Tribeca 2018: Howard – A Nostalgic Documentary

Howard is a long-overdue documentary that tells the story of the late songwriter/composer Howard Ashman, who passed away as a result of AIDS in March 1991. To those who grew up in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Ashman’s music played a large role in our cinematic upbringing.  Ashman and Alan Menken teamed up for The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and Beauty and the Beast.  Make no mistake about it, these films simply would not be…

"Tribeca 2018: Howard – A Nostalgic Documentary"

Tribeca 2018: Mary Shelley

Mary Shelley doesn’t focus on Frankenstein until the final half hour but the headliner is preceded by a lifeless under-card that’s not even worthy of pay-per-view. Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin (Elle Fanning) was the woman who would go on to pen the famous Frankenstein novel.  Before getting there, the future author had a relationship with romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (Douglas Booth).  Their relationship was not one in which their family endorsed, which explains why the…

"Tribeca 2018: Mary Shelley"

Tribeca 2018: The Party’s Just Beginning

Paying tribute to her hometown, The Party’s Just Beginning marks the feature debut for actress Karen Gillan. From her previous works, we already knew that Karen Gillan was a talented actor.  What the The Party’s Just Beginning does is put her on the map as a rising talent to watch as both a director and screenwriter.  Gillan uses the suicide rates in the Highlands of Scotland in which she bases the narrative.  Luisadh (Gillan) is still…

"Tribeca 2018: The Party’s Just Beginning"

Tribeca 2018: State Like Sleep

Led by Katherine Waterston and Michael Shannon’s performances, writer-director Meredith Danluck takes a fascinating approach to grieving by way of State Like Sleep. Katherine Grand (Katherine Waterston) had relocated to the US following the death of her husband, Stefan Delvoe (Michiel Huisman).  One year after the tragedy, Katherine learns that her mother suffered from a stroke.  She flies to Brussels in order to visit her in the hospital.  Because of all that had happened, Katherine…

"Tribeca 2018: State Like Sleep"

Tribeca 2018: Duck Butter

Taking place over the course of 24 hours, the relationship-driven Duck Butter may be a lesbian-themed film but there’s so much more to the film than just that alone. Before the film gets into the thick of the action, it’s learned early on that Naima (Alia Shawkat) is an actress currently working in a Duplass Brothers film with the likes of Jake (Kumail Nanjiani) and Kate (Lindsay Burdge).  Because the film takes place over the…

"Tribeca 2018: Duck Butter"

Tribeca 2018: Bathtubs Over Broadway

Bathtubs Over Broadway offers some fascinating insight into the crazy world that is industrial musicals. Steve Young, not to be confused with the football quarterback, used to work for David Letterman as a comedy writer on Late Night with David Letterman and The Late Show with David Letterman.  As Letterman describes him, Young is “the last vestige of the heyday of the talk show television writers.”  Working on a comedy show means that the comedy…

"Tribeca 2018: Bathtubs Over Broadway"

Tribeca 2018: Little Woods

Tessa Thompson and Lily James go above and beyond as a pair of sisters in Nia DaCosta’s feature debut, Little Woods. We’re introduced to Ollie (Tessa Thompson), a woman struggling in Little Woods, North Dakota.  It’s a small town with so many people suffering due to the economy.  Ollie is looking to escape the city and move where she can make a better life for herself.  Gone are the days where Ollie would take prescription…

"Tribeca 2018: Little Woods"

Tribeca 2018: Fabled

The first episode of a new Refinery29-produced fairy tale anthology series, Fabled, premiered during the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival this past week.  Titled “Anodyne,” the series offers us another take on some of the beloved fairy tale characters of all time. The series, created by Evan Jonigkeit and Girls alumnus Zosia Mamet, imagines a world in which Alice in Wonderland‘s titular Alice (Mamet) meets The Wizard of Oz‘s Dorothy (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) in a mental institution.  With…

"Tribeca 2018: Fabled"

Tribeca 2018: Disobedience: The Epic Orthodox Jewish Lesbian Romance

Based on the novel of the same name, Disobedience is the epic romance film that the Orthodox Jewish LGBTQ community has been waiting for. The film is the second consecutive film from director Sebastián Lelio to hit very close to home for this film critic–being both a transgender woman and a member of the Orthodox Jewish LGBTQ community.  Sebastián Lelio, who also directed A Fantastic Woman starring Daniela Vega, and Rebecca Lenkiewicz adapted Naomi Alderman’s award-winning…

"Tribeca 2018: Disobedience: The Epic Orthodox Jewish Lesbian Romance"

Avengers: Infinity War: The Stakes Are High

The stakes have never been higher with the release of Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Infinity War. Ten years in the making, it all culminates in this epic crossover of a film.  All of our favorite heroes in one film save for Hawkeye and Ant-Man–neither of which were one the poster.  With this large of a cast, it a was a question going into the film of how would they be able to handle the appearances of…

"Avengers: Infinity War: The Stakes Are High"