A well-made feature film debut led by great performances, Monsters and Men splits the narrative into three while telling an all-too familiar story. Writer-director Reinaldo Marcus Green takes us to Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood just north of Crown Heights. When a father plays witness to–what else–the shooting of an unarmed black man, all hell starts to break loose in their community. This is how Green chooses to start the film and with this, we’re off and running. The…
"Monsters and Men: A Well-Made Debut"Category: Movie Reviews
Anywhere with You (formerly We The Coyotes) dives in head first as a pair of young adults move from the comforts of the midwest for life in Los Angeles. The film starts as Amanda (Morgan Saylor) and Jake (McCaul Lombardi) set out to restart their life in Los Angeles. It’s not long before we see why Amanda’s family doesn’t like Jake. He comes off as such as slacker. We follow Amanda and Jake over their…
"LA Film Festival 2018: Anywhere with You (We The Coyotes)"
Two siblings uncover quite a bit in their excavation of their late grandmother’s house following her death in 306 Hollywood. Before I dive into this film, I have to admit that yes, I am a hoarder. It’s quite rare that I throw things out, including my several years worth of Entertainment Weekly magazines. I can admit to knowing that this is an unhealthy habit. The size of my apartment certainly does me no favors with…
"306 Hollywood"
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"
Black 47 offers a Western vibe as the film takes us back to 1847 when the country of Ireland was two years into their battle with the Great Famine. Feeney (James Frecheville) returns to his home in Ireland after deciding to leave the British Army. Nothing prepares him for the horrible conditions he’s about to face. Despite having seen the conditions that war provides, the famine provides for some sights he wasn’t ready for. Feeney discovers…
"Black 47: An Irish Western Falls Short"
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"
Blending together sci-fi, comedy, and drama, The Wrong Todd has quite the absurd delivery in seeking to understand what truly matters. Todd (Jesse Rosen) lives in Providence with his girlfriend, Lucy (Anna Rizzo). When she’s offered a job in Seattle, Todd is hesitant to change up his entire life. He’s not entirely pleased at moving 3,000 miles away or even a long-distance relationship. Obviously, Lucy would like Todd to see where she’s coming from but he’s…
"LA Film Fest 2018: The Wrong Todd"
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"
Set during the Ethiopian civil war, Fig Tree tells the coming-of-age story of a Jewish teenager looking to save her non-Jewish boyfriend. Writer-director Aäläm-Wärqe Davidian makes her award-winning feature debut by taking viewers back to 1989. Set in Addis Ababa, Ethopia, the film focuses on Mina. When the Jewish teenager learns of her family’s plan to make aliyah in Israel, she fears the worst for her boyfriend, Eli. This is because Eli is likely to be…
"TIFF 2018: Fig Tree (Etz Teena)"
Despite the best efforts from a star-studded cast, Life Itself is a tonally uneven mess in spite of all the hype going into the film. Given the positive reception of the This is Us on NBC, it’s surprising to believe that Dan Fogelman could follow it up with such a dud. This film is all over the place. Seriously. The first hour of the film is New York-centered because if you don’t live in New…
"Life Itself: A Tonally Uneven Mess"