The 2019 SXSW Film Festival announced the rest of the lineup, including the announcement that Pet Sematary would be closing the film festival. Today’s announcement includes Midnighters, Festival Favorites, Shorts, Episodic Pilot Competition, Virtual Cinema, Music Video and Title Design lineup, plus late-addition Features and the Closing Night Film for the 26th edition of the Festival, running March 8-17, 2019 in Austin, Texas. This year’s program encompasses 131 Feature Films including 101 World Premieres, 9 North…
"SXSW 2019: The Rest of the Film Festival Lineup"
From the outside looking in, the religious community that is depicted in Them That Follow could otherwise be understood to be a cult. Mara (Alice Englert) and Dilly (Kaitlyn Dever) are friends. They live in a snake-handling Pentecostal community run by Mara’s dad, the fiery Pastor Lemuel (Walter Goggins). Every now and then, they go to the local convenient store where Hope (Olivia Colman) works. Much against her dad’s dismay, Mara has an interest in…
"Sundance 2019: Them That Follow"
Big Time Adolescence falls into the coming-of-age genre as the film is about a high school teen under the unfortunate bad influence of his best friend. Monroe “Mo” Harris (Griffin Gluck) is a high school teenager. In a perfect world, his best friend would be someone in his age range. Instead, his best friend is his sister’s ex-boyfriend, Zeke Presanti (Pete Davidson). Despite his sister, Kate (Emily Arlook), and Zeke breaking up, Mo maintained contact…
"Sundance 2019: Big Time Adolescence"
Telling the story of WWE Superstar Paige, Fighting with My Family is a comedy that manages to delight viewers regardless of whether they like wrestling. Born Saraya-Jade Bevis (Florence Pugh), she would eventually adopt the professional name of Paige. Our story starts long before she joined the WWE. Paige was born into a wrestling family, including both her father, Ricky (Nick Frost), and mother, Julia (Lena Heady). Following a brief prologue, we see how she…
"Sundance 2019: Fighting with My Family"
Everything is still awesome as The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part takes to the big screen nearly five years to the date following its predecessor. A quick prologue catches us up to speed about what has taken place during the last five years. The city of Bricksburg is no more. It’s been replaced by the doomsday-esque Apocalypseburg following the city’s tragic demise. No matter what decisions that the master builders make, they are no…
"The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part"
The important thing to know going into Light From Light is that it is not a horror movie despite the fact that a character is a paranormal investigator. Sheila (Marin Ireland) has been having dreams since she was a child. These dreams aren’t just any ordinary dreams as she is sometimes able to see the future. Sheila works behind the counter at a car rental service by day while also working as a paranormal investigator. …
"Sundance 2019: Light from Light"
The Sunlit Night frustratingly blends together two very different stories that don’t quite work together for taking place in a single feature film. Frances (Jenny Slate) could have had an excellent painter’s residency. Unfortunately for her, she passes up the opportunity in order to travel with her boyfriend, Robert, to Japan. Her plans soon become moot when Robert breaks up with her on vacation. Forced back home without a choice, it becomes a comedy of…
"Sundance 2019: The Sunlit Night"
To say that Arctic is a very intense survival thriller wouldn’t be an understatement because this is a film that takes us along for a worrisome ride from start to finish. After surviving a plane crash, Overgård (Mads Mikkelsen) is living on his own while fighting for survival. He has the same daily routine, which includes catching fish and cranking up a machine in the hope of finding rescue. One day, rescue comes or so we…
"Arctic: A Very Intense Survival Thriller"
There’s no doubt that Paradise Hills has a lot of ambition with a strong feminist story it wishes to tell but manages to miss the mark somewhere along the way. The film starts with Uma (Emma Roberts) getting married to a mysterious man that we hardly know anything about. Almost immediately as any action takes place, the film jumps straight to two months earlier. This allows us to dive into the backstory of how we…
"Sundance 2019: Paradise Hills"
Before You Know It manages to successfully blend the dysfunctional family comedy and soap opera genres together with a Jewish sensibility. Imagine living in your childhood apartment with your father, sister, and niece. This is the situation that Rachel Gurner (Rachel Gurner)–stage manager at her family’s downstairs theatre–finds herself in. The situation is one that isn’t so great for dating as Rachel learns rather quickly. Together with sister Jackie (Jen Tullock) and father (Mandy Patinkin),…
"Sundance 2019: Before You Know It"