Broadway Rising explores both the toll of the pandemic and the long journey back reopening the many Broadway theaters in fall 2021. All of the Broadway theaters shut down on March 12, 2020 after an usher and part-time security guard tested positive for Covid-19. This was the first shut down since the terror attack on September 11, 2001. This time around, theaters would stay shut down for some 18 months before beginning to reopen. Initially,…
"Broadway Rising – Tribeca 2022"Category: Film Festival
Butterfly in the Sky is a nostalgic documentary as the film takes viewers into the history behind the 26-year run of Reading Rainbow. This is a series that inspired generations of people. Community even paid homage during an episode of the Dan Harmon series. It all goes back to Twila Liggett and the teacher went onto create the series. Liggett’s journey goes back to getting hired by a Nebraska educational network in 1980. At this…
"Butterfly in the Sky – Tribeca 2022"
Kaepernick & America discusses the leadup and fallout of the moment in which Colin Kaepernick didn’t stand during the national anthem. Some quick background before proceeding further: Kaepernick is biracial and was adopted and raised by a white family. He may have been a football player but he was still shy. It wasn’t until he started to protest the anthem that everyone started giving him all the attention. The main focus of the film is…
"Kaepernick & America – Tribeca 2022"
When they learn that their best friend is dying from Covid-19, a pair of filmmakers document their journey in Wes Schlagenhauf Is Dying. I’m not sure which genre this film falls into because it certainly isn’t a documentary. In fact, the film makes its Tribeca premiere in the Narrative Competition. I went into this film wanting to like it after hearing positive reactions from friends in the film industry. However, I’m falling somewhere in the…
"Wes Schlagenhauf Is Dying – Tribeca 2022"
It Ain’t Over is a sports documentary that honors one of the greatest catchers of all time, Yogi Berra of the New York Yankees. Not many baseball players could say they had 3 MVP Awards, 18 All-Star appearances in 15 seasons, and 10 World Series rings. Well, except for Yogi Berra. He was a catcher during the Yankees dynasty, bringing the eras between Joltin’ Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle. Berra was a part of one…
"It Ain’t Over – Tribeca 2022"
A young woman tracks down her estranged father after a decade in Acidman and the two of them try to make first contact with aliens. Maggie (Dianna Agron) hasn’t seen her father, Lloyd (Thomas Haden Church), about a decade. Since this time, his habits have only grown worse as he is obsessed with making first contact. It’s certainly fitting that the classic John Williams theme to Close Encounters of the Third Kind makes an appearance.…
"Acidman – Tribeca 2022"
Final Cut might remake a hit Japanese film but it is another love letter to filmmaking for Oscar-winning filmmaker Michel Hazanavicius. When you look at his filmography over the years, The Artist continues to stand out. We know the filmmaker more so for his spy parodies over the years. But especially, the Oscar-winning film. What we have here is a remake of One Cut of the Dead. If you haven’t seen that film, there will…
"Final Cut (Coupez!) – Cannes 2022"
The idea of Jews living in the Wild West is not a new thing but filmmaker Amanda Kinsey explores the history in Jews of the Wild West. Before there was Blazing Saddles with the Jewish-coded Jim the Waco Kid and before there was The Frisco Kid, there were actual Jews living in the Wild West. Or the American frontier, if you will. This is what’s so fascinating about watching this film. There’s so much history…
"Jews of the Wild West – 2022 Chicago Jewish FF"
Aubrey Plaza delivers a career-best performance in Emily the Criminal, which marks the feature directorial debut of John Patton Ford. Ford had been to Sundance some twelve times earlier with a short film. It was fate that his feature directorial debut would debut during the January film festival. However, it’s just unfortunate that said debut was unable to premiere to a packed theater in Park City due to the pandemic. Produced in the heat of…
"Emily the Criminal – Sundance 2022"
Aftershock is among the most heartbreaking documentaries that any audience will watch when the film is eventually released. The U.S. maternal health system is in a crisis. Perhaps you’ve heard of it and perhaps you did not. In any event, this documentary brings the crisis directly to you for the better part of almost 90 minutes. It’s unfortunate because the United States is among the most industrialized nations in the world. We should not have…
"Aftershock – Sundance 2022"