Uncle Frank is a period piece following a closeted gay man who is reluctantly returning home for his father’s funeral and unresolved trauma. While conditions have improved to an extent for the LGBTQ community, things are certainly better than they were in 1973. This is when South Carolinian teenager Beth Bledsoe (Sophia Lillis) heads off to New York University. The move leads to a reunion with literature professor and Beth’s uncle, Frank (Paul Bettany). What…
"AFI FEST 2020: Uncle Frank"Author: Danielle Solzman
Danielle Solzman
Nine Days features a unique take on the concept of life as one man has the sole power to decide which souls will be born on Earth. Will (Winston Duke) spends his days watching human life on older television sets thanks to videos recorded by Kyo (Benedict Wong). Think of him as a gatekeeper as he watches people living their daily lives. It’s a thankless job but I suppose somebody has to do it. The…
"AFI FEST 2020: Nine Days"
Pink Skies Ahead takes us back to the Los Angeles of the late 1990s when a college students drops out and moves back in with her parents. Aspiring writer Winona (Jessica Barden) drops out of college and gets diagnosed with an anxiety disorder after moving back home with her parents, Robert (Michael McKean) and Pamela (Marcia Gay Harden). She’s in denial about Dr. Cotton’s (Henry Winkler) diagnosis. After all, she’s never had a panic attack…
"AFI FEST 2020: Pink Skies Ahead"
Ammonite seeks to tell the story of paleontologist Mary Anning but there’s more here than meets the eye when it comes to actual truth. When we first meet Mary Anning (Kate Winslet) in the 1840s, the paleontologist already has her best days behind her. The Lyme Regis resident now resorts to hunting fossils and hoping that wealthy tourists will buy them. This is really the only way that she can support both herself and her…
"NewFest 2020: Ammonite"
Riz Ahmed delivers a captivating performance as a heavy metal drummer that is beginning to lose his hearing in Sound of Metal. Within the film’s opening minutes Ruben (Riz Ahmed) is experiencing hearing loss. At the beginning, the loss is intermittent but as any musician knows from experience, it will only get worse. This is exactly what happens as the plot moves forward. However, technology has advanced to where Ruben is set on pursuing a…
"AFI FEST 2020: Sound of Metal"
I’m Your Woman, directed by Julia Hart and starring Rachel Brosnahan, owes its influence to the 1970s classic crime dramas. Here’s the thing about the classic crime dramas: they were told from a man’s point of view. What Julia Hart and Jordan Horowitz do with their script is change up the genre. Surburban housewife Jean (Rachel Brosnahan) is front and center in this throwback thriller. You know it’s a throwback as soon as you see…
"AFI FEST 2020: I’m Your Woman"
Director James Fletcher and political consultant Anthony Scaramucci spoke to Solzy at the Movies about The Accidental President. The Accidental President will open in theaters on October 16, 2020. A VOD release will follow on October 27, 2020. The Accidental President is one of a number of Trump-related documentaries this fall. Was there some sort of directors meeting where everyone decided they were going to release their films so close together? James Fletcher: Well, Danielle,…
"James Fletcher, Anthony Scaramucci talk The Accidental President"
Rebecca is the first major American adaptation of Dame Daphne du Maurier’s novel since the Alfred Hitchcock film in 1940. “Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.” – the second Mrs. de Winter says as the film opens with Clint Mansell’s haunting score. It’s one of the most famous opening lines in text or cinema. Not including this line would be criminal. This is a contemporary update but in spite of that, the film…
"Rebecca: Netflix Adaptation Stays True To The Book"
Belushi is a heartbreaking must-watch documentary about late Saturday Night Live, Animal House, and Blues Brothers star John Belushi. This summer marked the 40th anniversary of The Blues Brothers hitting the big screen. Sadly, this year also marked the 38th anniversary of the comedian’s tragic death at 33 years old. And yet this film finds a way to capture what was going on in his head with newfound movie stardom. Mind you, this was during…
"Belushi: A Heartbreaking Must-Watch Documentary"
American Pie Presents: Girls’ Rules arrives on DVD as the fifth installment in the American Pie Presents Direct-DVD spin-off series. One of the things that sets this film apart from the previous spin-offs is that it is the first film to not feature Eugene Levy in the cast. Levy first portrayed Jim’s dad, Noah Levenstein, in 1999 but of course, the actor has been busy with Schitt’s Creek. At the same time, an appearance by…
"American Pie Presents: Girls’ Rules Now on DVD"