Telling the story of French literary icon Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette, Colette is a film that is appropriate for this new era following the start of the Times Up movement. The film starts as Henri Gauthier-Villars, best known as Willy (Dominic West), gets engaged to Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (Keira Knightley). Their marriage is a real depiction of the sexism, much less the feminism, of their time. Willy is an author, but when money troubles become too real, he revisits an old…
"Colette"Tag: Sundance Film Festival
Through interviews and archival footage, Bad Reputation shows how Joan Jett opened the doors for women to have a career in rock music. It’s not easy for anyone to make it in rock and roll but as is the case in any field, being a woman makes it harder to break in. The biggest rocker of them all gets a documentary profile allowing us not just a glimpse into her life but how she made…
"Bad Reputation: A Joan Jett Documentary"
Dreams may come and go but what A Boy, A Girl, A Dream ultimately seeks to do is remind us to never give up on our dreams. A love story about dreams develops when Los Angeles club promoter Cass (Omari Hardwick) meets midwestern visitor Free (Meagan Good). The two of them come from very different worlds. Cass comes from an environment filled with both drugs and alcohol. Free, on the other hand, is still reeling from…
"A Boy, A Girl, A Dream"
With a standout performance from newcomer Helena Howard, Madeline’s Madeline lives up to the very definition of art house cinema. Madeline (Helena Howard) is a member of a theater troupe that plays more to the physical side of acting. There’s a lot of method to the director Evangeline’s (Molly Parker) approach. The director’s approach, rooted in improvisation, probably isn’t the best idea for this young woman. Because having been diagnosed with some sort of mental illness, Madeline’s…
"Madeline’s Madeline: The Definition of Art House"
Based on the Nick Hornby book, Juliet, Naked is a film that comes off as Apatowian in nature with a overgrown man-child playing a large role at the center of the story. […] Annie (Rose Byrne) has spent the last 15 years wasting her life with her husband, Duncan (Chris O’Dowd), who has been obsessed with rock star Tucker Crowe (Ethan Hawke). Duncan, a university lecturer, runs a fan site and has been obsessed with…
"Juliet, Naked: A Touching Comedy"![[L-R] Rosemarie DeWitt as Cassie and Lolli Sorenson as Morgan in the action comedy ARIZONA, an RLJE Films release.](https://i0.wp.com/www.solzyatthemovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/HVS_vyJI.jpeg?resize=800%2C600&ssl=1)
The wildly outrageous Arizona is the result of what happens when a disgruntled client takes matters into his own hands during the housing crisis. Real estate agent Cassie (Rosemarie DeWitt) is working to make ends meet while raising her daughter, Morgan (Lolli Sorenson). It’s among the worst times in modern history to be a real estate agent but somebody has to do the job. She shares custody with her ex-husband, Scott (Luke Wilson). He’s since…
"Arizona: The Housing Recession Gets Bloody"
Minding the Gap starts down one path while the cinema verite documentary heads toward an entirely different goal altogether. Set in Rockford, Ill., filmmaker Bing Liu’s first feature documentary seeks to examine the past. Liu follows a few young men from his hometown, Zack and Keire, in hopes of seeking answers from his own past. The filmmaker had grown up in the same town but escaped to Chicago in search of a better life. This…
"Minding the Gap: A Coming-Of-Age Documentary"
Generation Wealth feels like it’s the culmination of filmmaker Lauren Greenfield’s career over the past two and a half decades. For the film, which premiered this past January at Sundance, the filmmaker revisited so many of her previous photograph and interview subjects. The film also ties into the 2017 book of the same name as well as a similar photo exhibition depicted late in the film. High school probably wasn’t the best time to talk…
"Generation Wealth: Is Greed Good?"
Actress Jordana Spiro makes her feature directorial debut with the captivating Night Comes On, a heart-wrenching story that follows a young woman as she seeks to get her life back on track. It’s a solid first feature film for Spiro and helps shine a light on a segment of the country that needs to be represented in more films and in leading roles nonetheless. It’s not only the representation factor but also the stories of…
"Night Comes On: A Solid First Feature"
Kelly Macdonald delivers a strong performance as all the pieces fit nicely into Puzzle. Puzzle plays out like a period drama except for one minor detail: smartphones. Oren Moverman and Polly Mann’s screenplay, based on 2009’s Argentine film Rompecabezas, manages to give us a sharp character study of a middle-aged woman. Agnes (Kelly Macdonald) is in her early 40s. She’s not a woman who tends to leave her community. She isn’t fully reclusive but when she does leave the…
"Puzzle: A Character Study in a Period-esque Drama"