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"Category: Movie Reviews
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"
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"
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"
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"
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"
Zoe is a film that mixes science fiction with romance in a way that makes it stand apart from the likes of Her. Relationist Labs’s main goal is to create the perfect lover so to speak. Among their founders, Cole Ainsley (Ewan McGregor) is an engineer who is heavily focused on designing synthetic robots that make for the perfect romantic lover. Zoe (Léa Seydoux) is one of his designs but ever since she was turned…
"Tribeca 2018: Zoe"
Bethany Hamilton: Unstoppable shows that there is more to Bethany Hamilton than just being the surfer who was attacked by a shark. Bethany Hamilton lost her arm to a tiger shark while surfing in October 2003. Most people would give up on their big dreams after such an event but Bethany Hamilton isn’t most people. The Hawaiian native, a daughter of two surfers, would persevere and compete in the National Amateur Competition a mere nine…
"Tribeca 2018: Bethany Hamilton: Unstoppable"
Bobby Kennedy for President is a stark reminder of what the world lost when Senator Robert Kennedy was killed in June 1968. The documentary comes on the heels of the 50th anniversary of Kennedy’s presidential run. It was a presidential campaign that, while shy of 90 days, would change a nation for better or worse. With the ongoing Vietnam War, there was a lot of conflict within the Democratic Party. RFK was running a campaign…
"Tribeca 2018: Bobby Kennedy for President"
There were a few short films screening during the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival that drew my interest. What follows is a roundup of short narratives and documentaries playing Tribeca that I recommend. Souls of Totality Directed by Richard Raymond, the film stars Tatiana Maslany and Tom Cullen. The film centers around the Great American Solar Eclipse and examines the sacrifices that one makes during a relationship. There’s a power of love in this short. This…
"Tribeca 2018: Shorts Roundup"