SXSW 2018: The World Before Your Feet

There’s been a lot of films that took place in New York City but The World Before Your Feet may just be the most unique as it follows Matt Green on his walk across every block of the city. Matt Green may be crazy.  He quit his job as a civil engineer to walk across America from Rockaway Beach, N.Y., to Rockaway Beach, Ore. in 2010.  A few years later, he’s at it again and walking…

"SXSW 2018: The World Before Your Feet"

SXSW 2018: Operation Odessa

Operation Odessa is a documentary that goes behind the scenes of what happened when a mobster, playboy, and a Cuban spy sold a Soviet submarine to the Cali Cartel, a Columbian drug cartel.  The story is so crazy that it is completely insane. It was 1997 when a federal task force had uncovered a plot to sell a Soviet submarine to a Columbia drug cartel for a whopping $35 million.  The feds were under the…

"SXSW 2018: Operation Odessa"

SXSW 2018: Social Animals

Social Animals is a documentary that explores the how and why people decide to use Instagram as a social media tool and what followers, likes, and comments mean. With over 700 million active users of the social media app, it would be practically impossible to make a documentary about every single person that uses Instagram.  Instead, it must be whittled down to just a few people in order to make even a decent documentary.  Wisely, Jonathan…

"SXSW 2018: Social Animals"

SXSW 2013: The Rider

If writer-director Chloé Zhao isn’t a household name, it certainly will be after a docudrama, The Rider, reaches a wider audience. Brady Blackburn (Brady Jandreau) was going to be a star of the rodeo one day.  Unfortunately for him, he suffered from a riding accident while competing and ends up in a coma for a few days.  For Brady, it means that his days of competing are over.  For any rider, it’s a sad day to…

"SXSW 2013: The Rider"

SXSW 2018: Alt-Right: Age of Rage

Alt-Right: Age of Rage is perhaps the only documentary this year that one will watch and can’t help getting angry.  It’s not even the good anger but the WHY ARE THESE PEOPLE THINKING THEY’RE RIGHT ANGER!  Without a doubt, it’s a documentary that requires a trigger warning before going forward. Director Adam Bhala Lough manages to profile a lot of key players of the “alt-right,” which the AP would have you label as a multitude of…

"SXSW 2018: Alt-Right: Age of Rage"

SXSW 2018: Lean on Pete

Based on the novel by Willy Vlautin, film festival favorite Lean on Pete tells the poignant story of of a teenage boy and his strong connection to a horse. Charley Thompson (Charlie Plummer) hasn’t had an easy life living with his father Ray (Travis Fimmel).  Charley’s mom is out of the picture and looking for meaning in his life, he turns to the Portland Downs racetrack where he meets Del Montgomery (Steve Buscemi) and jockey Bonnie (Chloë Sevigny). …

"SXSW 2018: Lean on Pete"

Cinequest: Venus

In focusing on a transgender woman coming out, Venus is a film that also speaks to the themes of feeling included and wanting to be loved. When it comes to films with a transgender character in the leading role, it’s very important that their being trans is not the key thing about their character.  Eisha Marjara doesn’t as much focus on Sid Gill (Debargo Sanyal) transitioning in general in as much as the focus is on…

"Cinequest: Venus"

Cinequest: The Rainbow Experiment (Slamdance 2018)

There’s a lot going on in The Rainbow Experiment and that’s just saying the least of it. Writer-director Christina Kallas follows up 42 Seconds of Happiness (2016) with the New York-set The Rainbow Experiment. There’s a lot going on following a science experiment gone awry at a Manhattan high school and one unlucky student, Matty, will pay the consequences for the rest of their life due to an injury.  It’s Matty Fairchild (Connor Siemer) who…

"Cinequest: The Rainbow Experiment (Slamdance 2018)"

Cinequest: Jack Of All Trades

Jack Of All Trades is a documentary that will bring a wave of nostalgia to those who collected baseball cards while they were growing up. Aside from that, this film is also about a man’s search for his missing father. Co-directed by Stu Stone and Harv Glazer, the question that Stone decides to explore is “whatever happened to baseball cards.”  It’s a very good question to ask.  Some malls used to have card shows all…

"Cinequest: Jack Of All Trades"

Cinequest 2018: High and Outside: A Baseball Noir

High and Outside: A Baseball Noir isn’t the run-of-the-mill baseball movie but a gripping drama depicting the relationship between father and son. Directed by Evald Johnson from a script written by Dan O’Dair, the film also serves as the final role for the late character actor Geoffrey Lewis. The son of baseball great Len Harding (Geoffrey Lewis in his final role), Phil Harding (Phil Donlon) is stll trying to make it to the Majors Leagues. …

"Cinequest 2018: High and Outside: A Baseball Noir"