressive enough self-promoters, and others still simply aren’t interested in fame…
Posted on January 20, 2013 in Reviews by Michael Nordine
THE CAPSULE
2013 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL SHORT FILM SELECTION!
Posted on January 20, 2013 in Reviews by Michael Nordine
