With charming performances, Saint Frances is a small little indie film from Chicago that manages to tackle some serious issues. Bridget (Kelly O’Sullivan) starts out her summer by getting an abortion. She does not feel any guilt about it. If she does, she choose not to talk about it. The film depicts her abortion in a way that we really don’t see in other films. Yeah, it’s a really big decision but one that doesn’t…
"SXSW 2019: Saint Frances"Month: March 2019
Olympic Dreams is the first of its kind as this film takes us into the daily lives of an Olympian and a dentist in an active Olympic Athlete Village. Cross-country skier Penelope (Alexi Pappas) has her first event shortly after the Opening Ceremony takes place during the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018. Sometime shortly thereafter, Penelope becomes friends with volunteer dentist Ezra (Nick Kroll). The two of them start hanging out so much during the…
"SXSW 2019: Olympic Dreams"
Villains is a comedic action thriller that somehow manages to find a way to blur the lines in the craziest kind of way possible. The only thing worse than a pair of ill-prepared robbers is a pair of ill-prepared robbers that break into the home of the worst couple in history of the world. This is exactly what happens to Mickey (Bill Skarsgård) and Jules (Maika Monroe). If you’re going to rob a gas station,…
"SXSW 2019: Villains"
Pink Wall is an experimental film that marks the transition of Tom Cullen as an actor to that of a director and screenwriter. This is a film that takes place over the course of six years in Jenna (Tatiana Maslany) and Leon’s (Jay Duplass) relationship. The story is told by way of flashing back and forth during important moments in their six year relationship. It may complicate the narrative with regards to following the story…
"SXSW 2019: Pink Wall"
Good Boys is a romp of a laugh riot as the film focuses on a trio of prepubescent teenagers who are about to attend their first kissing party. Max (Jacob Tremblay), Thor (Brady Noon), and Lucas (Keith L. Williams) are best friends in sixth grade. Somewhere along the way, the trio picked up “The Beanbag Boys” and the name stuck. They aren’t without the typical bullying in school. Much like other high school films, they’re…
"SXSW 2019: Good Boys"
With a strong focus on female friendship, Olivia Wilde’s directorial debut, Booksmart, is the next great classic high school comedy. It’s very easy to see the influence of a filmmaker like Amy Heckerling in watching this film. She’s the filmmaker who directed both Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Clueless. These two films inspired a generation and Booksmart is sure to follow. Both Amy (Kaitlyn Dever) and Molly (Beanie Feldstein) may be best friends but they’re…
"SXSW 2019: Booksmart"
The Hummingbird Project is a pretty ambitious film and offers fine performances but the film as a whole falls pretty far short of expectations. A pair of New York cousins, Vincent Zaleski (Jesse Eisenberg) and Anton Zaleski (Alexander Skarsgård in unrecognizable form), have big dreams. This dream is building a straight fiber-optic cable line between Kansas and New Jersey. Mark Vega (Michael Mando) is their pick to run things. Despite the odds, the two aren’t going…
"The Hummingbird Project aims high, falls short"
The Boy Band Con: The Lou Pearlman Story tells the story of the music mogul behind the success of both the Backstreet Boys and N’Sync. If you were grew up in the late 1990s or early 2000s, you should be quite familiar with the boy band craze. This was a period when tweens and teens were going insane over the boy bands. Remember when boy bands were a thing? Oh, how times have changed. What…
"SXSW 2019: The Boy Band Con: The Lou Pearlman Story"
Lauren Blumenfeld took some time to speak with Solzy at the Movies about short film Stepdaddy during the 2019 SXSW Film Festival. Congrats on Stepdaddy being selected for SXSW! How thrilled are you for the opportunity? Lauren Blumenfeld: We are all so thrilled to be premiering Stepdaddy at SXSW! This is my first time in Austin and I’m so excited to be here. What was the genesis behind the project? Lauren Blumenfeld: Stepdaddy is inspired…
"SXSW 2019: Lauren Blumenfeld talks Stepdaddy"
Through interviews and clips, I am Richard Pryor profiles the life and career of the late ground-breaking comedian, Richard Pryor. To say that Richard Pryor was one of a kind would not be an understatement. Pryor would rank at or near the top should one put together a list of the best stand-up comedians. There’s no disputing this. Live on the Sunset Strip is arguably one of the greatest stand-up specials of all time. This…
"SXSW 2019: I am Richard Pryor"