With a topic that could not be more timely with the gender parity among directors in Hollywood, Half the Picture is such an important film. Amy Adrion, who directs the film, is a first-time director. There’s a staggering statistic regarding female filmmakers in that 84% will become a one-time director. A lot of this is due to financing or lack thereof. It doesn’t have to be this way. Studios can and should get better when…
"SXSW 2018: Half the Picture is Timely And Important"Category: Film Festival
With its mix of comedy and drama, Being Frank (formerly You Can Choose Your Family) delivers the goods in filmmaker Miranda Bailey’s narrative feature directorial debut. Frank Hansen (Jim Gaffigan) is a awful human. He’s perhaps the worst human of the world even if he isn’t willing to admit it. Frank’s problem is that he has two sets of everything but nothing is more secretive than his having two families. All his trips for work…
"SXSW 2018: Being Frank (You Can Choose Your Family)"
If I Leave Here Tomorrow: A Film About Lynyrd Skynyrd tells the story of the band through recent and archived interview footage. From “Free Bird” to “Sweet Home Alabama,” and beyond, the rare interviews and never-before-seen archive materials tell the story of the band that found their way from Jacksonville, Fla. to Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in Sheffield, Ala. Beyond the songs, there is a pivotal moment in the band’s history that, while emotional, must…
"SXSW 2018: If I Leave Here Tomorrow: A Film About Lynyrd Skynyrd"
TransMilitary is the most important documentary that anyone will view during the 2018 calendar year. In a perfect world, there would not be any controversy with regards to transgender people serving in the United States Military. Being transgender isn’t something that should take away from someone having the ability to serve in combat. The road to lifting the transgender military ban was a long one. It’s one in which SPARTA, the LGBTQ Military Organization, played…
"SXSW 2018: TransMilitary – 2018’s Most Important Documentary"
Blockers is the type of comedy that will lead one to fall out of their seat from laughing so much. The film will recall classics like Porky’s, Superbad, and American Pie but Blockers is an instant classic in its own right. After all, how many films feature butt-chugging?!? Best of all is that Kay Cannon is a female director of an R-rated studio film in which the women get to call the shots of when…
"SXSW 2018: Blockers: An Instant Classic from Kay Cannon"
Wild Honey Pie offers actress Jemima Kirke an opportunity to move forward from her Girls days. Gillian (Jemima Kirke) and Oliver (Richard Elis) are at a good place in life. The two of them are married and even though they don’t have any children, they’re both relatively happy. Gillian’s a writer, much to the dismay of everyone around her. This is something that other writers, myself included, can relate to in that we’re happy with having…
"SXSW 2018: Wild Honey Pie"
As Most Likely To Murder premieres at the SXSW Film Festival, the comedy noir is the rare film that makes a crazy ex-boyfriend villain out of its star. Billy Green, a lowly concierge working in Las Vegas, finds himself back hometown of Valley Stream for Thanksgiving. Billy talks up Vegas as if he’s boss there. The reality is that he’s not living the glamorous life that he tells people. Unlike his old classmates, he’s still…
"SXSW 2018: Most Likely to Murder"
Las Sandinistas gives voice to the women who broke barriers during the 1979 Sandinista Revolution in Nicaragua. A lot of credit goes to director Jenny Murray for telling their stories. What she ultimately does is tell a story that hasn’t been told before. Dora Maria Téllez was a 22-year-old medical student when she helped pave the way for their first victory in a major city. It’s possible that these stories might very well be lost to history…
"SXSW 2018: Las Sandinistas"
With a captivating performance from Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Fast Color is a female-led superhero thriller that touches on the supernatural in a post-Black Panther world. Fast Color is the second feature film to be directed by Julia Hart. At the core of it, the film is about a family of strong women who have the ability to create things and see the colors while doing so. Unfortunately for Ruth (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), she was never able to see…
"SXSW 2018: Fast Color: A Post-Black Panther World"
With a fresh voice from writer-director Becca Gleason in her feature directorial debut, actress Joey King carries Summer ’03 from start to finish with one of the best performances to date in 2018. When her grandmother, Dotty Winkle (June Squibb), passed away, it’s Jamie Winkle (Joey King) who is left with the biggest burden of all. Not only did her grandmother expose some pretty huge secrets, she tells Jamie that one of her biggest regrets–and hopes…
"SXSW 2018: Summer ’03: Joey King Is A Star"